Help > Forum > General > Instant messenger

Instant messenger

The instant messager allows your users to have live discussions with other users who are browsing the forum without leaving the page.

A small floating instant messenger appears at the bottom right-hand corner of your forum. When clicked, a list of other users browsing the forum will be displayed. Clicking on any user in the list will open a chat window which will allow both users to chat while browsing the forum. No software installation or browser plug-ins are needed.

The instant messenger is included in the Growth and Pro forum plans.

You can enable or disable the instant messenger by following the directions below:

1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account.
2. Click the Settings link.
3. Click the Add-ons link.
4. Turn the Messenger option on or off.
5. Save your settings.

The instant messenger is not displayed on mobile browsers and tablets to ensure a user-friendly browsing experience. Additionally, the instant messenger is not displayed to users that are Pending Approval or Pending Email Verification to ensure that it is not abused by unapproved users. Lastly, it's not displayed when a user has set themselves as offline in their forum account settings.

Note that instant messaging is different from the messages feature, which allows messaging between users, but is not live. It is also different from the chat room feature, which allows live discussions between groups of users in multiple rooms. The chat room system also supports instant messaging.

User Accounts must be enabled to use instant messaging on your forum.

If you still need help, please contact us.