Ready to set up Candu for your company? This guide walks you through setting up Candu for your company, from coordinating installation and setting up a workspace to launching your first content!

New to Candu? Start with What is Candu? and How Candu Works to understand the fundamentals before diving into setup.

Before you get started

Before you get started, we recommend you decide where Candu will have the most impact first. Starting with a clear, focused use case helps you validate value quickly. Here are the top three areas most companies get started with:

→ User Onboarding (Best if: you have new user activation challenges)

Onboarding checklists that guide users through setup
Product tours that highlight key features

→ Product Education (Best if: users aren't discovering key features)

Feature announcements for new releases
Tooltips and hotspots that explain functionality
Help center content embedded where users work

→ Adoption Campaigns (Best if: you need to drive specific behaviors)

Promotional banners for events or launches
Upsell modals for free-to-paid conversion
Segmented experiments to test messaging

Start Small

Launch, learn, iterate. Then scale!

Step 1: Prepare Your Candu Workspace

This step requires coordination with a developer or technical teammate. You'll work together to install Candu and configure your workspace.

Understanding workspaces

Workspaces are separate instances of Candu within your account. Each workspace has its own:

Content library
Installation script
Whitelisted domains
User data and segments

Content created in one workspace only appears in the environment where that workspace is installed.

Learn more: Create & Manage Workspaces→

Decide Your Workspace Strategy

Most teams start with one workspace connected to their production environment. This is the simplest approach and you can add more when you have a specific need.

You may need multiple workspaces if:

You have separate staging and production environments and want to build/test in staging first
You have multiple domains (e.g., main app + marketing site + academy center)

Note: You can also test with segments in production (e.g., "Internal Team Only"), so you don't necessarily need a separate workspace for testing.

Invite Your Team

Candu works best as a cross-functional tool. Unlike platforms that charge per seat, Candu charges based on Monthly Active Users viewing your content, so invite your whole team!

More about inviting your team and permissions here.

Install Candu

Work with your developer to add the Candu script to your application.

What your developer needs:

Your Candu Client Token (found in Settings > Installation in your Candu dashboard)
(Optional) User traits or events if you want to sync user data. You don't need to send everything at once. Pick 2-3 traits and 2-3 events that matter for your first use case. You can always add more later.

Share these resources with your developer:

Installing Candu (main installation guide)
Setup & Install collection (platform-specific guides, if needed)
Setting up segmentation (detailed guide)
Segment.com integration (if using a CDP)

Verify installation: Download and use the Candu Chrome Extension on your live site to check installation status. More details here.

Step 2: Set Your Default Styles

Before creating content, set up your Styleguide with your brand's fonts, colors, buttons, etc. Your Styleguide acts as a shared design system for all Candu content. Set it up once, and every piece of content your team creates will inherit these styles.

To get started, go to Styleguide on the left sidebar.

Tip: Anyone can set up the Styleguide, but we recommend involving your Product Designer or UX Designer.

Note: Upload custom fonts if needed (requires a hosted font URL)

Learn more: Setting up your Styleguide →

Step 3: Learn the Editor with Templates

Candu's drag-and-drop editor lets you build complex, responsive content without code. The fastest way to learn is by starting with a template rather than building from scratch.

Start with the Template Library

Templates show you what's possible and give you a working foundation to customize.

To explore templates:

Navigate to Content on the left sidebar.
You'll see options across the top: Blank Canvas, Banner, Carousel, Checklist, Empty State, Form, and more:

Essential Editor Resources

Candu Editor Glossary (terminology and components)
Build Your First Content in Candu (get started with a banner template)
Design & Build Content collection (comprehensive guides)

Organize Content with Sections & Templates

As your team creates more content, staying organized becomes critical. Candu offers two powerful ways to keep your workspace tidy and efficient.

Sections: Organize Your Content

Sections are like folders in your Content list. You'll see Uncategorized by default. Everything you make starts there until you move it. Learn more about sections.

Templates: Share Best Practices

Create reusable templates to speed up content creation for common use cases and share proven patterns that drive results with your team. Learn more about templates.

Step 4: Create Your First Segment (Optional)

Segments let you define your audience. If your use case requires targeting or you want to test your content with a small group of users, here's how to create a segment:

Go to Segments on the left sidebar
Click Create Segment
Add a name and description
Define conditions

Learn more:

Step 5: Launch Your First Content

Here's the complete journey of how Candu content reaches your users:

Install → Add Candu's script to your application so it can display content
Design → Build content in Candu's visual editor
Place → Tell Candu where content should appear on your pages
Target → Control which users see content
Publish → Make content live for your users

The publishing process in Candu is relatively simple, but success depends on getting a few key things. Before diving into the how-to, it helps to understand what needs to be set before you launch content with Candu.

Learn more about launching Candu content: Publish Candu Content.

Resources & Next Steps

Here are essential resources to help you succeed:

Publishing & Placement

Previewing Your Content: Test content safely before going live
Placing Content on Specific Pages: Control where content appears
URL Targeting: Target content to specific pages
The Candu Chrome Extension: Verify installation, preview and place inline content