Live chat widget

Q: Can I use the live chat on several websites?

Yes. Create one widget per website on Chat Tools›Live Chat; each has its own colours, texts, hours and code, and its chats carry its Chat title as the account name under Chats.

Q: Where do I find the code for my website?

Open Chat Tools›Live Chat, select the widget and open the Installation tab; select Copy under the code. A new widget gets this tab after its first save with Save.

For: Account owners, administrators and agents who run the chat on the company websiteRequires: Live chat (every plan); the Widgets permission to set it up, the Chats permission to answerScreenshots show sample data

A shopper looking at a product page at 21:15 has one question, whether the charger fits a UK socket, and leaves if nobody answers it. The live chat widget puts a chat window on your website, brings each conversation into Replyco as a chat your team answers live, and tells visitors honestly whether someone is there right now or will answer later.

What it does

Email and marketplace messages are slow for questions a shopper wants answered before paying. Without a chat on the page, the question either goes unasked or arrives as a ticket hours later, when the shopper has bought elsewhere.

The widget is a small chat button in a bottom corner of your pages. A visitor opens it, gives an email address, and writes; the conversation appears under Chats as a live chat, next to your WhatsApp and Messenger chats, and your team’s replies show in the visitor’s window as they are sent. You can run several widgets, one per website or brand, each with its own look, texts, hours and code.

Visitors see your colours, your greeting and a line that says whether you are open. Every setting, explained
The widget follows your working hours: it changes its status line when you close, and can hide completely. Understanding working hours
Chats arrive in the Chats screen for the colleagues responsible for the widget, and whoever replies is assigned to the chat. Live chats in Replyco
You install it once by pasting a short code into your website; later changes need no new code. Install the widget on your website
Each visitor message can also go to your own system through a webhook. The webhook

Every created and changed widget leaves a row in its Change Logs, with the old and the new value, and every chat keeps the visitor’s name, email and, if you choose, the page each message was written on.

Before you start

Requirement	Details
Plan	Live chat is part of every plan and of the trial; companies on an older plan may not have it. The widget appears on websites only while your company has live chat. See What each plan includes.
Setting up	The Widgets permission under Chat Tools; it shows Chat ToolsLive Chat. Set in AdminUsers; see Users.
Answering	The Chats permission under Main, and access to the widget in the Live Chat section of Access Rights. Everyone in the company when a widget is created gets access to it.
Your website	Someone who can edit your website’s template or add a script to every page, for example in your shop system’s theme editor.
Working time	The widget uses your company working time unless you give it its own. Check the hours in Company Settings first.
Cost	No charge per widget or per visitor. The first reply your team sends in a chat is reported as usage of your subscription, as with other conversations; see Billing: Usage.

Understanding working hours

The widget is always either open or closed. Open, it shows During business hours message under the greeting; closed, it shows Outside business hours message, or disappears if Widget visibility outside working hours is off. Visitors can write in both states.

Examples for the Northwind Outlet Chat, open Monday to Saturday 08:00–17:30 with 25 December, 26 December and 1 January as holidays:

Visitor’s moment	Result	Why
Monday 07:59	Closed	Before the start
Monday 10:00	Open	Between the start and the end
Monday 17:29	Open	Before the end
Monday 17:30	Closed	The end time itself counts as closed
Sunday 11:00	Closed	Sunday is not a working day
Thursday 25 December, 10:00	Closed	A holiday, in any year

How Replyco decides

Minutes, not seconds. The widget compares the hour and minute of the moment with the start and the end. At the end time it counts as closed, so a span of 08:00–17:30 is open until 17:29.
Hours across midnight. An end earlier than the start, such as 22:00–06:00, means hours across midnight: the widget counts as open in the late evening and the early morning of the working days.
A working time range. With Use Working Time Range on, the stretch from Active From to Active To is one block: open after the start time on the first day, all day on the days between, and before the end time on the last day. Monday 08:00 to Saturday 17:30 is open on Wednesday at 03:00 and closed on Saturday at 17:31.
Holidays win. A date in Holidays is closed all day, every year on that day and month, whatever the weekday says.
Where the hours come from. With Use Working time from Company Settings on, the widget uses the working days, times, range and holidays from Company Settings, including later changes there. Off, it uses its own.
Time zone. You enter the times in your browser’s time zone, and the widget applies them to visitors wherever they are: 09:00 in London is 09:00 in London for a visitor in Berlin too.

What does not get a chat window

The chat button does not appear on a page:

when Active is off;
when the page does not have the widget’s whole code, including the div with the ID replycoChat;
outside working hours, when Widget visibility outside working hours is off;
on a phone or tablet, when Widget on mobile devices is off;
when the widget was deleted, or the code names a widget that does not exist;
when your company no longer has live chat, for example after the trial ended without a plan.

In each case the page shows nothing where the button would be; visitors see no error.

Setting it up in five steps

Create the widget. Open Chat ToolsLive Chat and select Create New. The form opens on Appearance.

