Installing Support Board

                                        <!-- Not required if jQuery is already loaded -->
                                        <script src="[YOUR-SUPPORT-BOARD-URL]/js/min/jquery.min.js"></script>
                                        <script id="sbinit" src="[YOUR-SUPPORT-BOARD-URL]/js/main.js"></script>
                                    

Requirements

• The pages where you include the chat must be HTML or PHP pages and must be opened via a server.
• You cannot display the chat on a HTML page opened directly on a local computer. Use a server instead.
• Your server must allow the access of the following file: supportboard/include/ajax.php
• If you're using the WordPress version of Support Board and you have any security plugins installed, please make sure that they don't block the supportboard/include/ajax.php file.
• JQuery 1.1+
• PHP 7.4+
• In your server settings, CURL, ZIP ARCHIVE, must be enabled and working correctly.
• Read and write file permissions must be granted for the Support Board uploads, resources/language and apps folders. Support Board must be able to save and read the files in these folders.
• MySQL - The SQL mode "ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY", and the setting "ANSI_QUOTES", must be disabled.

Once the installation is completed you can check the system requirements from Settings > Miscellaneous > System requirements.

Activation

To activate the plugin and enable all of the features (including automatic updates and more secure encryption), you need to enter the Envato Purchase Code into the Settings > Miscellaneous area of the Support Board Admin page.

Updates

• To update Support Board and the apps manually, go to the Admin area and click the version number in the bottom left corner.
• You can also activate automatic updates via Settings > Miscellaneous.
• To enable plugin updates, you need to have a valid Envato Purchase Code. To update the Support Board apps you need to have a separate valid License Key or Envato Purchase Code for each specific app. Besides, the License Key must not be older than 1 year (only for apps purchased outside of CodeCanyon). If your License Key is expired, you will need to purchase a new license to enable App updates again. Apps purchased on CodeCanyon have lifetime updates.
• The latest versions of the Apps will not work if Support Board has not been updated to the latest version.
• If you're using the WordPress version of Support Board, keep in mind that you cannot update Support Board from the WordPress plugins page.

Manual updates

• To manually update Support Board and the apps use the link https://board.support/synch/updates.php?sb=[ENVATO-PURCHASE-CODE]&dialogflow=[LICENSE-KEY]&slack=[LICENSE-KEY]&ump=[LICENSE-KEY]&tickets=[LICENSE-KEY]&woocommerce=[LICENSE-KEY]&perfex=[LICENSE-KEY]&whmcs=[LICENSE-KEY]&aecommerce=[LICENSE-KEY] Replace ENVATO-PURCHASE-CODE with your Envato Purchase Code and the LICENSE-KEY values with the license keys of the apps, delete the link parts of the apps you don't use.
• Use the file names returned in the previous step to create the download links by appending the file names to the URL https://board.support/synch/temp/. Ex. https://board.support/synch/temp/dsk872m.zip. Open the links in your browsers and download the latest version of Support Board and the apps.
• Open the downloaded zip file of Support Board and extract and replace all files in your Support Board installation folder. If you're using the WordPress version you can also delete the plugin and install it again, this time with the new version.
• Open the zip files of the apps and enter apps folders into the folder supportboard/apps of your Support Board installation.

Having Problems?

If you're having any issues at all, please contact our friendly support team at [email protected]. Before contacting us, please make sure that your server has all the requirements listed above. On that same note, if you are using the WordPress version, please make sure that your WordPress installation has all the requirements listed above.

General issue

For any issue you can check the system requirements from Settings > Miscellaneous > System requirements. We can not provide support about solving the issues reported by the system requirement function, please contact your hosting or server support if you need help.

Cross-domain configuration

If you want to use the same chat installation on multiple domains, your server should allow cross-origin requests. To enable cross-origin requests on your server follow the steps below:

Cross-domain configuration via server

• For Apache servers — Edit the .htaccess file of the domain where the plugin is installed and enter the code <IfModule mod_deflate.c="">header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *');</IfModule> at the very top of the file.
• For nginx servers — Edit the file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf of the domain where the plugin is installed and enter the code add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"; at the very top of the file. If you're using Plesk go to Domains > example.com > Apache and nginx settings > Additional nginx directives and insert
  add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*'; .

You can view tutorials for the most common server administration software in the list below:

• Plesk
• All Apache servers

Cross-domain configuration via PHP

If none of the previous solutions work or you can't change the server settings, follow the steps below:

• Edit the file supportboard/config.php and enter the code define('SB_CROSS_DOMAIN', true); at the end of the file.
• Upload the following folders into your destination server(the server where the chat should be shown, not the one where Support Board is installed): supportboard/media/fonts and supportboard/media/icons. You can upload the files where you want, for example, http://www.example.com/chat-files. If the chat is loaded on multiple domains upload the files on each domain.
• Edit again the file supportboard/config.php and insert the code define('SB_CROSS_DOMAIN_URL', 'YOUR-URL'); at the end of the file. Replace YOUR-URL with the URL that points to the files you just uploaded, for example, http://www.example.com/chat-files. If the chat is loaded on multiple domains replace YOUR-URL with the an array of URLs, for example, ["http://www.example.com/chat-files", "http://www.example-2.com/chat-files"].

Blocking zoom on iOS devices

When using the chat on iPhones the textarea is automatically zoomed when the user's start typing a new message. To stop the zoom insert the code below into the <head> area of all the pages that include the chat.

                                <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" />
                            

Hide admin.php from URL

By default, the admin URL is something like https://your-website.com/support/admin.php. You can hide the admin.php part of the URL and make it like https://your-website.com/support/ by inserting the following code in your .htaccess file:

                                    <ifmodule mod_dir.c> DirectoryIndex admin.php</ifmodule>
                                

Chat widget not displaying

You cannot see and test the chat as a user if you're logged-into the admin area. To test the chat as a user, please log out of your admin account. Alternatively, you can use another browser window in “private” or “incognito” mode. Additionally, you can force a logout by executing the SBF.reset() function in the browser console.

Reset email or password of the admin account

If you can no longer log in to the admin area you can reset your password and email by following the steps below:

• Edit your MySQL Database. You can edit it from your hosting panel, usually with phpMyAdmin.
• Edit the table sb_users.
• Find your admin account, and make sure the value of the column user_type is admin.
• Reset your password by editing the password column and by inserting the new password as a hash. To generate a hash for your password, visit https://phppasswordhash.com/, or insert the hash $2y$10$i7OComVhUh8BHcyx9VzUfuN.hnNsnKzK1Hd/GKK2KIwBo7Y6stppu (password: 12345678).
• Reset your email address from the column email.

If you're using the WordPress version, you can just delete the user from the database and WordPress will generate it again. You can also create a new WordPress user with administrative privileges, then logout from your current account, and log in with the new one. Once you're into Support Board, change the password of your previous agent from Users > Agents.

Admin account deleted

If you accidentally delete all of your admin and agent accounts and can no longer log in to the admin area, you can resolve this issue by following the steps below:

• Edit your MySQL Database. You can edit it from your hosting panel, usually with phpMyAdmin.
• Edit the table sb_users.
• You can convert any existing user to an admin by editing the column user_type, and entering the value admin.
• You can also add a new user by assigning a value to the columns first_name, last_name, password, email, and user_type fields. The value of the password column must be a hash. To generate a hash for your password, visit https://phppasswordhash.com/. Also, the value of the column user_type must be admin.

Server down

If your server and/or website goes down or suddenly stops working after a few minutes of chat usage, the issue could be related to your server's Firewall. This usually happens as a result of an IP Address Banning (Fail2Ban) or Web Application Firewall (ModSecurity) settings. The multiple AJAX requests from the chat to the database are recognized as a "server attack" and so your server places a temporary block on your IP address. This issue should only affect you and/or your developers; visitors/users should not be affected. To confirm whether or not this is the issue, use a VPN service like Hotspot Shield. When the server goes down, activate the VPN to change your IP and try accessing your website again. If the website works normally, the issue is confirmed. To solve it temporarily disable fail2ban or contact your hosting support for additional support.

Disable chat via JS

Insert the code var SB_DISABLED = true; into a page to prevent the chat from loading.

Manage Conversations

Conversations have a total of four different statuses: mark as read, archive, delete and restore. You can manage the status of a conversation by opening it in the conversations area and then clicking any of the corresponding icon buttons in the top right of the conversation window.

