Glossary of tawk.to terms

An Add-on is an optional feature you can add to your tawk.to account. Current add-ons include an option to remove the tawk.to branding, tawk.to’s $1/hr Hired Agent service, the Virtual Assistant service, and Video + Voice + Screen Sharing.

Here’s how to set up the Remove Branding Add-on. 

Learn more about the Video + Voice + Screen Sharing Add-on.

Learn about purchasing the Remove Branding Add-on.

An Agent is an account-holder in tawk.to with access to one or more Properties, Chat Pages, or websites where a chat widget is installed.

Agents can see website visitors, respond to incoming chats, and configure the Knowledge Base of the properties to which they belong.

Learn how to invite and manage agents here.

An Alias enables a user to answer chats using a different persona with an alternate name and profile picture or avatar.  Use an alias to protect your identity or to create the impression that your business is larger than it is.

Learn how to create and manage aliases here.

An Attention Grabber is a graphic image designed to catch the attention of your visitors so they know you’re available to chat. Choose from one of tawk.to’s ready-made designs or upload your own branded design.

To learn more about setting up your attention grabber, click here.

A Consent Form gives visitors the option to read and consent to your Privacy Policy before engaging in a chat.

You can customize your consent form with a short message and a link to your Privacy Policy. You can also change the text on the consent/decline buttons and choose who will see your form.

Here’s how to enable and manage your consent form.

Your tawk.to Dashboard is the central hub and command center for your tawk.to account. Here you can monitor activity for all your properties, configure your widgets and settings, answer incoming chats from visitors and other agents, invite and manage property members, create your own Knowledge Base, view reports about your website, access add-ons, and more.

Once you have successfully signed in to your free tawk.to account, you will have access to your Dashboard.

A Direct Message is a private message sent to another agent on your property. You can send a direct message any time — even when the receiver is offline.

Learn more about setting up direct messages here. 

Group Chats allow you to chat with more than one agent in the same conversation. Group chats are useful for discussing problems, strategies, and solutions. They can also be used to share updates and announcements within a team.

A Mail Notification allows you to send chat transcripts and notifications by email to your property’s administrators, agents or a department selected in the Pre-chat form. You can set up automatic notifications for chat transcripts, new tickets, offline form submissions, and missed chat reports.

Learn how to adjust your mail notifications here.

A Message can either be in the form of a chat or a ticket.

A chat is a conversation between a site visitor and an agent. A ticket is a summary of interactions following a customer question or concern and may be assigned to another agent or department for follow-up.

Chats and tickets can be classified as open, missed, or closed.

Learn more about messages here.

A Property is created when a chat widget is set up on a site. Every tawk.to account can create unlimited properties. Each property allows users to receive and organize incoming chats from a site, set up a Knowledge Base, and configure the account settings for the site.

The Remove Branding add-on is an optional way to remove the tawk.to branding from the chat widget and support emails and allows you to use your own domain for sending support emails.

Shortcuts are templated responses agents can use in the chat to save time and ensure that responses are accurate and consistent.

Once a user has set up a shortcut, it may be recalled by typing a backslash and a designated keyword. The shortcut produces the entire message or response in the chat, saving the agent time and effort when answering common inquiries.

Learn more about shortcuts and how to use them to respond to chats here.

A Tab allows agents to sort information and access functions without leaving the Dashboard. It keeps the workflow in one place, allowing agents to be more efficient while answering chats. The Details, Knowledge Base, Shortcuts and History tabs are all available by default.

Learn more about Tabs here.

A Trigger is a tool you can use to initiate a chat with a visitor. It works by sending an automated message when specific pre-set conditions are met.

There are several types of pre-made triggers in the Dashboard. The three basic triggers are the Page Notification, the Chat Rescuer, and the Site Notification. Advanced Triggers may be set to match specific visitors and conditions.

Learn more about Triggers here.

A Webhook enables users to send real-time notifications of events within tawk.to to external services or apps. You can send a webhook event when a chat begins, ends, when a ticket is created, or when all three events take place.

A webhook may be set up to perform a particular task. For example, you can send an email, notify a Slack channel, or add data to a spreadsheet or CRM.

Here’s how to create and manage webhooks.

A widget is an element of a Graphic User Interface that allows a user to access information or carry out an activity.

The most common widget at tawk.to is the chat widget, which allows visitors to initiate a chat conversation with an agent about a website's service or product.

To get started on adding chat widgets to your website, click here.

Have a question? Start a chat with our support team or schedule a call.