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Stonly guide with an inserted variable.
Stonly guide with an inserted variable.

What are guide variables?

With variables, you can display different content to different people in the same step, based on who they are.

Variables can be placed inside step text or inserted into URLs to create dynamic links.

You can use variables for something as simple as greeting a website visitor by name, or to provide more practical information, like outstanding balance from their last invoice or a link to their profile page in your app.

Types of variables

For variables to work, you need to provide data to them.

There are two types of variables, defined by their data source:

  • Locally transmitted. Receiving data in real time. Local variables can be used in the widget, as well as in a knowledge base, standalone guides, and guides embedded on a page with iframes.

  • Stored. User properties saved in Stonly. Only available when displaying content in a widget on your website.

  • Server call. Receive data from a server response inside an automation step.

If you're using stored variables, you already have the data in Stonly and can move on to reading about adding them to a guide.

Otherwise, first see how to define variables locally or through server calls.