An npm module that allows you to mitigate the negative performance and user
experience impact of chat tools. react-live-chat-loader
shows a fake widget
until the page has become idle or users are ready to interact with chat. Currently works with Intercom, Help Scout, Drift, Messenger, Userlike, Front, Chatwoot and Hubspot.
Made by the team at ♠ Calibre, your performance companion.
- How it Works
- Installation
- Usage
- Supported Providers
- Adding a Provider
- Examples
- Contributing
- Resources
- License
Chat widgets rely heavily on JavaScript which comes at a cost. Given the significant impact that comes from the download, parse, compile and execution of chat JavaScript, React Live Chat Loader implements a "fake", fast loading button and waits for one of the following events before loading the actual widget:
- Person hovers over the fake button
- Person clicks the fake button
- The page has been idle for a significant amount of time
Under the hood React Live Chat Loader makes use of requestIdleCallback
to
track how long the page has been idle for and checks if the person is on a slow
connection (using navigator.connection.effectiveType
) or has data-saver enabled
(using navigator.connection.saveData
) to prevent loading.
⚠️ Please note: Some chat widget providers open automatically based on the people’s interaction from their last session.
To download react-live-chat-loader run:
npm install --save react-live-chat-loader
Or if you're using yarn, run:
yarn add react-live-chat-loader
To allow you to trigger a single live chat within your application, React Live
Chat Loader has a Context Provider
which should be added at the root level of
your application.
You pass your providerKey
and provider
to the LiveChatLoaderProvider
.
For example, to add a LiveChatLoaderProvider
for Help Scout you would do the
following:
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class App extends React.Component {
/* ... */
render() {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider providerKey="asdjkasl123123" provider="helpScout">
/* ... */
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
}
You can then include the relevant chat where you would like it to appear.
For example, for Help Scout you would import the HelpScout
component and add it
to your application:
import { HelpScout } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class Index extends React.Component {
/* ... */
render() {
return (
<>
/* ... */
<HelpScout />
</>
)
}
}
To display chat from a custom button you can import the useChat
hook which has the current state of the chat and a function to load the
chat.
import { useChat } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export const LoadChatButton = () => {
const [state, loadChat] = useChat()
return <button onClick={() => loadChat({ open: true })}>Load Chat</button>
}
You can pass the following props to the LiveChatLoaderProvider
provider:
-
provider
: Choose fromhelpScout
,intercom
,drift
,front
ormessenger
(see below) -
providerKey
: Provider API Key (see below) -
idlePeriod
: How long to wait in ms before loading the provider. Default is2000
. Set to0
to never load. This value is used in asetTimeout
in browsers that don't supportrequestIdleCallback
. -
maxIdlePeriod
: Max time to wait before loading the provider in browsers that supportrequestIdleCallback
. Default is5000
ms. -
beforeInit
: A function to be called after the script has loaded, but before the chat provider has been initialized (optional) -
onReady
: A function to be called once the script has been loaded, the chat provider has been initialized and is ready for use (optional)
Currently there are eight supported providers:
Help Scout
To use Help Scout import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as helpScout
and the providerKey
prop as your Beacon API Key.
Then import the HelpScout
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, HelpScout } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class App extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider providerKey="asdjkasl123123" provider="helpScout">
/* ... */
<HelpScout />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
}
You can customise the Help Scout placeholder by passing the following props to the
HelpScout
component:
-
color
: The background color of the placeholder -
icon
: Choose frommessage
,antenna
,search
,question
,beacon
-
zIndex
: Changes the CSS index value of how the placeholder relates to other objects -
horizontalPosition
: Choose fromleft
orright
-
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
Currently the Help Scout component only supports the icon button style.
Intercom
To use Intercom import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as intercom
and the providerKey
prop as your Intercom App ID.
Then import the Intercom
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Intercom } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class App extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider providerKey="asd239" provider="intercom">
/* ... */
<Intercom />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
}
You can customise the Intercom placeholder icon by passing the following props to the Intercom
component:
-
color
: The background color of the placeholder widget -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
Messenger Settings, User context and Company context settings can be set using window.intercomSettings
. See the official Intercom documentation for more details.
Messenger
To use Messenger, import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and then set the provider
prop as messenger
and the providerKey
prop as your Facebook Page ID.
If you are using other Facebook features like share, you should set the appID
prop as your Facebook App ID as the Customer Chat SDK includes all the features that Facebook provide.
You can optionally set the locale
prop, the default value is en_US
.
Then import the Messenger
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Messenger } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class App extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider
provider="messenger"
providerKey="111222333444555"
appID="111222333444555"
locale="en_US"
>
/* ... */
<Messenger />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
}
For a list of locale option values, refer to Facebook Localization documentation.
