Website Widget Settings

The MaidSense website chat widget is the embeddable chat bubble that appears on your website and lets potential customers get quotes, ask questions, and book appointments. This article covers the widget's configuration options, including the collapsed-state teaser, the mobile auto-open control, the expand toggle, and the card-on-file booking policy.

Widget Behavior

Collapsed-State Teaser

Before a visitor opens the chat, a small floating card can appear above the collapsed bubble to invite them in — by default: "Get a quote right now — it only takes a minute." Visitors can dismiss the teaser with its close button; once dismissed, it won't reappear for the rest of their visit.

To configure:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels.
2. Select the Web Widget channel.
3. Toggle Teaser message to on or off.
4. When on, enter your own Teaser text (up to 160 characters), or leave it blank to use the default message.
5. Save changes.

Engagement Timing and Triggers

When Teaser message is on, additional controls let you fine-tune when and how the widget invites a visitor in:

To configure:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels and select the Web Widget channel.
2. Under Teaser message, set Wait before showing — how long the widget waits before its first prompt. Choose 5 seconds (the default), 8, 15, or 30 seconds, or 1 minute. A shorter wait converts better than an instant prompt, which lands before a visitor has a question worth asking.
3. Toggle Catch visitors who are leaving to show a message when a desktop visitor moves their cursor to close the tab. Phones and tablets never see this — there's no cursor to read.
4. Toggle Recognize returning visitors to greet someone who's visited your site before with a "welcome back" variant. This only changes the wording — the chat doesn't remember their previous conversation or quote.
5. Toggle Try once more after a dismissal to allow one additional, different (never repeated) message if a visitor closes the first one. A second dismissal ends prompts for the rest of their visit.
6. Set Most messages per visit — a hard cap (1 to 5) on how many prompts one visitor can see across your whole site during a single visit.
7. Save changes.

note

These controls only appear when your company's widget engagement capability is turned on (it's on by default) and the Teaser message toggle is on.

Conversation Starters

Instead of a single static teaser message, you can build a pool of conversation starters — each with its own text, trigger, and targeting — so the widget varies what it says instead of repeating the same line to every visitor.

To add a starter:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels and select the Web Widget channel.
2. Under Conversation starters, click to add a new starter.
3. Enter the Starter text (up to 160 characters).
4. Choose when it shows:
   • After a delay — shows once the visitor has been on the page a while
   • On specific pages — shows only on page paths you target (for example, /pricing)
   • When leaving — shows on desktop exit-intent only
   • Returning visitor — a "welcome back" variant; requires Recognize returning visitors to be on
5. Optionally restrict it to Any time, Only while open, or Only after hours.
6. Save the starter. Use the switch on each starter's row to turn it on or off without deleting it.

You can have up to 20 active starters at once. If you haven't added any, the widget uses a built-in default set automatically — starters are optional, not required for the widget to work.

Expand Toggle

Visitors can expand the chat panel to a larger size using the expand button in the panel header, and restore it to its normal size the same way. This replaces the old drag-to-resize behavior — the widget no longer has a corner resize handle.

Conversation Persistence

If a visitor minimizes the widget and opens it again, the full conversation history is preserved. They can continue right where they left off without losing their quote details or any answers they received.

Response Formatting

Multi-paragraph responses from MaidSense now display with correct line breaks, so longer explanations and bulleted answers are easy to read.

Auto-Open Greeting

The auto-open greeting opens the widget automatically when a visitor loads the page, showing a customizable greeting message. This is useful if you want to proactively engage visitors rather than waiting for them to click the chat bubble.

To configure:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels.
2. Select the Web Widget channel.
3. Toggle Auto-open on page load to on.
4. Enter your Greeting message in the text field.
5. Save changes.

When a visitor lands on your site, the widget panel opens and displays the greeting immediately.

tip

Keep the auto-open greeting short and inviting. For example: "Hi there! Get a free quote in 2 minutes — what can we help with?"

Also Open on Phones

On a phone, an auto-opened chat panel covers most of the screen, so auto-open is off for mobile visitors by default even when Auto-open on page load is turned on for desktop. Turn on Also open on phones (found nested under Auto-open on page load) if you want the widget to auto-open for mobile visitors too. When it's off, phone visitors still see the collapsed bubble and its teaser message instead.

Idle Reminder

The idle reminder re-engages visitors who opened the widget (or have the widget minimized) but have not sent a message after a set period of time.

To configure:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels.
2. Select the Web Widget channel.
3. Toggle Idle reminder to on.
4. Set the Delay (in minutes) before the reminder appears.
5. Enter a Reminder message.
6. Save changes.

After the configured delay without interaction, the widget re-opens (if minimized) and shows the reminder message.

tip

Idle reminders work best for visitors who open the widget but get distracted. A gentle nudge like "Still looking for a cleaner? We can get you a quote right now." can bring them back.

Card on File for Bookings

If your business wants a credit card on file for new bookings, MaidSense can collect the card around the booking conversation — without ever losing the booking to the card step.

To configure:

1. Go to Settings > MaidSense > Channels.
2. Find the AI Receptionist Channels card. The setting is a booking policy, not a widget setting — it applies to every receptionist channel, so it lives here rather than under Website Widget Install.
3. Toggle Request card on file at booking to on.
4. Save changes.

The booking always completes. When a visitor books through the web chat widget, MaidSense offers the card form once as part of the conversation. The form uses your existing payment provider's secure tokenizer (CardConnect, Stripe, or Authorize.Net) directly inside the chat panel — the card number never passes through MaidCentral's own servers, and the card is saved to the new customer's account without being charged.

If the visitor skips the card form — or books by text message, or your provider doesn't support in-chat capture — the booking still goes through. The confirmation message tells the customer the booking is in but not fully confirmed yet, and includes your secure agreement/card link so they can add the card on their own. A MaidSense Alert ("Booked awaiting card on file") cues your team to follow up only when the card hasn't landed.

note

Booking confirmations for card-pending bookings say the service "is booked internally, but not fully confirmed yet." Your team confirms once the card is on file — by the customer completing the secure link, or by taking payment details over the phone.

When the Card Isn't Collected In-Chat

The card rides the secure link in the booking confirmation instead of the in-chat form in these cases:

• The visitor books by text message — SMS bookings always use the secure link.
• The visitor books by phone — voice bookings always use the secure link as well.
• The visitor skips or abandons the card form (the booking proceeds; the link and a follow-up alert cover the card).
• The card-capture attempt fails for any reason (a failed card save never blocks the booking — the office gets a note to follow up).

Disabling Auto-Open and Idle Reminder

Turn off either option in the channel settings at any time. The widget will return to default behavior — waiting for the visitor to click the chat bubble.

Who Can Configure Widget Settings

Role	Access
Administrator	Full access to channel settings
Office	View only
All others	No access