Every chat window on your websites is a widget on the Live Chat screen.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
Live Chat (/live-chat-settings)
Highlighted
button “Create New”, panel-header-right, enabled. starts a new widget
Also visible
2 widgets: Northwind Live Chat, Northwind Outlet Chat; pencil and bin per row
Purpose
entry point of the live chat widget
Write the four texts. Fill in Chat title, Introductory message, During business hours message and Outside business hours message. All four are required.
Check the hours (optional). Leave Use Working time from Company Settings on to use your company hours, or turn it off and set the widget’s own days, times and holidays.
Save, then copy the code. Select Save, open the widget again, go to Installation and select Copy.
Paste the code into your website. Paste it before the closing </body> tag of every page that should show the chat, and publish. Open a page of your website: the chat button appears in the bottom corner.

Every setting, explained

The settings are on the widget’s Appearance and Widget Settings tabs on Chat ToolsLive Chat, in this order; each is described with its effect on visitors. The screen itself, every button and the validation are in Live Chat.

Chat title, the widget’s name

Where

Appearance, first text box. Required; saved with Save.

What

The heading visitors see when they open the chat window, before a conversation starts. The same text is the widget’s name inside Replyco: the account name of its chats in the chat list, the entry in Filter by Account, the row in users’ access rights and the entry in auto-response rules. Changing it renames the widget everywhere at once.

Why

Visitors see whom they are talking to; your team sees which website a chat came from.

Introductory message, the greeting

Where

Appearance, under the title. Required.

What

Shown under the title in the welcome view, at the top of the window during the conversation and above the form that asks for the visitor’s email, and in the welcome bubble when Show welcome message is on.

Why

It is the first thing a visitor reads, so it should say what they can ask.

The Appearance tab of the Northwind Live Chat widget, scrolled to its texts. Use Working time from Company Settings is ON. Below it: Chat title "Northwind Live Chat", the highlighted Introductory message "Hi! How can we help you today?", During business hours message "We usually reply within a few minutes." and Outside business hours message "We are offline now and will reply in the morning.", each with its description. Visitors see the greeting when they open the chat, and one of the two hours lines under it. — Four texts make up what visitors read; the working time decides which hours line they see.

During business hours message and Outside business hours message, the status line

Where

Appearance, under the greeting. Both required.

What

One line under the greeting, chosen by the working time: the first while the widget counts as open, the second while it counts as closed. It is part of the window, not a message: nothing is added to the chat, and your team does not see it. To send an automatic chat message, use Auto-responses for chats.

Why

Visitors decide whether to wait for an answer now or leave their question for later.

Do	Don’t
Say when to expect an answer: We usually reply within a few minutes.	Promise a time you cannot keep: Instant answers, 24/7
In the closed line, say when you are back: We will answer from 08:00.	Tell visitors to come back later; they can write now
Keep each line to one sentence; the widget is narrow	Paste opening hours for every weekday
Write in your visitors’ language	Mix languages; the widget’s own buttons are in English already

Theme, Background color and Position, the look

Where

Appearance, top: two colour swatches and the Left / Right switch.

What

Theme (new widgets: #39a7e3) colours the chat button, the header of the window, the welcome bubble and the buttons. Background color (white) fills the area behind the messages. Position (Right) puts the button in the bottom right or bottom left corner.

Why

The chat should look like part of your shop and stay clear of other buttons in the same corner.

Use Working time from Company Settings, where the hours come from

Where

Appearance, under Position. On for new widgets. Off opens Use Working Time Range, Working days, Active between (or Active From and Active To) and Holidays.

What

On: the company’s working days, times, range and holidays apply, including later changes in Company Settings. Off: the widget’s own working time applies; saving needs at least one day and both times, otherwise Replyco shows All fields must be completed.. The widget’s own hours are kept when you switch back. The rules for boundaries, ranges, holidays and time zones are in Understanding working hours.

Why

One set of hours for tickets, auto-responses and the chat is easiest to keep right; an outlet or a second brand with different opening hours needs its own.

The working time of the Northwind Outlet Chat widget on the Live Chat screen. Use Working time from Company Settings is OFF and Use Working Time Range is OFF. Working days shows Monday to Saturday in blue and Sunday grey, Active between is 08:00 to 17:30, and the highlighted Holidays heading lists 25 Dec, 26 Dec and 1 Jan as chips with a cross each, above a date picker. On those dates, every year, the widget counts as closed all day. — A widget with its own working time has working days, one daily span and holidays that repeat every year.

Where

Appearance, first switch under the texts. On for new widgets.

What

On: while the widget counts as closed, the chat button stays on your pages with the closed-hours line, and visitors can still write. Off: the widget is not shown while it counts as closed.

Why

Collect questions overnight and answer them in the morning, or show the chat only when someone can answer at once.

The preferences of the Northwind Outlet Chat widget on its Appearance tab. The Outside business hours message reads "We are closed. Leave your message and we will answer from 08:00." Below, the highlighted Widget visibility outside working hours switch is OFF, so the outlet chat disappears when the team is closed. Show welcome message is OFF; Play sound for new messages, Widget on mobile devices, Privacy Policy (GDPR) and Message page tracking are ON. Cancel and Save are at the bottom right. — The switches decide when and where the widget appears and what it asks visitors.

