Quick Start

This quick start guide walks you through creating your first Buildorado workflow from scratch — signing up, building a form, adding logic and actions, and publishing a live workflow. By the end, you will have a working multi-step form that collects data and triggers an automated action. No coding required, and the whole process takes about five minutes.

If you are looking for information on embedding workflows into your website, see the Installation and Embedding guide. For a deeper understanding of the workflow canvas, see the Workflows documentation.

Prerequisites

You need two things to get started:

A web browser — Buildorado works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. No plugins or extensions required.
An email address — Used to create your account. You can also sign up with Google OAuth for one-click access.

There is nothing to download or install. Buildorado is a fully hosted platform, so you build and manage everything in the browser. Your workflows, submissions, and integrations are stored securely in the cloud and accessible from any device.

Step 1: Create Your Buildorado Account

Go to buildorado.io and click Get Started. You can sign up with your email address or use your Google account for instant access.

After signing up, you land on the Dashboard. This is your home base where you manage all your workflows, view submissions, connect integrations, and adjust workspace settings. On the free tier, you get 3 workflows and 100 submissions per month — more than enough to build and test your first project.

No credit card is required for the free tier. You can upgrade later from the billing page if you need more workflows, higher submission limits, or features like custom domains and branding removal.

Step 2: Create a New Workflow

From the Dashboard, click the New Workflow button in the top-right corner. You have two options:

Blank Canvas — Start with an empty canvas and build from scratch. Best when you know exactly what you want or prefer full control.
Template — Browse the template marketplace and pick a pre-built workflow. Templates cover common use cases like contact forms, lead generation, event registration, feedback surveys, and payment collection. You can customize any template after installing it.

For this guide, choose Blank Canvas. The visual builder opens with an empty canvas and a sidebar on the left showing available node types. You will see categories for Form, Action, AI, Branch, and System nodes.

Tip: If you prefer, you can also describe your workflow in plain English using the AI copilot. Click the copilot icon and type something like "Create a contact form that collects name, email, and message, then sends me a Slack notification." The AI generates the workflow for you, and you can refine it from there.

Step 3: Add Form Fields

Every workflow starts with collecting user input. Drag a Form Node from the sidebar onto the canvas. Click on it to open the field editor.

Add fields by clicking the + Add Field button or dragging field types from the field palette. For a basic contact form, add these fields:

Text — Label it "Full Name" and mark it as required
Email — Label it "Email Address" and mark it as required (email validation is automatic)
Textarea — Label it "Message" and set a placeholder like "How can we help you?"
Select — Label it "Department" and add options like "Sales", "Support", and "General"

Each field opens a configuration panel where you can set:

Label and placeholder text — What the user sees
Validation rules — Required, min/max length, regex patterns, and custom error messages
Conditional visibility — Show or hide the field based on other answers (see Conditional Logic)
Width — Full, half, or third width for side-by-side layouts
Help text — Additional guidance displayed below the field

The form preview updates in real time as you add and configure fields, so you always see exactly what your users will experience.

For a full list of available field types, see the Form Builder documentation.

Step 4: Add Logic and Automation

Now that your form collects data, you can add downstream logic and actions. This is where Buildorado goes beyond a simple form builder.

Adding a Branch Node (Conditional Routing)

Drag a Branch Node from the sidebar and connect it to your form node by drawing an edge (click the form node's output handle and drag to the branch node's input handle).

Click the branch node to configure conditions. For example:

If Department equals "Sales" — route to a sales notification
If Department equals "Support" — route to a support ticket action
Default — route to a general notification

Each branch creates a separate path on the canvas. You can add different action nodes to each path so the workflow responds differently based on user answers. For more on how conditions work, see the Conditional Logic guide.

Adding Action Nodes

Drag an Action Node onto the canvas and connect it to the appropriate branch output. Common actions include:

Send Email — Send a confirmation email to the user or a notification to your team
Post to Slack — Notify a channel when a submission arrives (requires Slack integration)
Add to Google Sheets — Append the submission as a new row in a spreadsheet
Create CRM Contact — Push the lead to HubSpot or Salesforce
Trigger Webhook — Send the data to any URL for custom processing (see Webhooks)

Click on any action node to configure it. You can reference form field values using template variables with the {{nodeName.fieldName}} syntax. For example, an email body might include {{form.fullName}} and {{form.email}} to personalize the message.

