Journeys
A journey is something Rover can walk your visitors through — a tour, a setup, a fix. You write the brief in plain language; Rover finds the path on the live page.
What a journey is
A journey is a brief, not a click-script. You state the goal, the outcome you want, and up to four chapters. Rover reads the live page and picks the path itself while it runs.
You can start a journey two ways in the Workspace: write one sentence and Rover turns it into an editable journey, or let Rover read your site and draft your first three for review. Either way, new journeys start in Preview — the launch chip stays hidden until you set them Live. In the editor, edits stay in a draft until you review the changes and keep them.
The four kinds
Every journey has a kind. It also sets the engagementKind value used in Rover Analytics and URL launches: demo, onboarding, support, or task.
| Kind | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Demo | Show what your product can do. |
| Onboarding | Walk a new user to their first win. |
| Support | Help a visitor fix something that's stuck. |
| Task | Get a job done for the visitor, end to end. |
Chapters
Chapters are the stops, in the order visitors walk them. Each chapter answers four questions: where in your product, what Rover shows there, why it matters to the visitor, and done when — the signal that the stop landed.
- Four chapters is the cap — tight journeys land better.
- No chapters is allowed: Rover improvises one continuous walk toward the goal. Add chapters to take control of the route.
- Once a journey has traffic, each chapter shows how many visitors made it there and which stop is the biggest drop-off, plus the top blocker across walks. See Rover Analytics.
A journey can also carry an opening line, per-journey rules (up to 8 allowed areas and 6 never-do rules), and a closing step — book a call, start a trial, see pricing, or a custom link.
Quick answers vs. full journeys
Each journey can have a launch chip — the tappable label that starts it. Remove the chip and visitors can still start the journey by asking for it. A chip can be limited to specific pages: one page address per line, each starting with /, up to 20. Empty means every page.
Quick answers are the lighter tool: one-tap questions Rover answers on the spot — no walk-through. Each has a label, what it answers, and the same optional page list. Use a quick answer when the visitor needs a fact. Use a journey when they need to be walked somewhere.
Rollout: Off, Preview, Live
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Off | Paused entirely. |
| Preview | Only you see it. The Test button opens your site with a short-lived preview authorization so you can walk the journey yourself. |
| Live | Visitors get it. |
When Rover speaks first
By default Rover opens only when a visitor clicks it. The Rules tab in Journeys turns on proactive engagement: Rover opens once per session for the visitors you choose and offers one to three journeys. Visitors settle in first, and a dismissal starts a quiet period Rover respects.
- Who & when — first-time visitors, returning visitors, or both, optionally filtered by signed-in state (anonymous, identified, grouped). Rover waits for a dwell of 3 – 60 seconds before opening (default 10; 8 – 15 works best). After a dismissal it stays quiet for 1 – 720 hours (default 24).
- Where — up to 20 page patterns, one path per line starting with
/;*matches one segment; empty means every page. A never-open-on list wins over the pages above. - What it says — pick the presentation (adaptive, short welcome band, full welcome window, or compact card) and whether AI personalizes the welcome or it uses fixed copy. Optional: first- and return-visit goals (300 characters each), openers (200 characters each;
{name}inserts the visitor's known name or collapses cleanly), a style reference (240 characters — a tone reference, never a script), and welcome voice (ask first, play if already unlocked, or off). - Which journeys — leave all unchecked to offer any journey that's on, or pick specific ones. Before any journeys exist, Rover offers a generic "Show me around" starter; you can turn it off.
Run settings
Rover already works in the cloud on your own site and in your visitor's browser. The Run settings tab adds two switches, both off until you opt in:
- Third-party cloud tools — approved journeys may read or act on other sites through RTRVR's cloud browser. Work on your own site is unaffected.
- Delegated handoffs — approved journeys may hand work to an automation you own. Leave off unless that handoff is configured.
If your site was installed through a platform such as Webflow or Wix, execution policy is managed there — reopen Rover from that platform to change it. Sites set to Analytics only must switch that off from the Install section of the Workspace first.
Launching from a URL
Any page URL can start Rover on load — useful in emails, docs, and support replies. Add exactly one selector:
| Parameter | Starts |
|---|---|
?rover= | A plain-language ask, written in the URL. |
?rover_shortcut= | A launch chip or quick answer, by its id. |
?rover_playbook= | A specific journey, by its id. |
?rover_kind= | Optional hint riding along: demo, onboarding, support, or task. It never launches on its own. |
https://example.com/pricing?rover=Walk%20me%20through%20the%20pricing%20tiers&rover_kind=demo
https://example.com/docs?rover_playbook=pb_first_import- Use exactly one of
rover,rover_shortcut, orrover_playbook, and each parameter at most once. - The whole URL is capped at 1,800 characters.
- After launching, Rover removes its parameters from the address bar, so a refresh or a shared copy does not relaunch.
- URL launches follow the site's AI access setting unless your install config enables or disables them explicitly. See Connect AI.