- If you currently use live chat, see Creating a messaging Web Widget when using live chat and Web Widget (Classic).
- If you don't use live chat and your account was created after November 2, 2021, see Creating a messaging Web Widget.
This article includes the following topics:
You can also activate messaging on an Android or iOS app.
Activating messaging in your account
After you confirm that you meet the requirements for using messaging, you can activate it in your account.
To activate messaging on your account
- In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
- Click Manage settings.
- On the Manage settings page, click Turn on messaging for your account.
If you see an onboarding page, you need to click Get started before you can activate messaging.
- Click Save settings.
After messaging is activated, it appears in your Channels list with Web Widget listed as an active channel.
Turning on messaging for a Web Widget
If you’re turning on messaging for a Web Widget without having previously used Web Widget (Classic), you’ll need to create a widget. Because messaging is activated per-brand, you’ll need to perform these steps for each brand that will offer messaging to your customers.
To activate messaging Web Widget
- In Admin Center, click
Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
- Click Add Channel, then select Web Widget.
- On the Add Web Widget page, configure the following sections, and click Next when each is completed:
- Set up the basics: Enter a channel name, then use the dropdown to select a brand. Only brands without an existing Web Widget or Web Widget (Classic) appear in the list.
- Style the appearance: Enter a hexadecimal number or use the picker to select the Primary color, which is used in the Web Widget launcher and header. Upload an optional logo, and enter the title that will appear in the header.
- Install on your site: Choose where to install the Web Widget. See The Installation tab for more information on adding the Web Widget to your website or help center.
- Click Finish.
The Edit Web Widget page opens, where you can configure the Web Widget or leave it as-is for now. You can also customize the appearance of the Web Widget.
101 comments
Diego Ocampo
Hi @... thank you for your answer. All clear. You are right about color modifications, not sure why I mentioned that one. I guess for me it would be most important to be able to set the offset, the chat button size, and maybe to optionally round the chat button corners.
I'll look forward for updates. I have also the same question as @..., is there a single page or blog where we can be informed of what updates are being rolled out to messaging?
0
Miranda Burford
Hi @...,
I'll log your contact details in our system so that you'll get notified when we release authentication for messaging. I'd also recommend that you submit your feature request via Productboard here. We will also write up an announcement post within our Help Center so please keep an eye on this section.
Thanks,
- Miranda.
0
Michael
Hello everyone.
Do you have any plans to customize the style in more detail? For example, the shape, the text color and the icon of the launcher, and the rounded corners of the widget. I hate angled squares so much. What does our site look like to you?
I prefer the following styles.
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Michael Kim,
Thanks for your feedback!
Yes, we definitely have plans to introduce more flexible customisations over time. We'll be introducing a new circle launcher shape within the next couple of months. We are also considering support for custom launcher icons and rounded corners in the future.
Hope this helps!
- Miranda.
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Diego Ocampo,
Thanks for the additional information. I'll be sure to log that feedback on our side for future consideration.
In terms of keeping up-to-date with messaging, I'd recommend that you submit any of your feature requests via Productboard here. We also write up announcement posts within our Help Center for new features so please keep an eye on this section.
Hope this helps!
- Miranda.
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Michael Smith,
Good news! We do have plans to support the custom launcher option where you'll be able to make use of our existing open & close APIs, as well an unread messages API. This is currently planned on the roadmap and you should expect to see these features land over the next 2-3 months.
Thanks,
- Miranda.
0
Ian Morgan
Hi. I have the new Web Widget setup with flow builder and it works quite well in our use case. However, if the customer wants to connect to a human the ability to add an attachment is not there? I have a form using FlowBuilder that the customer fills in before connecting but no option to add an attachment. I have looked on your help pages but with confusion between Chat setup and Live chat via AnswerBot and Flowbuilder setup I can't see any way to include the option to add an attachment. I have it enabled in the Chat Settings. All documents say it is added as standard.
0
Miranda Burford
Hi @...,
Thanks for your message and good timing! We are very close to supporting end user file & image uploads within the messaging Web Widget. This is planned for release in the next couple of weeks.
- Miranda.
0
Ian Morgan
Hi @...
Thank you for your reply. That is good to know. I thought I was missing something. I look forward to the update.
Ian
0
RelayPay
Hi,
Is there a way for us to customize the following under the web widget?
- Font, font size and color
- Chat window size
- Favicon or avatar of both customer and agent
Would truly appreciate your immediate response, thanks!
0
Roman Stakhiv
Hi! Is there any way to hide/show the widget button or customize it?