• When you empty the trash, all the conversations in the trash are permanently deleted.
• When a user sends a new message to an archived or trashed conversation, the conversation is automatically restored and will now be visible in the Inbox area.
• Trashed conversations are deleted automatically after 30 days.
• When a user is deleted, all the conversations and messages are permanently deleted too.
• An agent can delete their messages by opening the message menu and clicking Delete. The message menu becomes visible when you hover the mouse cursor over the message.

Text Editor and Automated Messages Features

The text editor of the admin area and automated messages(example: welcome and subscribe messages) can be used to create stylized messages:

• Links formatting — All text links are automatically converted to clickable hyperlinks.
• Text formatting — The editor also supports text formatting syntax:
  • To make text bold, surround it with *: *your text*.
  • To make text italic, surround it with __: __your text__.
  • To make text strikethrough, surround it with ~: ~your text~.
  • To insert a single-line code comment, surround it with `: `your text`.
  • To insert a code block, surround it with ```: ```your text```.
• HTML and other code languages — For security reasons, no HTML, JavaScript (JS), or other code languages are permitted. However, you can use HTML snippets by utilizing custom Rich Messages (discussed below).
• To insert a line break into a message, use the keyboard combination CTRL + ENTER.

Merge fields

Merge fields are strings replaced by external values when used. Merge fields can be used in any message or automated message, including chatbot messages.

{user_name}

{user_email}

{agent_name}

{agent_email}

Rich Messages

Rich messages are special messages with interactive features like buttons, dropdowns, or inputs. They allow an agent to request information from the user via a user input form or to diplay interactive contents. Rich messages can be inserted into a chat message using shortcodes. Shortcodes accept various parameters like title and description. The available Rich Messages are listed below.

How it works:

1

Create and send

Create a Rich Message by inserting the shortcode into the text editor of the admin area. Customize all of the parameters with your information and send your message.

2

Message is displayed

When a shortcode is used, the user sees the Rich Message (not the shortcode) and can select or enter the required information to complete the form submission.

3

User's response is submitted

Once the Rich Message form has been filled out and sent by the user, a success message is shown and the form data is saved.

Rich Messages

[card image="URL" header="TITLE" description="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amete" link="URL" link-text="Purchase" extra="$599" target="_blank"]

[slider image-1="URL" header-1="TITLE" description-1="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amete" link-1="URL" link-text-1="Purchase" extra-1="$599" image-2="URL" header-2="TITLE" description-2="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amete" link-2="URL" link-text-2="Purchase" extra-2="$599" target="_blank"]

[slider-images images="URL,URL,URL"]

[chips options="A,B,C"]

[buttons options="A,B,C"]

[select options="A,B,C"]

[inputs values="A,B,C" button="Send now"]

[email name="true" last-name="true" phone="true" phone-required="false" placeholder=""]

[registration]

[timetable]

[articles link="https://board.support/articles-demo"]

[rating label-positive="Helpful" label-negative="Not helpful" label="Rate and review"]

[list values="A,B,C"]

[list values="A:X,B:Y,C:Z"]

[list-image values="URL:A,URL:B,URL:C"]

[table header="A,B,C" values="A:B:C,A:B:C,A:B:C"]

[button link="https://board.support" name="Click here" target="_blank" style="link"]

[video type="youtube" id="0TImic4N1ko" height="350"]

[image url="https://board.support/media/admin.png"]

[share fb="https://board.support/" tw="https://board.support/" li="https://board.support/" pi="https://board.support/" wa="https://board.support/"]

Global parameters

All of the Rich Messages support the following parameters:

id="123"

title="ABC"

message="ABC"

success="ABC"

settings="ABC"

Rich message response

When a user completes a Rich Message form, a success message is shown. The message includes the user's input/selection. The user's response data is saved in JSON format in the database under table sb_messages and column payload. Example:

{"rich-messages":{"4Voyu":{"type":"email","result":{"email":["[email protected]","Your email ..."]}}}}

Custom Rich Messages

You can create custom Rich Messages with your own custom content by going to Settings > Miscellaneous. Currently, custom Rich Messages are static and there are no interactive options available as there are with shortcodes. However, you can insert custom HTML codes.

HTML codes

When creating a custom Rich Message, you can use the following codes:

<a href="https://www.google.com" target="_blank" class="sb-rich-btn sb-btn">Click here</a>

<a href="https://www.google.com" target="_blank" class="sb-rich-btn sb-btn-text">Click here</a>

<div class="sb-image"><img src="https://via.placeholder.com/1500x600" class="sb-image" /></div>

Attachments

The allowed file attachments extensions are set in the supportboard/include/upload.php file. The following image formats are displayed automatically: .jpg, .jpeg, .png.

Manage Users

Manage users from the Users area in the left menu of the Admin area.

Search users

You can search users by name, surname, email, and custom fields.

Delete users

You can delete a user by opening the User edit box and then clicking Delete user. To delete multiple users at once, select the users you want to delete from the Users table and then click the top right Delete icon.

• When a user is deleted, all of their conversations and messages are automatically deleted permanently.
• If a user of a deleted user come back to the website, a new user is automatically created.
• Visitors are automatically deleted every 24 hours.

Additional user table columns

To display additional columns in the user table go to Settings > Admin > Users table additional columns and add the new columns. The value of each column is the slug of the user detail or extra user detail you want to display. The slug is lowercase and with spaces replaced by the char -. For example, the slug of the extra user detail "Date of birth" is "date-of-birth".

User types

user

lead

visitor

Manage Agents

Manage agents from the Users area. An agent is a special user that can log in to the admin area and reply to all of the conversations. There are two types of agents: Agents. Admins are the only ones that can create new Agents; they also have access to the settings area. Agents can only manage users and conversations.

If you are using the WordPress version of Support Board, an admin is created on plugin activation with the same user and password of the logged-in user.

Information

• To view online users and receive the online user notification enable Settings > Users > Register all visitors.
• The log-in form is shown only if the registration password field is shown.
• The password field is always shown when the user system is set to "WordPress".
• If Settings> Users > Allow Duplicate Emails is enabled and a user enters an already registered email, a new user is created and the email is removed from the old user. The new user will not have access to the old user's messages and conversations. You can also automatically log in a user via URL parameters.

Settings

Office Hours

You can set the office hours timetable from Settings > Miscellaneous. Office hours are used for:

• Automatically displaying the timetable and a message when a user sends a message during out-of-office hours or if all agents are offline. To enable this feature set up the Offline message at Settings > Messages > Offline Message. The offline message is sent to the same user maximum 1 time per hour.
• Disabling and hiding the chat during out-of-office hours.
• Disabling the Dialogflow chatbot during regular office hours and enabling it during out-of-office hours.

More information

• The office hours are in UTC format. Your UTC is generated automatically when you click the field Settings > Miscellaneous > UTF offset. To manually get the UTC offset of your area, go to: https://browserspy.dk/ or wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UTC_time_offsets and copy the offset (ex. for UTC −12:00, enter -12). Only integers are accepted. If your offset is not an integer (ex. UTC -12:30 or UTC -12:45), try searching for an alternative UTC offset. If you can't find an integer offset, you will need to manually adjust the times in the office hours table to fix the gap.
• The date and time format of the timetable matchs automatically the one used in the country of the browser language of the user.
• The offline message is not sent automatically if Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active.

Knowledge Base Articles

Knowledge base articles provide instant answers to customers to help reduce customer support volume. To manage the articles, go to Settings > Articles. Articles support HTML code, which can be used to add images, videos, and other content. Here are some HTML code examples that you can use:

<a href="https://www.google.com" target="_blank" class="sb-rich-btn sb-btn">Click here</a>

<img src="https://via.placeholder.com/1500x600" />

<div class="sb-image"><img src="https://via.placeholder.com/1500x600" class="sb-image" /></div>

<video controls><source src="video.mp4" type="video/mp4"></video>

Display articles

• The articles can be shown in the chat dashboard by enabling them from the Settings > Chat area.
• The articles can be shown in a dedicated page by inserting the JavaScript variable var SB_ARTICLES_PAGE = true;, to set the location of the articles area insert the code <div id="sb-articles"></div>. If you're using the WordPress version you can use the shortcode [sb-articles].
• Alternatively, articles can be shared via the Rich Message shortcode, [articles].

More information

• Translate the categories from Settings > Translations by adding the translation name and its translation.
• If you use categories, only the articles assigned to a category are displayed.
• If there is at least one translated article in the user's language, only the translated articles are displayed.
• Articles are synchronized automatically with the Dialogflow knowledge base if the Dialogflow app is installed.
• You can create an internal chat link to an article with the button rich message.
• You can create external article links with the URL attribute article=ID, repalce ID with the article ID. Example: https://board.support/articles-demo?article=Ucsx6.

