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Onboarding App

Onboarding App

Onboarding apps help new users get started with your product through a guided, step-by-step flow. Unlike funnels (which focus on acquisition and conversion), onboarding is about product adoption: teaching users how to set up and use your app. This guide explains how to create an onboarding app, set up steps, and use progress tracking and publishing.

How to Create an Onboarding App

You create an onboarding flow from the Maniana dashboard by choosing the Onboarding vertical and then either generating a flow with AI or building it step by step.

Create flow

  1. Choose Onboarding — From the app list or verticals, select Onboarding and create a new onboarding application.
  2. Describe your flow — On the create page, describe what you want (e.g., "A 5-step onboarding for a project management app: welcome, create first project, invite a teammate, connect Slack, done"). You can optionally upload screenshots or docs so the AI can generate steps that match your product.
  3. Generate with AI — Click generate; the AI builds a full flow (typically 4–7 steps) with titles, descriptions, and content. This usually takes under a minute.
  4. Open the builder — When generation finishes, you're taken to the onboarding builder, where you can edit steps, reorder them, and preview the flow.

Tip: The more specific your description (product name, step goals, and any integrations like Slack or Google), the better the AI can tailor the onboarding to your app.

Step Setup

Each step in the onboarding flow can be edited, reordered, or removed. The builder gives you a step list and a step editor so you can control the content and order.

Step list and order

  • Step list — All steps appear in order in the builder. You can drag and drop to change the order so users see steps in the sequence you want.
  • Add or remove steps — Add a new step with the add-step control; remove a step from the list when it's no longer needed. New steps can be generated with AI or edited manually.

Editing a step

  • Select the step — Click a step in the list to open it in the step editor.
  • Title and description — Set or change the step title and short description so users know what the step is for.
  • Content and layout — Use the editor or AI to set the step's content: instructions, images, callouts, or form fields. You can describe what you want in plain language (e.g., "A welcome message and a button to start").
  • Guided tutorials — When supported, you can add guided-tutorial steps with visual callouts or spotlights that point users to specific UI elements. These are especially useful for in-app onboarding.

Step types and behavior

Steps can be informational (read and continue), form-based (collect data), or task-based (user does something then continues). The builder or step settings let you choose the step type and what happens when the user clicks Next or Skip. You can allow steps to be skipped or make them required so users must complete them to advance.

Note: Progress is saved as users move through the flow. If they leave and return later, they can resume from the last step they reached.

Other Usages

Progress tracking

The onboarding runtime tracks which step each user is on and stores progress (e.g., in the browser and optionally on the server). Users see their position in the flow and can resume where they left off. You can use the analytics or progress API to see completion rates and where users drop off.

Publishing

When the flow is ready, use the Publish action in the builder. Publishing makes the onboarding available at a public or shareable URL (or embeds it in your app, depending on how you integrate). You can update steps at any time and republish so changes go live.

Analytics

The onboarding app can expose analytics (e.g., how many users started, completed, or stopped at each step). Use the Analytics tab or API for this onboarding to see completion rates and optimize the flow.

Embedding and links

You can link new users to the onboarding URL from your app (e.g., after signup) or embed the flow in a page so they see it in context. The runtime supports next/previous navigation, skip, and a completion screen so you can control the full experience.

Best practice: Keep onboarding short and focused—4–7 steps that get users to their first success (e.g., first project created, first integration connected). You can add more advanced steps later or in separate flows.

Summary

Create an onboarding app by choosing Onboarding, describing your flow (and optionally uploading context), and letting the AI generate the steps. Use the builder to set up steps: reorder them, edit titles and content, and choose step types and skip behavior. Use progress tracking, publishing, and analytics to run and improve the flow, and link or embed the onboarding so new users see it when they need it.