Customizing what users see on live chat
You can control how your live chat appears to visitors from the Chat view section within your Live chat settings.
Live chat settings overview
On the Connect channels page, under Chat Channels, locate Live chat and click Edit.
You will be taken to the live chat configuration page. This page is where you control how the widget looks, behaves, and appears to visitors.
The page is divided into the following sections: Chat view, Pre-chat form, Offline view, Suggested questions, and Preview.
Chat view
This section controls what visitors see when the chat widget is open.
You can configure:
Public name: The name shown to visitors in the chat
Description: A short subtitle or context displayed below the name
Initial greeting: The first message shown when the chat opens
These settings define how your chat presents itself and sets expectations for the conversation.
Customize appearance
In the upper right, click Customize appearance to open the appearance settings. From here, you can:
Upload or remove a profile picture
Upload a banner image (JPG or PNG, under 5 MB)
Set the button color and text color
Choose the widget position (left or right)
Add optional label text that appears next to the closed chat icon Click Save to apply your changes.
Pre-chat form
The pre-chat form is disabled by default. When enabled, it allows you to collect information from visitors before a conversation starts.
You can:
Customize the form header text
Choose which fields to collect:
Name
Email
Phone number
Enabling the pre-chat form helps ensure every conversation includes customer contact details for follow-up. However, requiring information up front may also reduce the number of chats started, as some visitors may prefer to begin a conversation without sharing their details.
Offline view
When no agents are available, the chat automatically switches to Offline View. This allows visitors to leave their information so your team can follow up later.
Fields displayed:
Header – Default: “We’re offline”
Message – Default: “Please provide your contact information so we can get in touch with you.”
You can customize both the header and message to match your branding or provide additional instructions to visitors.
Suggested questions
Suggested questions help visitors start a conversation quickly.
In this section, you can:
Add predefined questions
Edit existing questions
Reorder questions by dragging them
These questions appear in the chat widget and act as conversation starters.
Preview
On the right side of the live chat configuration page, you’ll see the Preview panel. This lets you view your changes in real time before publishing.
You can switch between three preview modes:
Chat view – See how the main conversation interface will appear to customers.
Chat form – Preview the pre-chat form that collects visitor information before starting a chat.
Offline view – See what visitors see when no agent is available.
Use the toggle at the bottom of the preview panel to switch between display formats:
Full page – Shows the chat in a larger, full-screen view.
Embed – Shows the chat as a compact widget, as it will appear on your website.
This feature helps ensure your chat looks and functions exactly as intended across different views and situations.
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