diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.module.css b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.module.css
index e0aa5de..582ec2d 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.module.css
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.module.css
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
+:global(.react-flow__handle.source){
+    border-radius: 100%;
+}
+:global(.react-flow__handle.target){
+    border-radius: 15%;
+}
+
+
+
 :global(.react-flow__handle.connected) {
     background: lightgray;
     border-color: green;
-    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem green);
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.15rem green);
 }
 
 :global(.singleConnectionHandle.connected) {
@@ -16,19 +25,19 @@
 :global(.singleConnectionHandle.unconnected){
     background: lightsalmon;
     border-color: #ff6060;
-    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem #ff6060);
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.15rem #ff6060);
 }
 
 :global(.react-flow__handle.connectingto) {
     background: #ff6060;
     border-color: coral;
-    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem coral);
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.15rem coral);
 }
 
 :global(.react-flow__handle.valid) {
     background: #55dd99;
     border-color: green;
-    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.25rem green);
+    filter: drop-shadow(0 0 0.15rem green);
 }
 
 :global(.react-flow__handle) {
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.tsx
index 2d3299d..2026b00 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/RuleBasedHandle.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import {
   type Connection,
   useNodeId, useNodeConnections
 } from '@xyflow/react';
-import {useState} from 'react';
 import { type HandleRule, useHandleRules} from "../HandleRuleLogic.ts";
 import "./RuleBasedHandle.module.css";
 
@@ -29,21 +28,16 @@ export function MultiConnectionHandle({
     handleId: id!
   })
 
-  // initialise the handles state with { isValid: true } to show that connections are possible
-  const [handleState, setHandleState] = useState<{ isSatisfied: boolean, message?: string }>({ isSatisfied: true });
-
   return (
     <Handle
       {...otherProps}
       id={id}
       type={type}
-      className={"multiConnectionHandle" + (connections.length === 0 ? " unconnected" : " connected")}
+      className={"multiConnectionHandle" + (connections.length === 0 ? " unconnected" : " connected") + ` ${type}`}
       isValidConnection={(connection) => {
         const result = validate(connection as Connection);
-        setHandleState(result);
         return result.isSatisfied;
       }}
-      title={handleState.message}
     />
   );
 }
@@ -66,22 +60,18 @@ export function SingleConnectionHandle({
     handleId: id!
   })
 
-  // initialise the handles state with { isValid: true } to show that connections are possible
-  const [handleState, setHandleState] = useState<{ isSatisfied: boolean, message?: string }>({ isSatisfied: true });
 
   return (
     <Handle
       {...otherProps}
       id={id}
       type={type}
-      className={"singleConnectionHandle" + (connections.length === 0 ? " unconnected" : " connected")}
+      className={"singleConnectionHandle" + (connections.length === 0 ? " unconnected" : " connected") + ` ${type}`}
       isConnectable={connections.length === 0}
       isValidConnection={(connection) => {
         const result = validate(connection as Connection);
-        setHandleState(result);
         return result.isSatisfied;
       }}
-      title={handleState.message}
     />
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/BasicBeliefNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/BasicBeliefNode.tsx
index bed642f..111da63 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/BasicBeliefNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/BasicBeliefNode.tsx
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ export default function BasicBeliefNode(props: NodeProps<BasicBeliefNode>) {
           )}
         <MultiConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="source" rules={[
         allowOnlyConnectionsFromHandle([{nodeType:"trigger",handleId:"TriggerBeliefs"}, {nodeType:"norm",handleId:"NormBeliefs"}]),
-        ]}/>
+        ]}  title="Connect to any number of trigger and/or normNode(-s)"/>
       </div>
     </>
   );
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/EndNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/EndNode.tsx
index 5bed205..3bbfa14 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/EndNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/EndNode.tsx
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export default function EndNode(props: NodeProps<EndNode>) {
         </div>
         <SingleConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Left} id="target" rules={[
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["phase"])
-        ]}/>
+        ]} title="Connect to a phaseNode"/>
       </div>
     </>
   );
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/GoalNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/GoalNode.tsx
index fea9914..16d070c 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/GoalNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/GoalNode.tsx
@@ -118,9 +118,11 @@ export default function GoalNode({id, data}: NodeProps<GoalNode>) {
       </div>
       <MultiConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="GoalSource" rules={[
         allowOnlyConnectionsFromHandle([{nodeType:"phase",handleId:"data"}]),
-      ]}/>
+      ]} title="Connect to any number of phase and/or goalNode(-s)"/>
 