You can customise the Messenger widget by passing the following props to the
Messenger
component:
-
color
: The theme color of the widget -
loggedInGreeting
: The greeting text that will be displayed if the person is currently logged in to Facebook. -
loggedOutGreeting
: The greeting text that will be displayed if the person is currently not logged in to Facebook. -
greetingDialogDisplay
: Sets how the greeting dialog will be displayed. -
greetingDialogDelay
: Sets the number of seconds of delay before the greeting dialog is shown after the plugin is loaded. -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
For a list of options, refer to Facebook Customer Chat Plugin documentation.
⚠️ Please note: Facebook Messenger will not load on localhost and you will need to configure your domain through the setup wizard in Facebook for it to load correctly.
Drift
To use Drift import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as drift
and the providerKey
prop as your Drift App ID.
Then import the Drift
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Drift } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default () => (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider providerKey="asdhjg127s1s" provider="drift">
/* ... */
<Drift />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
You can customise the Drift placeholder by passing the following props to the
Drift
component:
-
color
: The background color of the placeholder -
icon
: Choose fromA
,B
,C
,D
; you're presented with these preset icons when signing up for Drift, or in the "Drift Widget > Design > Widget icon" entry under the "App Settings" header on the Drift settings page. -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
Userlike
To use Userlike import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as userlike
and the providerKey
prop as your Userlike Widget secret.
Then import the Userlike
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Userlike } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default () => (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider
providerKey="x014e93c288445c0bf6f8a378a0b1af8e6e1125t71634124a88fe63e38hme701"
provider="userlike"
>
/* ... */
<Userlike />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
You can customise the Userlike placeholder by passing the following props to the
Userlike
component:
-
color
: The contrasting color, can beblack
orwhite
. -
backgroundColor
: The main color -
position
: The button position, can beright
orleft
. -
vOffset
: The amount of vertical margin. -
hOffset
: The amount of horizontal margin. -
style
: The shape style, can beround
orsquare
. -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
Chatwoot
To use Chatwoot import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as chatwoot
and the providerKey
prop as your Chatwoot secret.
You can optionally set the locale
and baseUrl
props.
Then import the Chatwoot
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Chatwoot } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default () => (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider
providerKey="E33wn9ftxMDHZx18AaBkfPvY"
provider="chatwoot"
>
/* ... */
<Chatwoot />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
You can customise the Chatwoot placeholder by passing the following props to the
Chatwoot
component:
-
color
: The background color, set to same color value you choose in Chatwoot dashboard. -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
Front
To use Front import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as front
and the providerKey
prop as your Front Chat chatId
.
Then import the Front
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Front } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default () => {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider
providerKey="your-front-chat-chatId"
provider="front"
>
/* ... */
<Front />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
You can customise the Front placeholder icon by passing the following props to the Front
component:
-
color
: The background color of the placeholder widget. -
containerClass
: Class to be added to the placeholder element, defaults tolive-chat-loader-placeholder
See the official Front documentation for more details.
Hubspot
To use Hubspot import the LiveChatLoaderProvider
and set the provider
prop
as hubSpot
and the providerKey
prop as your Hubspot API Key.
Then import the Hubspot
component.
import { LiveChatLoaderProvider, Hubspot } from 'react-live-chat-loader'
export default class App extends React.Component {
render() {
return (
<LiveChatLoaderProvider providerKey="asdjkasl123123" provider="hubSpot">
/* ... */
<Hubspot />
</LiveChatLoaderProvider>
)
}
}
You can customise the Hubspot placeholder by passing the following props to the
Hubspot
component:
-
backgroundColor
: The background color of the placeholder -
loader
: A react component shown while the Hubspot libraries are loading
To add a new live chat provider, follow the steps in Contributing: Adding a Provider.
The website directory of this repository includes a Next.js app with example implementations of all currently supported providers.
For the initial setup of the example app, be sure first to run npm install
+ npm run build
in the root level of the repository before running npm install
in the website
directory.
The following scripts in the example app will then be available:
-
npm run dev
(run a local server) -
npm run build
(run next build) -
npm run start
(run next start)
Visit react-live-chat-loader.vercel.app for a hosted version of the example app.
📝 Note that some providers require safe-listed, publicly accessible domains served over HTTPS — a service like ngrok can help achieve this locally.
Happy to hear you’re interested in contributing to React Live Chat Loader! Please find our contribution guidelines here.
Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):
Kevin Peng 💻 |
Ash Kyd 📖 |
Jeff Reiner 📖 💻 |
Joan Mira 💻 |
Nathan Collman 💻 |
Jaakko Mustalahti 💻 |
Moti Korets 💻 |
Michael Stramel 💻 |
Myles Linder 💻 |
Laura Gutiérrez López de la Franca 💻 |
Kirill Vakalov 💻 |
Luís Rudge 💻 |
This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
- How to avoid performance regressions when using live chat tools
- Reducing the Intercom Messenger bundle size by 65%
This project is MIT licensed.