There's a number of issues you may come across when installing ManyChat Growth Tools (aka widgets) on your website or even using them after the installation. If that's the case - don't worry, just read through this article to find a quick solution to your problem :)
Table of Contents
- Can’t install widget on a site
- Widget isn’t clickable
- Widget doesn’t appear on a site
- Widget throws an error in Console
- 'With checkbox' widget: contact's name isn't shown in the opt-in message
- Opt-in Message isn't sent
Can’t install widget on a site
To install a ManyChat widget on a site, you need to open the Setup tab of the needed widget, then copy JavaScript snippet and paste it into the section of your site's source code. For more detailed instruction, be sure to check out this article.
But what to do if you don't have access to the source code and you're just using the site builder, like WordPress, for example? In such cases, you'll need to look for the special section that replaces the
section on the site platform that you're using, or install a special helpful plugin on your page.
As there's a great variety of site platforms, it would be difficult to list how to install ManyChat widgets on all of them, but you should always be able to find the necessary info in your site platform's knowledge base or by reaching out to their support. There's also a plenty of useful tutorials on the net, like this one on Installing the widgets on a WordPress site, or our guide on Adding Checkbox Widget on ClickFunnels pages.
Thus, if you're having difficulties adding the widget code to a site, the right place to look for the solution is the platform's help documentation or support channels.
Widget isn’t clickable
If you've noticed that the widget that appears properly on your site doesn't react to clicks, the issue might be caused by the site's layout.
Sometimes a layout is designed in such a way that some elements cover the widget which makes it unclickable, because it's located in the background.
How to solve such issues? Just follow the steps listed below:
- Choose the element that covers the widget, hover over it with a cursor, then right-click and choose Inspect element in the menu that appears.
- When the Console opens, right-click on the selected element and choose Hide element:
- Once the widget is uncovered, check if it's clickable and working properly. You'll also be able to see which elements were hiding the widget:
Widget doesn’t appear on a site
If that's the case, first thing to check is whether you've pasted the widget's code properly into your site. Instructions can be found in these articles depending on the type of widget you're dealing with: Embeddable Widgets or Overlay Widgets.
If you've followed the instructions and you're 100% sure that the widget is installed properly on your site, but it still doesn't show up, let's use ManyChat's Diagnostic Tool to see what's wrong. This feature will tell you if there are any errors found on your site and how to fix them to make the widget appear.
However it may happen that the Diagnostic Tool doesn't spot any errors, although the widget still isn't there. In this case the issue is probably caused by something our tool can't identify (it's rare, but it happens). In such cases, be sure to check your website Console for errors. To open a Console, follow these steps:
- When on your site, click anywhere with the right mouse button.
- Choose Inspect element in the menu that appears.
- Open the Console tab on the panel that appeared at the right side of the screen.
If you see any errors there, make sure to take action to eliminate them - this may help solve the issue with your ManyChat widget.
Most common issue causing the widget to not appear on the site even though the JavaScript snippet is pasted in the site is that this snippet has some wrong symbols or typos in it. Thus always make sure that the ManyChat code you see in your site's source code is identical to the one you see in your ManyChat account for the relevant widget.
Widget throws an error in Console
If after installing ManyChat widget on your site you've noticed that an error related to the widget appeared in your site's Console, first thing to check would be if the widget is installed properly. You can check it using our Diagnostic Tool.
If you experience difficulties eliminating the error yourself, it would be worth contacting your web developer or website platform's technical support representative - they should be able to help you solve the issue!
'With checkbox' widget: contact's name isn't shown in the opt-in message
Sometimes you may notice that although you have First Name/Full Name/other name variable in the opt-in message connected to any widget that has with checkbox button type in it (for example Button, Box, Modal, etc.), the message is being delivered to your contacts without their name in it.
How you see the message in your Flow:
How it arrives to your contacts:
The reason why this happens is that due to Facebook limitations, ManyChat variables only work in the opt-in message connected to widgets with Send to Messenger button type.
How to troubleshoot
To solve this issue, you may either edit your opt-in message so that it looks nice without the contact name, or change the type of the widget button to Send to Messenger.
Opt-in Message isn't sent
This issue is usually appearing when you are trying to send a message that either does not have its Content Type tag specified or that has some limitations due to technical issues.
How to troubleshoot
Make sure that you have manychat.com in your ManyChat Settings > Growth Tools. Check whether the Flow is actually published. Also, make sure to set up a Content Type tag according to the article here.