Using the Challenge Feature

This article is about the Challenge feature in the admin system. This feature enables you to use various challenge templates (these are pre-made challenges that require no customization) and to create new challenges for your portal. 

What are Challenges?

Challenges are a series of engaging, multi-week wellness events; challenges are themed, meaning that the tasks included in an individual challenge are related to an overarching goal. For instance, a hydration Challenge would contain tasks that relate to staying hydrated or learning about the importance of hydration.

Challenges are segmented into Phases, with each phase containing its own arrangement of specific tasks. When a user accepts a challenge, they are given tasks for each phase which are either mandatory or optional. To successfully complete a Challenge, the user must complete all mandatory tasks in each phase, thereby earning the required points.

What are Challenge Templates?

These are premade, pre-arranged challenges that can be used as they are or they can be customized to meet individual needs. Customizing includes the ability to change the content of a challenge—which might include written copy or activity requirements—or the structure of a challenge, which is the configuration of the schedule to which members may participate.

Publishing Challenges for Portal Use

To set up a challenge for use in your portal, you need to publish a challenge (you can simply publish a template with no changes, customize a template, or, if you have the options enabled for your company, you can create a new challenge and publish it).

To get to the challenge manager page:

• Go to the Settings section


• Enter the portal management module


• Choose the portal you want to set up challenges for (if you only have access to one portal, this step is automatic)


• Select “Challenges” from the menu on the left in the CONTENT section

Here, you see a table that displays a row for each challenge that already exists in the portal. If you haven’t created any challenges yet, this table will be empty. When you have challenges that have been drafted and/or published, they will appear in rows with their associated details:

1. Choose the action you want to take for the challenge.


2. The title identifies the challenge.


3. The challenge is either a custom or a template (edited templates will be listed as custom).


4. This is the date of the most recent published version of the challenge.


5. The challenge is either a draft, in which case it is not currently in use for the portal, or published, which means it is in use.

Above the table to the right, you see the button options for IMPORT and CREATE. Importing is useful when you’ve created a new or customized challenge in one portal that you want to upload for use in another portal. In these cases, you export the challenge (with the actions option) from the portal it is in, then go to the portal you want to add it to and select IMPORT.

Creating a Challenge (Publishing a template or creating a new challenge)

Click the CREATE button and you will see a screen with all the challenge templates, each with a title and short description.

1. On the left side, you can explore the templates. Click on the one you want to publish and you can read the summary and description on the right.


2. Once you’ve chosen a template on the left, select the START FROM TEMPLATE button on the right side.

Challenge Properties

The upper-left corner has the three main property options for the challenge:

General

This section contains the title, summary, description, associated keywords, and thumbnail image (300x200) for the challenge. This is all prefilled for templates so no editing is necessary unless you want to customize something.

Program Settings

This section contains details regarding how “completion” is achieved by challenge participants. Once again, these settings are already prefilled with default settings for templates and do not generally need to be edited.

1. Program Completion Type—There are four different ways to define how a participant completes the challenge, which can be selected here:
   
   
   
   • 
     Minimum points means that once a participant has gained a preset number of points, the challenge is completed. If this is selected, the minimum point number can be set in the next field. (2)
   
   
   • 
     Minimum activities means that once a participant has finished a preset number of activities, the challenge is completed.
   
   
   • 
     Minimum required activities means that once a participant has finished a preset number of required activities, the challenge is completed (this differs from the previous type because the participant must complete activities marked specifically as required). If this option or the previous is selected, the minimum activity number can be set in the next field. (2)
   
   
   • 
     Minimum phases means that once a participant has finished a preset number of phases, the challenge is completed. If this option or the previous is selected, the minimum phase number can be set in the next field. (2)
   
   
   
   


2. Minimum Setting—Set the point, activity, or phase number here.


3. Activity Completion Type—This setting determines which phases the member can complete activities in as they are participating in a challenge.
   
   
   
   • 
     Current phase means the member can only complete activities in the phase that is currently in progress.
   
   
   • 
     Current and previous phase means the participant can complete activities in the current phase and the phase that preceded it.
   
   
   • 
     Current and all previous phases means the participant can complete activities in the current phase and ALL phases that preceded it.
   
   
   • 
     All phases means the participant can complete activities in any phase at any time during the challenge.
   
   
   
   


4. Filter By Portal Group—This is disabled by default which means that leaderboards will include all portal members and teams that are participating in the challenge; when enabled, leaderboards will only show participants and teams that are in the same portal.


5. Registration Flow—This is usually used to collect information from members; when this option is enabled, participants will be required to go through the flow to complete the registration process.

Start Settings

This section determines how a challenge is initiated, how a participant progress through it, and when the challenge is over. In this section, you will want to set the dates for the registration and program to start and the activity end and program archive dates (these are defined below).

