Live chat: appearance, greeting and starters

A default chat widget says nothing and gets asked anything. A configured one tells visitors what it is for and offers them a way in, which changes both the volume and the quality of what you receive.

All of this is configuration, not code.

Who this is for

Admins and whoever owns the customer experience on your site.

Before you start

• The widget installed and rendering on your site.
• Permission to manage conversation settings.
• Your brand colour and logo.

Starters shape what you get asked
The starter questions are the highest-leverage setting here. Offering 'Request a demo', 'Reset my password' and 'Account support' produces a very different queue from an empty box that says 'Hi'. Choose starters that match what you actually want to handle in chat, and the queue reshapes itself around them.

Configure it

1. Set the accent colour and logo
   Match your site so the widget reads as part of it rather than something bolted on. The launcher can show your logo mark.
2. Choose a position and launcher style
   Left or right, and the shape of the launcher. Pick the side that does not collide with anything else on your pages.
3. Write the header title and subtitle
   The header is what a visitor reads first. Something specific like 'Kudos CRM Support' is more reassuring than a generic label.
4. Write the welcome message
   Say what this chat is for and what happens next. Setting expectations about response time here prevents most of the frustration that follows.
5. Add starter questions
   Give visitors two to four things to click. This is what turns a blank box into a useful front door and steers the conversations you get.
6. Decide on the teaser
   The widget can show a short teaser after a delay to invite a conversation. It lifts engagement and it also interrupts — set the delay so it is an offer rather than a pop-up.
7. Look at it on your own site
   Load your real pages on desktop and mobile. The corner of a page behaves differently from a settings preview.

What you get

• A widget that looks like it belongs on your site.
• Visitors who know what the chat is for before they type.
• A queue shaped by the starters you chose rather than by whatever people guess.
• Control over whether and when the widget invites a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

What should the starters be?

The things you actually want to handle in chat. They steer what you get asked, so use them to pull in the conversations you want and leave out the ones better handled elsewhere.

Should I turn the teaser on?

It raises engagement and it interrupts. If you use it, set a delay long enough that it reads as an offer to someone who is browsing rather than a pop-up at someone who just arrived.

Can the launcher show our logo?

Yes — the launcher mark can be your logo, and the accent colour carries through the widget.

Does changing appearance need a new install?

No. Appearance is fetched as configuration, so changes take effect without touching the script on your site.