Language and Translations

Support Board is fully multilingual and provides powerful features to detect the user's language on the fly.

Edit translations

To edit the languages of both chat and admin, go to Settings > Translations. Some settings, such as e-mail contents, are directly translatable and therefore do not need to be translated here.

Chat language

Support Board is already translated into 41 languages. There are many options available to set the language:

• OPTION 1 Go to Settings > Chat and check the Translate automatically option. This feature will automatically use the chat language of the user's browser.
• OPTION 2 - PHP ONLY Add the URL parameter lang=LANGUAGE-CODE to the script that loads the chat, replacing "LANGUAGE-CODE" with the two-letters language code you would like to display. Example: https://board.support/supportboard/js/main.js?lang=en. Go to wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes for the complete languages code list (see column 639-1).
• OPTION 2 - WORDPRESS ONLY Go to Settings > WordPress and set the option Force language.
• OPTION 3 - WORDPRESS ONLY The WordPress version of Support Board uses the default language of the WordPress installation; or the language of the current page or post if the website is multilingual. This feature is compatible with WPML, Polylang, and other multilingual plugins. Note: This feature is automatically disabled if the option Chat > Translate automatically is active.

Admin language

To translate the admin area follow the steps below:

• Translate the texts in your language from the Settings > Translations.

To set the admin area language you have three options:

• Activate the option Settings > Admin > Automatically translate admin area. This feature automatically translate the admin area to match the agent profile language or the agent browser language.
• Edit the file config.php inside your Support Board installation directory and insert the code define('SB_ADMIN_LANG', 'LANGUAGE-CODE'); at the end of the file content. Replace LANGUAGE-CODE with the language code of the language you want to use, use only 2 letters, for example, insert only es, not es_ES.

Translate custom contents

You can translate almost any custom content: Rich Messages, titles, descriptions, automatic messages, chat header, and more. To add translations, select the language you want and click the New translation button.

Add a new language

To add a new language, follow the steps below:

• Via FTP or a File Manager, go to supportboard\resources\languages\front.
• Duplicate (copy and paste it in the same directory) the supportboard\resources\languages\front\source.json file.
• Rename the file with the language code you would like to add. Go to wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes for the complete languages code list (see column 639-1).
• Go to Settings > Translations and the new language should appear automatically.

To add a new language for the admin area, follow the exact same steps, but use folder admin instead. New languages will not be lost or deleted on plugin updates.

Information

• If a translation string is missing, add it by clicking the button Add new translation.
• If a translation string is not working, make sure to remove all white spaces and break lines at the start and the end of the string.
• The translations edits are not saved in the database but directly in the translation files. When a translation is edited, and saved, a backup is created into the uploads folder. The backup is restored automatically on plugin update and plugin activation.
• Some special chars like & are replaced by the HTML equivalent code (see https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_entities.asp). Ex. & is replaced by &amp;
• You can add missing translation strings also by code. Edit the language files located in supportboard\resources\languages. Once you edited a file, the new strings will appear in Settings > Translations.

Departments

Departments give you the power to distribute conversations and assign various agents to specific departments. For example, you can create a department entitled "Sales" and assign specific conversations to that department. To start using departments, follow the steps below:

• Go to Settings > Miscellaneous and add your required departments. After saving, reload the page.
• Go to Users > Agents and edit an agent, you will see a new field where you can set the department of the agent.
• Reload the page and you're done! In the Conversations area, you will now see an option to set the department.

Settings

• Display in dashboard Displays the departments' list in the chat dashboard and force users to choose a department before starting a conversation.
• Display images Displays the department image instead of the department color.
• Label Replace the label Departments (plural) with another text. The name is displayed in the admin and tickets area.
• Label single Replace the label Department (singular) with another text. The name is displayed in the admin and tickets area.
• Dashboard title Set the title of the chat dashboard list. Default: Departments.

How it works

• An agent can only access conversations that have been assigned to their specific department.
• When an agent is assigned to a new department, an email notification is sent to all of the agents assigned to the new department.
• The General department is global and gives agents access to all of the conversations within all departments. Also, all agents without a department are automatically assigned to the General department.
• To automatically assign a department to the user conversations you can insert the JavaScript variable var SB_DEFAULT_DEPARTMENT = ID; into the pages where the chat is displayed, replace ID with the department ID. For more details check the APIs here.
• Admins always see the conversations of all departments.
• The chatbot can assign a department to the active conversation via dialogflow actions.

Queue

When the queue is activated via Settings > Miscellaneous > Queue, users enter into a queue automatically when an agent's chat limit is reached. When a user enters the queue, a message with the current position in the queue and the estimated waiting time is displayed. Support Board automatically assigns the conversations to all available agents proportionately. When an agent marks a conversation as completed (by archiving it), the queue is updated and a new conversation is received.

More information

• Only online agents are counted as "available" agents; only online agents will receive new conversations.
• Admins are not included; admins always see all the conversations.
• Agents must archive a conversation to mark it as completed; this will automatically give them access to the next conversation in the queue.
• Agents can switch their status between online and offline by hovering over their profile image and then clicking the label of the profile pop-up at the bottom-left of the admin area.
• Agents can only view their conversations; however, they can see all of the conversations of a single user.
• Agents can only search and filter their conversations.
• The waiting time is displayed in minutes and is calculated as follows: queue position X response time = waiting time. For example, if a user is 5th in the queue, and the response time has been set to 4 minutes (via Settings > Miscellaneous > Queue), then the total wait time displayed to the user will be 20 minutes.
• If a user is in the queue and leaves (ex. by closing the browser) for more than 1 minute, the conversation is saved; however, once the user comes back, the queue is reset and the user will lose their previous position.
• The queue is compatible with the departments.
• If Dialogflow human takeover is active, the queue is activated only on human takeover.

How to test the queue

• To simulate multiple users and agents, open the chat in multiple different browsers (ex. Opera, Firefox, Brave, Chrome, etc.). Each browser can simulate two users/agents: one in normal mode and one in "private" or "incognito" mode.
• To reset the chat and start a new user session, open the browser console, enter SBF.reset(), and press ENTER.

Routing

When the routing is activated via Settings > Miscellaneous > Routing, Support Board automatically assigns the users conversations to all available agents proportionately.

Information

• Conversations are assigned to online agents first. If all agents are offline, conversations are assigned proportionally between all agents.
• Conversations are assigned to agents with less active conversations. A conversation is active if it's not deleted, or archived. If routing is active, you should archive the conversations once completed.
• Admins are not included; admins always see all the conversations.
• Agents can switch their status between online and offline by hovering over their profile image and then clicking the label of the profile pop-up at the bottom-left of the admin area.
• Agents can view only their conversations; however, they can see all of the conversations of a single user.
• Agents can search and filter only their conversations.
• The routing is compatible with the departments.
• When routing is active agents can manually route conversations to other agents from the right panel of the conversations area.
• If the conversation is archived and the user reopens it in the future by sending a new message, if the assigned agent in the conversation is offline, the conversation is assigned to another agent.

Manual routing

When the routing is activated via Settings > Miscellaneous > Hide conversation of other agents agents see only their own conversations and can select the unassigned ones.

• Agents menu: displays the agents' menu to assign the active conversation to another agent.
• Routing if offline: if the conversation is archived and the user reopens it in the future by sending a new message, if the assigned agent in the conversation is offline, the conversation is assigned to another online if there is at least one, otherwise to no agent.
• View unassigned conversations: allow agents to view the unassigned conversations, when an agent replies the conversation is automatically assigned to him and the conversation is removed in real-time from the admin area of the other agents. Check this option to enable the manual routing.

Email piping

Email piping lets you, your agents, and your users reply to chat messages via email.

Activation

To activate the email piping go to Settings > Notifications > Email piping and enter your POP3/IMAP email server information, then set the email address to use for the email piping in Settings > Notifications > Email settings and you're done! The email address must be the one to which the email piping server connects to. Support Board will send all emails from this email address and you, your agents, and your users will reply to this email address.

