Overview

General Settings control the fundamental behavior of your LiveChat widget including when it's active, how it behaves, and core functionality.

Key Settings:

• Widget availability and business hours
• Language and localization
• Pre-chat form configuration
• Offline messaging
• Widget behavior and triggers
• Privacy and data handling

Widget Availability

Enable/Disable Widget:

Widget Status: ✅ Enabled
Visibility: Public (all website visitors)
Installation Status: ✅ Active on website
Widget ID: wgt_abc123xyz789

Configuration:

1. Navigate to Messaging → LiveChat → General
2. Enable Widget: Toggle ON/OFF
3. Visibility Options:
   • Public: All visitors can use widget
   • Authenticated Only: Requires login (for customer portals)
   • Test Mode: Only visible to admins (for testing)
4. Save changes

Business Hours

Business Hours Schedule:

Monday:    9:00 AM - 6:00 PM  ✅ Online
Tuesday:   9:00 AM - 6:00 PM  ✅ Online
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM  ✅ Online
Thursday:  9:00 AM - 6:00 PM  ✅ Online
Friday:    9:00 AM - 6:00 PM  ✅ Online
Saturday:  10:00 AM - 4:00 PM ⚠️ Limited hours
Sunday:    Closed             ❌ Offline

Monday:
  Shift 1: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  Break:   12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  Shift 2: 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Widget Button: "Chat with us! 💬" (Green)
Click behavior: Opens chat window immediately
Greeting: "Hi! How can we help you today?"
Response expectation: Instant (agent will respond)

Widget Button: "Chat with us (All agents busy)" (Yellow)
Click behavior: Opens chat, message queued
Greeting: "Thanks for contacting us! All agents are busy. Wait time: ~3 minutes"
Queue position: "You are #2 in line"
Response expectation: Wait for next available agent

Widget Button: "Leave us a message" (Gray/Red)
Click behavior: Opens offline message form
Form: Name, Email, Phone (optional), Message
Behavior: Creates ticket, email sent to team
Response expectation: "We'll respond during business hours (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm)"

Holiday Schedule:

December 25, 2025: Christmas Day - Closed
January 1, 2026: New Year's Day - Closed
July 4, 2026: Independence Day - Closed

Custom closures:
June 15-19, 2026: Company Conference - Limited staff

Language & Localization

Widget Language:

Supported Languages:

• English (US, UK, AU)
• Spanish (ES, MX, AR)
• French (FR, CA)
• German
• Italian
• Portuguese (BR, PT)
• Japanese
• Chinese (Simplified, Traditional)
• Korean
• And 40+ more...

Configuration:

1. Settings → General → Language
2. Primary Language: Select default language
3. Auto-Detect: Enable automatic language detection based on:
   • Browser language setting
   • Website language (if available)
   • Visitor's location
4. Multi-Language Support:
   • Enable multiple languages
   • Visitors can switch language manually
   • Agent routing based on language
5. Save settings

Translated Elements:

• Widget button text ("Chat with us")
• Greeting messages
• System messages ("Agent is typing...")
• Pre-chat form labels
• Offline form
• Rating prompts
• Transcript email

Custom Translations:

1. Settings → General → Language → Custom Translations
2. Override default translations:

   Default: "Chat with us!"
   Custom: "Let's talk!" or "Need help?"
   
   Default: "All agents are busy"
   Custom: "We're helping other customers right now"

3. Save custom translations

Pre-Chat Form

Collect Information Before Chat Starts:

Pre-Chat Form:

Name: _____________ (Required)
Email: _____________ (Required)
Phone: _____________ (Optional)
Subject: [Dropdown] (Optional)
  - Sales Inquiry
  - Technical Support
  - Billing Question
  - General Question
Message: 
________________________
________________________ (Optional)

[Start Chat]

Order Number: _____________ (Optional)
Product: [Dropdown] (Optional)
Company Name: _____________ (Optional)
How did you hear about us?: [Radio buttons] (Optional)

High Conversion (less info):
- Name
- Email
- Message (optional)
Conversion rate: 65%

Balanced:
- Name
- Email
- Subject (dropdown)
Conversion rate: 45%

Detailed (lots of info):
- Name
- Email
- Phone
- Company
- Subject
- Message
Conversion rate: 25%

Offline Messaging

When Agents Unavailable:

Offline Form:

We're currently offline
Business hours: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm

Leave us a message and we'll get back to you:

Name: _________________
Email: _________________
Phone: _________________ (optional)
Message:
_______________________
_______________________

[Send Message]

We'll respond within 24 hours during business hours.

