Flipbook: Testing and Handoff Brief

Summary

Staff now has the ability to upload a PDF in Odoo and get a public link that pages turn like a real book, with section tabs, clickable CTAs, video, tracking and email sharing.

What we built

A Flipbooks app in Odoo where approved staff upload a PDF catalog and publish it as a page-turning book at its own link. Everything is managed from the flipbook's form; the public page needs no login.

The viewer (what visitors see)

• Two-page spreads on desktop, single pages on phones, with a realistic page turn and a page-turn sound visitors can mute.
• Section tabs on the edge of the book jump to each section; on phones they become a row of section buttons.
• Thumbnails, a contents list, search, zoom, full screen, page jump, download, print and share (social, email, copy link).
• Buttons in the top bar on every page, such as "Set Up Your Account" and "Schedule Portal Training".
• Clickable areas (hotspots) placed on pages: a link, or a video that plays over the book.

Managing a flipbook (backend tabs)

• Sections: label, start page and color for each tab.
• Buttons: label, link and style for the top-bar buttons.
• Hotspots: opens the viewer in edit mode to draw, move and resize clickable areas.
• Links: every link with the exact address visitors will open, a link checker, and a Confirmed toggle for sign-off.
• Sent: who the flipbook was emailed to and whether they opened it.
• Analytics: views, unique visitors, known contacts, time spent, completion, downloads, shares and CTA clicks.
• Viewer Options: cover page, download, print, sound, colors and UTM tag settings.

Tracking

Each visit records the date, contact and company (when known), location, device, where they came from, UTM tags, pages seen, reading time, downloads, shares, and every CTA click or video play. Employee visits are logged but left out of the totals. Visitor IP addresses are deleted automatically after 90 days.

Sharing by email

Any employee can send a flipbook from a contact (Action > Send Flipbook) or from the flipbook itself. Each recipient gets a personal link, so their visit is credited to them in Analytics even without logging in.

Who can do what

How to test

Allow about an hour in Chrome, plus a quick pass in Safari and on a phone. Keep a private (incognito) window open to act as a public visitor. Each step lists what you should see; tick it off as you go.

1. Create and publish a flipbook

• Open the Flipbooks app > New. Enter a name and upload the catalog PDF. After saving, the page count and URL slug fill in.
• Upload a file that isn't a PDF. It's rejected with a clear message.
• Sections tab: add 3 or 4 sections with start pages and colors. Click Preview on one; the viewer opens at that page.
• Buttons tab: add "Set Up Your Account" (the Account Setup link) and "Schedule Portal Training" (the scheduling link). The Final URL column shows UTM tags added.
• Turn on Published and copy the Public Link.

2. The viewer on desktop

• Turn pages with the bottom-bar arrows, side arrows, arrow keys, clicking a page and dragging a corner. Each turn plays the sound once.
• Mute with the speaker button. Flips go silent, and it stays muted after a refresh.
• Section tabs sit on the right; passed sections move to the left; clicking a tab jumps to it.
• Pages panel shows thumbnails and the Contents list; Search finds a word and jumps to its page.
• Zoom, Full screen, Download and Print all work. Share > Copy link copies the address.
• Each top-bar button opens in a new tab with UTM tags in the address.
• Links built into the PDF open in a new tab with UTM tags. Flipping back and forth quickly never shows a 404.

3. Phone

• Single pages that turn with a swipe.
• Section buttons and top-bar buttons wrap onto extra rows; nothing runs off the screen.

4. Hotspots and video

• Hotspots tab > Add or Move Hotspots in the Viewer. Edit mode opens with a panel on the right.
• Drag a box on a page, enter a link and save. "Hotspot saved" appears.
• Draw a box, set it to Video with a YouTube or Vimeo link, save.
• Draw a box, set it to Video > Upload file with an MP4 under 100 MB, save.
• Move and resize a hotspot, save, refresh. It stays where you left it.
• As a visitor: the link hotspot opens in a new tab; video hotspots show a play badge and play over the book; the MP4 plays and seeks in Chrome and Safari.

5. Confirm links before go-live

• Links tab > Check All Links. Every link shows its final address and a status (OK, Redirects, Broken, or Ignored by the viewer).
• Review each address, then toggle Confirmed (or Mark All Confirmed).

6. Tracking

• In a private window, open the public link with ?utm_source=test&utm_campaign=qa added. Turn pages, click a button and a hotspot, play a video, download, then close the window.
• Flipbooks > Analytics > Views shows the visit with the UTM tags, pages seen, time spent and Downloaded ticked.
• Flipbooks > Analytics > CTA Clicks lists the button click, hotspot click, video play and download.
• Your own visit while logged in appears only after removing the Exclude Employees filter.

7. Send by email

• Open a contact with an email address > Action > Send Flipbook > pick the flipbook > Send. A note appears on the contact's chatter.
• The email has a greeting with the contact's name, the note, an Open the catalog button and the sender's signature.
• Open the link from the email in a private window. Analytics > Views shows the contact, Identified By = Emailed Link, and Came From = Email. The flipbook's Sent tab shows 1 open.
• Sending to a contact with no email address is blocked with their name.

8. Permissions

• A Flipbook Editor sees others' published flipbooks read-only, with a banner naming the creator.
• An employee without Flipbook access has no Flipbooks app but can still send from contacts.
• An unpublished flipbook's link shows a 404 in a private window, and opens with a Preview banner for its creator or a Manager.