Information

• User and agent email notifications are activated automatically if email piping is active.
• If you're using the Dialogflow App, and the settings Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active, no emails are sent if the chatbot knows the answer.
• If the setting Convert all emails is active, all emails sent to your inbox will be converted to chat messages, mind that all emails, including spam, promotional emails and more would be wrongly converted too.
• If the setting convert all emails is active, email sent by email addresses of agents and admins will be ignored, use another email address for testing.
• If the setting convert all emails is active, each email sent directly to the email piping address will generate a new user conversation.
• You can not use the same email address used for the email piping to reply. All your Support Board agents and admins must use a different email address.
• Agents must reply via email from the same email address registered in Support Board.
• The email is sent to the user only if it's offline. If it's online no emails are sent.
• The email is sent to the Agents only if they are offline. If they are online no emails are sent.
• If you're using Gmail enter imap.gmail.com as host and set 993 as port, or smtp.gmail.com as host and 587 as port. You need also to allow access to Gmail to less secure apps, you can do it from https://myaccount.google.com/lesssecureapps.
• Email piping requires php5-imap module (IMAP module). If it's not installed on your server you can install it with the command apt-get install php5-imap. If you have issues contact your hosting/server support.
• The Delimiter option add a text at the top of all emails:
  ### Please type your reply above this line ###
  . This text tells Support Board to delete all the content below it and it's usefult to cut out all of the reply quotes. Activate it if you see duplicated messages in the chat. If this option is active, you and your users can not use the string ### in the emails.
• You can use Gmail in combination with another email (ex. [email protected]) by using an email alias that sends all emails to the Gmail account.
• Support Board try to process emails via cron jobs every 60 seconds, but, because cron jobs are initiated by users, if you have less than 1 visitor per minute, it could take longer. As long as there is at least one active user on the site, execution every minute is guaranteed. You can manually trigger execution and speed up cron jobs via API with the PHP function sb_email_piping(), or the WEB API function email-piping. You can use this cron job file: download. The cron job command is php -f YOUR-FILE-PATH/cron.php. In this case, check the setting Disable cron job to stop Support Board from manually triggering it and to improve performance.
• Email attachments are supported.
• In order for email piping to work, email replies must contain the Support Board recipient's name. Ex. Support Board | SB2457-4734 <[email protected]>. All major email clients like Outlook Web, Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, support the recipient's name by default via chatbot reply or reply all buttons.
• Because of the nature of how emails work, each email client uses their personal codes, delimiters, and automatic strings, and more. For this reason, some chat messages converted from emails can contain invalid texts. We are working to optimize as many email clients as possible, for now, the following email clients are optimized and should not return any invalid text: Outlook Web, Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail.
• Email piping supports departments, if the user's conversation is assigned to a department, the email notifications are sent only to the agents assigned to that department.

Pusher

Activate Pusher (recommended) to use the WebSockets instead of HTTP AJAX requests for the chat functionalities. WebSockets drastically improve the chat performance by removing the need for repeated AJAX requests to your server for checking for new messages and conversations. WebSockets also improve responsivness of the chat: faster messages delivery, more accurate online and typing status, more accurate online users list and more.

Activation

• Go to https://dashboard.pusher.com/accounts/sign_up and create a new account.
• From your dashboard at https://dashboard.pusher.com, choose the Channels product by clicking Get started.
• Enter the name of your app and choose the cluster closest to your location.
• From the left menu of the dashboard click App Settings and enable client events.
• From the left menu of the dashboard click Keys, copy App ID, Key, Secret, Cluster.
• Go to Settings > Miscellaneous > Pusher, and paste app ID, key, secret, cluster.
• You're done.

Information

• Pusher is free to use for up to 200k messages and 100 concurrent connections per day.
• When Pusher is active the following AJAX requests are replaced by WebSockets: checking for new messages, checking for new conversations, online/offline status, typing status, online users list.
• When Pusher is active the last activity value of users and agents is updated only on page load or when they send new messages.
• When Pusher is active the option Settings > Users > Register all visitors is automatically activated and it can not be disabled.

Direct messages

Direct messages allow you to send а single chat message, email, or text message, to a single user or several users. Read the information below to understand how it works.

General

• To send a message go to the Users area and click the direct message icon. Direct message buttons are also available in the profile box of the user.
• To send a message to all users, enter All in the User IDs field.
• To send a message to a group of users, enter their IDs in the User IDs field. You can check the users and then click the direct message icon to enter the IDs automatically.
• All message types support merge fields.

Direct chat message

• The chat message is sent to the active conversation, if any, otherwise to a new conversation.
• If the option Settings > User email notifications is active, all users with an email are notified via email.
• If the option Settings > Text message notifications > Active for users is active, all users with a phone number are notified via text message.
• If the option Settings > Push notifications is active, a push notification is sent to all users.

Direct email

• Email header and email signature are automatically included in all emails, set them from Settings > Notifications.
• The HTML language is supported.
• The subject supports merge fields.

Direct text messages

• To enable direct text messages you must enable the SMS in Settings > Notifications > Text message notifications.

Automations

Automations allow running multilingual automatic tasks when conditions set by you are met.

• To delete a condition, set it to empty. To disable an automation, delete all conditions.
• Automations are sent only 1 time to users.
• If you used an automation in the past, and users already received it, you need to delete the automation and create a new one to show it to the users.
• Repeat only works if used in conjunction with date time.
• When date time is used in conjunction with the criteria is exactly, the value must not contain hours and minutes (hh:mm). Ex. 25/10/2021 (25/10/2021 10:30 will not work).
• The setting Settings > Users > Register all visitors must be active if there are message automations that are executed on page load.
• City, countries, languages work automatically only if both the settings Settings > Users > Register all visitors and Settings > Users > Full visitor details are enabled.
• Cities work only if the user detail location is set and equal to city, country, or if the user detail city is set.
• Countries work only if the user details country_code, or country is set, or if the user detail location is set and equal to city, country. The country name must be in english.
• languages work only if the user details browser_language, or language is set.
• A visitor is a Returning visitor only if it visits the website again after 24h or more.
• The pop-ups appear only if the chat is closed, and they overwrite the default pop-up. You can check the message fallback option to send a message instead of showing the pop-up if the chat is open.
• You may need to enable Settings > Users > Register all visitors if you want to send an automated message to new users.
• Chat messages and popup fallback messages are sent only if the last user or agent message of the conversation is older than 10 minutes. This feature prevents unwanted automated messages to be sent during an agent-user conversation.

Newsletter

Please follow the steps below to complete the synchronization with your newsletter service. The user is subscribed in the following cases: registration form, user update, follow-up message, subscribe message, email shortcode.

Mailchimp

• To get the Key, follow the docs at https://mailchimp.com/help/about-api-keys/.
• To get the List ID, follow the docs at https://mailchimp.com/help/find-audience-id/.

Sendinblue

• To get the Key, follow the docs at https://account.sendinblue.com/advanced/api.
• To get the List ID, follow the docs at https://my.sendinblue.com/lists.

SendGrid

• To get the Key, follow the docs at https://app.sendgrid.com/settings/api_keys.
• To get the List ID, enter in SendGrid and click Marketing > Contacts(https://mc.sendgrid.com/contacts), then click on a list, or create a new one. The last part of the URL is the list ID. Ex. https://mc.sendgrid.com/contacts/lists/8558c1e7-3c99-4428-a68f-78df2e437f8e (the list ID is 8558c1e7-3c99-4428-a68f-78df2e437f8e).

Elastic Email

• To get the Key, enter in Elastic Email, then click Settings from the top right profile menu. Click Create Additional API key (https://elasticemail.com/account#/settings/new/create-api), set a name and choose Plugin or Full access, or Custom and make sure the permission Contacts is set to View & Modify.
• The List ID is the list name. Important! Existing list's or segment names must not have any spaces in them.

Campaign Monitor

• To get the Key, enter in Campaign Monitor, then click Account settings from the top right profile menu. Click API keys > Generate API key.
• To get the List ID, enter in Campaign Monitor, then click List and subscribers from the top menu. Select a list and then click Settings from the left menu and copy the List API ID.

Notifications

To understand how notifications work and when they are sent read the information below. If you think notifications are not working, most probably you're just testing them in the wrong way, please read the information below before asking for support.

Email notifications

Both agents and users can receive an email notification when a new message is received.

Email notifications for admin and agents

• When a user sends their first message, if the conversation is assigned to a department, an email is sent only to the agents assigned to that department, if the conversation is assigned to a specific agent, an email is sent only to that agent, otherwise an email is sent to all agents who are not online at the moment. Subsequent emails are sent only to the last agent in the conversation.
• Email notifications are sent only if the last agent in the conversation is offline.
• If you're using the Dialogflow App, and Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active, no emails are sent if the chatbot knows the answer.
• If you don't receive the emails make sure they are working by sending a test email from Settings > Notifications > Test user email or Test agent email. If you don't receive the test email, your server, or your SMTP server, is not working. Open the browser console for more details about the error. Because this is not an issue related to Support Board, the support doesn't cover it, please contact your server/hosting/SMTP support instead.

