User manual

Odoo 19 · Step-by-step guides for authors and end users. Screens below follow a real flow: configure a Sale Model tour on Sales Order, capture steps, then run the guide from Quotations.

1. What this module does

Process Guide Engine is a two-in-one user enablement suite for the Odoo backend:

• Guided tours — step-by-step in-app guides where each step highlights a real control (field, button, menu, filter, or custom target). Users can open them from the systray (compass icon) when a guide matches the current screen, or have them start automatically. Move with Previous, Next, Finish, or Skip; completion can show Odoo’s rainbow reward effect.
• Contextual Help & SOPs — a side-mounted Help button is available on every backend screen. Clicking it opens a slide-in panel listing the Standard Operating Procedures that match the current model and view type. Users can read the SOP and, if configured, launch a linked guided tour directly from the panel.

Authors use the Process Guides application to manage tours, steps, SOPs, and (for managers) user progress.

Authoring: tour form with Step Builder panel

Tour Sale Model in Draft; Open Step Builder opens the capture panel on the right.

2. Installation and upgrade

1. Copy the process_guide_engine folder into your Odoo addons path.
2. Enable Developer mode if needed, open Apps, Update Apps List.
3. Search for Process Guide Engine, click Install.
4. After upgrading the module from your vendor, use Upgrade on the app (or -u process_guide_engine on the database).

Apps home with Process Guides installed

After updating apps list and installing, the app icon appears in the Odoo home dashboard.

3. Security groups and access

Assign Manager (or Admin) only to users who should design and publish guides.

Security groups on user form

Assign Process Guide User, Manager, or Admin based on authoring responsibilities.

4. Process Guides app (managers)

Open the app switcher and choose Process Guides (compass-style icon).

• Overview (default): Kanban by Draft, Published, and Archived. Use the view switcher for List or Form.
• All tours: List-first for editing many records.
• Progress: All user/company progress rows.
• User manual (menu): Opens this documentation page in a new tab.

Overview kanban in Process Guides app

Managers can browse published tours from the default overview board.

5. Creating and configuring a tour

5.1 Main fields

• Name — Title in systray and runner.
• Priority — Higher first when several tours match.
• Scope type — Model/View (model + optional view type) or Module (app menu XML ID module prefix). Module-scoped tours can appear on the home grid without a model context.
• Start mode — Automatic, Manual, or Both.
• Repeatable — If off, completed users no longer see the tour.
• Companies / Allowed groups — Optional restrictions.

5.2 Steps tab

Steps are ordered by sequence. Each has title, optional description, tooltip position, and targeting (see §6).

Tour form: scope, start mode, and empty Steps list

Example: Target Model Sales Order, Start Mode Automatic and Manual, steps added next via builder or list.

6. Steps: types, targets, and waits

6.1 Step types

6.2 Wait and retries

• Wait type — None, page render, or click / input on the target (Next may wait; Finish on last step stays available).
• Wait timeout, Retry count / interval — Finding the target after navigation.

Steps captured: New, Add Customer, Add Product, …

Each line is a Custom selector step created from the builder; adjust wait/retry if needed.

7. Step Builder and Pick target

On a saved tour, Open Step Builder: start capture, click controls to add steps, Finish reloads the form. On a line, Pick sets selector/label for one step. Save records before picking.

Step Builder on Quotations list — capture the New button

Green outline on the target; Add this as step? confirms title, description, and tooltip position.

Step Builder on quotation form — capture Customer

Same flow on a form view; selector is stored for the runner (e.g. field target).

Step Builder side panel while capturing

Use Pause Capture to stop hover targeting, then Finish to return to the tour form.

8. Draft, publish, archive

• Draft — Not shown to end users.
• Published — Shown when rules match; needs steps and valid scope.
• Archived — Hidden from runners.

Lifecycle: Draft → Publish → Archive

Use Publish when steps and scope are valid; same header appears on the tour form above.