Show welcome message, the invitation bubble

Where

Appearance, second switch. Off for new widgets.

What

On: a bubble with the Introductory message pops up next to the closed chat button. It goes away when the visitor closes it, and that browser does not show it again; it is not shown once the visitor’s conversation has messages.

Why

A visible greeting invites questions that would otherwise not be asked.

Play sound for new messages, the visitor’s alert

Where

Appearance, third switch. On for new widgets.

What

On: the visitor’s browser plays a short sound when a message from your team arrives in the widget. It does not affect sounds in Replyco; those are each user’s choice in Notifications.

Why

Visitors who switched to another tab notice your answer and come back.

Where

Appearance, fourth switch. On for new widgets.

What

Off: the widget does not appear on phones and tablets. The widget recognises them by the browser’s own description of the device (Android, iPhone, iPad and similar).

Why

On a small screen the chat button can cover the basket or checkout button.

Where

Appearance, fifth switch. Off for new widgets. Companies registered in Replyco’s German region do not see this switch.

What

On: the form that asks for the visitor’s email adds a required consent sentence, in English, that begins I authorize Replyco to process my personal data…, with an Agree checkbox under it. In the sentence, the word Replyco links to replyco.com and the closing words link to Replyco’s own privacy policy. The visitor cannot start the chat without the tick; an unticked box is marked red.

Why

Visitors agree actively before they give their name and email. The sentence names Replyco and its policy, not your shop’s, so tell visitors about the chat in your own privacy notice as well.

Message page tracking, the page address

Where

Appearance, last switch. Off for new widgets.

What

On: each message a visitor sends carries the full address of the page they were on, including any query string, and your team sees it under the message as from the page followed by the address. Messages sent while the switch was off have none.

Why

You see which product the question is about without asking.

Active, the master switch

Where

Widget Settings, top. On for new widgets. Saved with Save.

What

Off: the widget does not appear on any page that loads its code, from the next page load. Settings, code and chats are kept, and chats already open in Replyco can still be answered, but the visitor no longer has the window.

Why

Pause the chat during a closure or a busy sale without touching your website.

How the settings combine

Active	Working time	Widget visibility outside working hours	Device and Widget on mobile devices	What the visitor sees
Off	any	any	any	No chat button
On	Open	any	Computer	Chat button; open-hours line
On	Closed	On	Computer	Chat button; closed-hours line; can still write
On	Closed	Off	Computer	No chat button
On	Open	any	Phone, switch off	No chat button
On	Open	any	Phone, switch on	Chat button; open-hours line

What visitors see depends on whether they have written before in that browser and on the widget’s working time.

What the visitor sees	When
Chat button in a bottom corner, in the theme colour	Always, unless one of the cases in What does not get a chat window applies
Number on the chat button, up to 9+	Messages arrived while the window was closed
Welcome bubble with the greeting	Show welcome message on, until closed, and no messages yet
Welcome view: title, greeting, status line	The window is opened and no conversation has started
Form with name and email	The visitor selects the message box before giving an email
Conversation	After the form, and on later visits in the same browser
“Powered by Replyco” under the message box	On every widget; Replyco has no setting for it

The welcome view and the form

Opening the chat button shows the Chat title, the Introductory message and the status line. The message box is greyed out: selecting it opens a short form with NAME (optional) and EMAIL ADDRESS (required), the consent box if switched on, and SUBMIT. An address that is not an email is marked red and nothing is sent. This form is the only way into a chat; there is no separate offline form, and outside working hours the visitor uses the same form and conversation.

Why: the email is how your team recognises the customer and how a transcript can reach them later.

The conversation

After SUBMIT, Replyco creates the chat at once, before the visitor has written a word, and the window switches to the conversation. The visitor’s messages are on one side; your team’s replies show with the colleague’s first and last name and profile picture, and a green dot while that colleague is online in Replyco. A line such as Laura Graf is typing… appears while someone writes. Times follow the visitor’s device clock and format.

Visitors can attach one file at a time, up to 20 MB; pictures and videos show in the window, other files as a document to download. A larger file is refused with File size is more than 20MB. When your team edits or deletes a sent message, the visitor’s window shows the change at once.

Why: a named colleague with a face and a typing line tells the visitor a person is answering.

Coming back

The widget remembers the visitor in that browser: their email, name and chat. On the next visit, even days later, the window opens on the same conversation with its history, and the visitor can write straight away. In another browser, on another device, or after the visitor clears the site’s storage, they fill in the form again and a new chat starts.

Live chats in Replyco

Live chats are chats like WhatsApp or Messenger conversations: the same lists, the same reply box, the same assignment. How to work with them is in Chat list and conversations and Answer a chat.

In the chat list

A new live chat appears under Open for the colleagues responsible for the widget. Its title is the visitor’s name followed by the email in brackets, or the email alone if no name was given; the account name under it is the widget’s Chat title. Filter by Account lists each widget, so a colleague can work through one website’s chats. A chat created by the form stays in the list even if the visitor never writes.