Email notifications for users

• When an agent sends a message to a user, an email is sent to the user only if the user is offline.
• Only 1 email is sent. Subsequent messages will not trigger a new email alert.

Create the email

To manage the emails and create the contents go to Settings > Notifications. You can use text and HTML. New lines are automatically converted to <br />. You can use the following merge fields in the email. Merge fields are automatically replaced with the updated information.

{recipient_name}

{sender_name}

{sender_profile_image}

{message}

{attachments}

Problems?

Emails may not be delivered several reasons; below are the most common ones:

Push notifications

Push notifications are like Desktop notifications but with some key difference. Desktop notifications, also called Web notifications, are requested directly by the client while Push notifications come from a server. The main difference is that the Push notifications work always, also if your device is offline, or Support Board is not open. Also, they are persistent and always visible until closed. Push notifications require an external service to work. We use Pusher, it is free to use for the admin notifications sent to the agents, and it's free to use for up to 2000 users/devices when sending notifications to the users. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to provide iOS support, but we hope it will come soon.

Activation

• Go to https://dashboard.pusher.com/accounts/sign_up and create a new account.
• From your dashboard at https://dashboard.pusher.com, choose the Beams product by clicking Get started.
• Enter the Instance name and create the instance. You can enter any value you want.
• From the left menu of the dashboard click Keys, copy the Instance ID and Primary key.
• Enter the Support Board admin area, go to Settings > Notifications > Push notifications, and paste instance ID, primary key.
• You're done.

Activation for users

• Download the service worker file here.
• Upload this file to your site at the following location: https://your-site.com/service-worker.js
• Go to Settings > Notifications > Push notifications > Service Worker URL and enter the URL of the file. Ex. https://your-site.com/service-worker.js
• You're done.

Information

• Pusher is free to use for up to 1000 concurrent subscribers. While you should be able to use the free plan for the admin area and all the agents, you may need a paid plan for Push notifications sent to the users depending on your site traffic.
• Push notifications are currently not supported on iPhone and iOS devices. Push notifications are supported only on Mac, Windows, and Android devices.
• Push notifications only work for full HTTPS websites. The only exception is localhost to ease development.
• When a user click the notification the last page visited by the user is open and the chat is open automatically.
• On desktop the browser needs to be running since that is the process that receives the push messages.
• When push notifications are active, they replace desktop notifications.
• On Android and mobile devices, desktop notifications may not work, in which case you need to use push notifications.
• If Push notifications are active and not working, disable them and try again.

Push notifications for admin and agents

• When an agent click the notification the admin area is open and the right conversation is selected. If the admin area is already open the notification will not open a new tab.
• When a user sends their first message, a Push notification is sent to all validated agents; subsequent notifications are sent only to the last agent in the conversation.
• If you're using the Dialogflow App, and Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active, no notifications are sent if the chatbot knows the answer.
• If you're using the WordPress version, Push notifications are not supported in the WordPress admin area, you need to access the Support Board admin area directly, more details here.
• If the Routing setting is active, only the agent assigned to the conversation receive the notification, admins see all conversations but don't receive notifications.
• If the Queue setting is active, only the agent assigned to the conversation receive the notification. Notifications are not sent for messages sent by the user while waiting in queue. Admins see all conversations but don't receive notifications.
• If a user conversation is assigned to a department, only the agents assigned to that department receive the notification.
• If a user conversation is not assigned to any department, only agents with no assigned department receive the notification.
• Notifications are not supported on iPhone and iOS devices.
• Notifications are sent only if the last agent in the conversation is offline.
• and Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active, no notifications are sent if the chatbot knows the answer.

Desktop notifications

Desktop notifications

• Notifications are not sent if the user is viewing a page with include the chat (the user browser is open and visible, and the active page contains the chat).
• Notifications are not supported on iPhone and iOS devices.
• Notifications work only for secure URLs that use HTTPS (not HTTP). Your Support Board admin URL must use HTTPS.
• When push notifications are active, they replace desktop notifications.

Text message notifications

Both agents and users can be notified via text message when a new message comes in. Text message notifications are provided by Twilio. Twilio is a paid service, but it is cheap, and you can use the trial version to test text message notifications for free.

Activation

• Go to https://www.twilio.com and create a new account.
• Verify your phone number.
• Complete the form and choose SMS.
• Once into the dashboard, click Get a Trial Number, then Choose this number.
• Enter the Support Board admin area, go to Settings > Notifications > Text message notifications, and paste account SID, auth token, trial number (or a purchased phone number). Find all details in the Twilio dashboard.
• If you're using the trial version, you can send notifications only to verified numbers. Enter the Twilio dashboard and click the left button # (Phone Numbers), then click Verified Caller IDs and add your phone number.
• To start using the service live and to receive text messages in Support Board you need to purchase a phone number. After the purchase go to Phone numbers > Manage > Active numbers, click your number, and enter the URL of Support Board, get it from Support Board > Settings > Notifications > Text message notifications > Get configuration URL.
• You're done.

Information

• All phone numbers must have the country code starting with the symbol + (eg. +15558675310).
• You can get the user's phone number via registration form, follow-up message, subscribe messageor, or via [email] shortcode. You can manually enter the user phone from the admin area or via API.
• When a user sends their first message, if the conversation is assigned to a department, a test message is sent only to the agents assigned to that department, if the conversation is assigned to a specific agent, a text message is sent only to that agent, otherwise an text message is sent an email is sent to all agents who are not online at the moment. Subsequent text messages are sent only to the last agent in the conversation.
• Text message notifications are sent only if the last agent in the conversation is offline.
• If you're using the Dialogflow App, and Settings > Dialogflow > Human takeover is active, no text messages are sent if the chatbot knows the answer.
• To use the Sender ID feature enter the sender name in the Sender number field.

Sound notifications

• Sounds work only after the user or agent interact with the document (the user or agent clicked somewhere).

WordPress

The settings below are related to the WordPress version of Support Board.

User Synchronization

WordPress users can be automatically synchronized with Support Board by selecting "WordPress" under the Users system in the Settings > WordPress area. When active, the front-end chat automatically recognize all logged-in WordPress users and create a new Support Board user account with the same details (name, surname, email, and password). Also, the log-in form recognize the email and password of each WordPress user.

• One-way synch. When a visitor register to Support Board, the user is created only in Support Board, not in WordPress.

Apps Installation

To download, install, and activate the WordPress Apps go to the Settings > Apps area of Support Board and enter the Envato Purchase Code.

• Go to https://codecanyon.net/downloads
• Click the button Download > License certificate & purchase code (text) and download the license file. For more details click here.
• From your WordPress admin area go to Support Board > Settings > Apps, click the app you want to activate, and enter the Envato Purchase Code.

More information

Direct access and PWA

You can access the admin area directly without going through WordPress by navigating to /wp-content/plugins/supportboard/supportboard/admin.php and logging in with your default WordPress user or agent email and password. Keep in mind that your wp-content folder might be different. By accessing the admin directly, you will also be able to use the admin area as a Progressive Web App. You can find more details on this by clicking here.

Login and logout

To logout from the admin area of Support Board, logout from WordPress from the admin area of Support Board, once logged-out you will be able to login with another WordPress account. To access the admin area from within WordPress you must log in with one of the following user accounts: administrator, author, editor.

Get a page or Post Type ID

To get the ID of a specific page or Post Type, go to the admin area of WordPress and edit the page or post. The ID is displayed in the address bar. Example: http://your-site.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=11&action=edit&lang=en (the page/post ID is equal to 11).

Get a Post Type slug

The Post Type slug of the blog archive and posts is post. The Post Type of the pages is page. To obtain the slug of a custom Post Type, go to the admin area of WordPress and open the custom Post Type page from the left menu. The slug is displayed in the address bar. Example: http://your-site.com/wp-admin/edit.php?post_type=food (the slug is food).

Disable WordPress Emoji

The prevent WordPress from replacing the chat emiji with the WordPress ones insert the code below in the file functions.php of your theme.

                                    function disable_emojis() {
                                         remove_action("wp_head", "print_emoji_detection_script", 7);
                                         remove_action("admin_print_scripts", "'print_emoji_detection_script");
                                         remove_action("wp_print_styles", "print_emoji_styles");
                                         remove_action("admin_print_styles", "print_emoji_styles");
                                    }
                                    add_action("init", "disable_emojis");
                                

WordPress Multisite

If you have multisite installation, you must install Support Board in the main website.

