When you enable Zendesk messaging, a number of updates are made to existing and new Chat triggers to accommodate the functionality changes. If you do not update an existing trigger, these changes do not impact its functionality for live chat.
This article includes the following topics:
Trigger changes when migrating from Chat to messaging
The basic way you work with Chat triggers remains unchanged when you move from Chat to messaging. You can view, edit, and add triggers from the main Chat triggers page, accessed from the Chat dashboard at Settings > Triggers. See Working with Chat triggers for general information, and Working with messaging triggers, below, for information on messaging-specific triggers.
You’ll see the changes in the Customize trigger section of the Add trigger and Edit trigger pages, when you are viewing an existing trigger, or creating a new trigger.
These changes include:
- A new Channel dropdown menu
- Updated Run trigger options
- Updated condition options
- Updated action options
The Channel menu
The new Channel menu appears at the top of the Customize trigger section. It allows you to run a trigger based on which channel a chat request is received through:

Options include:
- Chat, which runs the trigger only if the visitor is using Live Chat.
- Messaging, which runs the trigger only if the visitor is using the messaging channel.
- Chat and messaging, which runs the trigger if the visitor is using either Live Chat or messaging.
Updated Run trigger options
If you select Messaging or Chat and messaging from the Channel dropdown menu, you can no longer choose to run the trigger when a visitor has loaded the Chat widget, as there is no Chat widget used in Zendesk messaging.
You can select the following options:
- A visitor requests a chat
- A visitor sends a chat message
Updated condition options
If you select Messaging or Chat and messaging from the Channel dropdown menu, the number of conditions available to you is limited to the following:
- Hour of day
- Day of week
- Visitor previous chats
- Visitor name
- Visitor email
- Visitor triggered
- Account status
- Department status
- Visitor is chatting
- Visitor requesting chat
- Visitor served
- Department (Only available when Run trigger = A visitor sends a chat message)
- Sender (Only available when Run trigger = A visitor requests a chat)
- Sender type (Only available when Run trigger = A visitor requests a chat)
- Message (Only available when Run trigger = A visitor requests a chat)
- Queue size (account)
For a complete list of trigger conditions and descriptions, including those that are not available for messaging, see Zendesk Chat triggers conditions and actions reference: Trigger conditions.
Updated action options
If you select Messaging or Chat and messaging from the Channel dropdown menu, the number of actions available to you is limited to the following:
- Send message to visitor
- Set triggered (shown on dashboard)
- Wait
- Set name of visitor
- Block visitor
Working with messaging triggers
When Zendesk messaging is enabled, you have three default triggers in your Chat triggers list:
- First Reply, which sends an automated reply to customers that start a chat.
- Request Contact Details, which asks customers to leave an email address when your account is set to Away.
- All Agents Offline, which sends an automated reply to end users when all Chat agents are offline.
These triggers, by default, have the Chat channel selected. You can edit them as needed to work with your messaging channel.
The processes for creating, editing, and deleting messaging triggers are identical to standard triggers, with one small exception. If you select a condition or action field that is only available in the Chat channel, then select Messaging or Chat and messaging from the Channel menu, you will not be able to save the trigger settings until you have updated the fields.
5 Comments
Hi there. Our team is running into some issues due to copy of the endflow feedback loop, and we were trying to find a workaround by rigging some triggers to prompt additional language.
Can triggers interact with this end feedback loop? Alternatively, when a visitor selects options in this feedback loop are these registered as visitor messages (and subsequently can they activate triggers?)
Thanks
Hi Jon,
Could you explain in detail what the configurations are for the problematic triggers? Some screenshots of your trigger settings will help greatly too.
Please submit a ticket with the above information to support@zendesk.com and our team will have a check for you, thanks!
Hi There, is it possible for a breakdown of what a messaging trigger would look like if we were wanting to route an end user to a specific group based on the "needs selector/options selector"?
Hi Clik,
You may refer to this article: https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057909933#topic_wrf_5km_jnb, particularly the 'Assigning Groups to messaging conversations' part. It shows how you can collect an information from an end-user and to use it to setup routing rules in a trigger.
Best,
There are so many more triggers available for chat over messaging. Is there a plan to offer the same triggers for messaging? Any work arounds in the meantime?
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