Add the Deskwoot widget to WordPress
Adding the Deskwoot live chat widget to WordPress means dropping one small script into your site so the chat launcher appears on every page. Once it's in, visitors can start a conversation from your site and those chats land in your Deskwoot inbox like any other channel. There's no separate WordPress plugin to install. You're just placing the standard widget script, which works on any WordPress theme.
Where do I get the widget script?
Create a live chat inbox first, then copy its install snippet:
- In Deskwoot, go to Settings > Inboxes and create a Live Chat inbox (or open an existing one).
- Open the inbox settings and find the installation section.
- Copy the widget script. It's a short block of JavaScript that loads the chat launcher and ties it to that inbox.
How do I add the widget to WordPress?
You have two solid options. Pick whichever fits how you manage your site.
Option 1: a header and footer plugin (easiest)
This avoids touching theme files and survives theme updates.
- Install a plugin that lets you insert custom code, such as WPCode or Insert Headers and Footers, from the WordPress plugin directory.
- Open the plugin's settings and find the footer (or body) area.
- Paste the Deskwoot widget script there and save.
- Load your site in a new tab. The chat launcher should appear, usually in the bottom corner.
Option 2: edit your theme directly
If you'd rather not add a plugin, place the script in your theme. Use a child theme so a theme update doesn't wipe your change.
- In WordPress, go to Appearance > Theme File Editor (or edit the files over FTP).
- Open
footer.php. - Paste the Deskwoot widget script just before the closing
</body>tag. - Save the file and reload your site to confirm the launcher shows up.
How do I confirm it's working?
Open your site in a fresh browser tab or a private window, then start a test chat through the widget. The conversation should arrive in your Deskwoot live chat inbox within a few seconds. If it does, you're done.
Troubleshooting
- The launcher doesn't appear. Make sure the script is in the footer or just before
</body>, and that you pasted the whole snippet. Clear any caching plugin or CDN cache, since WordPress often serves a cached page. - It shows on some pages but not others. A header-and-footer plugin loads the script site-wide. If you edited the theme instead, double-check the script is in a template every page uses, like
footer.php. - Chats don't reach Deskwoot. Confirm you copied the script from the correct live chat inbox, and that the inbox is active in Settings > Inboxes.