With all the recent changes to Chats, Agents and Settings, we haven’t forgotten about the look of your chat window! The following post will outline how the new design of the chat window looks, animates (!) and what new features we have planned for the chat widget.
The fresh new look
Without further delay, here’s how the new chat window looks.
If you’re not a fan of screenshots, you can see the new chat window by chatting with us on our website. Feel free to start a chat and say ‘Hi’ to see all the little details.
Once you do, the biggest difference you will probably notice are the new animations. Yes, the chat window is now animated!
Actions like receiving new messages in a chat, minimizing the chat window or having the window pop up now come with a small animation.
The animations will help to make the chat window much more responsive in the eyes of customers that visit your website.
Customize your chat window
Along with the new look, you also get new ways to modify the chat window on your website.
You can change the chat window color (three different elements). You will also be able to choose which parts of the chat window you want to show/hide: transcript, agent rating and agent avatar.
In the near future, you will be able to pick and choose a custom chat window theme for the new chat window from our Marketplace. The Marketplace offers access to high quality themes without having to rely on an in-house developer.
New feature: mute
The Mute button is a completely new addition to the chat window. Your customers can use it to disable all sound notifications coming from the chat.
The Mute option allows customers to continue chatting normally no matter where they are or what they do.
What will come in the future
The current release of the new chat window is just the beginning. If you think these changes are awesome, just wait and see what else we have in store!
Similar to the previous updates, we’re using the chat window update to open the widget up for further development. Here’s a few things we’ve planned for the upcoming weeks.
1. Rich messages
Use the message style you know from Messenger and iMessage to display photos, buttons or page headers as parts of your message. Rich messages will make your chats more seamless and familiar for your customers.
2. More settings for Greetings
New chat window also means new ways to engage customers on your website. We’re working on a couple of new conditions and options that will help you offer better Greetings.
3. New, faster chat protocol
This is a huge upcoming update that not only speeds the chat window up, but also turns your contact history with a customer into one, continuous conversation (Messenger style).
4. Plugins for chat window
This update will allow you to add custom bits to the chat window. These can be new chat window features for customers, for example an agent performance survey. The plugins will also allow for deep customization of the chat window itself.
5. More tools for developers
We’re not forgetting about the developers! Far from it: we have a new library coming that will allow crafty developers to create their own, custom chat widgets. There’s also a new API in the making that will make it possible for developers to create the aforementioned chat window plugins and integrations.
How to get the new chat window
Head over to your Settings and click on the banner to get access to the new chat window look. Remember to share your thoughts and comments on the new look with us! You can write a comment under this post, chat with us or write us an email at feedback@livechatinc.com.