Hotspots and Callouts

Steps

Steps are the building blocks of Arcades.

When an Arcade is finished recording, each click will be broken out into a step. The steps are listed on the lefthand tab and are made up of either pictures, videos, or overlays. (Here's how Arcade chooses when to use still images and when to use video.)

When you're editing an Arcade, you can duplicate, merge, add, or delete steps.

How do I edit an Arcade?

Once an Arcade is done recording, you'll be automatically taken to an upload page. When the upload is complete, you'll be able to start editing — just make sure you're on the Edit tab.

From there, you can change the Arcade title, delete and duplicate steps, move and add hotspots, add hotspot text, other images, videos, overlays, change the logo, and way more.

Tip: We always recommend adding text to hotspots.

Rather than just writing what the user would be clicking on, use the hotspots as a change to tell the user a story about this feature or product.

Can I duplicate steps?

You can! Just use ⌘C and ⌘V as you would elsewhere. You can use Shift + Click to select multiple steps for copying and pasting.

Can I merge two Arcades?

Yes! Using the copy and paste above, you can copy steps from any one Arcade into another Arcade.

FYI, this won't work if you are copying steps from one Arcade account and pasting them in an Arcade in another account.

Can I delete an Arcade?

Of course! On the My Arcades or Team page, check the Arcade you'd like to delete and click Delete on the top of the page. You can also click Delete from the Options Menu (three dots) on the preview for each Arcade.

If you accidentally delete an Arcade and need to recover it, reach out! We can help.

How do I replace a step in an Arcade?

To replace steps in an Arcade, delete the old step and drag and drop in a new one. Alternatively, you can go to the Media Library, hover over any step, and select Replace current step or Add to new step.

If I'm uploading new media, what dimensions should I use?

Arcade will automatically crop all steps to match the dimensions of the first step. You can find the dimensions of the first step by hovering your mouse over the upload button.

You can read more about sizing in Arcade here.

How do I change the text in the browser search bar?

Any Arcade with a wrapper will show the name of the Arcade in the pretend browser bar above the Arcade. To change the text here, you just need to change the title of the Arcade. In Edit mode, you'll be able to click on the title and change it!

Hotspots

Every time you click on page, Arcade creates a pulsating hotspot in that place.

In order to progress though an Arcade, viewers click on the hotspot.

How can I add more hotspots to the Arcade?

Just double click anywhere on the edit page and a hotspot will appear where you've clicked. You can always delete spare hotspots later within the hotspot editor.

How can I add text to hotspots?

To add text to a hotspot, click on the hotspot so the hotspot editing modal appears. From there, you can add text, choose the hotspot and text colors, select whether the hotspot text should open automatically or not, and more.

Is there a way to have steps skipped without someone clicking them?

Yes! We have an autoplay feature that allows viewers to progress without clicking on a hotspot. There are two kinds of autoplay we support: step-level autoplay and Arcade-level autoplay.

To make use of step-level autoplay, click on the "..." and select "Progress without interaction" for that step. Alternatively, you can use the shortcut CMD+A. You can use step-level autoplay on as many steps as you'd like.

To make use of Arcade-level autoplay, click on the Appearance button from the toolbar and move down to the Autoplay line, and turn the autoplay toggle on! When a user sees this Arcade, it will move through the hotspots automatically.

*Please note that if the Arcade starts with a video, Arcade-level autoplay will not work. This is a browser-level restriction; the browser does not allow videos to play without user interaction.

*Please note that when you use autoplay, engagement statistics will be thrown off. No engagement or completion rate will register for Arcade-level autoplay.

How do I add or edit a hotspot?

In addition to the hotspots automatically created during recording, you can always add more hotspots, delete hotspots, move them around the screen, etc.

You can create as many hotspots as you'd like on one page, and you can even branch your Arcade.

Add a hotspot by double-clicking anywhere on the Edit page. When you do, a new hotspot will show up.

You can add text to a hotspot, set if it should open automatically, change the color, set a target, and more. Hotspots support plain text and emojis. When you're editing, you can use Shift + Enter to create a line break in your hotspot text.

Can I control the direction of the hotspot text?

For sure! You can adjust this within the hotspot settings. The hotspot will stay in the direction you chose unless it's too close to the edge of the frame.

Why is my hotspot text changing direction?

Hotspots can't be outside of the frame. If you chose a location too close to the frame, we may need to revert it to the original location. If your text box is touching the edge of the frame, Arcade will automatically readjust it.

To keep this from happening, make sure to keep the hotspot textbox from touching the edge of the frame.

Callouts

What are callouts?

Callouts are another way to add text to your Arcade, in a different style than hotspots. Where hotspots look like a pulsating dot for someone to click on, callouts look more like a traditional text box.

When should I use callouts?

Many people use callouts to share information that isn't related to a specific click. When something is related to a click, they'll use a hotspot to indicate to the end user that they would click there. You can use them however you see fit!

Can I add an arrow to my callout to have it go to a specific place?

Definitely! You'll see an arrow location dropdown when you're editing the callouts.

Markdown

How can I add bold, italics, or links to the text in my Arcade?

Yes! Arcade supports Markdown, so you can add bold, italics, or links directly into any Arcade hotspot or callout. To format the text, use the characters shown below. You can always see this within Arcade by clicking on the little ? on the bottom right and then selecting Text Formatting.

Bold: **bold text**

Italic: *italic text*

Bold and Italic: ***bold and italic text***

External URLs: [link_text](https://<external_url>)

Can I use CSS in my hotspot or callout text?

Yes! Hotspots and callouts support limited CSS.

Other

Can I hide hotspots and callouts when I'm presenting, so it looks like I'm presenting the real thing?

Yup! Use the shortcut Command+Shift+D to hide hotspots and callouts. You can use the shortcut again to have the hotspots and callouts appear again.

Can I add hotspots and callouts to videos?

For sure! Add them the same way you add them to images. The hotspots and callouts will remain on the screen during the entire video, and clicking them will make the Arcade progress to the next step.

Can I import steps from one Arcade into anther?

Definitely! You can copy and paste steps from any Arcade into another Arcade (as long as they are both part of the same account).

When you start a new Arcade, you'll also see the option to import steps from another Arcade — choose that option, and you'll see a menu of your Arcades and then be able to select the specific steps you need.