You can launch the Zendesk Help Center in the Zendesk web widget from your Pendo Resource Center to provide access to your knowledge base in-app. Articles load in the widget over your app, allowing your visitors to read articles and watch videos, or open your help center in a new tab.
This is one of three integrations with Zendesk that deploy the Zendesk web widget from the Pendo Resource Center:
- The Zendesk Chat integration launches the web widget live chat feature.
- The Zendesk Help Center integration launches the web widget help center feature.
- The Zendesk messaging integration supersedes both Zendesk Chat and Zendesk Help Center.
You can either deploy Zendesk Chat and Zendesk Help Center independently, or deploy Zendesk messaging, which allows you to embed messaging into your help center.
How it works
The Zendesk Help Center integration removes the native launch badge created by the Zendesk web widget snippet and activates the web widget help center from a Resource Center module. The Resource Center can be activated from a Pendo badge or a target element in your application.
The Zendesk Help Center in the Zendesk web widget loads over your app, just like the Pendo Resource Center.
The Help Center module appears with the rest of your resource center modules. When a visitor selects the Help Center module, the Resource Center closes, and the Zendesk web widget opens, displaying the Help Center. The web widget has a similar size, and it can have the same location and color palette as your Resource Center if it's been configured to match in Zendesk settings.
Visitors can search for any articles in your help center or, if you have contextual help turned on in Zendesk settings, the widget can automatically show the top three contextual search results for the page the user is on.
The web widget is developed by Zendesk and configured using settings in your Zendesk subscription. You have access to all of the settings and features provided by Zendesk and you can further customize the appearance and behavior of the web widget using the Zendesk web widget API. All customizations that can be configured through Zendesk are reflected in the Zendesk web widget.
Prerequisites
You must have an active Zendesk Help Center integration for your Pendo subscription. Contact your Pendo customer success or sales representative to add the integration to your Pendo subscription. You must also have admin permissions to both your Pendo and Zendesk accounts, and a published Resource Center in Pendo.
Additionally, the Zendesk snippet must be installed below the Pendo install script in the page header. Installing the Zendesk snippet without publishing the Zendesk Help Center module in the Resource Center will load the Zendesk Help Center launch badge over your UI.
Install
Zendesk Help Center installation is a two-step process. The Help Center module must be added to the Resource Center and the Zendesk web widget snippet must be installed on any page where the help center module is used.
If the Zendesk web widget snippet is installed and the Resource Center module isn't published, the Zendesk snippet loads Zendesk's launch button over your UI. If the Help Center module is in the published Resource Center, it doesn't show up in the Resource Center until it detects the installed Help Center snippet in your application. This install order acts a fail-safe to only show the Help Center module when it's functional.
Step 1. Add the Zendesk Help Center module to the Resource Center
The Zendesk Help Center integration needs to be added to the subscription before the Help Center module can be added to the Resource Center. The Help Center module must be added to the Resource Center and published before the snippet is installed in your application to avoid Zendesk displaying their launch badge until the Resource Center module is added.
- Navigate to Settings > Integrations.
- Find the Zendesk Help Center integration in Knowledge Base integrations and select Add Integration.
- Edit the Resource Center module details.
- Select Save to Staging to make the integration available in the Resource Center.
- Navigate to Guides > Resource Center.
- Select Add Module and add the Zendesk Help Center module.
- Select Add Modules to save the new module to your draft Resource Center.
- Select Push to Staging to promote your Resource Center to staging. As a best practice, you should review the new Resource Center and test the Help Center integration in your staging environment.
- Select Push to Production to promote your Resource Center from staging to your production environment. The Zendesk Help Center module is now available in your Resource Center.
Additionally, to change the order of your Resource Center modules or make any other changes, select Manage in My App. You can also apply a segment. The Help Center module is hidden for anyone outside of the segment. The default is Everyone.
Step 2. Install the Zendesk web widget snippet
Zendesk has installation instructions for installing the web widget snippet. The process is similar to installing Pendo through the install script. The snippet needs to be added to the <head> of any page that you want to use Zendesk Help Center. The Help Center module in the Resource Center doesn't load unless the snippet is present on the page.
The Zendesk web widget snippet must be installed below the the Pendo install script in the <head>. If the Zendesk snippet loads before Pendo, Zendesk loads their own launch button instead of using the Resource Center module.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Zendesk Help Center integration support Zendesk's multi-brand option?
The Help Center integration uses the native Zendesk integration, so anything supported by the native integration, including the multi-brand option, applies to the Help Center integration. While Pendo can;t control multi-brand settings, they can be controlled through Zendesk. Additional instructions for setting up multiple brands can be found in Zendesk's Knowledge Base.
Does the Zendesk Help Center integration support restricted content?
The Help Center integration use the native Zendesk integration, so anything supported by the native integration applies to the Help Center integration. To take advantage of restricted Help Center content within the integration, see Zendesk's Knowledge Base: Using restricted help center content with Web Widget (classic).