9. Running tours (end users)

• Systray — Compass (desktop); manual/both tours for current context.
• Auto-start — Auto/both when the screen matches.
• Each run starts at the first step; progress is per user and company.

Systray: available guides for current screen

Compass menu lists matching tours and shows the step count badge.

Runner step 1 — highlight and tooltip on New

Previous / Next / Skip; step counter (e.g. 1 / 7).

Runner step 2 — Add Customer on the quotation form

User follows highlights across views; Finish on the last step completes the guide.

10. Progress tracking

Managers open Progress in the app: current step, state, completion/skipped, timestamps.

Progress list for managers

Track per-user completion state, current step, and completion timestamps.

11. Help Center and SOPs (side panel)

The Help Center gives your users the right Standard Operating Procedure on every backend screen, without leaving Odoo. A vertical Help tab is docked on the right edge of the viewport; clicking it slides in a panel that lists only the SOPs that match the user’s current screen (model + view type), company, and security groups.

Help tab docked on the right edge

Visible on every backend screen (here on the Quotations list). One click opens the Help Center panel.

Help Center panel — SOPs for the current screen

Slide-in panel showing a filtered list of SOPs (here: Sale order SOP with its one-line summary) for the current model and view.

11.1 Creating an SOP

Managers (group Process Guide Manager) open Process Guides ▸ SOPs ▸ New. Each SOP has:

• Name — Title shown in the panel list and on the detail page.
• Summary — One-line hint shown under the title in the list.
• Body — Rich HTML content (the full procedure). Images, headings, and links are supported.
• Target Model — The Odoo model the SOP applies to. Leave empty to make the SOP visible on every backend screen.
• View Type — All, Form, List, or Kanban — restrict the SOP to one layout.
• Companies — Multi-company scoping (defaults to current company).
• Allowed Groups — Optional: restrict visibility to specific user groups.
• Priority / Sequence — Control ordering in the side panel (higher priority first, then by sequence).
• Linked Tour — Optional: select a published guided tour. A Play tour button will appear when users open this SOP.

SOP form (manager view) — targeting, display, and body

Example: Sale order SOP, Published, targeting model Sales Order, view type All, scoped to YourCompany; Body authored in the rich HTML editor.

11.2 Publishing workflow

• Draft — Authoring mode; not visible to end users.
• Published — Visible in the Help panel when targeting rules match. A body is required to publish.
• Archived — Hidden from the Help panel without losing history.

11.3 End-user experience

1. User navigates to any screen (e.g. Sales ▸ Quotations list, or a Sales Order form).
2. They click the vertical Help tab on the right edge of the screen.
3. A slide-in panel appears with a Help Center header, a count of available guides, and a list of matching SOPs — title + summary, plus a small Includes guided tour tag when a tour is linked.
4. Clicking an entry opens that SOP inside the panel with its full formatted body.
5. If a tour is linked, a Play tour button in the panel footer launches it immediately; otherwise the panel can be closed with the × button.

11.4 Linking SOPs and tours

The Help Center and the tour system are fully complementary:

• Use an SOP when users need to read context, rules, checklists, or references.
• Use a tour when users need to be walked through concrete clicks and fields.
• Use the Linked Tour field to offer both: read the SOP in the panel, then press Play tour to run the guided walkthrough on the same screen.

12. Tips and troubleshooting

• Target not found — Re-pick or use stable selectors (menu XML ID, field).
• Tour never appears — Published?, companies, groups, scope, start mode.
• Tooltip vs menus — Prefer side placement for navbar steps.
• SOP not visible in the Help panel — Check that the SOP is Published, that the Target Model / View Type match the current screen (or are left empty for global), and that the user belongs to the Allowed Groups and company.
• Help tab is missing — The user must have the Process Guide User group (included in internal users by default). Hard-reload the page after installing or upgrading so the asset bundle refreshes.

13. Picker keyboard shortcuts

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