Quick Start: Set Up Lens

By the end of this guide, you'll have a chat window on your website that answers your customers' questions using your own content. It takes just a few steps, and most people finish in one sitting.

You don't need to move or rebuild any of your content. The only technical step is adding a small piece of code to your website, and you can send that to someone else if you need to.

Use Case Information

If you just signed up and aren't sure where to start, this guide walks you through everything in order. If you're still deciding whether Lens is right for you, it's also the quickest way to see Lens working with your own content.

Before you start, you'll need:

• Your company's website address.
• A work email address.
• Someone who can add a small piece of code to your website, if that isn't you.

Step 1: Connect Your Website

Lens starts by reading your website. Your website becomes your first knowledge source, which is any place Lens reads from to learn about your product.

To connect your website:

1. Go to Lens and start for free.
2. Enter your website address, then click Build my knowledge layer. Your knowledge layer is the one place where Lens keeps everything it learns, and Lens starts filling it by reading your site.
   • Optional: Choose an additional site. Lens looks through your website and suggests related sites it finds, like your help center or community. Each site you choose becomes its own knowledge source.
3. Decide whether to let public AI tools, like ChatGPT and Claude, find and use your content. Lens calls these answer engines. You can change this later.
4. Enter your work email and a password to create your workspace, which is your own area in Lens.
5. Check your inbox for a six-digit code and enter it to verify your email.

You can add more knowledge sources later, like your Zendesk help center or PDF files, from the Source page.

Step 2: Add the Lens Script to Your Website

The Lens script is a small piece of code that makes Lens show up on your website. You only need to add it once.

To add the Lens script:

1. After you verify your email, Lens shows the Connect your knowledge to your customers screen. Click Copy script.
2. Add the script to your website's header, which is the part of your site's code that loads on every page. Most website builders have a setting for this, often called something like "Header code" or "Custom code." If you edit your site's code directly, paste the script just before the closing </head> tag.
3. Publish your website so the change goes live. If someone else manages your website, send them the script and these steps.
4. Back in Lens, wait for the status to change from Waiting for installation. Lens lets you know when it finds the script.
5. Click Continue to dashboard.

Step 3: Check That Lens Read Your Website

Next, make sure Lens finished reading your website.

To check your website:

1. Click Source in the menu on the left.
2. Find your website in the list and check its Status. Crawling or Syncing means Lens is still reading, and Active means it's done and ready to answer questions.
3. Check the Indexed column to see how many documents Lens read.
4. If Lens isn't reading your site yet, click Sync (the circular arrows icon) to start it.

It's okay if it's still syncing - it'll get there. You can move on to set up your widget.

Step 4: Set Up Your Widget

Your widget is the small chat window where people type questions on your website or in your product. When you sign up, Lens creates one widget for you, so you just need to set it up.

To set up your widget:

1. Click Channel in the menu on the left, then open the Widget tab.
2. Find your widget and click Configure.
3. Under Allowed domains, add the website addresses where the widget can appear, like yoursite.com. You need at least one, and the widget won't show up anywhere else.
4. Choose what content the widget can answer from. A new widget uses all of your content, so you can skip this for now.
5. Give the widget a Name and write a Welcome message, which is the first thing people see when they open it. You can also add instructions for how the widget should answer, like the tone to use.
6. Choose a Layout. Floating shows a small button people click to open the chat. Inline puts the chat right on the page.
7. Choose an Appearance (Default or Dark) and an Accent color to match your brand.
8. Click Save.

Let's test out the widget before we add it to your site (if you haven't already).

Step 5: Test Your Widget

Try your widget before your customers see it.

To test your widget:

1. Open the widget's Preview tab.
2. Ask a few questions the way a customer would, like "How do I reset my password?"
3. Check that the answers are right and show where they came from.

Step 6: Add Widget to Site

If you didn't add the widget to the site in Step 2, you have arrived! It's time to see it in action.

To add your widget:

1. Open the widget's Configuration tab.
2. Scroll down to Widget Code. Choose between HTML, JavaScript, and Prompt.
3. Copy the code.
4. Add the script to your website's header, which is the part of your site's code that loads on every page. Most website builders have a setting for this, often called something like "Header code" or "Custom code." If you edit your site's code directly, paste the script just before the closing </head> tag.
5. Publish your website so the change goes live. If someone else manages your website, send them the script and these steps.

What to Expect

Once your widget is live, people can open it and ask questions about your product. To see how it's going, click Reporting in the menu on the left. You'll see how many questions people are asking, and depending on your plan, you can also see each question, the answer Lens gave, and where that answer came from.

Pay attention to questions Lens couldn't answer. They show you exactly what content is missing, so you know what to add next.

When you're ready, here are a few things to try next:

• Add more knowledge sources, like your Zendesk help center or PDF files, so Lens can answer more questions.
• Set up more widgets for different audiences, like one for customers and one for your sales team.
• Connect Lens to AI tools your team uses, like Claude, so they can get answers without leaving the tool.

FAQs