Website chat widget (one button, web chat, Telegram, WhatsApp and MAX)
A website chat widget has to answer one question for a visitor: where do I write? Bugfix shows a single button, “Write”. If the site has several channels, the click opens a menu with web chat, Telegram, WhatsApp and MAX. If there is only one channel, it opens at once.
What the website chat widget shows a visitor
The website chat widget is one button for the visitor. A click either opens a menu of channels or goes straight to the only channel the site has. The menu takes its colors from the skin of the site automatically.
The same button belongs to the Bugfix family of widgets, next to the bug report form and reviews, and is served from the same center.
Channel menu: web chat, Telegram, WhatsApp and MAX
Each channel has its own colored mark in the menu:
- web chat;
- Telegram,
#229ED9; - WhatsApp,
#25D366; - MAX,
#1E88E5.
A channel appears in the menu only when an address has been specified for it. If just one channel has an address, the menu is skipped and that channel opens right away.
How the web chat answers
The web chat that the website chat widget opens is built on Deep Chat. Its answers come from the “brain” of the site, a bot on the ASI Bots platform, in a structured form:
- plain text;
- an album of pictures;
- buttons. A pressed button is returned to the bot.
Because the answer is structured, a bot can offer a visitor a choice with buttons instead of waiting for typed words.
When a manager joins the conversation
A person can take over from the bot. While the chat window is open, the widget asks every 4 seconds whether a manager has replied. When the browser tab is hidden, it asks every 20 seconds.
- The messages of the manager appear in a separate “manager bubble”.
- The note “Manager joined” is shown once per opening of the window.
- A handover to the manager is displayed as “Message passed to the manager”.
If the web chat cannot answer, it offers a friendly handover to Telegram. Between sessions the widget stores only the label of the last message it showed, so that nothing is repeated.
Where a website chat widget is used
- A site with one channel. If only Telegram has an address, the button opens Telegram directly, without a menu.
- A site with several channels. The visitor picks web chat, Telegram, WhatsApp or MAX by the colored marks.
- A question the bot cannot close. A manager joins the web chat, or the chat hands the visitor over to Telegram.
The site is connected with the usual one-tag installation of Bugfix, and the loader fetches the current widget from the center. For sites opened from Russia without a VPN, the assets and the chat are proxied through the domain of the site itself.
Limits to keep in mind
The website chat widget works within these boundaries:
- A channel shows up in the menu only when its address is specified. No address means no channel.
- The widget asks about a manager's answer only while the chat window is open, so a reply appears on the next check, every 4 seconds, or every 20 seconds in a hidden tab.
- Between sessions the widget keeps only the label of the last shown message.
- Answers of the web chat depend on the bot of the site. The widget delivers text, pictures and buttons in the form the bot sends them.
Frequently asked questions
How does the website chat widget decide whether to show a menu?
With several channels, a click on the button opens a menu with colored marks. With one channel, that channel opens at once. A channel is in the menu only if an address is specified for it.
How does a manager's reply reach the visitor?
While the chat window is open, the widget asks every 4 seconds whether a manager has answered, and every 20 seconds if the tab is hidden. The reply is shown in the manager bubble.
What does the chat do when it cannot answer?
It offers a friendly handover to Telegram. A handover to a manager is displayed as “Message passed to the manager”.