Text Conversations: Two-Way Communication with Your Congregation
When someone in your church texts a keyword like PRAYER or BAPTISM, they’re starting a conversation—not just triggering a one-time reply. They might have questions, need follow-up, or want to share something personal. OnlineGiving.org’s Text Conversations feature gives you a central place to view and manage every two-way conversation that flows through your chatbots, whether it happens via text message (SMS), Facebook Messenger, or the Giving Assistant chat widget on your giving website.
Why Two-Way Matters
One-way broadcasts are useful for announcements, but real ministry happens in dialogue. A member who texts PRAYER may need someone to reach out. Someone who texts BAPTISM might have follow-up questions about classes. The Text Conversations page lets you see the full thread of each conversation: what the person said, how your chatbot responded, and what actions were performed (e.g., adding them to a list, sending a text, recording a decision). You can filter by status (Open or Completed), archive older conversations to keep your queue tidy, export data for reporting, and drill into any conversation to view donor details, replay actions, or jump to the user’s profile for pastoral follow-up.
Across Every Channel
Your chatbots can run on multiple platforms. Text Message (SMS) reaches people on their phones. Facebook Messenger engages people where they already spend time. The Giving Assistant chatbox appears on your giving website for donors who need help mid-transaction. The Conversations page shows all of these in one place. You can filter by platform to focus on text-only, Messenger-only, or chatbox-only conversations. Each conversation displays the platform it came from, the chatbot (intent) that handled it, and the auto-responder that triggered it.
Chatbot Integration
Text Conversations are powered by your Chatbots (Chatbot Intents). When someone texts a keyword that’s connected to a chatbot, the system starts a conversation. The chatbot guides the person through a flow, collects responses, and performs actions such as sending a follow-up text, adding them to a list, or recording a decision. The Conversations page is your log of all of these interactions. You can see which chatbot handled each conversation, what the person said, what the chatbot replied, and what actions were executed. For troubleshooting or pastoral care, you can replay an action (e.g., resend a text) or link directly to the user’s profile to view donations, recurring schedules, and form submissions.
In this article, we’ll overview the OnlineGiving.org Text Conversations feature.
Text Conversations User Guide
The Text Conversations feature at /admin/chatbot/conversations is your management interface for two-way chatbot conversations. It displays a searchable, filterable table of all conversations across SMS, Facebook Messenger, and the Giving Assistant. You can view conversation details, filter by status or platform, archive or unarchive in bulk, export to CSV, and delete individual conversations. Each conversation links to the donor profile when available, so you can quickly follow up or review their giving history.
Key Takeaways
- View Conversations: See all two-way chatbot conversations in one table with conversation preview, user name, status, and created date.
- Filter & Search: Filter by status (Open, Completed, Archived), platform (Text Message, Facebook Messenger, Giving Assistant), chatbot, auto-responder, user, or date range. Search by message content or user name.
- Conversation Detail: Open any conversation to see the full message thread (inbound and outbound), donor details, chat context (trigger, platform, intent, session), intent parameters, and actions performed.
- Archive & Bulk Actions: Archive or unarchive conversations to organize your queue. Use bulk select to archive or unarchive multiple conversations at once.
- Export & Delete: Export filtered results to CSV (up to 3,000 rows). Delete individual conversations when needed.
- Replay Action: From the conversation detail view, replay a chatbot action (e.g., resend a text) for troubleshooting or follow-up. Use with caution to avoid duplicate data in ChMS.
Table of Contents
- Accessing Text Conversations
- Viewing the Conversation List
- Filtering Conversations
- Searching Conversations
- Viewing a Conversation in Detail
- Archiving and Unarchiving
- Exporting to CSV
- Deleting Conversations
- Chatbot Integration
- Links to User Profile and Related Data
- Frequently Asked Questions
Accessing Text Conversations
To open the Text Conversations page:
- Log in to the control panel.
- Click “Text Marketing” in the left navigation menu.
- Click “Conversations” (or navigate directly to /admin/chatbot/conversations).
You must have Text Marketing Admin permissions to access this page. If you don’t see Text Marketing in the menu, contact your administrator. The Conversations feature requires a chatbot-enabled plan and a configured text marketing number.
