Automation

Overview

The Automation module in Helpon lets you build intelligent workflows and broadcast messages to your contacts without manual intervention. Access it from Helpon → Automation in your WordPress admin sidebar.

There are two primary automation types:

• Workflows — Trigger-based sequences that execute automatically when a specific event occurs (e.g., a new conversation starts, a tag is added, or an appointment is booked). Workflows run per-contact and can include conditions, delays, and multiple actions.
• Broadcasts — One-time or scheduled bulk messages sent to a selected audience (a segment, a tag group, or all contacts). Broadcasts are ideal for announcements, promotions, and follow-up campaigns.

Workflows

A workflow is a sequence of actions that execute automatically when a trigger event fires and all conditions are met. Each workflow has a name, a single trigger, optional conditions, and one or more actions arranged in order.

Creating a Workflow

Versioning

Every time you save changes to an active workflow, Helpon creates a new version. You can view the version history by clicking the Version History link on the workflow editor. Previous versions can be restored at any time, ensuring you never lose a working configuration.

Triggers

A trigger is the event that starts a workflow. Each workflow has exactly one trigger. When the event occurs and the workflow is active, it enters the condition evaluation phase.

Conditions & Filters

Conditions let you narrow which contacts a workflow applies to when the trigger fires. If no conditions are set, the workflow runs for every contact that triggers it. You can combine multiple conditions using AND (all must match) or OR (any can match) logic.

Available Filter Types

• Tag — Contact has (or does not have) a specific tag
• Segment — Contact belongs to a particular saved segment
• Channel — Conversation originated from a specific channel (web chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.)
• Time — Current time falls within a defined window (e.g., business hours only)
• Visitor Property — Browser language, device type, country, or referral URL
• Custom Field — A custom CRM field equals, contains, or matches a value
• Lifecycle Stage — Contact is at a specific stage (lead, prospect, customer, etc.)
• Last Activity — Days since the contact's last conversation or interaction

Actions

Actions are the tasks a workflow performs once triggered and conditions are satisfied. You can chain multiple actions in sequence, with optional delays between them. Actions execute from top to bottom.

Using Variables in Actions

Actions that accept text content support dynamic variables. Insert them using double curly braces:

Hi {{contact.first_name}}, thanks for reaching out!

Your appointment on {{appointment.date}} at {{appointment.time}} is confirmed.

Assigned agent: {{agent.name}}
Conversation ID: {{conversation.id}}

Broadcasts

Broadcasts allow you to send a message to many contacts at once. Unlike workflows, broadcasts are not triggered by events — you create and schedule them manually. Use broadcasts for announcements, promotions, appointment reminders, and re-engagement campaigns.

Creating a Broadcast

Scheduling

Helpon's scheduling system gives you precise control over when broadcasts and delayed workflow actions execute. Configure schedules from the broadcast editor or from the Delay action in a workflow.

Scheduling Options

• One-Time — Send the broadcast once at the selected date and time.
• Recurring — Repeat daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Set an optional end date or number of occurrences.
• Timezone Handling — Choose between sending at a fixed time in your business timezone, or in each contact's local timezone (Helpon uses the contact's IP-based or manually set timezone).
• Throttle Limits — Control the number of messages sent per minute to avoid channel rate limits. Helpon queues excess messages and sends them in batches.
• Send Windows — Restrict delivery to specific time windows (e.g., business hours 9 AM – 5 PM). Messages outside the window are held until the next eligible window.

Templates

Workflow templates are pre-built automation sequences that you can import and customize. They help you get started quickly with common automation patterns without building from scratch.

Built-In Templates

Using a Template

Import / Export

You can export any workflow as a JSON file and import it on another Helpon installation. This is useful for agencies managing multiple client sites or for sharing workflows between staging and production environments.

wp helpon automation export --workflow=12 --output=welcome-series.json
wp helpon automation import --file=welcome-series.json

Analytics

The Automation Analytics dashboard provides real-time visibility into how your workflows and broadcasts are performing. Access it from Helpon → Automation → Analytics.

Workflow Metrics

Broadcast Metrics

Troubleshooting

Common issues with automation and how to resolve them:

Workflow not triggering

• Verify the workflow status is set to Active in the workflow editor
• Confirm the trigger event matches the expected action (e.g., "New Conversation" fires only on the first message of a new session, not on follow-up messages)
• Check that conditions are not filtering out all contacts — temporarily remove conditions to test
• Review the Execution Log at Helpon → Automation → Logs for detailed error messages
• Ensure the WordPress cron system is running. Helpon relies on wp_cron for delayed actions. If your host disables WP-Cron, set up a real cron job:

*/5 * * * * wget -q -O - https://yoursite.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron > /dev/null 2>&1

Broadcast stuck in queue

• Check the broadcast status on the Broadcasts list page — it should show "Sending" or "Queued"
• Large audiences are sent in batches. View progress in the delivery report detail view
• Verify that the throttle limit is not set too low (e.g., 10 messages/minute for 5,000 contacts will take over 8 hours)
• Ensure your server's email or API rate limits are not being exceeded. Check Helpon → Settings → Email for SMTP error logs
• If the queue appears stuck, try clicking Retry Failed on the broadcast detail page, or cancel and re-create the broadcast

Duplicate workflow executions

• By default, a contact can enter the same workflow only once. Check the Re-entry Policy setting on the workflow — if set to "Allow re-entry," the contact can trigger it multiple times
• If using the "Tag Added" trigger, ensure the tag is not being added and removed repeatedly by another workflow, creating a loop
• Review the execution log to see timestamps — if executions are seconds apart, a race condition may exist. Add a Delay of 1 minute as the first action to debounce

Filter conditions not matching expected contacts

• Double-check the AND/OR logic — AND requires all conditions to be true, while OR requires only one
• Verify tag names are spelled exactly as they appear in the CRM (tags are case-sensitive)
• For custom field filters, ensure the field value type matches the operator (e.g., do not use "greater than" on a text field)
• Use the Preview Audience button in the filter builder to see which contacts currently match your conditions