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Summary
There are a number of settings available to DeepThought chatbot administrators and users. These can be found in admin toolbar section located in the left sidebar and include options for customizing conversations and data sources.
Asking Questions and Structuring Answers
A question entered into the chatbot's conversation field can also be referred to as a user prompt. These prompts are text entered into the conversation box that describes the task the chatbot should perform.
How to craft questions for best results:
- Type naturally, as you would in a conversation
- Crafting clear and specific prompts helps AI tools like DeepThought deliver more accurate and useful responses.
- Begin with a direct instruction (e.g., “Summarize this report” or “Draft an email to my team about project updates”). When possible, include context or goals, such as “Explain this for a non-technical audience” or “Use a friendly tone.”
- You can also guide formatting by providing instructions like “Create a bulleted list of key takeaways” or “Write a short paragraph for a newsletter.”
- The more focused your prompt, the better the output.
Important Considerations
- Data remains within USNH network
- Not HIPAA compliant
- Commercial models can be added by contacting RCC Support
Creating a Conversation
To create a new conversation: 
- Click on the dark gray speech bubble icon.
- Provide a conversation name.
- Choose a descriptive name (e.g., "Research Project" or "Coding Help")
- Custom prompts contain system-level instructions that operate in the background to help define the chatbot’s behavior, tone, and scope before any interaction with a user occurs. Providing clear instructions and limitations helps ensure the chatbot’s responses are accurate and relevant.
- The initial paragraph of the prompt should briefly describe the bot’s role and define its persona and response style.
- An “Instructions” or “Responsibilities” section should provide the bot with basic guidelines and rules, including how the bot should respond to questions outside of any provided data and how to address off-topic questions.
- An optional “Response Guidelines” section can be included to further structure responses, providing additional levels of control. For example, “if/then” scenarios can be provided as well as instructions such as always supplying a specific link when answering questions on a particular topic.
The following is a basic system prompt example for a USNH DeepThought custom website chatbot:
Custom Prompt Example
You are a helpful and knowledgeable university chatbot designed to assist users with questions related to [University Name] and the state of New Hampshire. You are friendly, professional, and clear in your responses.
Your Instructions:
*Identify yourself as a university chatbot in your responses.
*Answer only questions related to: [University Name] (e.g., admissions, academics, campus life, events, policies) or the state of New Hampshire (e.g., local attractions, weather, geography, history).
*Use a friendly, conversational tone that is welcoming and easy to understand.
*Only provide answers when you are confident they are accurate.
*Preface your answers with: "I believe the answer to your question is..."
*When referencing a website or web page, always include a clickable link to the source.
What You Should Not Do:
*Do not answer questions unrelated to the university or the state of New Hampshire.
*Do not speculate or provide uncertain information.
*Do not refer to your training data or documents directly (e.g., avoid saying "The documents say...").
If You Cannot Answer:
*If a user asks a question outside your scope, politely decline and redirect them. For example:
"I'm here to help with questions about [University Name] or the state of New Hampshire. I’m not able to answer that, but I’d be happy to help you find information about our academic programs or campus life. What would you like to know about the university?"
4. Language Model Selection
- Choose the AI model that fits your task (e.g., text or analysis) from the drop-down list.
- Consider the specific requirements of your project, such as whether you need natural language generation, data analysis, image recognition, or another capability.
5. Temperature Settings
Temperature settings control response creativity. The following should be used as a guide:
- Low (0.2): Precise, factual
- Medium (0.5): Balanced, standard
- High (0.8): Creative, varied
6. Import Conversation Snapshot
- Include any documents or files that you would like to query
Managing a Conversation
Once a conversation has been created, settings and options for the conversation can be edited and adjusted by selecting the crossed hammer and wrench icon.
Additional conversation actions include:
Copy Conversation: Duplicate the entire conversation by selecting the two people icon.
Delete Conversation: Permanently remove the conversation by selecting the waste basket icon.
Clear Conversation: Remove the message history by selecting the lightning bolt icon.
Custom Data Sources
Adding custom data offers multiple ways to enhance the conversation context.
To add Documents - Upload PDFs, text files, research papers, etc.
- Click the paper/document icon.
- Select a file from your device.
- The uploaded document will become part of the conversation context
To scrape a website:
- Click the mesh globe icon.
- Enter a website URL.
- DeepThought extracts relevant information from the website.
- Can be scheduled if needed.
To add shared data sources
- Click the satellite image icon
- Browse the pre-loaded databases
- Hover over the grey boxes to select a database
- Scroll and click "Add Data Source"
Additional Administration Tools
Additional settings for the chatbot can be accessed in the main conversation area by clicking the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the screen. Choosing "settings" in this section allows for appearance customizations including turning on wide mode and applying light or dark mode.
Want to Learn More?
Fill out the RCC Support Request form.
Need additional help?
Guidance on this and other related topics is available during a weekly Drupal/Sites@USNH/Website Tools - Virtual Walk-in Session.
If you have any additional questions, please fill out the Website & Mobile Development Support Form.