Live Chat Addon
For information, screenshots & to order, please visit http://www.whmcs.com/addons/live-chat-visitor-tracking/
Contents
Installation
Once you've purchased the Live Chat Addon for WHMCS, you will be able to download the files for it from our client area (it will show as an available download under the license you have purchased it for in Services > Licenses & Services > View Details > beneath the Addons heading) and can then proceed to install it as follows:
- Begin by forcing a remote licence check so your WHMCS install knows you've purchased the live chat addon. In your admin area navigate to Help > License Information > Force License Update.
- Next unzip the contents of the download and upload all the files contained in the upload_me folder to your main WHMCS directory
- Once uploaded, please apply write permissions to the /modules/livehelp/templates_c/ directory
- And then to complete the installation process, simply visit www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules/livehelp/install in your browser to initialise and activate the addon
- When you see a success message on screen, you can delete the /modules/livehelp/install/ directory and then begin using the system
Please Note: The live chat admin/operator login shares it's auth data with WHMCS and so you will be able to login to the live chat system using the same username & password as you use for WHMCS.
Integration
You're now just one step away from integrated Live Chat & Visitor Monitoring with WHMCS.
This is where you add the javascript tracking code to your template. It couldn't be easier, all you need to do is add {$livehelpjs} to the <head> section of your template in the header.tpl template file as shown below.
You don't have to do anything else in order to be able to monitor visitors and pro-actively initiate chats with them, however if you want the visitor to be able to initiate a chat, then you will want to add the live help button somewhere.
You can display a live chat status button by simply inserting {$livehelp} into any template file where you want it to appear, for example you could add it to the order form, ticket submission page, or the footer as demonstrated below.
Outside WHMCS
You can of course also add the visitor tracking and live help buttons to pages outside of WHMCS (for example on your main website). It takes just 2 simple steps...
Do Not Attempt to add this code to WHMCS templates - it is handled automatically as described above
Step 1 For visitor monitoring, you need only add this snippet of HTML/JavaScript to the <head> section of your page:
<script type="text/JavaScript" src="/whmcs/modules/livehelp/scripts/jquery-latest.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var LiveHelpSettings = {};
LiveHelpSettings.server = 'www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules';
LiveHelpSettings.embedded = true;
(function(d, $, undefined) {
$(window).ready(function() {
// JavaScript
var LiveHelp = d.createElement('script'); LiveHelp.type = 'text/javascript'; LiveHelp.async = true;
LiveHelp.src = ('https:' == d.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + LiveHelpSettings.server + '/livehelp/scripts/jquery.livehelp.js';
var s = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(LiveHelp, s);
});
})(document, jQuery);
-->
</script>You need to customise the URL specified in the LiveHelpSettings.server parameter in the above code with the domain and path to your WHMCS installations modules directory.
Step 2 The following lines can be optionally added to the page anywhere you wish to display the Live Chat Operator status and end user chat initiation button.
<a href="#" class="LiveHelpButton"><img src="/whmcs/modules/livehelp/include/status.php"
id="LiveHelpStatus" name="LiveHelpStatus" class="LiveHelpStatus" border="0" alt="Live Help" /></a>Alternatively if you would prefer a static text link for chat initiation, that can also be achieved as follows:
<a href="#" class="LiveHelpButton">Chat With Us Live</a>Windows Application
Requirements
The requirements for the Windows App are as follows:
- Windows 7 / Vista / XP SP 2
- Internet Explorer 7 or above
- .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 or above - Download
- Internet Connection
Installation
You can download the latest version of the Windows Desktop Application at any time from https://secure.stardevelop.com/downloads/download-latest.php and then follow the automated installer process to install on your computer.
First Use
When you first attempt to sign-in to the Live Help Messenger application you will be presented with the following window.
You will need to enter your Account, Username and Password to access the Live Help system, these are described below.
- Account or Server: If Live Help is installed at http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules/livehelp/ then your account or server would be entered as www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules/
- Username / Password: The username and password are the same as those used to login to the main WHMCS administration area.
- Enable Secure Sign In: You can login to the Live Help administration via. SSL if your installation is accessible at https://www.yourdomain.com
- Sign In Automatically: This option will automatically sign-in a given account the next time the Live Help Messenger application is opened.
