How The Shared Widget Shell Works
One Flidu script draws one launcher and one panel. That panel shows Contact, Ask AI, or both as two tabs, depending on what is live for the widget.
Every Flidu install is one script, one launcher button and one panel. That panel is the shared shell. Contact (your Website Widgets channels) and Ask AI (your AI Chatbot assistant) are two separate product lines that can both appear inside it. This page explains how the shell decides what to show, how to set up each arrangement, and what happens when one side is switched off.
Three Ways The Shell Can Appear
The shell works out its arrangement each time a page loads, from what is live for that widget at that moment. The arrangement follows from what you publish on the widget: channels, an assistant, or both.
| Arrangement | What Visitors See | When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Contact only | Your channel list. No tabs. | The widget has at least one channel visitors can use, and no Ask AI is live on it. |
| Ask AI only | The Ask AI conversation. No tabs. | Ask AI is live on the widget and there is no Contact content to show. |
| Contact + Ask AI | Two tabs, Contact and Ask AI. | Both are live on the same widget. |
What Visitors See When They Open It
The launcher sits in the bottom-right or bottom-left corner of the page. Opening it shows the panel, with a header that carries your Widget Title. In a Contact + Ask AI widget a tab row sits under the header, and the panel opens on Contact. On phone-width screens the panel fills the screen, and the launcher is hidden until the visitor closes the panel.
For how the tabs behave once the panel is open, see Switch Between Contact And Ask AI. For the wording on each tab, see What You Can Label On Each Tab.
Set Up Each Arrangement
Contact Only
Open Website Widgets, create a widget and publish at least one channel on it. The widget itself must be Published, not Draft. With no assistant connected, visitors get the channel list on its own. Create A Website Widget walks through it.
Ask AI Only
Open AI Chatbots, select your assistant and go to its Preview tab. In the Connection section choose Install as Ask AI-only, then Publish Ask AI. The option appears once the assistant has indexed content and your website has been added in Website Widgets. An Ask AI-only install has its own install code: choose Get install code to open the website’s Install tab, then add that snippet to your site. It does not use a Website Widgets published-widget slot.
Contact + Ask AI
- Open AI Chatbots, select your assistant and open its Preview tab.
- In the Connection section, choose Connect to Widget.
- In the Connect to Website Widget dialog, pick a published Website Widget and choose Continue.
- Check the Before and After summary, then choose Connect Now. Ask AI joins the widget as a draft.
- Choose Done, then Publish Ask AI in the Connection section. The Ask AI tab is now visible to visitors.
Connect to Widget appears once the assistant has indexed content and you have a published Website Widget with no other AI Chatbot on it. Only a published Website Widget can be chosen, and one widget holds one AI Chatbot.
If you started with an Ask AI-only install, choose Add Contact (uses a Website Widget slot) in the Connection section instead, then Add Contact on the Channels tab that opens, and confirm. The install becomes a Website Widget, uses one Website Widgets slot and keeps the same install code. Add and publish at least one channel on it, and visitors get both tabs.
Check Which Arrangement Is Live
- On the assistant: AI Chatbots, your assistant, Preview tab, Connection section. The status beside the heading reads Not connected, Ready to publish, Published or Paused. Once the assistant is connected, the Visitors see line names what is live, for example Contact + Ask AI, Ask AI only or Contact only.
- On the widget: Website Widgets, your website, Overview tab. The Connected AI Chatbot card shows the assistant and whether Ask AI is live, or reads No AI Chatbot connected.
What Stays Separate Inside One Shell
Sharing a shell does not merge the two product lines.
- Contact follows your Website Widgets plan: channels, published-widget slots, the monthly visitor allowance, targeting and Website Widgets analytics.
- Ask AI follows your AI Chatbot plan: assistants, monthly AI messages, indexed pages and AI analytics.
- Bundle & Save changes the price only. It does not combine limits or usage. See Bundle & Save.
Plan details are in Plans Per Product Line and on Pricing.
When One Side Is Switched Off
- Pause, disconnect or archive the assistant, and the Ask AI tab is gone the next time a page loads. Contact channels on the same widget keep working, shown without tabs.
- A visibility or targeting rule that hides the widget, for example on certain pages or devices, removes the Contact side. If Ask AI is live on the same widget, the launcher stays and opens Ask AI only. Ask AI-only installs have no visibility controls.
- When the monthly AI message allowance is used up, the Ask AI tab stays. Visitors who ask a question see “This feature is temporarily unavailable.” until the allowance resets or you upgrade.
- Move the widget to Draft, or switch off Site Status on the website’s Settings tab, and nothing is shown at all.