Adding AI Nodes

If you want to process submissions with artificial intelligence, drag an AI Node onto the canvas. AI nodes can:

Summarize or classify free-text responses
Extract structured data from unstructured input
Generate personalized follow-up content
Analyze sentiment to route negative feedback to support

AI nodes support GPT-4, Claude, and other models. Configure the prompt and connect the output to downstream actions.

Step 5: Preview and Test Your Workflow

Before publishing, click the Preview button in the top toolbar. This opens a full interactive preview of your workflow exactly as users will see it.

Walk through every path in your workflow:

Fill in the form fields with test data
Submit and verify the conditional logic routes correctly
Check that action nodes trigger as expected (preview mode shows action outputs without actually sending emails or posting to Slack)
Test edge cases — try submitting empty required fields, entering invalid emails, and choosing each branch option

Preview mode highlights which nodes execute and shows the data flowing between them, making it easy to debug issues. If something is not working as expected, click the node to inspect its configuration and the data it received.

Tip: Name your nodes descriptively (e.g., "Sales Notification" instead of "Action 1"). This makes complex workflows much easier to understand and debug. You can rename any node by double-clicking its title on the canvas.

Step 6: Publish Your Workflow

When you are satisfied with your preview testing, click the Publish button. Your workflow goes live immediately and gets a unique shareable URL:

https://buildorado.io/f/your-workflow-id

You can share this link directly via email, social media, or messaging apps. Anyone with the link can fill out your form and trigger the workflow.

Embedding on Your Website

To embed the workflow on your website, copy the iframe embed code from the publish dialog:

<iframe
  src="https://buildorado.io/f/your-workflow-id"
  width="100%"
  height="600"
  frameborder="0"
  style="border: none;"
></iframe>

Paste this code into any HTML page, WordPress post, or website builder that supports custom HTML. The iframe is responsive and adapts to the container width.

For more embedding options including custom domains, JavaScript embeds, React components, and pre-filled fields, see the Installation and Embedding guide.

Step 7: Monitor Submissions

After publishing, head back to the Dashboard and click on your workflow. The Submissions tab shows every response in a searchable, sortable table. For each submission, you can see:

All form field values
The execution path taken (which branches and actions fired)
Timestamps and completion status
Any errors that occurred during execution

You can export submissions as CSV, or set up a Google Sheets integration to sync them automatically in real time.

What to Do Next

Now that your first workflow is live, here are recommended next steps based on what you want to build:

For Form Builders

Form Builder — Explore all 35 field types, validation options, themes, and multi-step forms
Conditional Logic — Create dynamic forms that show and hide fields based on answers
Templates — Browse and customize pre-built templates

For Automation Builders

Workflows — Deep dive into nodes, edges, variables, and execution
Logic Nodes — Explore branching, loops, merges, HTTP requests, and code execution
AI Nodes — Agent, Vision, Image Generation, Speech-to-Text, and more
Integrations — Connect Slack, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Stripe, and 30+ more

For Developers

Installation and Embedding — iFrame, custom domain, JavaScript, React, and embedding options
Webhooks — Push real-time events to your backend
HTTP Request — Call external APIs with authentication and pagination
Webhook Listener — Trigger workflows from incoming HTTP requests
Schedule — Run workflows on cron schedules or intervals

For Payment Workflows

Payment Integrations — Set up Stripe and PayPal for one-time payments and subscriptions
Conditional Logic — Calculate dynamic pricing based on form answers

Frequently Asked Questions

How many workflows can I create on the free tier?

The free tier includes 3 workflows and 100 submissions per month. Each workflow can have unlimited nodes, fields, and integrations. If you need more, paid plans offer higher limits along with features like custom domains, branding removal, and priority support. You can upgrade at any time from the billing page in your dashboard.

Can I edit a workflow after publishing it?

Yes. Click on any published workflow from the dashboard to open it in the builder. Make your changes, preview them, and click Publish again. The updated version goes live immediately at the same URL. Existing submissions are preserved and unaffected by changes to the workflow structure.

Do I need to set up integrations before building my workflow?

No. You can build and preview your entire workflow first, then connect integrations when you are ready. Action nodes will show a "not connected" status until you authenticate the integration in Settings > Integrations. This means you can design and test the full flow before worrying about API credentials or OAuth setup.

Can I duplicate or copy an existing workflow?

Yes. From the dashboard, click the three-dot menu on any workflow and select Duplicate. This creates an exact copy of the workflow including all nodes, edges, field configurations, and action settings. The duplicate starts in Draft state so you can modify it before publishing. You can also export workflows as templates to share with your team or the community.

On this page