Tickets

The settings below are related to the Tickets App.

Installation and usage

PHP installation

To display the tickets area include the following script into your page.

                                <script src="supportboard/js/min/jquery.min.js"></script> <!-- Not required if jQuery is already loaded -->
                                <script id="sbinit" src="supportboard/js/main.js?mode=tickets"></script>
                            

• You can not include both chat and tickets area on the same page. Make sure to remove the script that loads the chat. You can also leave the chat init script, and use the variable SB_TICKETS = true; to prevent the chat to show, and load instead the tickets area.
• To set the position of the tickets area insert the code <div id="sb-tickets"></div>. The tickets area will be displayed inside this div element. By default, the tickets area is appended to the body.

WordPress installation

To display the tickets use the shortcode [sb-tickets]. Insert it in any page, post, or post type item.

Information

• Tickets are the same of chat conversations and messages, the only difference from the chat is the front-end panel.
• Most of the settings of the chat are compatible with the Tickets App but not all of them. The dashboard settings, the pop-up message, and more are not compatible.
• Dedicated APIs for the Tickets App are available in the API section.
• To remove the mandatory 'New ticket' form for new users, activate the welcome message of Settings > Chat > Welcome message. The welcome message delay is ignored in the tickets area, the message is sent immediately..
• To manually disable the mandatory registration only on a single page use the JavaScript code var SB_REGISTRATION_REQUIRED = true. Set it to true to force the registration instead.

Dialogflow

The settings below are related to the Dialogflow App.

Synchronization

To connect a Dialogflow agent to Support Board go to Settings > Dialogflow, click the button Start synchronization and save the token. You need also to enter the Project ID or Agent Name of your Dialogflow agent. follow the steps below:

Dialogflow ES - Get Project ID

• Log in to the Dialogflow ES console by going to dialogflow.cloud.google.com.
• Click the gear icon at the top left, near the chatbot name, and open the settings area. . If you didn't create a chatbot yet follow the instructions below to create your first bot.
• Copy the Project ID .
• Make sure to choose US / GLOBAL on the top left of the Dialogflow dashboard .

Dialogflow CX - Get Agent Name

• Log in to the Dialogflow CX console by going to https://dialogflow.cloud.google.com/cx/.
• Select the project of the desidered agent and go to the agents page. You can enter the agents page by selecting the agent and by clicking the top button Agents > View all agents .
• Click the options menu for the desiderate agent in click Copy name .
• More details at https://cloud.google.com/dialogflow/cx/docs/quick/api#detect-intent-drest.

Chatbot Creation

If you haven't created a chatbot as of yet, follow the instructions below to create your first bot. The creation and management of your Dialogflow chatbot is handled entirely by Dialogflow. There are a lot of tutorials online that can help you create and configure your Dialogflow bot.

Create a basic chatbot

• To create your first chatbot enter the Dialogflow console and create an agent.
• Add a new Intent from the left menu and open it.
• In the Training phrases area adds the user's question you want the chatbot to reply to, add as many variants are you can. For example, if you want to the chatbot to reply to users asking for your business address, add variants like "what is your address", "address", "where are you".
• In the Responses area adds the bot answer as a text response.
• You have created your first question and answer! Test if from the right area or from the Support Board chat. Add new Intents to populate your chatbot with the questions and answers you want. You can include basic pre-built questions and answers by enabling the Small Talk feature from the left menu.

Here are some great resources to help you build a more complex chatbot:

• chatbotslife.com/dialogflow-restaurant-bot-tutorial-1-45ce1d3c0ab5.
• tutorials.botsfloor.com/building-your-own-chatbot-using-dialogflow-1b6ca92b3d3f.
• marutitech.com/build-a-chatbot-using-dialogflow/.

Actions

The following actions give the chatbot the ability to interact with the website autonomously on behalf of the user. To use an action go to Dialogflow, edit an Intent, and add a new Custom Payload response with the following syntax: { "ACTION-NAME": ACTION-VALUE }.

{ "human-takeover": true }

{ "disable-bot": true }

{ "redirect": "URL" }

{ "open-article": ID }

{ "transcript": true }

{ "department": ID }

{ "agent": ID }

{ "send-email": { "recipient": "active_user", "message": "", "attachments": [] } }

{ "update-user": true }

Automatic Translation

To enable the automatic translation of agent messages to the language of the user, and user messages to the language of the agent, check the option Settings > Dialogflow > Automatic translation and synchronize Dialogflow. The Google account used for the Dialogflow synchronization must have billing and the cloud-translation service enabled, to do that follow the steps below:

• Go to https://console.cloud.google.com and login with your Google account.
• On the top search bar type cloud translation, select the Cloud Translation API service and enable it. Please note that this is a paid service with a free tier, additional charges may occur.
• Enable the billing by clicking the left menu voice Billing and by enabling a billing account with a valid payment method.

Once you completed the Google account setup the automatic translations start working immediately. Here more details:

• The user messages in the admin area are translated automatically in real-time to match the agent language.
• The agent messages are translated automatically in real-time to match the user language.
• Agents can view the original message by opening the message menu and by clicking View original message.
• The agent language is based on the language user detail of the agent if set, otherwise on the browser language, or admin area language.
• The user language is based on the language user detail of the user if set, otherwise on the browser language, or it can be detected with the feature Setting > Dialogflow > Language detection.

Human Takeover

General information

• When the human takeover is activated the chatbot is automatically disabled for as long as the agent is online. After that, the chatbot is activated again but no default fallback messages will be sent within 10 days of human takeover if the chatbot doesn't know the answer to the user's question in the same conversation. You can force a Dialogflow message to be always sent by adding to the Intent the custom Payload value "force-message": true.
• The chatbot is fully activated again when the conversation is archived or deleted.
• If you're using Slack, no messages will be sent if the chatbot knows the answer. Once the human takeover is active all conversation's messages are sent to Slack.
• When a human agent reply to a user the human takeover is activated automatically.

Human takeover option

When the option Human takeover is active the following happens:

• If enabled, the request is sent only if the message sent by the user is longer than 3 chars and contains at least two words. This optimization prevents mistaken requests.
• The conversations to which the chatbot was able to answer correctly, are marked as read and moved at the bottom of the Inbox list.

When the user confirms the human takeover, or if it is automatic, the following happens:

• The conversation is marked as unread and moved on top of the Inbox.
• Any future user messages in the same conversation sent within 10 days of the human takeover, and without an answer from the bot, will trigger agent notifications.
• If agents email notifications are active, an email notification is sent to the agent assigned to the conversation, or, if the user's conversation is assigned to a department, to the agents assigned to that department, otherwise it is sent to all offline agents.
• If push notifications are active, a push notification is sent to the agent assigned to the conversation, or, if the user's conversation is assigned to a department, to the agents assigned to that department, otherwise it is sent to all offline agents.
• If text message notifications are active, a text message is sent to the agent assigned to the conversation, or, if the user's conversation is assigned to a department, to the agents assigned to that department, otherwise it is sent to all offline agents.
• No human takeover requests within 10 days of the human takeover will be sent in the same conversation.
• If Settings > Message > Follow up message is active, the message requesting the user's email is sent only if the user does not have the email.
• If Settings > Messages > Offline Message is active, the offline message is sent only if it is not office hours or if all agents are offline.
• If Settings > Miscellaneous > Queue is active, the queue is activated.

Manual human takeover

• You can manually trigger the human takeover by creating a new Intent with the following Custom Payload response: { "human-takeover": true }.
• The manual takeover automatically notify agents via email and leave the conversation marked as unread.
• To manually send a human take over request use the chips rich message with ID sb-human-takeover. Ex. [chips id="sb-human-takeover" options="Human support,Cancel" message=""].

WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram

The make the human takeover request work on WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram you need to create a new Intent with human-takeover as input Context, nothing as output Context, a list of the user's most common confirmation messages as Training phrases(e.g. ok, yes) and { "human-takeover": true } as Custom Payload response .

Smart Reply

Smart Reply suggests quick responses in real-time during a conversation. Once active, you will see the suggested replies in the conversation area, if any. There are two ways to populate the suggestions: via bot, via agent Assist.

Bot Suggestions

To use the bot's suggestions just sync Dialogflow normally and train the chatbot as usual. The same chatbot used for the users will be used.

Agent Assist Suggestions

Agent Assist requires techincal knowledge in order to work and it's intended only for enterprise business with a data set of at least 30.000 conversations. If you never used Agent Assist you most likely don't have the knowledge and data to use it, and so you can ignore it. More details at https://cloud.google.com/agent-assist/docs/conversation-profile.