• Start Type—There are two options: Fixed and On-Demand. (For templates, these are set as fixed by default.)
  
  
  
  • 
    Fixed means the challenge starts on a specific date and the rest of the fields listed below are relevant and must be filled out.
  
  
  • 
    On-Demand means that the challenge can be started any time a challenge is active. If this option is selected, then the only field that needs to be defined afterwards is “Progression Type.” Progression types for On-Demand are either “Fixed” or “Sliding.”
    
    
    
    • 
      Fixed progression means that the challenge will progress in a predetermined path, with phases beginning in a specifically timed order.
    
    
    • 
      Sliding progression means that a phases begins after all required activities for the previous phase are completed.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Participation Type—A challenge can be configured such that members can join as a group, as an individual, or both. If individual is chosen, the member joins by themselves and appears in leaderboards. If group is chosen, them members join a group and the groups appear in leaderboards. 


• Max Group Size—This must be greater than 1.


• Registration Start Date—This must occur before the “Program Start Date.”


• Registration End Date—This must be after the “Registration Start Date” and before the “Program End Date”; note that this can be set so that members can continue to register after the challenge has started.


• Program Start Date—This is the date the challenge starts.


• Program End Date—This is the date the challenge ends.


• Activity End Date—This is the last date that activity completion can be updated after the challenge ends.


• Program Archive Date—This is the date when the challenge will no longer appear on member portals.

After making any changes you feel you need, you can save and publish the template for use in your portal. If you want, you can view and customize phases for the challenge.

Understanding Phases: The Building Blocks of a Challenge

As a user progresses through a challenge, they do so in phases; each challenge must contain at least one phase. A phase contains activities, which are either required or optional, with each having a point value for completion. Phases are numbered and sequenced in ascending order.

In the top part of the page, you can set the main defining elements for the phase:

• This is the phase title.


• This is the description of the phase.


• This is the phase duration, in days, and is relevant for challenges that have a start type of fixed OR when the start type is on-demand AND the progression type is fixed.


• This is the sum of points available in the phase.


• This determines how the phase will be marked as completed:
  
  
  
  • Minimum Points—Once the predetermined minimum amount of points is earned within the phase, it is complete. If this option is selected, the point total must be entered.
  
  
  • 
    

    Minimum Activities—Once the predetermined minimum amount of optional activities are completed, the phase is completed. If this option is selected, the activity total must be entered. For this option, no activities can be marked as required.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    All Required Activities—Once all activities that are marked as required are completed, the phase is completed.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    All Required plus a Minimum Optional Activities—Once all required activities AND a minimum amount of optional activities are completed, the phase is completed.

    
    
  
  
  
  

Beneath the phase settings are the activities within the phase. The image below shows a tracker activity with the defining elements filled out:

1. Here you can describe the activity with a general call-to-action phrase or short paragraph.


2. Activities can be one of six types which can be selected from the dropdown menu. When any content type is selected (article, video, audio, or flow), the specific content piece must be selected from the portal's library or flow catalog.
   
   
   
   • Read an article—This activity is marked as completed when the member manually clicks a completion button.
   
   
   • Watch a video—This activity is marked as completed when the member manually clicks a completion button.
   
   
   • Listen to an audio—This activity is marked as completed when the member manually clicks a completion button.
   
   
   • Complete a flow—This activity is automatically marked as complete when the member reaches the end of the flow; flows are generally used for surveys, questionnaires, and short educational sequences of content and quizzes.
   
   
   • Custom—This is any general activity that is an instruction. For instance, "Go for a walk in the park" or "Visit your local community center" would both qualify. These activities are marked as completed when the member manually clicks a completion button.
   
   
   • Tracker—Once selected, you can choose the specific tracker (out of system, custom portal, or custom trackers specifically for the challenge). As you can see in the image above, tracker activities also require definition around what determines completion:
     
     
     
     • 
       Minimum entries means that the member will complete the activity when they've entered a specific number of entries in the tracker (multiple entries in a day count as separate entries).
     
     
     • 
       Streak means the member will complete the activity when they've added an entry a certain number of days in a row.
     
     
     • 
       Threshold means the member will complete the activity when they've reached a specific cumulative sum in the tracker. For example, if the activity is to "Walk 20 thousand steps this week," the member can track their steps and, once they've tracked 20 thousand steps, the activity is completed.
     
     
     • 
       Threshold streaks means the member will complete the activity when they've met a threshold a certain number of days in a row. For example, if the activity is to "Walk 10 thousand steps 3 days in a row," the member can track their steps and, once they've tracked 10 thousand steps or more 3 days in a row, the activity is completed.
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   


3. Choose the specific piece of content, flow, or tracker here. The selector will automatically accommodate for whichever you choose in step 2.


4. This is the point value for the activity.


5. Choose to mark as required or leave this box unchecked, which means the activity is optional.