The basic definition of a rule is a combination of zero or more conditions (a fact to check) and at least one action (an instruction to follow).

This can be approximately expressed as:

IF CONDITION IS TRUE THEN PERFORM ACTION

A rule with no conditions will always perform the true action(s) associated with the rule.

Conditions are defined as either client-side conditions or server-side conditions. Client-side conditions are evaluated using data gathered on the client-side. If a rule with client-side conditions is run more than once on a page, the client-side condition is evaluated using fresh data each time. Server-side conditions are evaluated using data gathered from the server-side. In order to maximize performance, the server is only contacted for data at the time of page load. This means that if a rule using server-side conditions is run more than once on a page, the server-side conditions are evaluated using the data gathered at page load.

Examples of conditions available within Engagement Engine Editor are:

An action is an instruction that must be followed. Examples available within Engagement Engine Editor are:

This basic concept of a rule can then be extended to include multiple conditions and multiple actions. This can be expressed as:

IF CONDITION(S) ARE TRUE THEN PERFORM ACTION(S)

If a rule contains multiple conditions, then a decision must be made as to whether all conditions must be met to return a true value, or if a true value is returned if any of the conditions are met.

This can be expressed as:

IF CONDITION1 AND|OR CONDITION2 IS TRUE THEN PERFORM ACTION1 AND ACTION2

The final stage of complexity is the concept of false actions. A false action is an instruction to follow if the conditions are not met. This can be expressed as:

IF CONDITION IS TRUE THEN PERFORM TRUE ACTION ELSE PERFORM FALSE ACTION

The most common use of a rule is in choosing whether or not to display a call or chat invitation to a visitor. For example, you may wish to display a call invitation whenever a visitor has been on a particular webpage for 60 seconds. In this case, the condition is that the visitor has been on a webpage for 60 seconds, and the true action is to display a call invitation.

This can be expressed as:

IF TIMEONPAGE >= 60 SECONDS THEN DISPLAY CALL INVITATION

The inclusion of multiple conditions, true actions, and false actions means that there is a high level of scope for complexity when designing rules. Engagement Engine Editor is designed to provide an intuitive user interface for the process of designing rules.