Information

• Smart reply first look for a suggestion from the bot, if there is at least one it returns the results, otherwise look for the suggestion via the agent assistant if available. The agent assistant is never used if the chatbot gives at least one hint.

Information

Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base are automatically enabled. Knowledge Base is a feature that gives your chatbot the ability to search within documents (such as a PDF) or web pages to find an answer. To create your first Knowledge Base, go to cloud.google.com/dialogflow/docs/knowledge-connectors

Dialogflow response

The full Dialogflow JSON response is automatically saved in the database, sb_messages, column payload.

User attachments

User attachments are sent to Dialogflow by appending the attachments to the message details in the following format:

[name:file-name.ext,url:URL,extension:file-extension]

                                    [name:archive.zip,url:https://board.support/archive.zip,extension:zip]
                                    [name:license.pdf,url:https://board.support/license.pdf,extension:pdf]
                                

Bot attachments

To allow the chatbot to send attachments, add a Custom Payload response and insert this JSON code:

                                    { "attachments": [["name", "YOUR-LINK"], ["name", "YOUR-LINK"], ["name", "YOUR-LINK"]]}
                                

Rich messages

To allow Dialogflow to send Rich Messages, simply enter the Rich Message shortcode into the TEXT RESPONSE field or add a new Custom Payload response and insert this JSON code: { "rich-message": "shortcode" }. Replace "shortcode" with the rich message shortcode, to have a valid JSON code you need to replace all " chars with \". To obtain the shortcodes or to learn how to create a Rich Message, please click here.

Rich message response

When the user interacts with Rich Messages (ex. by clicking a button), the Rich Message response is sent to Dialogflow in the following format: ID|type|response. ID is the Rich Message ID, which can be set by adding the attribute id="your-id" to the shortcode. If no ID has been set, a random ID will be used instead; type is the Rich Message type (input, select, buttons, etc.); response is the input or selection of the user. To block Dialogflow from replying to each Rich Message, go to the Dialogflow Console and add a new intent with only one user expression containing ID|type and no response.

Dialogflow chatbot optimization

• If the chatbot is replying with the wrong intents, go to Dialogflow Console > chatbot Settings > ML Settings, and set the ML CLASSIFICATION THRESHOLD to a larger number, such as 0.6.

Sequential survey

To create a sequential survey like the one of the demo you need to insert the Rich message ID in the Training phrases, check the example below.

• Go to Dialogflow and create a new intent. In the Training phrases area enter the user expression survey example. In the Responses area enter the code [buttons id="test-survey-1" options="Software,Physical products,Services" title="What is your type of business?" message="Please choose the type that best suits your company." success="Your company type is "]
• Create a new intent. Enter the user expression test-survey-1 and as response enter [select id="seq-survey-2" options="Priority post, Express courier, International courier" title="Shipping methods" message="Choose the preferred shipping method of your customers" success="Your customers preferred shipping method is"]
• Create a new intent. Enter the user expression test-survey-2 and as response enter Thank you for completing our survey!.
• You're done.

Bot training

Agents can add new Intents and chatbot responses, and add new training phrases to existing intents on the fly from the admin area by moving the mouse cursor over a message and clicking the Dialogflow Intent icon. New Intents will contain also the responses, while the update of existing intents will add new training phrases only, but not new chatbot responses. If you're using Dialogflow CX, the chatbot responses will be added to the latest flow used in the conversation if any, otherwise to the start flow.

More information

• You can activate the chatbot via API but sending a message with no text and payload { "event": "activate-bot" }.
• Supported chinese language is only Chinese - Simplified. Please use the Dialogflow language Chinese - Simplified (zh-CN) only. The languages codes zh-HK and zh-TW will not work.
• The following details are sent to Dialogflow in the queryParams parameter when detecting an intent: conversation_id, user_id.
• To trigger the welcome event in Dialogflow CX, create a Event Handler and insert Welcome as Custom Event.
• Support Board articles are synchronized automatically with the Dialogflow knowledge base.

WhatsApp

The settings below are related to the WhatsApp app.

Installation

• Go to the admin area of Support Board, then go to Settings > Apps > WhatsApp, and enter the Envato Purchase Code to install and activate the app.
• Once the App is installed go to Settings > WhatsApp and enter your Twilio account settings information. To get the information follow the steps below.

Twilio Account Setup

• Go to https://www.twilio.com and create a new account.
• Verify your phone number.
• Complete the form and choose WhatsApp, Alerts & Notifications, With no code at all, 3rd party integrations.
• From the Twilio console copy ACCOUNT SID and AUTH TOKEN and paste them into Support Board > Settings > WhatsApp > Twilio settings, save the changes.
• You will now set up a free test account to run some tests and make sure the integration works with Support Board. From the left menu click Messaging > Settings > WhatsApp sandbox settings and enter into WHEN A MESSAGE COMES IN and STATUS CALLBACK URL the URL of Support Board, get it from Support Board > Settings > WhatsApp > Twilio settings > Get configuration URL. Mind that localhost will not work, you need a public URL and a live server.
• From the left menu click Messaging > Try it out > Send a WhatsApp message. Follow the instructions and send the message with the code to the WhatApp number provided. Click the next buttons until the configuration is complete.
• Done! Your support card installation should now receive WhatsApp messages sent to the sandbox account, and you can reply to those messages from the support card.
• To publicly use the WhatsApp integration with your customers you need to update your account and enable billing, you can do that here. After that you will need to purchase a Twilio number, which will be the phone number of your official WhatsApp Business account. More details here. You cannot use the phone number of your existing WhatsApp Business account, you must use a Twilio number. More details here.

Fallback messages

As for WhatsApp Business Policy, you cannot send outbound marketing and solicitation messages to end users. End user users must reach out to you first. You have 24 hours from when the end user's message was sent from WhatsApp to reply to the message. If you want to send a message after 24 hours from the last user's message you need to use the text message fallback or WhatsApp template message.

Text message fallback

To enable the text message fallback you must set up the SMS in Settings > Notifications > Text message notifications.
More details here

WhatsApp message template

A WhatsApp message template is a message format that you can use over and over again to message users once they have opted-in and given your app permission to send them messages. You can not insert the original message into the template, you must use it to notify the user of a new message and instruct him on how to view it, for example by providing a link to your website where the chat is showed. To use this feature simply enter the template code into Support Board > Settings > WhatsApp > Template fallback If you're using the Twilio sandbox for testing you can use pre-approved templates like Your {{1}} code is {{2}}, you can replace the variables with the Support Board ones like {recipient_name}, for example, Your {recipient_name} code is {recipient_email}. More details here.

More information

• We cannot provide support for Twilio configuration, including all related issues.
• We cannot provide support in getting your WhatsApp account or WhatsApp message template approved.
• WhatsApp conversations and messages are compatible with routing.
• If you are testing with the sandbox and after 72 hours you can no longer send messages to your phone number you must link again your phone number to your sandbox.

Messenger

The settings below are related to the Messenger app.

Installation

• Go to the admin area of Support Board, then go to Settings > Apps > Messenger, and enter the Envato Purchase Code to install and activate the app.
• Once the App is installed go to Settings > Messenger and click Start synchronization.
• Complete the synchronization by choosing at least 1 Facebook page and enter the returned information in Settings > Messenger > Facebook pages.
• You're done. All messages sent to the Facebook pages and Instagram accounts you selected will appear in the conversation admin area of Support Board.

More information

• If you don't receive Instagram messages make sure to enable Settings > Privacy > Messages > Connected tools - Allow access from your Instagram mobile app. Also, make sure your Instagram account is not setup as a professional account, it must be a business account.
• Every Support Board user has only 1 Facebook and Instagram conversation.
• Support Board rich messages are automatically converted to Facebook rich messages when possible, otherwise they are removed from the message.
• Only private Facebook messages will get sent to your team inbox. If someone posts a Facebook message on your wall it won't appear in your team inbox.
• When someone sends a message to your company Facebook page or Instagram account they will get designated as a lead in Support Board. You'll only be able to see the user's Facebook or Instagram name and profile picture.
• Messenger conversations and messages are compatible with routing.
• Dialogflow is supported for Facebook and Instagram, including the following features: Human takeover, Support Board rich messages, language detection and chatbot language switcher.
• Follow-up message is supported, but the delay setting is ignored, the message is sent instantly.
• Offline message is supported, but the timetable is not sent.

Telegram

The settings below are related to the Telegram app.

