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Live Chat & AI Agent: the chat widget

3 min read

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The chat widget is the bubble in the corner of your site. Its launcher is a small script (under 30 KB gzipped); the chat itself loads only when a visitor opens it, so it does not slow your pages down, and it works on cached pages. It is set up under Live chat › Widget; the preview on the right updates as you type.

The Widget screen with the Look card (accent colour #F85112, header colour #10243D, position bottom right, words next to the launcher, show who is online in the header) and the live preview of the open chat on the right
(1) The look: accent and header colours, the position, the words next to the launcher and whether the header shows who is online. (2) The live preview, with the option to show the chat on phones (full screen when open).

Look #

SettingWhat it does
Accent colourThe launcher, buttons and unread counts
Header colourThe header and the visitor’s own messages
PositionBottom right or bottom left
Words next to the launcherFor example “Chat with us”. Empty: the round button only
Show who is online in the headerFirst names and initials of the operators online, never photos

Texts #

SettingDefault
GreetingHi, how can we help?
Reply time lineUsually replies in a few minutes
When nobody is onlineWe’re away right now. Leave your email and we’ll reply there.

When the AI agent answers first, the header says “Our AI assistant can help right now”.

Where it shows #

  • Show the chat on the site: switch the widget off everywhere without deactivating the plugin.
  • Show the chat on phones: on a phone the chat opens full screen.
  • Hide on these pages: one address part per line, for example /checkout/ or /wp-login.php. Any page whose address contains one of them has no chat.

Developers can hide the widget on more pages with the silc_show_widget filter.

What the visitor sees #

The open chat widget on a site called Lakeside Rentals, with the header saying Usually replies in a few minutes, the questions before the chat (name, email and the question, the first two optional), a Start chat button, a Skip, just chat link and the line By chatting you agree to our chat terms
(1) The header with your site's name and the reply time line, and who is online. (2) The questions before the chat. (3) The chat terms line.
  • Questions before the chat: the name and the email (each off, optional or required) and, if you like, “What is it about?”. Logged-in WordPress users skip them, and Let visitors skip and just chat adds a “Skip, just chat” link. They are set on Routing and hours, under Questions before the chat; by default the email is optional but required when nobody is online, so the reply can go by email.
  • The chat terms line: “By chatting you agree to our chat terms”, which opens your chat terms. See Privacy, consent and GDPR.
  • Files: after the first message the visitor can attach images, PDF, text, CSV, ZIP, Word and Excel files.
  • Earlier conversations: “Show my earlier conversations” asks for an email address and sends a code, so a visitor on a new device or browser can pick up their earlier chats. Logged-in visitors don’t need the code.
  • Unread replies: the launcher shows a count, and an unread reply follows the visitor to the next page.
  • Answers from the AI show the help docs they came from and a Talk to a person button. See The AI agent.
  • A rating when the chat is resolved, if you ask for one. See Routing, office hours and ratings.

The widget works with the keyboard and screen readers. It is checked with axe against WCAG 2 A and AA, closed and open, at desktop and phone width, and it draws itself in its own Shadow DOM, so your theme’s CSS does not change it.

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