Glossary

An alphabetized guide to all relevant live chat,
ecommerce, and TextChat vocabulary and
their definitions.

A chat widget expands into a larger chat window whenever someone clicks on the button to chat. Different live chat tools structure their chat windows differently in terms of design and layout. However, most live chat software will have the following chat window features in common: a text field for web visitors to type out and hit send on their text input, left-aligned chat bubbles to display the live chat agent or the chatbot’s chat messages, right-aligned chat bubbles to display the website visitor or customer’s chat messages, a button to collapse the chat window, and a button to end the chat conversation entirely. In addition to these features, the TextChat interface is uniquely personalized to each of our customers’ stores. We display your business name, branding assets, and your team’s photos to truly humanize your website live chat. While we’re here, it’s important to note that the live chat window is an interface designed solely for the web visitors’ user experience. In other words, the chat window is hosted only on the public-facing website and it is only for the website visitors to see and interact with. Behind the scenes, the sales or support team that staffs live chat usually does not interact with a mirrored version of the public-facing chat window.

With many live chat platforms, the “backend” version of the chat window can sometimes bear no resemblance at all to the polished, branded “frontend” that your website visitors see! The UI for the live chat team can look like a ticketing platform to collect helpdesk support tickets, a shared conversation inbox for sales, a mobile app, or something else entirely. Luckily, TextChat offers a minimalist, intuitive, in-browser mobile interface that actually looks like a website chat conversation, just like it should.