How to add online chat functionality to WordPress plugin

How to Add Online Chat Function to WordPress Plugin

In the modern era of social media, it has become increasingly important to stay in touch and communicate with users instantly. Whether it is to answer users' questions or to provide technical support, a concise and efficient way is needed to communicate with users in real time. To do this, we can consider adding an online chat feature to the WordPress plugin to communicate with users instantly.

To add online chat functionality to the WordPress plug-in, we can use the API interface of the third-party chat platform and integrate it into our plug-in. Below is an example that demonstrates how to use the API interface of the third-party chat platform Tawk.to to add online chat functionality to our WordPress plugin.

First, we need to register an account on the Tawk.to official website and create an application. Once registration is complete, we will receive a unique API key for communicating with Tawk.to.

Next, we need to add the following function code in the code of the WordPress plugin:

function add_chat_button() {
    $api_key = 'YOUR_TAWKTO_API_KEY';
    echo '<script type="text/javascript">
                var Tawk_API=Tawk_API||{}, Tawk_LoadStart=new Date();
                (function(){
                    var s1=document.createElement("script"),s0=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
                    s1.async=true;
                    s1.src="https://embed.tawk.to/" + $api_key + "/default";
                    s1.charset="UTF-8";
                    s1.setAttribute("crossorigin","*");
                    s0.parentNode.insertBefore(s1,s0);
                })();
            </script>';
}
add_action('wp_footer', 'add_chat_button');

In the above code, we first need to replace YOUR_TAWKTO_API_KEY with what we have in Tawk .to API key obtained on the website. The code is embedded at the bottom of the WordPress plugin using JavaScript.

Next, we need to add an option to the WordPress plugin’s settings page so users can enter their own Tawk.to API key. We can use the Settings API provided by WordPress to add the following settings:

function chat_settings_init() {
    add_settings_section('chat_settings_section', __('Chat Settings', 'wp_chat'), false, 'general');

    add_settings_field(
        'tawkto_api_key',
        __('Tawk.to API Key', 'wp_chat'),
        'chat_settings_callback',
        'general',
        'chat_settings_section'
    );

    register_setting('general', 'tawkto_api_key');
}
add_action('admin_init', 'chat_settings_init');

function chat_settings_callback() {
    $api_key = get_option('tawkto_api_key');
    echo '<input type="text" id="tawkto_api_key" name="tawkto_api_key" value="' . $api_key . '" />';
}

In the above code, the add_settings_section function is used to add the section of the settings page, and the add_settings_field is used Add specific setting fields, the register_setting function is used to register our settings.

Finally, we need to call the above settings in the WordPress plugin’s settings page so users can enter their Tawk.to API key. We can add the following code to the main file of the plug-in:

function chat_settings_page() {
    ?>
    <div class="wrap">
        <h1><?php echo esc_html(get_admin_page_title()); ?></h1>
        <form method="post" action="options.php">
            <?php
            settings_fields('general');
            do_settings_sections('general');
            submit_button();
            ?>
        </form>
    </div>
    <?php
}
function add_chat_settings_submenu() {
    add_submenu_page('options-general.php', __('Chat Settings', 'wp_chat'), __('Chat Settings', 'wp_chat'), 'manage_options', 'chat-settings', 'chat_settings_page');
}
add_action('admin_menu', 'add_chat_settings_submenu');

In the above code, add_submenu_page is used to add a submenu that links to our settings page, chat_settings_pageMethod is used to display the content of the settings page.

Through the above steps, we have successfully added the online chat function to the WordPress plug-in. Users can enter their Tawk.to API key in the plugin’s settings page and see a live chat button on the frontend. When users click the button, they will be able to communicate with the website administrator in real time.

To sum up, adding an online chat function to the WordPress plug-in can greatly improve the efficiency of instant communication with users. By integrating the API interface of a third-party chat platform, we can easily implement this function. I hope the code examples in this article are helpful!

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