The Open list under Chats in Replyco with six chats from WhatsApp, the live chat widget, Instagram, Messenger and Telegram. The highlighted second row is the live chat of Grace Mitchell: the start of her newest message, a blue unread badge, the chat bubble icon with the widget name Northwind Live Chat, and in yellow the time without response, 7 minutes. Live chats sit in the same list as the messenger chats and are answered the same way. — A live chat arrives under Chats with the widget's chat title as its account.

Why: website questions sit in the same queue as your other chats, ordered by the newest message.

Inside the chat

The conversation shows the visitor’s messages with date and time and, with Message page tracking on, from the page and the page address. The side panel shows the visitor as the customer with their email; Replyco links the chat to an existing customer when exactly one has that email. On live chats you can also edit and delete your team’s messages, and send a transcript of the conversation by email; see Transcripts.

A live chat from the Northwind Live Chat widget open under Chats, Open. Grace Mitchell asks whether she can still change the delivery address of her Bluetooth Speaker Mini; under her message the date and time and the highlighted "from the page" with the address of the shop page she wrote from. An automatic welcome reply from Northwind Electronics, marked "as auto-response “Welcome message”", Laura Graf's reply and Grace's new address follow. The side panel shows the chat title with her name and email in brackets, Laura Graf assigned, the status Open and her Customer Details. — With Message page tracking on, each visitor message shows the page it came from.

Why: the page and the customer record answer “which product?” and “which order?” before you ask.

Who is responsible and who is assigned

Each colleague ticked for the widget in AdminUsers, Access Rights, section Live Chat, is responsible for its chats: they see them in Open and get the new-chat notification. Replyco fixes the responsible colleagues when a chat starts, so a change in access applies to chats that start afterwards. Nobody is assigned at the start; every colleague who sends a reply is assigned to the chat automatically, if they were not assigned already, and the chat moves into their My Chats. An auto-response assigns nobody. You can also assign colleagues by hand in the chat’s side panel; see Chat list and conversations.

Admin, Users in Replyco with Laura Graf selected in the list of seven users. On the right, the Access Rights tab is open and its Live Chat section is expanded, with Select all and Deselect all above a table of Name and View. The highlighted row Northwind Live Chat has View ticked; Northwind Outlet Chat is not ticked. Laura is therefore responsible for chats from the main shop's widget but not from the outlet widget. Cancel and Save are at the bottom. — An admin decides per user which widgets' chats they are responsible for.

Why: split websites between teams, for example the outlet chat to the outlet team, without anyone picking chats by hand.

Example: one chat from start to finish

Grace Mitchell visits the Northwind shop on a Tuesday morning, during the company’s working hours. The Northwind Live Chat widget uses company working time and has every switch on.

Time	On the website	In Replyco
08:44	The chat button shows in the bottom right corner with the welcome bubble Hi! How can we help you today? Grace opens it and sees We usually reply within a few minutes.	Nothing yet
08:45	She selects the message box, enters her name and email, ticks Agree and selects SUBMIT	The chat Grace Mitchell [grace.mitchell@example.com] appears under Open for everyone responsible for the widget, still without messages
08:46	She asks whether she can still change the delivery address of her order	Her message arrives with from the page and the product page; the responsible colleagues get the new-chat notification; the welcome auto-response answers her at once
08:47	Laura Graf’s reply appears with Laura’s name and picture, and the browser plays a sound	Laura is assigned automatically; the chat moves into her My Chats
08:52	Grace sends the new address	Laura changes the order and can send a transcript to Grace’s email
A week later	Grace opens the shop in the same browser; the window shows the same conversation	Laura closed the chat meanwhile; Grace’s next message reopens it in Open, still assigned to Laura

Change Logs on the widget lists who created it and who changed which setting when, with old and new values for texts and colours.

The Change Logs tab of the Northwind Live Chat widget. Chloe Osborne created this live chat on 06/10/2025 at 08:31. Laura Graf updated it on 23/02/2026 at 14:05; the expanded row says the property Outside business hours message was changed from "We are offline now." to "We are offline now and will reply in the morning.", and that the highlighted property Show welcome message was turned on. — Every created and changed widget leaves a row in Change Logs, with the old and new value.

Why: when the chat suddenly says something different, you see who changed it.

Where

Chat ToolsLive Chat, open a saved widget, tab Installation, then Copy.

What

The code has two parts: an empty div with the ID replycoChat, where the chat is drawn, and a script that sets the widget’s ID and loads the chat from https://app.replyco.com/extensions/widget.js without holding up the rest of the page. Paste both parts, unchanged, before the closing </body> tag of each page that should show the chat; in most shop systems that means the theme’s main layout, so every page gets it at once. The code never changes: later changes to the widget reach the page on its next load.

Why

One short code works with any website you can edit, and the widget stays up to date without further changes.

The Installation tab of the Northwind Live Chat widget. Under Code and the line "Copy code and paste it into your website template code before the closing </body> tag", the highlighted code block holds an empty div with the id replycoChat and a script: it sets window.replycoChat.data with the widgetId d097cc4f-c257-4adb-09fb-08dbfd5ab7a1 and appends an asynchronous script loading https://app.replyco.com/extensions/widget.js to the page head. The Copy link sits under the code. — The code names the widget and loads the chat; paste all of it before the closing body tag.