Configuration:

1. Settings → General → Offline Messaging
2. Enable Offline Form: Toggle ON
3. Offline Message:
   • Custom message text
   • Expected response time
   • Alternative contact methods
4. Form Fields: Select required fields
5. Email Notifications:
   • Who receives offline messages
   • Email subject line
   • Auto-response to customer
6. Ticket Creation:
   • Create support ticket automatically
   • Assign to team/queue
   • Priority level
7. Save settings

Customer Experience:

1. Visitor clicks widget (agents offline)
2. Sees offline message and form
3. Fills out form and submits
4. Receives confirmation: "Thanks! We'll respond during business hours."
5. Email sent to support team
6. Ticket created in system
7. Agent responds via email or schedules chat

Widget Behavior Settings

Chat Triggers:

Proactive Chat Invitations:

Trigger: Visitor on pricing page for 30 seconds
Message: "Hi! 👋 Need help choosing a plan?"
Timing: Slide-in animation, dismissible
Frequency: Once per session

Configuration:

1. Settings → General → Triggers
2. Enable Proactive Chat: Toggle ON
3. Add Trigger:
   • Trigger Name: "Pricing Page Assistance"
   • Conditions:
     • Page URL contains "/pricing"
     • Time on page > 30 seconds
     • Visitor is new (first visit)
   • Message: "Hi! 👋 Need help choosing a plan?"
   • Timing: 30 seconds
   • Max Frequency: Once per session
4. Save trigger

Common Triggers:

• Time on site (30s, 60s, 90s)
• Page scrolled (50%, 75%, 100%)
• Exit intent (mouse moves to close tab)
• Returning visitor
• Specific pages (pricing, checkout, contact)
• Cart abandonment (e-commerce)
• Idle time (2 minutes no activity)

Chat Window Behavior:

Open Behavior:
- Slide in from bottom-right
- Fade in animation
- Sound notification (optional)
- Browser notification (if permitted)

Minimize:
- Collapses to chat button
- Unread message count badge
- Notification dot

Close:
- End chat confirmation
- Option to email transcript
- Rating request

Privacy & Data Settings

Data Collection:

What Data is Collected:

• Chat transcripts
• Name and email (if provided)
• IP address and location (city, country)
• Browser and device info
• Pages visited during session
• Referrer source

Configuration:

1. Settings → General → Privacy
2. Data Retention:
   • Keep transcripts: 90 days, 1 year, Forever
   • Anonymous after: 30 days (remove personal info)
   • Delete on request: Enable GDPR compliance
3. Visitor Tracking:
   • Track page views: ON/OFF
   • Track location: ON/OFF
   • Track referrer: ON/OFF
4. Cookies:
   • Session cookie: Required (conversation continuity)
   • Tracking cookie: Optional (visitor history)
   • Cookie consent: Require consent before setting
5. Privacy Policy:
   • Link to privacy policy in widget
   • Display before starting chat
6. Save settings

GDPR Compliance:

• ✅ Consent before collecting personal info
• ✅ Right to access data (export transcripts)
• ✅ Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
• ✅ Data minimization (only collect what's needed)
• ✅ Secure storage (encryption)
• ✅ Data breach notification

Widget Performance

Optimization Settings:

Loading:

• Async Loading: Widget loads after page content (default: ON)
• Lazy Loading: Delay load until user interaction (optional)
• CDN Delivery: Serve from nearest server (default: ON)
• Compression: Minified JavaScript and CSS (default: ON)

Caching:

• Browser cache: 7 days
• CDN cache: 24 hours
• API response cache: 5 minutes

Performance Metrics:

Load Time: 0.8 seconds
File Size: 42 KB (compressed)
Requests: 3 (HTML, CSS, JS)
Impact: Minimal (<0.1s page load)

Security Settings

Access Control:

• SSL/TLS encryption required
• XSS protection enabled
• CSRF token validation
• Rate limiting (prevent abuse)
• IP blocking (if needed)

Authentication:

• Optional visitor authentication (for customer portals)
• Single sign-on (SSO) integration
• Secure token handling

Troubleshooting

Widget Not Loading:

• Check installation code present on page
• Verify Widget ID correct
• Confirm widget enabled in settings
• Check browser JavaScript console for errors
• Test with browser cache cleared

Business Hours Not Working:

• Verify timezone setting correct
• Check current date/time in system
• Review holiday schedule (no conflicts)
• Test with different times
• Confirm schedule saved

Pre-Chat Form Issues:

• Verify form enabled
• Check required fields not too many
• Test field validation
• Review browser console errors
• Try different browsers

Offline Messages Not Received:

• Check email notification settings
• Verify email addresses correct
• Review spam folder
• Test email delivery
• Check ticket creation settings

Next Steps