Customize and Share Your Guided Conversations Widget in Zoho Desk

GC Customization and Share

Customize your GC widget

The widget customization options in GC have been enhanced to provide greater flexibility.

GC widget customization overview

You can now modify:

  • Widget logo:
    • Upload your brand logo to personalize the widget header.
  • Theme color:
    • Solid Color: Choose or customize a single color for the chat widget header to align with your brand.
    • Gradient: Apply a gradient theme using up to three colors to create a richer, more visually engaging widget interface. Chat bubbles automatically use the first color in the gradient.
Note
Gradient theme support is available for the Enterprise edition only, on Web across all DCs.
  • Greeting messages and media:
    • Set a default greeting text specific to the languages.
    • Add media (images, GIFs, videos) to create an engaging experience.
  • Launcher icon and shape:
    • Choose a custom icon (e.g., chat bubble, question mark) for the launcher.
    • Adjust the shape to be circular, square, or chat bubble shaped.
  • Launcher position:
    • Position the launcher at the bottom-left, bottom-right, or any custom location on the screen.
  • Background pattern:
    • Customize the widget with a patterned or a plain design.
  • Powered by branding:
    • Option to display or remove the "Powered by" branding text.
  • Call-out messages:
    • Configure messages to prompt user interaction.
  • End options:
    • Control user actions at the end of the session:
      • End session: Ends the session with an option to start a new session or retain and restart the session.
        • Start a new session: Clears previous session history and starts a fresh one.
        • Retain and restart the session: Retains the previous session and restarts it.
      • Create a new session: Ask the user whether to proceed with a new session or close the widget. This option clears the previous session history and creates a new session for the user.
  • Idle session timeout:
    • Set a timeout period to manage idle sessions effectively.
      • A pop-up will prompt the user to continue or restart the chat after inactivity.
      • The maximum session timeout is 23:59 hours (24 hours triggers an automatic session timeout).
      • If inactive for more than 24 hours, the session cannot be continued.
Idle session timeout configuration
  • Multilingual options:
    • Enable language selection within the widget to provide a localized experience for users.

Sharing GC Widget

Once the flows are published and enabled, the administrator can share it with the customers or agents using the following options:

Embed

Embed the code snippet on the webpage. You can embed different widgets in different webpages. Widgets can be customized within the web-app design which includes the placement of the widget, the widget shape and the way the bubbles appear within the widget. This will allow you to view the GC flows within a chat widget in your help center. Also, it allows GC flows to be invoked as a chat widget from any HTML page.

iFrame

Use iFrame to display the chat widget right within a blog post or article. It also facilitates opening the chat widget in the rich text editor. For example, in any help center, GC flows can be invoked from the following areas: Ticket Reply editor, Add form Editor, Comment Box, KB Editor etc.

QR code

Share the QR code in social channels such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, LINE, and Messenger for customers to access the GC flow as a chat widget in a separate web page with a public URL.

Public URL

Share the public URL for anyone to access the chat widget. When the URL is invoked, the GC chat widget loads in a separate web page. The Public URL panel now includes two quick actions:

  • Open in new tab: Instantly launches the chat widget in a new browser tab directly from the Share panel, so you can preview or test the live widget without copying the URL manually.
  • Copy: Copies the public URL to the clipboard for sharing via email, messaging apps, or social media channels.

Note
The Open in new tab option for Public URL is available for the Enterprise edition only, on Web across all DCs.
Mobile SDK

Use Mobile SDK to provide access to the GC chat from your mobile application. It loads the entire flow within the third-party app.

Steps to select the sharing option for a GC widget

Steps
1. Go to the GC Widgets list view and hover on the desired widget.
2. Click the Share icon and select an option to share the flow with customers.
3. You can select Embed, iFrame, QR Code, Public URL, or Mobile SDK.
Note
If you select Embed, iFrame, or Public URL, click Copy to copy the code. For Public URL, you can also click Open in new tab to preview the widget directly in your browser.
GC widget sharing options panel
Note
If you select QR code, click Download or Print.
GC widget QR code sharing option

Associating Flows with ASAP add-on

Once the flows are created, you can host them on your website by associating them with ASAP add-on or the GC widgets. You can associate the flows with both the platforms, or either one depending on your business agenda.

For example, if you want the customers to experience dual benefit of live chat where the chat can take place with a support agent along with the GC chat flow, then you can associate the flow with ASAP add-on. See also: Embedding ASAP add-on ↗

Likewise, if you want to provide your customers a complete self-service platform then you can use the GC widget to host the flow on your website.

Note
To facilitate live chat you must enable it via SalesIQ in ASAP.

Steps to associate flows with ASAP

Steps
1. Go to Setup > Self Service > ASAP.
2. Click the name of the add-on in which you want to include conversation flows.
3. Under the Tab Selection, hover over the Chat tab.
4. Click the Settings icon corresponding to the Chat tab.
5. Under the Chatbot Settings section, enable the Guided Conversations toggle button.
6. Click the Associate Guided Conversations Widget link.
7. Click the Select link to view the list of available conversation flows.
8. Select the GC flows that you want to associate with the add-on and click Add.
9. Click Save / Update.

The conversation flows you selected are now associated with the ASAP add-on.

Points to note when creating a GC bot widget
  1. The option to embed the chat widget will not be available if the widget permission is set as agents only.
  2. Invoking the GC flow via the QR code from a mobile phone currently renders a mobile-optimized GC chat widget and not the mobile app.
  3. Agent widget cannot be customized.
  4. Guided conversations don't retain chat conversations for end users. The existing conversation will be deleted right away when a new session is created. However, for sessions that are ended or restarted, the conversation history will be deleted within 24 hours of session completion.
  5. During an active session, if the widget is edited, it will continue to render as-is. However, once the user re-publishes with the new edits, those changes will only be reflected when the user restarts the conversation.
  6. If the widget is deleted during an active session, it will disappear from where the bot is embedded.