FAQ & glossary

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

What is Activator 3? Activator 3 is Anthill's content authoring platform for life sciences. It lets you create, edit, review, and publish omnichannel content — emails, slides, eDetailers, and briefs — connected to your organisation's content repository (e.g. Veeva Vault).

What's the difference between Activator 2 and Activator 3? Activator 3 is a full rebuild with a new architecture, improved performance, and new capabilities including in-app Design Systems (DS3), an updated editor experience, and multi-tenant support. If your organisation has recently migrated or started a new project, you are likely on Activator 3. If you're unsure, check with your Anthill project lead.

What can I create in Activator 3? You can create emails (including fragments), slides, eDetailers (slide-based presentations for field reps), briefs, and binders. See What you can create in Activator 3 for the full overview.

What browsers are supported? Activator 3 supports the latest versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. For the most current list, see Supported Browsers.

How do I access Activator 3? Your organisation's Anthill administrator will provide you with a login URL and credentials. Access is managed per tenant.

Content Authoring

How do I create a new document? From the Dashboard, click "Create" and select the content type you want to work with (email, slide, brief, etc.). See Create a document for step-by-step instructions.

Can I duplicate an existing document? Yes. You can duplicate any document you have access to from the Workspace or Dashboard. The duplicate will be created as a new, independent document. See Duplicate a document.

What is the Briefcase (Copy/Paste)? The Briefcase is Activator's clipboard for copying and pasting content elements between documents or within the same document. It preserves formatting and component structure. See Copy/Paste (Briefcase).

What are Helpers? Helpers are utility functions available within the editor that assist with common tasks like alignment, spacing, and content formatting. See Helpers.

What are Layouts? Layouts are predefined content structures that define how elements are arranged on a slide, email, or other content type. Layouts are managed through the Design System. You select a Layout when building your content, then populate its placeholders with text, images, and Modular Content. See Layouts.

Why can't I edit certain parts of my content? Your organisation may have Content Rules applied to specific Layout elements. Content Rules restrict what can be changed by content editors to ensure compliance and consistency. If you believe an element should be editable, check with your project administrator or Anthill support.

Modular Content

What is Modular Content? Modular Content refers to pre-approved content snippets (text, images, headlines, disclaimers, etc.) stored in Veeva Vault. You can import and link these directly to Layout elements in Activator, reducing manual work and speeding up MLR review. See Modular Content.

How do I import Modular Content? Open your document in the Editor view, go to the Content tab, and click "Import modules." You can filter by product and country, then select and import the modules you need. See Importing Modular Content.

I can't find the module I need in the import overlay. What should I do? Check your product and country filters — modules are filtered by these values. If the module still doesn't appear, it may not yet be available in Veeva Vault for your brand or market. Contact your Veeva Vault administrator or Anthill project lead.

What happens if I edit imported Modular Content? The content will be flagged as "Modified" (shown in red) in the MLR preview. The original approved version and your modifications will both be visible in the MLR report, so reviewers can see exactly what changed.

Can I remove a Modular Content link without deleting the text? Yes. Clicking "Clear" on a Layout element's Modular Content button removes the link to the Vault module but keeps the imported text or image in place.

Email

What are Email Tokens? Tokens are dynamic placeholders in your email content that get replaced with real values at send time (e.g. recipient name, unsubscribe link, company address). Available tokens depend on your distribution platform (e.g. Veeva CRM, SFMC). See Email Tokens.

What are Email Fragments? Fragments are reusable, self-contained email sections (e.g. a header, footer, or CTA block) that can be shared across multiple emails. Changes to a fragment propagate to all emails that use it. See Email Fragments.

What are Email Components? Components are the building blocks within an email layout — text blocks, image blocks, button blocks, and so on. They are defined in the Design System and assembled into layouts. See Email Components.

How do I test an email before publishing? Use the "Test" function to send a test email to yourself or colleagues. This lets you verify rendering across email clients before submitting for review. See Test an email.

Why does my email look different in Outlook vs. Gmail? Email rendering varies across clients. Activator generates standards-compliant HTML email, but Outlook in particular has limited CSS support. See Email Limitations and Email Layout Design Best Practices for guidance on designing for cross-client compatibility.

What is Email Metadata? Email metadata includes properties like subject line, preheader text, sender name, and other fields required by your distribution platform. These are configured per email document. See Email Metadata.

Slides & eDetailer

What is an eDetailer? An eDetailer is an interactive, slide-based presentation used by pharmaceutical field representatives during healthcare professional (HCP) meetings. eDetailers are typically delivered via Veeva CRM (CLM) on tablets.

How do I add navigation between slides? Navigation and slide fragments let you create multi-slide flows with defined paths. See How to Use Navigation and Slide Fragments.

What are Slide Popups? Popups are overlay elements within a slide that appear when triggered by a user interaction (e.g. tapping a button). They are commonly used for additional detail, references, or disclaimers. See How to access Slide Popups.

What are Interactions in slides? Interactions define what happens when a user taps or clicks an element on a slide — opening a popup, navigating to another slide, triggering an animation, etc. See How to create and trigger interactions.

Can I make my slides responsive? Yes. Activator supports responsive slide design for different screen sizes. See Responsive slide.