Once you have signed into the Live Help Messenger application you will be able to quickly sign-in again using the previous account.
The previous sign-in area only requires you to enter the password of the account.
Web Browser Admin
You can also login to the Live Help web-based administration using your web browser at http://www.yourdomain.com/modules/livehelp/admin The web-based administration area allows your operators to access the Live Help system from any computer but the Windows application is recommended whenever possible for full functionality.
Visitor Country/City Identification
The Live Help v3.90 and above supports IP City level location detection. The MaxMind GeoLite City (free) and MaxMind GeoIP City (paid with higher accuracy) databases are supported. These databases are not included with the Live Help downloads (due to the size of the database) so you will need to download the latest database from the MaxMind web site. The following instructions are for installing the database:
- Download the MaxMind GeoLite City database at GeoLite City (Approx. 18MB)
- Unzip the file on your local PC, you can use a free tool like 7zip for unzipping the GeoLiteCity.dat.gz file.
- Upload the GeoLiteCity.dat file to the /modules/livehelp/plugins/maxmind/ directory. The file is approximately 30MB so this may take some time.
- The GeoLite database should be located at /modules/livehelp/plugins/maxmind/GeoLiteCity.dat when finished uploading
The MaxMind GeoLite database is updated each month (normally on the 1st of each month) so you can replace this file every month if you wish to use the most accurate location data. Further details on the MaxMind GeoLite City database is available at http://www.maxmind.com/app/geolitecity
Upgrading
To upgrade your installed version of the Live Chat Addon, simply follow the steps below to update:
- Begin by downloading the update from our client area (Services > Licenses & Services > Select the licence to which the addon belongs > Addons tab)
- Next, rename the old live chat installation within /modules/livehelp/ to /modules/livehelp-backup/
- Now, Upload the files from the upload_me directory to your main WHMCS directory
- Upgrades are automatic, so to complete the process, simply open the Live Help Windows Application and sign-in to Live Help to perform the required database upgrades process
- Finally delete the install folder from the /modules/livehelp/ directory and you're done.
- Once this upgrade has been completed and everything is working as expected you may remove the folder /modules/livehelp-backup
With the latest update, new and improved integration code is available to make use of the embedded chat window on your website so to take advantage of this, you will need to update the Live Help HTML on your web pages. A step by step guide for doing this can be found @ http://livehelp.stardevelop.com/kb/245/
Further Reading
StarDevelop provides documentation covering how to use the live help software at: http://www.chatstack.com/kb/
Error Messages
Incorrect Server/Host
If you get this error then it indicates that the Live Help installation cannot be found at the supplied URL. Double check the URL you've entered. If Live Help is installed at http://www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules/livehelp/ then your account or server should be entered as www.yourdomain.com/whmcs/modules/
License Invalid
If when first opening the live chat admin interface or connecting via the Windows Desktop App you get a "License Invalid" warning message, this indicates that your WHMCS installation has not yet updated to recognise your purchase of the addon. Your WHMCS install only calls home to validate your license with us periodically and so if you have only recently bought the addon, you may need to force a local key update by going to Help > Check for Updates inside your WHMCS admin area to get rid of this message.
If it continues after that, please get in touch with us for assistance.
Blank Live Help Chat Window
If you have installed Live Help and the Live Help popup window is showing a blank chat window then we recommend the following troubleshooting steps.
- Check that the /modules/livehelp/templates_c/ directory exists. If this directory doesn’t exist then please create it.
- If the chat window is still blank then make the /modules/livehelp/templates_c/ directory writable. We recommend that you try the following permissions in this order 755, 775 and 777.
The /modules/livehelp/templates_c/ directory should be writable so that the Live Help templates can be created.
Unable to Login
If you are unable to login and see an invalid login error message even when entering valid WHMCS admin login details, this suggests your WHMCS install is not aware you've purchased the live chat addon. To resolve simply force a remote licence check by navigating to Help > Check For Updates inside the main WHMCS admin area.
The Live Chat Addon" should then appear in the "Addons" section of the Help > Licence Information page, and the issue resolved.