Help guide
Live chat and texting
Live chat puts a small message box on your site so visitors can reach you in the moment, while they're still looking. Every conversation lands in your inbox, and you can even let visitors carry on by text after they leave the page.
These three all reach the same Site Star agent, and it does the same thing whichever you pick. Use whatever's in reach.
- Site Star dashboardThe message box on My Site, once you're signed in.
- TextText your site's number from a phone it knows. Photos come through.
- EmailEmail your site's address. Attachments come through.
- Your own AI assistant Different setup, same result. Connect Claude or another assistant to your site once, then ask it from the chat you already use, and it acts on your site for you. Set it up
Find your channels
Make sure you're on the Website tab, then open Settings in the sidebar and click Chat. Live chat and texting live there, in the Channels and Text number for visitors cards:
Turn on live chat
In the Channels card, switch Live chat on. A chat box appears on your site so visitors can message you in real time. Every conversation shows up in your inbox under Visitor chats, so you can reply or pick it up later.
Ask Site Star
- Turn on live chat
- Turn live chat off for now
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
Tell the assistant how to answer
The assistant already knows your business info. Instructions cover the rest: what to say about pricing, what not to promise, a notice while you're closed for the holidays. Temporary notices have a start and end date; everything else applies always.
Ask Site Star
- Tell the chat assistant we're closed Dec 24 to Jan 2 and reopening Jan 3
- The assistant should never quote prices, just offer a free estimate
- What instructions does the chat assistant have right now?
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
In Settings → Chat, the Assistant instructions card has Temporary notices with dates and an Always box.
Hand chats to your team
When a visitor asks for a person, or the assistant can't help, it can hand the conversation to your team: you're notified, and that chat waits for you in your inbox. This is on by default; switch it off if you'd rather the assistant always handles chats itself.
Ask Site Star
- Stop handing chats to the team, let the assistant handle everything
- Turn team handoff back on
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
In Settings → Chat, use the Hand off to your team switch.
Ask for details first (optional)
Under Before the chat starts, you can ask a visitor for their name, email, or phone before the first message, and mark any of them required. It's a trade-off:
- Ask for nothing and visitors start chatting right away, which gets you more conversations but fewer contact details.
- Ask for a phone or email and you can follow up later, but a few visitors won't bother.
Leave all three off and visitors chat straight away. If you do collect a phone number, there's an optional small print line where you can note that you may reply by text.
Ask Site Star
- Ask visitors for their name and email before the chat starts, email required
- Don't ask visitors for anything before chatting
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
Under Live chat settings → Before the chat starts, tick the fields to collect and which are required, then Save chat settings.
Offer to text instead
Switch on Offer to text instead and, after the form, a visitor can choose to carry on by text rather than staying on the page. Site Star sends the message and it lands in the same conversation, so nothing gets split up.
This needs two things: you have to collect a phone number in the step above, and your site needs a text number (below). Until both are set, the switch stays off.
Ask Site Star
- Let visitors continue by text
- Turn off the text option in chat
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
Under Live chat settings, switch on Offer to text instead.
Your visitor text number
The number visitors text is a real local number registered in your business's name. Because that registration is a carrier requirement, Site Star sets it up for you rather than you doing it yourself.
- If you don't have a number yet, the Text number for visitors card says so. Get in touch and Site Star registers one in your business's name.
- Once it's set up, the card shows the number (with a Copy button) and who it's registered to.
- You can pause and resume texting any time with the switch. Pausing keeps your number and its registration, so you can turn it back on later.
Ask Site Star
- I'd like a text number for visitors
- What's my visitor text number?
- Pause visitor texting for now
Or do it yourself in the Site Star dashboard
The Text number for visitors card shows the number and the pause switch.
Related
Where these conversations land: see your inbox. Want Site Star to alert you when someone reaches out? See notifications. Or get in touch, usually the same business day.