Help & Support
Our help database contains answers to most of the common questions regarding our products.
If you are unable to locate a satisfactory answer for your query by searching here, please contact us.
I lost my Cbox embed code. Where can I get it?
Your Cbox embed code is available at your control panel. You need this code to install your Cbox on your website.
Also on that page is your Quick Link — a URL which you can use to access your Cbox directly in your browser or on your mobile device.
How do I put my Cbox on my website?
Once you have created your Cbox account, go to the Publish page of your control panel. The code and steps for embedding your Cbox are provided there for a number of common platforms.
If you install your Cbox and all you see is code, or nothing at all, your web host may be removing or otherwise interfering with the HTML iframe tags that Cbox uses. Your Cbox code needs to be pasted into an area of your site that accepts HTML without modification. This may mean switching your editor from "rich text" or "WYSIWYG" mode into HTML-editing or "raw" mode, or you may need to open your template files in a plain-text editor like Notepad.
Remember that you always have the option of posting or sharing your Cbox Quick Link — this gives visitors direct access to your Cbox in a full-screen layout, so it's perfect as a mobile option or for stand-alone use.
How do change my Cbox's style to go with my site's design?
Go to the Theme editor in your control panel. There you can specify the fonts and colours of your Cbox, using a point-and-click editor. You can always reset your theme to one of the preset defaults there, if you would like to start again.
If you have a Premium or Pro Cbox you can edit CSS, which gives you complete control over presentation.
How do I delete messages?
If you have a Premium or Pro Cbox, you can create a moderator name for yourself at your Users page, and then log in on your Cbox using the "profile" link. You will see a delete icon [x] next to each message in your Cbox, and you will not have to log in at your control panel at all to delete messages.
Alternatively, visit your Messages page to delete messages individually or in bulk. Deleted messages are removed from your public Cbox history, but are preserved in your Archives.
Can I make my Cbox transparent?
Yes. In the Theme editor, simply delete the colour codes for the main and form background ("BG") elements. This will make the Cbox transparent, allowing whatever is behind the Cbox to show through.
Note that any pop-ups generated by a transparent Cbox will have the default background colour — usually white. If your font colour is light, it may be invisible in popups. You can fix this by editing the CSS to introduce a background-color rule for popups.
How do I automate creating channels with the Channel API?
Cbox Pro provides a very simple API for creating new channels on the fly.
At the Channels page in your control panel you will find your secret API URL. You can open this URL directly in your browser to test it, but it's intended to be called by back-end scripts running on your own site.
The return format for this call is a single line of tab-separated plain-text fields. If there was an error, the first field is "FAIL" and the second field is an error code. If a new thread was successfully generated, the first field is "OK", and the second and third fields are the thread ID and thread key, respectively.
By way of example, this very simple PHP script will generate threads for your Cbox. New threads created via the API will show up in your control panel, but you should store the thread ID and key in your own database as well.
<?php $cb_tid = null; $cb_tkey = null; $cb_rs = file_get_contents('YOUR_API_URL', 'r'); $cb_rp = explode("\t", $cb_rs); if ($cb_rp[0] === 'FAIL') { // There was an error. // $cb_rp[1] contains the error code } else if ($cb_rp[0] === 'OK') { // Success $cb_tid = $cb_rp[1]; $cb_tkey = $cb_rp[2]; } else { // Some other error occured. } if ($cb_tid && $cb_tkey) { // New key generated. Store $cb_tid and $cb_tkey in your database or user session. // And insert them into your Cbox HTML code iframe src URLs: // ....&sec=main&tid=<?php echo $cb_tid;?>&tkey=<?php echo $cb_tkey;?> // ....&sec=form&tid=<?php echo $cb_tid;?>&tkey=<?php echo $cb_tkey;?> } ?>
I deleted some messages by accident. Can I get them back?
Unfortunately deleted messages cannot be restored to your Cbox conversation history without re-posting them.
However, if you have a Premium or Pro Cbox, all your messages are archived, including messages that were deleted. You can generate a transcript from your archive at this page.
Can I prevent "Guest" from posting in my Cbox?
With a paid Cbox, you can enable the option "Users must be registered" at the Users page in your control panel.
If you are using Integration, then there are two ways to disable access for a particular user. The easiest is to register the "Guest" name, then immediately ban it.
You can also invalidate names in your Integration code. For example, use a conditional and clear the nme and nmekey parameters:
<?php if ($nme == "Guest") { $nme = ""; $nmekey = ""; } // The rest of your Integration code goes here... ?>
How do I change the "welcome" message?
The "Welcome to Cbox" message appears if there are no other messages to display. You can disable or change it simply by posting a Sticky message.
Note however that the Sticky message differs from the Welcome message in that it remains visible on your Cbox even after other messages have been posted.
Cbox not displaying in Firefox 72
Firefox from version 72 includes an Enhanced Tracking Protection feature that is now enabled by default. This feature misidentifies Cbox as a "fingerprinter" or "tracker" service and blocks it on third party sites, including your own site if you have embedded your Cbox there.
You can disable ETP or add an exception to allow Cbox to load on your site. You should also still be able to use your Quick Link to access your Cbox.
Cbox has notified the list provider and has requested removal, and we are awaiting resolution. We are unfortunately not able to provide a timeline for when this will happen.