Where to paste the code on common platforms, as the earlier Replyco guides describe them; the menu names are the platforms’ own and can change:

Platform	Where the code goes
Any website	The page template, before `</body>`, on every page that should show the chat; then upload or publish the pages
Shopify	Online Store › Themes › Edit code on the current theme, file `theme.liquid` under Layout, before `</body>`; save
WordPress	Appearance › Widgets, a Custom HTML widget in the footer area, the code in its content box, the title left empty; save
Magento 2	Content › Design › Configuration, edit the store view, HTML Head › Scripts and Style Sheets; save, then refresh all caches under System › Cache Management
Magento 1	System › Configuration › Design › HTML Head › Miscellaneous Scripts; save, then refresh the caches
BigCommerce	Storefront › Script Manager: a script on the footer of all pages, category Functional, type Script, the code in the script box; on older Blueprint themes, `footer.html` before `</body>`

The sections below walk through each platform with the code copied from Installation. The screenshots come from the platforms’ English interfaces and can look different in newer versions.

Any website

For a website you edit as HTML files, in a text editor or in your web host’s online editor:

Open the page that should show the chat.
Paste the code between the opening <body> and the closing </body> tag, most simply just before </body>.

Paste the whole code between the body tags, most simply just before the closing tag.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
opening body tag; the widget code: div id replycoChat and its script; closing body tag; red arrows to the code
Purpose
Save the page and upload or publish it in place of the previous version. Reload the live page and check that the chat button appears.

Pages built from one shared template need the code only once, in that template; otherwise repeat these steps for every page that should show the chat.

Shopify

In Shopify, the code goes into the theme’s main layout file, so every page of the shop gets it:

In the Shopify admin, under Sales channels, select Online Store, then Themes.

In the Shopify admin, open Online Store › Themes.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
SALES CHANNELS; Online Store expanded; Themes framed; Blog posts, Pages, Navigation, Domains, Preferences
Purpose
On your current theme, open the actions menu next to Customize and select Edit code.

On the current theme, open the actions menu next to Customize and select Edit code.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
Current theme card Debut; Actions menu open; Preview, Rename, Duplicate, Download theme file, Edit code, Edit languages; Customize button
Purpose
Under Layout, open theme.liquid; it usually opens by default. Paste the code just before </body> and select Save at the top right.

Paste the code into theme.liquid just before the closing body tag, then select Save.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
file list with theme.liquid under Layout; widget code before the closing body tag; Save button
Purpose

WordPress

In WordPress, a Custom HTML widget in the footer puts the code on every page:

In the WordPress dashboard, point to Appearance in the left menu and select Widgets.

In WordPress, open Appearance › Widgets.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
Appearance framed; submenu Themes, Customize, Widgets, Menus, Background, Theme Editor; Widgets framed
Purpose
Under Available Widgets, select Custom HTML, choose Footer as the area and select Add Widget.

Add a Custom HTML widget to the Footer area.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
Available Widgets; Custom HTML framed; chooser with Footer ticked; Add Widget button; Footer area on the right
Purpose
In the new Custom HTML widget in the footer, paste the code into Content and select Save. Leave Title empty; a title would only add text to your footer.

Paste the code into Content, leave Title empty and select Save.
What this screenshot shows
Screen
()
Highlighted
“”, , .
Also visible
Title empty; Content with the widget code; browser context menu with Paste; Save and Delete
Purpose

If your theme has no Widgets menu, add the code with any tool your site offers for HTML on every page, before </body>.

Magento

In Magento, the code goes into the HTML head settings of the store’s design, and the caches are refreshed afterwards. In Magento 2:

In the Magento admin, go to Content › Design › Configuration.
Select Edit on the store view that should show the chat.
Expand HTML Head, paste the code into Scripts and Style Sheets and save the configuration.
Go to System › Cache Management, select all caches and refresh them.

In Magento 1:

Go to System › Configuration › Design › HTML Head.
Paste the code into Miscellaneous Scripts and select Save Config.
Go to System › Cache Management, select all caches and refresh them.

BigCommerce

In BigCommerce, the code goes into Script Manager:

In the BigCommerce admin, open Storefront, select Script Manager and create a script.
Give it a name and description, such as Replyco and Live chat, and set Location on page to Footer, the pages to All Pages, Script category to Functional and Script type to Script.
Paste the code into the script box at the bottom and save.

If your store has no Script Manager, paste the code into Storefront › Footer Scripts and save.

Without Script Manager, paste the code into Storefront › Footer Scripts and save.

What this screenshot shows

Screen: ()
Highlighted: “”, , .
Also visible: Storefront menu with My Themes, Script Manager, Footer Scripts; notice recommending Script Manager; Footer code box
Purpose

On an older Blueprint theme, open Storefront › My Themes, choose Edit HTML/CSS, paste the code into footer.html just before </body> and save.

