JTZL's Chat for WebIRC vs HelpCrunch – Live Chat, Chatbot & Knowledge Base for Customer Service

This plugin provides a shortcode that renders a lightweight IRC client written in vanilla JavaScript. It supports direct WebSocket connections to IRC servers (IRCv3-friendly) and includes an optional WebIRC gateway. Security-conscious defaults: Server allow-list (host:port format), WSS (WebSockets over SSL/TLS) only Optional WebSocket subprotocols (e.g., text.ircv3.net) Optional WS path (e.g., /webirc) Optional CSP connect-src helper (off by default) Input sanitization and validation Proper escaping of output Features: Modern Responsive Design: Mobile-first approach with adaptive layouts for all screen sizes Enhanced Mobile Experience: Touch-optimized interface with proper virtual keyboard support Smart Responsive Behavior: Overlay sidebar on mobile, collapsible on tablet, side-by-side on desktop Editable Username: Click-to-edit nickname with real-time validation and user persistence User Persistence: Automatic nickname saving for logged-in WordPress users Lightweight vanilla TypeScript/JavaScript implementation (no frameworks) Fully responsive design with semantic HTML Internationalization ready (i18n strings) Configurable server allow-list with strict validation WebSocket subprotocol support (IRCv3) Optional WebIRC gateway fallback Comprehensive IRC slash commands: 30+ commands including /join, /part, /nick, /msg, /whois, /topic, /away, /help, and more Automatic nickname generation and collision handling Debug logging and connection status indicators Optional Content Security Policy (CSP) header generation WordPress hooks and filters for extensibility Follows WordPress Coding Standards Usage Basic Usage: Simply add the shortcode [chat_webirc] to any page or post where you want the IRC chat to appear. The plugin will use secure default settings to connect to a test IRC server. Shortcode Examples: * Basic: [chat_webirc] – Uses default server and channel * Custom channel: [chat_webirc channel="#mychannel"] * Custom server: [chat_webirc server="irc.example.com:7443" channel="#general"] Available IRC Commands: Once the chat is loaded, users can use these commands: Basic Commands: * /join #channel – Join a channel * /part [#channel] – Leave current or specified channel * /nick newname – Change nickname * /quit [message] – Disconnect * /help – Show all available commands Communication: * /msg – Send private message * /notice – Send notice message * /me – Send action message * /query – Open private chat context User & Channel Info: * /whois – Get detailed user information * /who [channel] – List users in channel * /list [pattern] – List available channels * /names [channel] – List nicknames in channel * /topic [text] – View/set channel topic Status & Utility: * /away [message] – Set away status * /back – Remove away status * /ping – Ping user * /version [nick] – Get version info Advanced Commands: * /ctcp – Send CTCP command * /motd [server] – View message of the day * /stats [server] – View server statistics * /raw – Send raw IRC command (if enabled) Type /help in the chat for the complete command reference. Configuration: Go to Settings → Chat for WebIRC in your WordPress admin to customize servers, channels, and security options. Notes Some public IRC networks may restrict WebSocket connections to certain origins. The included test server permits connections for testing purposes. Do not send sensitive information. This client is intentionally minimal and does not yet support SASL authentication.

Take your customer support to the next level with the HelpCrunch WordPress plugin. Do you think it’s a tough nut to crack? Not at all! Thanks to our full-house solution, you can: Deliver second-to-none customer service Chat with website visitors in real time Automate routine tasks with chatbot Manage conversations from Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, or Viber by integrating them with HelpCrunch Catch valuable leads’ attention Encourage customer self-service with a multilingual knowledge base But that’s just scratching the surface. Let’s take a deeper look at HelpCrunch’s advanced toolset. 💬 LIVE CHAT Being the platform’s flagship feature, live chat helps you solve customers’ queries like a pro, acquire more clients and process requests in the nick of time. Auto messages for reaching out to clients proactively based on their behavior, e.g. exit intent time, time on page, last visit, etc. In-app messages for targeting users and educating them about your product or service, for instance during onboarding, upselling, feedback gathering, etc. Canned messages for streamlining service reps’ workflow. Create answers for FAQs beforehand and use them in live chat or chatbot conversations any time you need to be more productive. Knowledge base integration for making clients’ lives easier. They can search for the information without waiting for a rep’s reply, or you can send them a knowledge base article right from the live chat window. Live chat widget customization for sticking to your brand’s identity. Tweak the live chat button, choose its color scheme, add agent avatars, and do so much more. Reports for tracking team’s performance, customer satisfaction rate, first resolution time, and other metrics. Assignment rules for automating and assigning chats or tags for easier workflow. Round-robin chat assignment for distributing new chats between your team members equally. Live chat transcripts for sending the entire conversation to clients so that they have everything at their fingertips. LIVE CHAT INSTALLATION PROCESS You don’t have to be a mastermind to add the HelpCrunch live chat on your WordPress-powered website. Just follow this step-by-step instruction: STEP 1. Log into your WordPress account. STEP 2. Find the Plugins section and press Add new. STEP 3. In the Search box, type in HelpCrunch. STEP 4. Hit Install and Activate. STEP 5. Log in to your HelpCrunch account in a separate browser tab. STEP 6. Go to Settings → Channels → Website Widgets and choose the widget you’d like to install on your WordPress website. STEP 7. You will be redirected to the Installation page. Select WordPress installation guide and copy the code snippet from the HTML box. STEP 8. Go back to your WordPress account and find the HelpCrunch live chat widget under installed plugins. Open plugin Settings. STEP 9. Paste the copied HelpCrunch code snippet into the HelpCrunch Code field and save changes. Now our live chat widget is displayed in the bottom right