Activating messaging when migrating from Web Widget (Classic)

Note: This article is for customers who are migrating from Web Widget (Classic) to the messaging Web Widget or who created an account before November 2, 2021. If your account was created after that date, messaging is automatically activated (see About messaging).

In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to activate messaging at the account level. The tasks described in this article must be performed by an account admin.

This article includes the following sections:

• Activating messaging in your account
• How activating messaging changes your account
• Updating live chat settings
• Activating messaging in a new brand
• Moving from Web Widget (Classic) to the Web Widget

Activating messaging in your account

After you confirm that you meet the requirements for using messaging, you can activate it in your account. After being activated at the account level, you can then take steps to activate messaging in the Web Widget. If you have multiple brands, you must activate messaging on a per-brand basis.

Messaging is activated through the Admin Center.

Note: Activating messaging at the account level updates your account in a number of significant ways. See How activating messaging changes your account for more information.

To activate messaging on your account

1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
2. Click the Manage settings button.
3. On the Manage settings page, select the checkbox to Turn on messaging for your account.
4. Under Turn on messaging for Web Widget (Classic), use the drop-down menu to select the brands on which you want to activate messaging.
5. Click Save.

   After messaging is activated at the account level, it appears in your Channels list with Web Widget listed as an active channel.

   

   You can now customize messaging for the Web Widget as needed, and create new Android and iOS SDKs for your account.

   Note: When you create a brand after messaging is turned on, the onboarding experience differs. See Activating messaging in a new brand.

How activating messaging changes your account

Messaging is activated at the account level, as described above. When activated, a number of changes occur throughout your account that impact related functionality.

In this section, we’ll go over the changes to the following account areas:

• Web Widget (Classic)
• Android, iOS, and Unity SDKs
• Zendesk bots
• Agent Workspace
• Chat

Web Widget (Classic)

Web Widget (Classic) is the original iteration of the Web Widget, configured through Zendesk Support, that allows you to offer live chat and other Zendesk features to your customers. If you have previously configured Web Widget (Classic) on your account, turning on messaging gives you the option to convert it to the messaging Web Widget on a per-brand basis, or create a messaging Web Widget for a brand that did not previously use one.

Further changes occur when you activate messaging for a Web Widget, which is discussed in Working with messaging in your Web Widget.

Android, iOS, and Unity SDKs

Activating messaging does not change any previously-configured or deployed SDKs you might be using for Android, iOS, or Unity. After messaging is activated, you can create new Android and iOS SDKs with messaging. These are separate SDKs from the Classic Zendesk SDKs you've been using so far, and need to be configured and deployed separately.

Zendesk bots

When messaging is activated, more automation tools and options are available to you. You can access bot builder, a tool that lets you click-to-configure a conversation bot. With bot builder, this conversation bot is the first responder to customer requests, and gains a lot of new abilities as well.

Importantly, bot builder includes a default conversation bot, which is published and visible in the bot builder page. As soon as it's activaed, the default bot begins functioning through the Web Widget.

If you have multiple brands in your account, bot builder is activated on every one of those brands. Each brand has its own default conversation bot that can be configured independently.

See Adding a bot to your messaging channels for more information.

Agent Workspace

Agent Workspace gains some additional functionality as well, including enhanced conversation history and responding to messaging conversations at any time. See Receiving and sending messages in the Agent Workspace for more information.

Live chat

When you activate messaging, there are a number live chat-related changes that apply to both agents and administrators.

See How activating messaging impacts live chat settings.

Updating live chat settings

A Chat admin needs to perform the following tasks:

1. Organize your agents into groups. For example, you can create a group of agents who handle specific channels, such as messaging, See Adding agents to groups.
2. Set up Support triggers to route messaging conversations to these groups.
3. Configure Chat limits on the Chat dashboard to control how many active messaging conversations your agents receive.
4. Educate agents on the Agent Experience.

Activating messaging in a new brand

When you create a brand after activating messaging on your account, you’ll need to add a Web Widget or mobile SDK to use messaging functionality with that brand.

When messaging is turned on for a brand’s Web Widget, it includes an active conversation bot that collects information and initiates an agent transfer, but does not include any self-service functionality by default. The screenshot below shows an example of the basic bot flow.

You can also activate bot builder to create a customized, automated bot for the brand.

If you do not want to use the default conversation bot, then we recommend activating bot builder prior to activating and embedding Web Widget or mobile SDKs for this brand.

Moving from Web Widget (Classic) to the Web Widget

After activating messaging at the account level, any brand that was previously using Web Widget (Classic) will continue to use that widget until you perform the procedure described below.

When you activate messaging in a Web Widget for a brand that is already using Web Widget (Classic), you're essentially switching off the Web Widget (Classic) and migrating to the new Web Widget. Many of your Web Widget (Classic) configuration settings are automatically migrated to the new widget settings, including:

• Widget position: The widget and launcher will appear wherever you've placed it on your help center or webpage
• Theme color: The color setting for the launcher, contact button, and header are applied to the Web Widget frame.
• Web Widget button text: During migration, this becomes the launcher text. As in Web Widget (Classic), it is the text that appears in the launcher button.
• Web Widget snippet: The new messaging Web Widget and Web Widget (Classic) use the same snippet, so there’s no need to update it in order for messaging to work.
• Help center activation: If you've activated the Web Widget (Classic) in a help center, the Web Widget replaces it. The widget and launcher will appear wherever you've placed it on your Help Center or web page .

There is some Web Widget (Classic) functionality that is not yet available in the messaging Web Widget:

• Talk is not activated. You can still receive calls through the Agent Workspace.
• Existing Javascript API code may not be supported. We do recommend that you test any API code not documented as supported by the messaging Web Widget and let us know of any issues.

To convert Web Widget (Classic) the messaging Web Widget

1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging. Your active channels appear.
2. Click the brand you want to convert to the messaging Web Widget.
3. On the brand's Edit Web Widget page, check Turn on messaging for this Web Widget.
4. Customize the Web Widget or, if you want to do this later, click Save.
5. Repeat these steps for each active brand you want to use with messaging.