The webhook

Where

Widget Settings, Webhook, saved with Save. Message Schema for Webhook Transmission shows the fields.

What

For every message a visitor writes in this widget, Replyco sends an HTTP POST with a JSON body to the address, as the message arrives. It is not called for your team’s replies, for auto-responses, or when the visitor only fills in the form. The address starts with http:// or https://, for example https://hooks.example.com. If your server does not answer with success, Replyco tries once more after two seconds; the message is in the chat either way.

Why

Feed website questions into a CRM, a spreadsheet or an alert channel as they arrive.

The Widget Settings tab of the Northwind Outlet Chat widget. Active is ON and the Webhook field holds https://hooks.example.com. The highlighted Message Schema for Webhook Transmission is expanded and shows a JSON example with id and chatId (Guid), text, createdDate (DateTime, ISO 8601), customerName, customerEmail and attachmentUrl (String, may be empty). Cancel and Save are at the bottom right. — The webhook receives each visitor message; the schema shows the fields it carries.

The body has the fields shown under Message Schema for Webhook Transmission. A call for Grace Mitchell’s first message looks like this:

{
  "id": "5f0c1d2e-0000-4000-8000-000000000101",
  "chatId": "c4a7c4a7-0000-4000-8000-000000000002",
  "text": "Hi, I just ordered a Bluetooth Speaker Mini and noticed it is going to my old address. Can I still change it?",
  "createdDate": "2026-03-10T08:46:20",
  "customerName": "Grace Mitchell",
  "customerEmail": "grace.mitchell@example.com",
  "attachmentUrl": null
}

The time is in UTC. The name and email are those of the customer linked to the chat. A message with a file has an empty text and a link to the file in attachmentUrl.

Three ways teams use it:

Every visitor message → a new lead in your CRM with the email and the text.
A message containing “wholesale” → an alert in your sales team’s channel.
Every message → a row in a spreadsheet, to count questions per product page.

Auto-responses and transcripts for live chats

Where

Chat auto-response rules, the Widgets field of a rule; Transcripts for the transcript templates.

What

A chat auto-response rule that names the widget can answer visitor messages automatically, once per chat or on every message, with a delay and conditions. The answer is a chat message that the visitor sees in the window. Live chats, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram and TikTok Shop chats can get auto-responses; WhatsApp chats never do. How Replyco decides which message gets an automatic reply is in Auto-responses for chats. A transcript emails the conversation to the visitor as a new ticket, from the email account the transcript names; an agent sends it from the chat, and only live chats offer it.

Why

The status line only informs; an auto-response answers, and a transcript gives the visitor a record.

Examples: a rule on the Northwind Outlet Chat set to send outside working hours → Thanks, we have your question and will answer from 08:00. A rule with the condition text contains “return” → your returns template. A chat about a delivery address → a transcript to the visitor after the change.

Privacy: what is stored and where

Data	Where	For how long and who sees it
Visitor’s name and email	In Replyco: the chat title and a customer record	Until you delete them; everyone who can open the chat or Customers
Messages and files	In Replyco, in the chat	Like other chats; the colleagues responsible for the widget, and anyone assigned
Page address of each message	In Replyco, with the message	Only with Message page tracking on
The visitor’s email, name, chat reference and whether they closed the welcome bubble	In the visitor’s browser (local storage, not cookies)	Until the visitor clears the site’s data

The widget itself sets no cookies. When it is switched on, the visitor’s browser loads the Ubuntu font from Google Fonts, so Google receives the visitor’s IP address, as with any page that uses Google Fonts; mention this in your own privacy notice. Visitors see the first and last name and the profile picture of colleagues with access to the widget, never their email addresses.

Languages

The widget’s own words are English only: the placeholder Text a message…, the form fields NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS, SUBMIT, Agree, the consent sentence, Send, Download, Powered by Replyco, the typing line and the error line. They do not follow your company language or the visitor’s browser.
Your four texts show exactly as you type them, so write them in your visitors’ language. A shop with a German and an English website can run two widgets, one per language.
Visitors can write in any language. Chats show each message as the visitor wrote it; the automatic translation of incoming messages described in Translations works on tickets, not on chats.
Dates and times in the window follow the visitor’s device.

What you need to know

Topic	Fact
Widgets	Any number; one code each; the chat title is the name everywhere
Open or closed	Between the start and the end time on working days; closed at the end time; holidays closed all day, every year
Time zone	Entered in your browser’s time zone; the same moment for every visitor
Offline	No separate form; visitors write the same way, or see no button if visibility outside working hours is off
Chat start	A chat is created when the visitor submits the form, before the first message
Assignment	Nobody at the start; each colleague who replies is added
Files	One at a time, up to 20 MB each
Returning visitors	Same browser: same chat; new browser or cleared storage: new chat
Changes	Reach visitors on their next page load; the code never changes
Webhook	Visitor messages only; the fields of the schema on the screen; one retry after two seconds
Switching off	Hides the widget everywhere; settings, code and chats kept
Deleting	Removes the widget and its access rights; its chats stay; cannot be undone
Language	Widget words English only; your texts as typed
Cost	No charge per widget; first replies count as usage like other conversations

Frequently asked questions

General

Do I need to connect the live chat as an account?

