First of all, open the website in a private window and reload the page. Many problems come from the website's cache or from data stored in the browser.
#The widget doesn't show on the website
Why it happens. The button shows only if the code is in the published page, the agent is active and the domain is the right one. Also, nothing on the website must block the script.
What to do. Check the causes in this order:
| Cause | What to do |
|---|---|
| The code isn't in the published page | Open the page source with Ctrl + U and search for data-chatbot-id. If it's missing, paste the code again and publish. |
| The agent is Paused | On the agent's page, set the status to Active. With Forced pause, it's the plan that doesn't cover the agent: see Forced pause. |
| The publishing domain doesn't match | In Agent profileGeneral, check the website domain: see Installing the widget. |
| The cache is out of date | Clear the website's cache. |
| A plugin blocks the script | Exclude chatbot.js from the features that delay or combine scripts. If the cookie manager blocks it, first read the box The widget and the cookie manager. |
| The code was modified | Copy it again from the Share tab and paste it without changing it. |
| The website's security rules block external scripts | Ask whoever manages the website to allow SupportFast, with the instructions in HTML and other sites. The exact list of rules to add is in Widget JavaScript API. |
| The website's design hides the button | Ask whoever manages the website to check that its styles don't hide the chat. |
| The browser is too old | Update the browser to the latest version. |
How to check. Reload the page in a private window. To check the agent, open the chat link from the Share tab: if the chat opens, the agent is active.
The widget and the cookie manager. The widget doesn't write cookies, but it saves some data in the visitor's browser storage (localStorage): a code that links the browser to its chats, the link to the contact, the open conversation and the date of the privacy consent. The chats stay on the server, not in the browser. Before you exclude chatbot.js from your cookie manager's blocking, check with your privacy consultant how to handle this storage. The details are in What visitors see.
#The button shows only after a while, or when I scroll the page
Why it happens. The widget starts after the rest of the page, so that it doesn't slow the page down. If it waits for the visitor to move, though, something is delaying it:
- the JavaScript delay of an optimization plugin;
- a cookie manager that waits for consent;
- a Google Tag Manager trigger that fires late.
What to do. Exclude chatbot.js from the plugin's delay, as in the “A plugin blocks the script” row above. For the cookie manager, first read The widget and the cookie manager. In Tag Manager, use the All Pages trigger.
How to check. Clear the cache and reload the page without touching it: the button shows on its own.
#I see two chats, or the wrong agent replies
Why it happens. Two chats show when the page has both the button and the iframe, or another service's chat.
What to do. Remove the old chat's code from the website. On the page with the iframe, whoever manages the website can hide the button on that page only with a CSS rule: it's in the section Moving the button: the CSS variables of the Widget JavaScript API. If the wrong agent replies, keep only one code on each page, copied from the Share tab of the right agent.
#The button covers other elements (cookies, cart, “back to top”)
Why it happens. The button sits in the bottom corner, above all the elements on the page.
What to do. Move it to the other side with Button position, in Agent profileInterface. To raise it, or to put a website element above the chat, whoever manages the website can use the variables described in Widget JavaScript API.
#The chat is in a different language from the website
Why it happens. The chat picks the language of the visitor's browser from the workspace languages.
What to do. Check the workspace languages and the chat texts in each language, as explained in Supported languages. For a single-language website, whoever manages the website can force the chat language: see Widget JavaScript API.
#The chat doesn't recognize signed-in customers
Why it happens. The data the website passes to the chat doesn't arrive, or is discarded. Until the customer writes, nothing shows in Contacts.
What to do. Have whoever manages the website check the points in Passing user data.
How to check. Sign in to the website as a test customer, write a message and open their card in Contacts.
#Changes made in the console don't show on the website
Why it happens. The widget reads the settings every time the page loads, and each Agent profile tab is saved with its own Save changes.
What to do. Save, then reload the website page. The agent's instructions change on the website after Publish, in the Playground.
How to check. Compare the website with the Chat Preview in the Interface tab.
#I don't see the paper clip or the microphone, or voice messages don't start
Why it happens. Attachments and voice messages must be turned on in the console, and they need some conditions on the plan, the website and the browser.
What to do.
- Turn on Enable file sending and Enable voice messages in Agent profileInterface, Files and Audio Sending panel. The plan must include the “Files and audio in chat” feature: see Plans, quotas and usage.
- You can turn on voice messages after you connect your own OpenAI key: see OpenAI key.
- Whoever manages the website must allow the microphone: see What visitors see.
- The microphone disappears while a file is ready to send.
- With “Microphone permission denied. Check your browser settings.”, the visitor must allow the microphone again for the website, in their browser.
- With “Your browser does not support voice messages.”, an up-to-date browser is needed.
How to check. Record a voice message of a few seconds: the transcript appears below the message.
#The visitor can't send a file
Why it happens. The file doesn't meet the formats and sizes described in What visitors see, or attachments aren't turned on: in that case the visitor reads “Attachment sending not available.”
What to do. Ask the visitor for an accepted format or a smaller file. If attachments are off, turn them on as explained above.
#The chat doesn't remember the conversation, or asks for consent again
Why it happens. The chat's memory is in the visitor's browser, in the localStorage entries that start with sf:, and it expires as described in What visitors see. With another browser, private browsing or a cookie manager that clears data, the chat starts from scratch.
What to do. Usually nothing: it's the expected behavior. If it happens to all visitors, check whether the cookie manager clears the widget's data, and read The widget and the cookie manager before you change its rules.
#The visitor reads “You've reached the monthly message limit.” or “You can no longer write in this conversation.”
The first is a message limit, the second a blocked contact: causes and fixes are in The agent stopped replying. If instead the visitor reads your Limit exceeded message, they sent too many messages in a row: see “Too many consecutive messages”.
#I don't see “Request an operator” in the menu, or the item is grayed out
The item stays in the menu but is grayed out while a request is pending, an operator is already in the chat or a message is being sent. It's also grayed out for a blocked contact. If the item isn't there at all, see The agent doesn't hand the chat over to an operator.
#The website's styles don't change the chat's look
The chat doesn't take on the website's styles. You choose colors, theme and position in the Interface tab; for everything else, whoever manages the website finds the instructions in Widget JavaScript API.
#Still not working?
Write to us as explained in How to report a problem. For the widget, add the page address, the browser and the device, and a screenshot.