Adding a chat feature to Joomla

Would you like to have direct contact with visitors to your website? So that you can immediately answer questions from (potential) customers. Then use a chat widget.

What is a chat widget?

A chat widget is an icon, often at the bottom of your screen. When you click it, you will see a screen that allows you to chat with a staff member who is currently online. You can add the widget like this on to your own website, with custom colors, messages, size, position and language.

There are several extensions that allow you to add a chat feature within Joomla. These can be found on the Joomla Extensions Directory.

Personally, I like to use the (free) service Tawk.to

Configuring Tawk.to

The installation of Tawk.to live chat does not start on your own Joomla website but starts with registering on https://tawk.to. On this website you can set all kinds of things, such as language, colors and triggers (when will a visitor see the chat screen).

Link Tawk.to to Joomla

After you have created an account and set up your widget, you will receive a widget code, you can add this in the index.php of your template, but if you find this difficult, Tawk.to also has its own Joomla plugin and module that you can use without any technical knowledge.

How can I chat with a visitor?

The visitor will leave a question or comment in the chat window. At that moment you will receive a message about this when you are sitting at your PC and logged in to the tawk-to-management environment. Of course, you are not going to sit around all day waiting for a chat message, so it is also possible to install the app on your phone. If a message comes in, you'll see the notification and you can immediately engage with the visitor.

Specify availability with the scheduler

You can specify when you are available for instant messages, for example daily until 17:00. Or when you are on vacation for a week. If you are not available, the visitor will not see a chat window but can leave a message in the contact form.

Free chat window

Tawk.to is a free service, but you can purchase extensions.

For example, if you want to remove the tawk.to logo you pay $12 per month, personally I am not bothered by the logo, but for larger companies a white label chat window can look more professional. Also, you can hire external chat operators who will take care of visitors first and only forward them for more specialized questions.

I have by no means discussed all the possibilities of Tawk.to. If you have any tips, let me know in a comment. Do you use another chat application? If so, let us know in a comment why you chose that application.