Helpdesky offers three messaging channels, each designed for a different use case. All messages arrive in a single unified inbox in your dashboard, so you can manage every conversation from one place.
Contact Form
The Contact Form is an embeddable form for public websites where visitors are not logged in. Visitors provide their name, email, and message. No authentication is required.
The form is a single JavaScript file that renders into a container element on your page. It handles styling, validation, submission, and the success state on its own, with no framework dependencies. You can customize the button text, colors, success message, and alignment from your dashboard. Optional Cloudflare Turnstile integration adds bot protection.
Best for: marketing sites, landing pages, and any public page where you want visitors to reach your support team.
Ticket Center
The Ticket Center is a full support portal embedded inside your application for authenticated users. It uses HMAC SHA256 signatures to securely verify each user's identity, so they can create tickets, view their conversation history, and reply without a separate login.
Your server generates the HMAC signature using the user's email and your secret key. The Ticket Center script verifies the signature with Helpdesky's server before granting access.
Best for: SaaS dashboards, customer portals, and any authenticated area where users need ongoing support.
Widget Messaging
Widget Messaging adds a "Send us a message" option to the Helpdesky widget, the floating help button already on your site. Visitors can send messages directly from the widget without leaving the page.
If the widget is already embedded, enabling messaging is a dashboard toggle. No code changes required. Visitors are identified by a browser token, and they can optionally provide their email to receive reply notifications.
Best for: adding a lightweight messaging option alongside your knowledge base search.
Email Notifications
When a message is sent through any channel, the recipient receives an email notification after a short delay. Helpdesky uses smart batching and read detection to avoid unnecessary emails. Operators can also bypass the delay using the Send Instantly option. For full details on how this works, see Email Notification Timing.
Choosing the Right Channel
| Channel | Auth Required | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Form | No | Public websites, landing pages |
| Ticket Center | Yes (HMAC) | Authenticated users in your app |
| Widget | No | Quick messages via the help widget |
You can use multiple channels at the same time. All conversations flow into the same Messages inbox in your dashboard.
Getting Started
Pick the channel that fits your use case and follow the setup guide:
- Contact Form Setup Guide
- Ticket Center Setup Guide
- Widget Messaging Setup Guide
- Email Notification Timing
To start receiving messages, make sure messaging is enabled in your dashboard under Messages.