The onboarding wizard
Walk through every step of Hailo's first-run setup, know which fields are required, and finish or skip the rest from Settings later.
The onboarding wizard runs the first time you open a new workspace in the Mac app. It sets up your name and studio, your brand, the editor you cut in, an optional import from your old CRM, payment reminders, your email and calendar, and the inquiry form couples reach you through.
The wizard only runs inside the Mac app. Signing in from a browser at app.hailo.studio sends you to the download page until setup is done in the app.
Two fields are required to finish: your name and your business name. Picking an editor is required to move past that step. Everything else can be skipped. The welcome screen says it plainly: "Skip whatever you want and finish anytime in Settings."
The rail
A rail across the top shows your progress with seven stops: Start, About, Brand, Editor, Import, Connect and Inquiry. Each gets a check mark as you pass it. Every step has Back and Next (or the step's own buttons) at the bottom.
Start: Welcome to Hailo
The heading is Welcome to Hailo. The line under it reads: "Your brand, your couples, your email and the way couples reach you. Set up once, and Hailo runs on it." Under the button a note says "About 5 minutes. Skip anything."
Click Let's go.
About: Tell us a little about you.
"Your name and photo show up across your workspace. Your photo becomes your avatar in the top bar."
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Profile picture | No | Click the circle to pick a photo. An Adjust your photo window lets you crop and zoom, then Save photo. The small × removes it |
| Your name | Yes | Placeholder "Enter your name" |
| Business name | Yes | Placeholder "e.g. Films by Stanton" |
Your email is not asked for here. Hailo uses the address you signed in with.
Brand: Your brand
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Website (optional) | No | Placeholder "https://yourbusiness.com". Hailo also uses it to suggest the short name in your public links |
| Pull brand colors from website | No | Reads how your site is styled and fills the two swatches below. If it cannot read the site, the default colors stay and you pick by hand |
| Your brand colors | No | Primary and Secondary swatches with hex boxes, plus any other colors Hailo found on your site |
| Logo (optional) | No | "Drop your logo, or click to upload." SVG, PNG, JPG or WEBP, under 4 MB. Shows on proposals and delivery pages. Leave it empty and Hailo uses your business name instead |
| Instagram handle (optional) | No | Placeholder "@yourhandle" |
Editor: What do you edit in?
Three cards: Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro. Pick one and click Next.
This step is required. If you try to continue without a pick, the step shows: "Pick the editor you cut in. Hailo builds your timelines for it." You can change the editor later under Settings > Your editor.
Import: Switching from another CRM?
"Bring your clients and payment history over from your current CRM so Hailo starts full, not empty. Or skip and do it later from Settings."
| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Import my clients & payments | Opens the CRM picker so Hailo can read your export with the right column map |
| Have Hailo sort it for me | "Drop any export, even a screenshot, and Hailo figures it out." |
| Type it in | "No export handy? Add your weddings by hand." |
| Skip for now | Moves to the email and calendar step. Skipping the import never skips the steps after it |
The import branch is a small wizard of its own: pick your tool on Which tool are you coming from?, drop each file on Drop your export, wait on Reading your leads and clients…, optionally add signed paperwork on Any contracts or quotes?, check the result on Review what we found, and answer A few quick questions for anything Hailo could not find. Typed entry uses Add your weddings with Save & add another and Review weddings. Every screen, field and message is covered in Import from another CRM, and the list of tools is in Which CRMs Hailo imports.
Whichever branch you take, you finish the import with Import & finish (or Finish for now) and land on the payment reminders step.
Want Hailo to handle payment reminders?
"Hailo nudges couples about money due, so you never have to chase a balance."
| Control | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | Off, Remind me, Automatic | Off |
| "Send the reminder … this many days before a payment's due" | A stepper with − and + | 14 |
| The email Hailo sends | A card showing the subject and a preview of the template, with Change to pick another. The suggested one is marked Recommended | Final payment reminder |
| Also send a pre-wedding questionnaire | A checkbox that reveals a template picker and a "Send it this many days before the wedding" stepper | Off, 30 days |
Remind me tells you when a payment is coming due. Automatic emails the couple for you. Click Continue. You can revisit all of this under Payment reminders.
Connect: Connect your email and calendar
"Hook up Gmail so client conversations live in Hailo, and Google Calendar so weddings land on the calendar you already check. Both optional. You can connect them later from Settings."
| Row | What it says | Button |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | "Send and receive client email without leaving Hailo." | Connect |
| Google Calendar | "Your weddings and shoots on the calendar you already use." | Connect |
Clicking Connect opens a browser window for Google's sign-in. While that is open the step reads "Finish signing in in the browser tab that opened. This page updates on its own." with a Cancel link in case you change your mind. Once a connection lands, the step updates by itself.
Click Skip for now (or Continue once something is connected) to move on. See Gmail and Google Calendar for what each connection does.
Inquiry: Set up your inquiry form
"This is the form couples fill out to reach you. Build it now, right here, or skip and set it up later from Settings."
- Build inquiry form opens the real form builder inside the wizard, under the heading Build your inquiry form: "Style it and choose what couples fill in. The last step gives you the embed link. Finish onboarding whenever you're ready." The builder scrolls inside its own frame; a bouncing chevron at the bottom reminds you. Use Back and Next to move through its steps. On the last step the third button becomes Finish onboarding.
- Skip and finish onboarding finishes without a form.
Either way Hailo creates a default form called Contact form so your embed link works from day one. See Inquiry form builder.
Finishing
When you finish, a screen reads Setting up your studio and Almost there, followed by your first name. If the server is slow it adds "Waiting on the server" with a count. Hailo then opens your dashboard and starts the guided tour.
Hailo saves your profile, fills in your studio email from your sign-in address if you left it blank, creates the default inquiry form and prepares the tour. Automatic replies to new inquiries stay off until you turn them on.
Coming back to it
Everything in the wizard has a home in Settings: Your details, Logo and colors, Your editor, Import from another CRM, Integrations and Embed forms. You can also re-walk the wizard with your answers filled in from the avatar menu. See Redo or restart onboarding.
If it didn't work
"Tell us your name and business name before finishing. Those are the two required fields." Go back to About and fill both in.
"Pick the editor you cut in. Hailo builds your timelines for it." Choose one of the three editor cards.
Pull brand colors did nothing. Hailo could not read the site's styling. Pick your colors by hand with the swatches or hex boxes.
The Gmail or Calendar window closed without connecting. Click Connect again. If Google shows a permissions screen, leave the box about sending email on your behalf ticked.
The wizard opened again after you finished. Sign out and back in. If it still reappears, contact support from the Feedback tile.