No. The live chat has no tile under Add Account and nothing to connect. Create a widget on Chat ToolsLive Chat, copy its code from the Installation tab and paste it into your website before the closing </body> tag.

Does the live chat cost extra?

No. Live chat is part of every plan and of the trial, with no charge per widget or per visitor. As with other conversations, the first reply your team sends in each chat is reported as usage of your subscription.

Can I use the live chat on several websites?

Yes. Create one widget per website on Chat ToolsLive Chat; each has its own colours, texts, hours and code, and its chats carry its Chat title as the account name under Chats.

Any website where you can add HTML and a script to the page template, before the closing </body> tag: Shopify, WordPress, Magento, BigCommerce and hand-built sites. The code must include the empty div with the ID replycoChat, where the chat is drawn.

Setup

Where do I find the code for my website?

Open Chat ToolsLive Chat, select the widget and open the Installation tab; select Copy under the code. A new widget gets this tab after its first save with Save.

Where do I paste the code in Shopify?

In Shopify, go to Online Store › Themes, choose Edit code on your current theme, open theme.liquid under Layout and paste the widget’s code from Installation just before </body>. Save, then open your shop to check the chat button.

In WordPress, go to Appearance › Widgets, add a Custom HTML widget to the footer area, paste the widget’s code from the Installation tab into its content box, leave the title empty and save. Any other way to add HTML before </body> on every page works as well.

No. The code only names the widget. Colours, texts, hours and switches you save on Chat ToolsLive Chat reach visitors the next time a page loads the widget. Only deleting the widget and creating a new one needs new code.

I saved new colours, but my website still shows the old ones. Why?

Visitors get changes on their next page load. Reload your website page; if your shop system or a caching plugin caches pages, clear that cache as well. Check on Chat ToolsLive Chat that the widget was saved and the success message appeared.

Working hours

Check whether Use Working time from Company Settings is on and your company hours in Company Settings are right, whether today is in Holidays. The times are the ones you entered in your browser’s time zone, and at the end time the widget counts as closed.

Can visitors write to us when we are closed?

Yes, as long as Widget visibility outside working hours is on. The widget shows Outside business hours message and visitors use the same form and conversation; the chat waits under Chats for your team. There is no separate offline form.

No. Outside business hours message is a line in the widget, not a chat message. To answer automatically, create a rule in Chat auto-response rules with the widget under Widgets; note that its outside-hours option follows company working time.

Yes. Turn off Use Working time from Company Settings on the widget’s Appearance tab and set its own days, times and holidays. Chat auto-responses set to send outside working hours still follow the company working time.

Visitors

What does a visitor have to fill in before chatting?

An email address; the name is optional. Visitors see the form when they select the message box. With Privacy Policy (GDPR) on, they must also tick the consent box. After SUBMIT, the chat starts and they can write.

Can visitors send files?

Yes, one file at a time and up to 20 MB each, through the paper clip in the widget. Pictures and videos show in the conversation; other files appear as a document. A larger file is refused in the visitor’s browser with File size is more than 20MB.

Will a returning visitor see their earlier conversation?

Yes, in the same browser: the widget remembers their email and chat and continues the conversation with its history. In another browser, on another device or after clearing the site’s data, the visitor fills in the form again and a new chat starts.

What do visitors see about the colleague who answers?

The colleague’s first and last name and profile picture next to each reply, a green dot while they are online in Replyco, and a line such as Laura Graf is typing… while they write. Email addresses of your team are never shown to visitors.

Partly. Your texts, such as the title, greeting and the two hours lines, show as you type them, so write them in German. The widget’s own words, such as NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS, SUBMIT and the message box placeholder, are in English only.

Widget on mobile devices may be off on the widget’s Appearance tab, or the widget counts as closed and Widget visibility outside working hours is off. Also check that the code is on the page your phone opens, for example a separate mobile theme.

In Replyco

Where do live chats appear in Replyco?

Under Chats, in Open for the colleagues responsible for the widget, and in My Chats once assigned. Each chat shows the visitor’s name and email and the widget’s Chat title as its account.

Who gets new live chats?

The colleagues ticked for the widget in AdminUsers, Access Rights, section Live Chat. Nobody is assigned at first; each colleague who sends a reply is assigned automatically, and the chat moves into their My Chats. Access changes apply to chats that start afterwards.

Why is there a live chat without any messages?

A visitor filled in the name and email form but did not write. Replyco creates the chat as soon as the form is sent, so it appears under Chats with no messages; you can close it or wait for the first message.

Can I send the visitor a copy of the conversation?

Yes. In a live chat under Chats, the three-dot icon next to the chat title sends a transcript of the conversation to the visitor’s email, as a new ticket. The icon appears only when at least one transcript is switched on. Transcripts are set up under Transcripts.

Webhook

What does the webhook send?