Banners

What is a Banner in Activator? A Banner is a content type in Activator used to create HTML banners — both animated and static — for distribution to ad platforms. A single Banner document targets multiple ad viewports (e.g. 300×250, 300×600, 728×90), with each viewport rendered from its own HTML source. Banners are not enabled by default and must be activated per customer configuration. See Banners for the full overview.

How do I create a banner? From the Dashboard, click "Create" and select "Banner" as the document type. You'll then choose a Design System configured for Banners, select which viewports the banner should target, and indicate whether each viewport should be animated, static, or both. The first viewport you select becomes the main viewport, used as the initial focus in the editor. See Create a Banner for step-by-step instructions.

What are scenes and how does the Scene Manager work? Banners are composed of scenes that play in sequence (scene 1, scene 2, scene 3, then loop). The Scene Manager is the panel where you add, remove, and reorder scenes, switch between animated and static representations, and navigate between scenes during editing. It is the only component in the banner editor that operates across all viewports simultaneously — adding or deleting a scene affects every viewport at once. See Scene Manager .

How does the multi-viewport editor canvas work? The banner editor uses a multi-iframe canvas that renders every configured viewport side-by-side. Only one viewport is in focus and editable at a time, while the others stay visible for context. The layouts panel filters automatically based on the focused viewport, showing only layouts compatible with that size. To adjust the same content across multiple viewports, switch focus to each in turn. See Banner Editor: Multiviewport Canavas.

How does banner publishing differ from other channels? Unlike other channels that publish a single source file, a banner publishes a bundle of distribution packages — one per viewport — plus visual representations for review. Activator compiles each viewport's HTML, CSS, and compressed local assets into a self-contained folder, records an MP4 video preview for each animated viewport, captures an image for each static viewport, and generates a single MLR report covering every scene of every viewport. See Publishing a Banner.

Design Systems

What is a Design System in Activator? A Design System defines the visual and structural rules for your content — colours, fonts, component styles, layouts, and content rules. It ensures brand and compliance consistency across all content produced for a brand or market.

What's the difference between DS2 and DS3? DS2 (static) is the legacy approach where Design Systems are managed as uploaded static assets (CSS, JS, configuration files). DS3 (in-app) is the current approach where Design Systems are managed directly within Activator's interface. New projects typically use DS3. If your project was set up before DS3 was available, you may still be on DS2. Check with your Anthill project lead if you're unsure.

What is Design System Inheritance? Inheritance means that a child Design System can extend or override settings from a parent Design System. This lets organisations maintain a global brand standard while allowing market- or channel-level variations. See Design System Inheritance.

What is Design System Governance? Governance defines who can create, edit, and publish Design System changes, and what approval process applies. This is critical in regulated environments where visual and structural consistency affects compliance. See Design System Governance.

Can I copy an existing Design System? Yes. You can copy a Design System to use as a starting point for a new brand or market. See Copy a Design System.

Review & Publishing

How do I preview my content? Click the Preview button in the Editor view. You can toggle between Design preview (how it looks) and MLR preview (approval status of each content element). See Preview content.

What is MLR review? MLR (Medical, Legal, Regulatory) review is the pharma industry's standard approval process for promotional and medical content. Activator doesn't perform the review itself, but it generates reports that support the process by showing which content elements are approved, modified, or unapproved.

What do the MLR status colours mean?

• Green (Approved): Content linked from Veeva Vault that has been previously approved through MLR.

• Purple (Unapproved): New content or content that hasn't been through MLR review.

• Red (Modified): Content originally linked from Vault but subsequently edited in Activator. The report highlights the specific changes.

How do I generate an MLR PDF report? In MLR preview mode, click "Get MLR Report." The system generates a downloadable PDF. This may take a few moments depending on content complexity — you'll receive a notification when it's ready. See MLR PDF report.

How do I publish content? Once your content has been reviewed and approved, use the Publish function to push it to your connected content repository. See Publish content.

How do I translate content? Activator supports content translation workflows. See Translate content.

Media & Assets

What file formats are supported? Activator supports a defined set of image, video, and document formats. See Supported asset formats for the full list.

What characters are allowed in filenames? Certain special characters are not supported in filenames and may cause upload or processing failures. See Supported characters.

Where do I manage images and other media? The Media Library within Activator lets you browse, upload, and manage media assets for your project. See Media Library.

Access & Permissions

What roles exist in Activator 3? Activator supports multiple roles with different levels of access — typically including content editors, designers, reviewers, and administrators. The exact roles and permissions depend on your organisation's configuration. See Roles & permissions.

I can't access a feature or document. What should I do? Your access is determined by your assigned role and the tenant configuration set by your administrator. If you believe you should have access to something you can't reach, contact your organisation's Activator administrator or raise a ticket via the Service Desk.

Support

How do I contact support? Visit the Activator Service Desk to submit a support request. Include your tenant name, the content type you're working with, and a description of the issue. Screenshots are always helpful. See Get help (Service Desk).

What's the difference between a bug and a customisation request? A bug is unexpected behaviour in the software — something that should work but doesn't. A customisation request is a change to how your organisation's Activator instance is configured (e.g. adding a new layout, adjusting a content rule, modifying a design system setting). Bugs are covered under your support agreement. Customisation requests may require a separate scope discussion with your Anthill project team.

Glossary