1
Miranda Burford
Hi Roman Stakhiv,
Thanks for your question!
What kind of customisation are you looking to do? We don't have show & hide APIs currently (we are considering these in the future) but we do have open & close. You customise the colour, position & text shown on the button via the settings in Admin Center.
Thanks,
- Miranda.
0
Alex Nehrkorn
Is there any way we can adjust the size of the widget? It blocks some of our UI and we want to make it a touch smaller.
1
Miranda Burford
Hi Alex Nehrkorn,
Thank you for your question.
Not at this stage but it's something that we are hoping to address in the future. I'll log your feedback as a feature request for future consideration.
Thanks,
- Miranda.
0
Santiago Gandolfo
Hi Miranda,
Is there an ETA for the release of the show & hide APIs? I've seen multiple people asking for this feature, and in our case we had to write a horrible workarounds (adding responsive hidden buttons and a listener for the ESC key press), and would love to be able to remove them from production ASAP.
Cheers!
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Santiago Gandolfo,
Thank you for your message. Unfortunately, I'm unable to provide an ETA on show/hide APIs at this stage. I've been taking note of the feedback provided and hope to be able to prioritise this on our roadmap soon.
- Miranda.
0
Yang Yang
Hi, I have some questions regarding to Messaging setup for web. I don't find those from below API reference. https://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/zendesk-web-widget-sdks/sdks/web/sdk_api_reference/.
1. Do you support hide/show the launcher like the way Web Widget (Classic) support? Can I add a close button to the launcher?
2. Can/How I change the position of the launcher by API?
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Yang Yang,
Thanks for your message!
Show/hide APIs aren't available within messaging today but we do have plans to solve for this later in the year. Unfortunately, I don't have a timeframe that I can provide as yet.
No, it isn't possible to add a close button to the launcher. What are you hoping the close button would do? Hide the launcher from the page?
No, it's only possible to move the launcher via an Admin setting right now. I'll log your feature request for future consideration. Out of interest, would you mind sharing more about your particular use case? That would be helpful!
- Miranda.
0
Alex Nehrkorn
Jumping in here, we'd also like to have a close button on the launcher, if possible, as it blocks some of our UI and we've received some complaints from users.
If the button could just minimize the widget, that would be ideal.
0
Yang Yang
Hi Miranda,
We want the same behavior as the widget can be triggered in the Zendesk admin center 'Get Help' button. It can also be closed from the launcher itself.
We do not want to always show the launcher. Also, the launcher overlaps with our UI components.
Yang
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Alex Nehrkorn,
Thanks for your additional information! Noted on my side.
Are you aware that you can change the position of the widget within Admin from right to left? Just wanted to check as that may help solve your issue in the short-term (rather than minimising/hiding).
Thanks,
- Miranda.
0
Miranda Burford
Thanks Yang Yang. That's helpful to know! I'll record that as a feature request so we can consider it in the future.
- Miranda.
0
Morad
I have a question around the Zendesk messaging widget, you have a great for the customer to go back and start a new conversation, is this possible for Zendesk customers to enable?
1
Alex Nehrkorn
Hi Miranda Burford! Thank you for your reply. We've found that moving it to the right actually blocks more of the UI than then left (where it is located now); but thank you for the suggestion.
0
Daniel V
I have the same question as
Morad Benmoussa.
I did not find any option for the client to return and start a new conversation (except closing the ticket created by the channel)
Is there another more aimgable option for the end user?
0
Miranda Burford
Ah, that's a shame Alex Nehrkorn. I've recorded your request for future consideration.
- Miranda.
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Morad Benmoussa & Daniel Velasque,
Thanks for your questions!
This the multi-conversation feature that you've spotted out in the wild (using the SunCo Messenger). We don't offer this within our native messaging widget today but it's on our roadmap to be worked on late 2022. This will be available within our Web Widget & Mobile SDKs then.
- Miranda.
0
Pius John
@...
How can i disable chat history when the user closes the chat?
I've disabled this from the admin settings but still doesn't work
Thanks
0
Miranda Burford
Hi Pius John,
Thanks for your post!
The intention of messaging is to offer ongoing conversations and retain full conversation history so your customers never have to repeat themselves (this is how it works by default). Would you mind sharing which Admin settings you have configured? I'm guessing it may be the 'forget history' setting but please confirm. It's worth nothing that 'forget history' will only work for unauthenticated users.
- Miranda.
0
Pius John
Thanks for your reply, my client wants the application to delete chats history when session ID changes.
0