For each message a visitor writes, a POST with JSON: id, chatId, text, createdDate in UTC, customerName, customerEmail and attachmentUrl, as Message Schema for Webhook Transmission shows them. Your team’s replies and auto-responses are not sent. The address is set on the widget’s Widget Settings tab.

Why does our webhook receive nothing?

Check that the address on Widget Settings was saved with Save and starts with http:// or https://, and that your server accepts a POST there. Only visitor messages trigger it, not your team’s replies. Replyco retries once after two seconds, so check your server’s logs for the calls.

Data and privacy

No. The widget keeps the visitor’s email, name, chat reference and whether they closed the welcome bubble in the browser’s local storage. When active, it loads the Ubuntu font from Google Fonts, which passes the visitor’s IP address to Google.

What does Replyco store about a visitor?

Their name and email, as the chat title and a customer record, every message and file in the chat, and with Message page tracking on the page address of each message. Colleagues with access to the chat or to Customers can see this data.

Replyco’s. With Privacy Policy (GDPR) on, the consent sentence begins I authorize Replyco to process my personal data… and links to replyco.com and to Replyco’s own privacy policy, not to your shop’s. Mention the chat in your own privacy notice too.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
The chat button does not appear on the website	In order: Active on and saved? The whole code on this page, including the `div` with the ID `replycoChat`, and the page published? Page and shop caches cleared? Closed now, with Widget visibility outside working hours off? A phone with Widget on mobile devices off? The widget deleted, or the code from a deleted widget? Your company still has live chat? A cookie or consent tool on your site that holds scripts back until the visitor accepts, or a browser extension that blocks scripts: try a private window without extensions.
The button appears on some pages only	The code is in a template that only some pages use; move it to the main layout.
The chat window opens but visitors cannot type	The message box stays grey until the visitor gives an email: they select it, fill in the form and select SUBMIT.
The form does not accept the email	It must be a complete address such as `name@example.com`; the field turns red otherwise.
The consent box is missing	Privacy Policy (GDPR) on and saved? It appears in the form, not before. Companies in Replyco’s German region have no such switch.
The widget shows the closed-hours line during opening hours	Use Working time from Company Settings and the company hours; today in Holidays? Times entered in your browser’s time zone? See Understanding working hours.
Saved changes do not show on the website	Success message after Save? Reload the page; clear your shop’s page cache.
Visitors see “Something went wrong… Please reload your page.”	The visitor’s connection to Replyco’s chat service failed. Reloading the page reconnects; messages already in Replyco are kept.
Visitors see “File size is more than 20MB.”	The file is over 20 MB; ask for a smaller file or a link.
A colleague does not get the widget’s chats	Ticked in AdminUsers, Access Rights, Live Chat? Chats that started before the change reach them only when assigned.
A new live chat is not in the list	Reload Chats; check Filter by Account, and that you are responsible for the widget.
The webhook receives nothing	Address saved on Widget Settings and starting with `http://` or `https://`? Server accepts a POST at that address? Only visitor messages trigger it. See The webhook.

Live chat widget

What it does

Before you start

Understanding working hours

How Replyco decides

What does not get a chat window

Setting it up in five steps

Every setting, explained

Chat title, the widget’s name

Introductory message, the greeting

During business hours message and Outside business hours message, the status line

Theme, Background color and Position, the look

Use Working time from Company Settings, where the hours come from

Widget visibility outside working hours, the closed-hours switch

Show welcome message, the invitation bubble

Play sound for new messages, the visitor’s alert

Widget on mobile devices

Privacy Policy (GDPR), the consent box

Message page tracking, the page address

Active, the master switch

How the settings combine

The widget on your website

The welcome view and the form

The conversation

Coming back

Live chats in Replyco

In the chat list

Inside the chat

Who is responsible and who is assigned

Example: one chat from start to finish

The history of a widget

Install the widget on your website

Any website

Shopify

WordPress

Magento

BigCommerce

The webhook

Auto-responses and transcripts for live chats

Privacy: what is stored and where

Languages

What you need to know

Frequently asked questions

General

Do I need to connect the live chat as an account?

Does the live chat cost extra?

Can I use the live chat on several websites?

Which websites does the widget work on?

Setup

Where do I find the code for my website?

Where do I paste the code in Shopify?

How do I add the widget to WordPress?

Do I have to paste the code again after changing the widget?

I saved new colours, but my website still shows the old ones. Why?

Working hours

Why does the widget say we are offline during opening hours?

Can visitors write to us when we are closed?

Does the widget send an automatic reply when we are closed?

Can the widget have different hours from our tickets?

Visitors

What does a visitor have to fill in before chatting?

Can visitors send files?

Will a returning visitor see their earlier conversation?

What do visitors see about the colleague who answers?

Can the widget be shown in German?

Why don’t I see the widget on my phone?

In Replyco

Where do live chats appear in Replyco?

Who gets new live chats?

Why is there a live chat without any messages?

Can I send the visitor a copy of the conversation?

Webhook

What does the webhook send?

Why does our webhook receive nothing?

Data and privacy

Does the widget set cookies?

What does Replyco store about a visitor?

Whose privacy policy does the consent box link to?

Troubleshooting

Related