-      <MultiConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Bottom} id="GoalTarget" rules={[allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["goal"])]}/>
+      <MultiConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Bottom} id="GoalTarget" rules={[
+        allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["goal"])]
+      } title="Connect to any number of goalNode(-s)"/>
 
 
     </div>
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/NormNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/NormNode.tsx
index 6cde46a..863d60a 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/NormNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/NormNode.tsx
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ export default function NormNode(props: NodeProps<NormNode>) {
 
       <MultiConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="norms" rules={[
         allowOnlyConnectionsFromHandle([{nodeType:"phase",handleId:"data"}])
-      ]}/>
+      ]} title="Connect to any number of phaseNode(-s)"/>
       <SingleConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Bottom} id="NormBeliefs" rules={[
         allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["basic_belief"])
-      ]}/>
+      ]} title="Connect to a beliefNode or a set of beliefs combined using the AND/OR node"/>
     </div>
   </>;
 };
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.tsx
index d26c77b..c1ecb5a 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.tsx
@@ -148,14 +148,14 @@ export default function PhaseNode(props: NodeProps<PhaseNode>) {
         <SingleConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Left} id="target" rules={[
           noSelfConnections,
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["phase", "start"]),
-        ]}/>
+        ]} title="Connect to a phase or the startNode"/>
         <MultiConnectionHandle type="target" position={Position.Bottom} id="data" rules={[
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["norm", "goal", "trigger"])
-        ]}/>
+        ]} title="Connect to any number of norm, goal, and TriggerNode(-s)"/>
         <SingleConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="source" rules={[
           noSelfConnections,
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(["phase", "end"]),
-        ]}/>
+        ]} title="Connect to a phase or the endNode"/>
       </div>
     </>
   );
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/StartNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/StartNode.tsx
index fab9b93..925d1dd 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/StartNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/StartNode.tsx
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export default function StartNode(props: NodeProps<StartNode>) {
         </div>
         <SingleConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="source" rules={[
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromHandle([{nodeType:"phase",handleId:"target"}])
-        ]}/>
+        ]} title="Connect to a phaseNode"/>
       </div>
     </>
   );
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/TriggerNode.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/TriggerNode.tsx
index 8b3378a..7a32da2 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/TriggerNode.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/TriggerNode.tsx
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export default function TriggerNode(props: NodeProps<TriggerNode>) {
       <div className={"flex-row gap-md"}>Plan{data.plan ? (": " + data.plan.name) : ""} is currently {data.plan ? "" : "not"} set. {data.plan ? "🟢" : "🔴"}</div>
       <MultiConnectionHandle type="source" position={Position.Right} id="TriggerSource" rules={[
         allowOnlyConnectionsFromHandle([{nodeType:"phase",handleId:"data"}]),
-      ]}/>
+      ]} title="Connect to any number of phaseNodes"/>
       <SingleConnectionHandle
         type="target"
         position={Position.Bottom}
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ export default function TriggerNode(props: NodeProps<TriggerNode>) {
         rules={[
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(['basic_belief']),
         ]}
+        title="Connect to a beliefNode or a set of beliefs combined using the AND/OR node"
       />
       
       <MultiConnectionHandle
@@ -84,6 +85,7 @@ export default function TriggerNode(props: NodeProps<TriggerNode>) {
         rules={[
           allowOnlyConnectionsFromType(['goal']),
         ]}
+        title="Connect to any number of goalNodes"
       />
 
       <PlanEditorDialog