Installation

• Go to the admin area of Support Board, then go to Settings > Apps > Telegram, and enter the Envato Purchase Code to install and activate the app.
• Go here: https://t.me/botfather.
• If you have already created a Telegram bot in the past, type the command /mybots and open your bot, then click API token.
• If you never created a Telegram bot before, type the command /newbot to create a new bot. The BotFather will ask you for a name and username, insert them and generate the authentication token. More details at https://core.telegram.org/bots.
• Insert the token into Support Board > Telegram > Token and click Synchronize now.
• You're done. All messages sent to your Telegram bot will appear in the conversation admin area of Support Board.

More information

• Support Board rich messages are automatically converted to Telegram rich messages when possible, otherwise they are removed from the message.
• Telegram conversations and messages are compatible with routing.
• Dialogflow is supported, including the following features: Human takeover, Support Board rich messages, language detection and chatbot language switcher.
• Follow-up message is supported, but the delay setting is ignored, the message is sent instantly.
• Offline message is supported, but the timetable is not sent.

Slack

The settings below are related to the Slack App.

Synchronization

To sync Slack click the button Start synchronization of the Settings > Slack area and follow the instructions.

Having Problems?

The synchronization of Slack may not be successful for a number of reasons; below are the most common ones:

Manually archive channels

To archive a channel in Slack, follow these steps:

• Open the Slack channel you want to archive.
• On the top right click the gear icon and select Additional options.
• Click the info icon in the top right area of the screen, then click the More icon, and then click Additional options.... Click Archive this channel.

Information

• When a new user sends the first message a Slack message with the user details and a button to join the user's channel is sent to the main channel selected during the synchronization. Only the Slack account used during the synchronization will automatically join the user's channel, other Slack members will have to join it manually.
• Slack is free to use. Only large companies may need a paid subscription plan, more details here.
• Push notifcations are compatible with Slack, when agents send messages via Slack, Push notifications are sent to users.
• If you're using Dialogflow, no messages will be received in Slack if the chatbot knows the answer. Once the human takeover is active all conversation's messages are sent to Slack.

WeChat

The settings below are related to the WeChat app.

Installation

• Go to the admin area of Support Board, then go to Settings > Apps > Telegram, and enter the Envato Purchase Code to install and activate the app.
• Visit https://mp.weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/readtemplate?t=register/step1_tmpl&lang=en_US and register a Service account.
• After the registration enter Official accounts area and from the left menu click Settings and development > WeChat verification. You must complete the verification, it takes a few weeks and costs USD 99, or CNY 300 for chinese entities.
• From the left menu click Settings and development > Basic configuration and copy Developer ID(App ID), Developer Password(App Secret). Paste the information into Support Board > Settings > WeChat.
• From the left menu click Settings and development > Basic configuration and complete the server configuration (服务器配置(已启用). In Server Address(URL) enter the URL you get from Support Board > Settings > WeChat > Get configuration URL. In Token insert any value you want, the same value must be entered in Support Board > Settings > WeChat > Token.
• You're done. All messages sent to your WeChat account will appear in the conversation admin area of Support Board.

More information

• WeChat files and location attachments are not supported and are not received by Support Board.
• Links are not supported in WeChat, they are converted to texts.
• Support Board rich messages are automatically converted to WeChat rich messages when possible, otherwise they are removed from the message.
• WeChat conversations and messages are compatible with routing.
• Dialogflow is supported, including the following features: Human takeover, Support Board rich messages, language detection and chatbot language switcher.
• Follow-up message is supported, but the delay setting is ignored, the message is sent instantly.
• Offline message is supported, but the timetable is not sent.

More settings

This section contains help for other settings not listed above.

Progressive Web App

The Support Board admin area is a PWA, which means that you can install it on desktop, Mac, or mobile devices and use it like a fully-functional app. Note: This feature is optimized for Google Chrome.

Desktop installation

Enter in your admin area (ex. https://www.your-site.com/supportboard/admin.php), and click the + icon on the top right of the URL bar of your Chrome browser.

Mobile installation

• Enter in your admin area (ex. https://www.your-site.com/supportboard/admin.php)
• Open your browser's settings.
• Scroll down and tap Add to Home screen.
• Confirm by tapping Add.

WordPress installation

To install the PWA on WordPress, you need to access the admin area directly by going to:

https://www.your-site.com/wp-content/plugins/supportboard/supportboard/admin.php

Change "your-site" with the URL of your website and also keep in mind that the "wp-content" folder name may be different from the one of your installation.

Change PWA icon and name

Download the file manifest.json here. Edit it and replace YOUR NAME with your brand name, YOUR NAME DESCRIPTION with any text you want, and example.png with the relative URL of your icon, the icon size must be 512 x 512 px. After you finished editing the file move it into the Support Board installation folder, the same folder where is located the file admin.php. Mind that because this is customization our support doesn't cover it, if you need help you can contact us.

Keyboard shortcuts

Admin area keyboard shortcuts are enabled on both PC and MAC and work as follows:

ENTER

ESC

CANCEL

CTRL + ENTER

ESC

CANCEL

CTRL + UP/DOWN ARROW

CTRL + RIGHT/LEFT ARROW

Config file

The config.php file is a special file that contains the MySQL database log-in details and other import settings. Most of the settings are generated automatically, but some are optional. You can add the following settings below:

define('SB_UPLOAD_URL', 'YOUR-URL')

define('SB_UPLOAD_PATH', 'YOUR-PATH')

Cron Jobs

• Cron jobs are executed by the first user that visit the website at any given hour of the day.
• Cron jobs are executed every 60 minutes, but it can take longer, or it can take less time as well, in relation to the traffic of your website.
• You can speed up the cron jobs execution by manually run them via WEB API, or PHP API.

URL parameters

Front-end chat

URL parameters allow the chat to perform specific actions on page load. To use them, append the URL parameters below to any URL on your website that displays the chat. Ex. https://example.com/?conversation=1234

?token=TOKEN

?conversation=ID

?chat=open

Admin area

URL parameters allow the administration area to perform specific actions on page load. To use them, append the URL parameters below to your admin URL. Ex. https://example.com/supportboard/admin.php?conversation=1234

?conversation=ID

?user=ID

?setting=ID

?report=ID

?area=name

Zapier

Integrate Zapier with Support Board by following the steps below. Integration is based on the Support Board webhooks, each webhook is a Zapier trigger, so you have 15+ Zapier triggers available, for more details visit the webhooks page.

• Go to https://developer.zapier.com/ and login, or register a new account.
• Create a new integration by clicking Start a Zapier Integration, or visit https://developer.zapier.com/app/new. Fill in all required fields, like name and description, and click Create, you can enter any text you want, but keep the name of the app in mind because you will need it later.
• From the left menu click Triggers and then Add Trigger.
• Fill in all required fields, like key and description, and click Save And Continue, you can enter any text you want.
• On top click API Configuration, choose REST Hook as Trigger Type, and click Save.
• Go back to the Settings area of the trigger, or go to https://zapier.com/app/zaps, and click Create a Zap.
• Search for your newly created app by entering the app name and click it. In Trigger Event select your trigger and click continue.
• Copy the Webhook URL, click Continue, and then enter the Support Board admin area and enter it into Settings > Miscellaneous > Webhooks > URL, activate the webhooks, save the settings and reload Support Board.
• Make something to trigger a webhook like sending a message, or creating a new user, then go back to Zapier and click Test Trigger and you should see the Support Board webhook data. Click Continue.
• Click the right button Filters and set up the filter in order to trigger the integration only if a variable exists. You need the filter because Support Board will send all webhooks to all zaps. Example: if your zap wants to integrate the messages of Support Board, you will need to set the filter to continue only if the variable message exists.
• Click Continue, or + and add your integration.
• To use multiple zaps and webhooks you will need to update Settings > Miscellaneous > Webhooks > URL and add the new zap IDs, separated by commas. Example: if you have two zaps with URLs https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/10352851/bbad21f/ and https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/10352851/aaaa66t/, the URL must be https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/10352851/bbad21f,aaaa66t/.

More Information

• If you change the plugin folder name after the installation, you need to update it in the constant SB_URL of the file config.php.
• Welcome messages are not sent to slack and conversations containing only the welcome message (and no response) are automatically archived.
• Follow-up messages are sent a maximum of once every 24 hours.
• A popup message is always shown default, until the user manually closes it; then it stays closed.
• The Users and Conversations sections in the Support Board admin area use auto-pagination on scroll, which is limited to 100 results per scroll.
• The privacy message is not shown if the Require registration option has been enabled.