# Buttons
Buttons offers a rich UX for users by showing them a list of predefined options to choose from. This makes the chat more conversational.
The button action block is made up of 3 things:
1. Question to ask
2. Options to be displayed
3. Saving user input
## Question
A question that explains the user to choose from the list of buttons displayed.
For example, “What do you need assistance in?”.
## Options
Along with the question, we show a list of pre-defined options that the user can choose from.
These buttons are generally of two types:
### Branch buttons
Adding a branch button, adds a grey color node on the canvas. Using this node you can create different paths for each button in the chat flow.
For example, you can have a question like “How often do you shop online?” with the buttons,
* Every other day
* Once in a week
* Once in a month
* Rarely
{% hint style="info" %}
You can add a maximum of 10 buttons. To add more buttons, use the [Dynamic data](https://help.wotnot.io/build/action-blocks/dynamic-data) action block.
{% endhint %}
### URL buttons
Adding a URL button, allows you to open a webpage when that button is selected.
For example, you can have a button which says “Read case study” which when clicked opens a webpage on a new tab.
{% hint style="info" %}
You can also use 'mailto:' and 'tel:+919999999999' to open the email client or phone dialer when the button is clicked.
{% endhint %}
### Variables
Variables are used to store the button selected by the user, so you can reference it for later use.
You can either choose an existing variable from the dropdown or create a new one.
[Learn more](https://help.wotnot.io/build/interface/variables)
## Some more button settings
### Search
Enabling it shows a searchbox on top of the list of buttons, so that users can easily find the option they are looking for.
This is really helpful when you have a huge list of buttons.
### Multi-select
Allows the user to select multiple buttons at a time. After choosing the required buttons, user would need to hit “Send” to proceed to the next step in the chat flow.
When using multi-select, the flow will always route to the “Default” branch.
When using variables for multi-select, all values will be stored in a comma separated format i.e. “Fever, cough”.
### Buttons layout
Renders the button in the specified format:
* **Horizontal** – Horizontal placement of buttons as per available space.
* **Vertical** – Each item is displayed in a new line.
### Buttons sorting
You can choose to sort the list of buttons in the following order:
* A - Z – In an ascending order starting from A.
* Z - A – In a descending order starting from Z.
* Random – Button list will be randomized
* As defined – The order as displayed in the action panel.
### Free text input
By enabling "Enable free text" option, users can either choose from predefined buttons or type their own response in the chat input. Also, on the canvas a new "Free text" node will be added, which can be connected to an [AI agent](https://help.wotnot.io/build/action-blocks/agent) action block for AI-generated responses.
This allows for more natural, two-way conversations, and any free text entered can be handled by an AI agent for dynamic responses.