corner of your website. If you have any problems with the setup, please check the installation guide. If you have any questions, just log in to your HelpCrunch account and chat with us. We’ll help you with everything 🤗 📱 MESSENGERS INTEGRATION Your customer service can be a great differentiator and help you stand out from the competition. Delighting your customers should be a top priority, and one of the best ways to achieve this is by communicating with them in the most convenient way possible. Luckily, HelpCrunch integrates with a range of popular messaging applications, such as: Facebook Messenger Instagram Telegram Viber WhatsApp (coming soon) Such integration can help you provide a seamless customer experience. No matter which channels your customers are using to interact with your business, you will be providing the best possible customer service. Furthermore, HelpCrunch can help your team save a lot of time and effort. Our shared inbox provides an intuitive interface for managing all customer requests from multiple channels in one place, without having to switch between different tools. 🤖 CHATBOT The new feature will ease the burden of your groovy tasks. Our chatbot is called HelpBot and has the power to support users 24/7, catch and qualify valuable leads, and encourage customer self-service. Do all chatbots have a seamless installation process? The one from HelpCrunch does! Our chatbot builder is completely code-free, so you can set it up on your website in minutes. Thanks to the pre-made templates, you can decide on the goal your bot will pursue: Collect contact details Qualify leads Offer a special discount Collect details about issues upfront Route new chats to the dedicated team Or create your own template from scratch! HelpCrunch’s chatbot is really cool because it works not only in the live chat widget, but also in popular messengers such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and Viber. You might think that chatbots are a tricky feature to install. Check out our article where we shared all the ins and outs of creating your first flow. Trust us: implementing chatbots has never been that easy! 📚 KNOWLEDGE BASE Knowledge base software from HelpCrunch allows you to build a resource hub of your dreams without much hassle. Not only is it SEO-optimized but also feature-rich and multilanguage. With just a few clicks, you can create a well-oiled information hierarchy with a user-friendly WYSIWYG editor: draft new articles, add categories, and develop sections in your knowledge base. All articles are marked as “Draft” by default at the editing stage, so you can decide when it goes public. A “Preview” option is also available here: check your article first and post it! 📨 EMAIL AUTOMATION Whether you have a newsletter coming up or a one-time offer – take advantage of email marketing feature from HelpCrunch: Share company news and product announcements with your clients via perfectly built emails. Automate your marketing campaigns with email auto messages, engage existing users, and re-engage inactive ones. Create your own custom email templates or leverage ours. Monitor campaign performance with in-depth analytics. Set up email notifications not to miss a single letter when your team is offline. Send manual or auto follow-ups every time your message is unseen. Set up email forwarding to put an end to unread messages once and for all. 💁🏻‍♂️ SHARED INBOX Multi-channel customer support is now becoming a reality with the HelpCrunch shared inbox solution. No matter the size of your team, you can ease its life with a shared inbox. Owing to this helpful feature, everything is gathered under the same roof. Have your staff manage incoming conversations from live chat, social media, chatbots, and email together, leave dialogue private notes for each other, and more. Detailed customer profiles won’t let you forget a single detail about a client because such data as phone number, location, or device is safely kept. With our shared inbox, one customer service agent can handle up to 5 chats simultaneously thanks to such powerful options as tagging, rich customer data, private notes, snoozing chats for later, or assigning conversations (both manually and automatically). Live reports & analytics let you gauge your team’s productivity at a glance. Just choose a period of time and see where you need to improve your strategy. By the way, to always keep your finger on the pulse, use conversation rating to assess customer experience after closing a live chat. 🖼 POPUPS Do you want to catch your website visitors’ attention in a smarter way though have no clue how? HelpCrunch has! With our popup builder, you can be sure that no information will slip through the cracks. It offers everything you have ever wished for a perfect engagement action plan: Full customization including the opportunity to change popup appearance (popup templates, texts, animations, color schemes, and more) so that your popup is more noticeable. Popup display options: there are rules to choose from, such as browser language, current URL, number of page views, etc. Set them up and shoot a popup at the right time for the right audience to get maximum results. Live reports for optimizing popup real-time performance as people click on it. 🔗 OTHER INTEGRATIONS There is also a massive integration list to integrate HelpCrunch with your favorite tools (more integrations are on their way, so stay tuned!): Zapier Slack Google Tag Manager Google Analytics Shopify Squarespace Jimdo 3DCart Big Cartel SOUNDS INTRIGUING? BOOK A DEMO TO DISCUSS THE DETAILS AND START YOUR JOURNEY WITH HELPCRUNCH! CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS ABOUT HELPCRUNCH – THE ONE-STOP PLATFORM FOR BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLIENTS “HelpCrunch enabled us to manage our customer support and email automation via one platform which led to improving customer support performance by 40%.” — Valery Kurilov, CEO @ SE Ranking “We had a call info line we wanted to get rid of and have everything online in the live chat. So, that was the reason why we switched to HelpCrunch.” — Jan Střecha, Marketing Manager @ Rekola “Once we started using HelpCrunch software, we were able to return €14.8 euros on each €1 paid for HelpCrunch.” — Fitlap “Nobody’s doing the GDPR preparations the right way. We wanted to make sure we’re ready for it, so it was crucial for us to choose a compliant tool and not to worry about legal complications afterward.” — Max Bondarenko, CMO @ Revenue Grid