Talk With Website Visitors
Website chat gives visitors a simple way to ask a question. Your team receives an alert, reads the conversation in Mirin, and replies from the dashboard or desktop app.
Set It Up
1. Set up messages and alerts
Open Leads, then Chat Inbox. Select the settings button beside refresh. Add your greeting, availability, and the contact fields you want visitors to fill in.
2. Add your privacy information
Enter the privacy policy page for your website. Keep the safety notice clear so visitors know not to send confidential information.
3. Match the widget to your site
Open a page in the visual editor. In Design, open Chat appearance. The default launcher is a round message icon. You can choose another built in icon or select your own square image from the Media Library. Adjust the size, colors, corners, position, optional label, and mobile launcher visibility. Use Preview chat to check it before saving.
4. Enable and publish
Turn on website chat when setup is complete, then publish your website. The launcher appears on every hosted page for that site.
Understand the Chat Colors
Brand accent is intentionally reused across the main branded and interactive parts of chat. Changing it does not change the panel, secondary surface, borders, headings, or body text.
- Panel background
- The main panel, composer, and footer.
- Secondary surface
- The header, team replies, and contact form.
- Borders
- The panel edge, dividers, and input borders.
- Headings
- The chat title and form labels.
- Body text
- Team messages and text entered into fields.
- Muted text
- Availability, sender names, placeholders, and helper text.
- Brand accent
- The launcher, send actions, team badge, and visitor message bubbles.
- On accent
- Text and icons placed on the brand accent color.
- Focus ring
- The keyboard focus indicator and active input outline.
Open Chat From a Mobile Menu
Mobile visitors see one chat entry point. When Show floating chat launcher on mobile is on, Mirin shows the floating button and hides the theme navigation chat action. Turn it off when the floating button would compete with Add to Cart or another important action.
- Edit the navigation or header used by your theme pack.
- Add or enable a mobile menu item such as Chat with us. In Spencer & Lynn, use Show Mobile Menu Chat Action and Mobile Chat Label.
- Set its link URL to
#mirin-chat. - Keep Open in new tab turned off, then save and publish the shared navigation.
The link opens chat directly. On mobile, chat fills the available screen and provides its own close button. Set up the navigation action before hiding the floating launcher so visitors always have a clear way to reach your team.
What Visitors See
A visitor opens chat from the branded floating launcher or a menu link, sees your greeting as the first team message, and writes in the compact composer. Their first message sends straight away with no form in the way. Right after it sends, Mirin invites them to leave an email so your reply, and a copy of the conversation, can reach them even if they leave the site, and they can decline with one tap. Any detail the widget asks for comes with the reason it is needed. If you choose to require contact details in chat settings, Mirin collects them before the first message instead. On mobile, the conversation uses the full screen so the message field stays comfortable when the keyboard opens. The visitor can close the panel and see an unread badge when the launcher is visible. If their connection is interrupted, Mirin reconnects automatically and recovers any missed messages. The widget explains when your team is unavailable and shows the response expectation you configured.
Reply From the Inbox
Open Leads, then Chat Inbox. Select a conversation, read its messages, and send your reply. You can mark conversations open or resolved so your team knows what needs attention.
Every reply is saved in chat. In the dashboard, the website chat icon beside the website menu shows the number of unread visitor messages from the selected site. Select it to open the newest unread conversation. This indicator is separate from Mirin Support. Mirin reconnects automatically after an interruption and also checks periodically for anything it may have missed.
Review Chat Analytics
Open Analytics and choose a date range to see how visitors use website chat. People who chatted counts distinct visitors who sent at least one message. Messages received counts visitor messages only. Conversations started counts new website chat threads. Average first response shows how long it took your business to send its first reply.
The report follows the selected website and date range. Business replies, automated system messages, and Mirin Support conversations are not counted as incoming visitor messages.
Recommend a Product
While writing a reply, select Add product. Search the active products for the selected website, choose one, and review the card before you send it. Add a short personal message so the recommendation has useful context for the visitor.
Mirin sends one product card with its image, name, current price, and product page link. The visitor can open the product directly from chat. Products from another website, archived products, and deleted products cannot be attached.
Privacy Checklist
- Link to a privacy policy that explains how your business uses chat messages and contact details.
- Ask only for the contact information your team needs to reply.
- Do not ask visitors to send passwords, payment card numbers, medical records, or other confidential information.
- Use the sensitive information notice for any additional warning your business needs visitors to see before they send a message.
- Give inbox access only to people who need to answer customer questions.