Viewing the Conversation List
The main page displays a table of conversations. Each row shows a conversation preview, the user’s name (when linked to a donor profile), status (Open or Completed), and created date. Conversations can be filtered by chatbot (intent), so if you arrived from a specific chatbot’s “View Conversations” link, the list is pre-filtered to that chatbot.
Table Columns and Preview
The table includes:
- Checkbox: Select one or more conversations for bulk actions (Archive or Unarchive).
- Conversation: Chatbot name (clickable to filter by that chatbot), message preview (up to 300 characters), and a line showing “Triggered by [auto-responder]” and “via [platform]” (Text Message, Facebook Messenger, or Giving Assistant).
- User: First and last name when the conversation is linked to a donor profile; otherwise blank.
- Status: Open (blue badge) or Completed (green badge).
- Created On: Date and time the conversation started, in your domain’s timezone.
- Actions: A gear icon with a dropdown for View Conversation, View All for Chat Session, View All for User, View User Profile, Edit User Profile, Sign In as User, and Delete Conversation.
Status and Archived Badges
Conversations have two organizational states:
- Status: Open means the conversation is still active (the person may respond again). Completed means the conversation has been closed.
- Archived: Archived conversations display an “ARCHIVED” label. Archiving moves conversations out of your main view without deleting them. Use the Archived filter to see archived conversations.
Filtering Conversations
Quick Filter Buttons
At the top of the panel, three buttons show counts and act as quick filters:
- Open: Shows the count of open conversations. Click to filter to open only.
- Completed: Shows the count of completed conversations. Click to filter to completed only.
- Archived: Shows the count of archived conversations. Click to filter to archived only.
These counts respect your current filters (e.g., chatbot, date range) except for the status/archived filter itself.
Filters Dropdown and Search Fields
The Filters dropdown offers:
- Archived Conversations
- Open Conversations
- Completed Conversations
- Facebook Messenger
- Text Message
- Giving Assistant
The table header includes search fields:
- Conversation: Search by message content.
- User: Search by user name.
- Status: Type or select status (Open, Completed).
- Created On: Use the date range picker to filter by conversation start date.
You can also filter by chat_intent_id (chatbot), chat_session_udid, user_id, autoresponder, and platform via URL parameters or by clicking links within the interface (e.g., clicking a chatbot name or “via Text Message”).
Removing Active Filters
Active filters appear as removable chips below the stat buttons. Click the X on a chip to remove that filter. The table refreshes automatically.
Searching Conversations
Use the Conversation field to search by message content. Type a word or phrase and press Enter (or submit the form). The system searches the conversation messages and returns matching results. Combine with status, date, or platform filters for more precise results. The User field searches by first or last name when the conversation is linked to a donor profile.
Viewing a Conversation in Detail
Click a conversation row or choose View Conversation from the actions dropdown to open the detail view. The detail page shows the full message thread, donor information, chat context, intent parameters, and actions performed.
Message Thread
The main panel displays the conversation as a chat-style thread. Each message shows:
- Direction: Inbound messages (from the person) appear on the left with their avatar. Outbound messages (from the chatbot) appear on the right with a server icon.
- Content: The message text.
- Timestamp: When the message was sent, in your domain’s timezone.
Messages are listed in chronological order. This is the complete record of the two-way exchange.
Donor Panel
The right sidebar includes a Donor panel. When the conversation is linked to a user profile, it shows the donor’s name, avatar, email, address, campus, and quick links to View All Conversations, View All Donations, Sign In as User, View User Profile, Edit User Profile, View All Recurring, View All Payment Methods, Donor Virtual Terminal, and View All Form Submissions. When the conversation is from a guest (no linked profile), it shows “Guest User” and a note that the chat session did not originate with a linked user profile.
Chat Conversation Context
The Chat Conversation Context panel shows:
- Triggered By: The auto-responder that started the conversation.
- Created At / Last Update: Timestamps.
- Duration: Time span of the conversation.
- Chat Platform: Text Message, Facebook Messenger, or Giving Assistant.
- Chat Intent: The chatbot that handled the conversation.
- Intent Status: Open or Completed.
- Chat Session: Link to view all conversations in the same session.
Intent Parameters
The Intent Parameters panel displays key-value pairs collected during the conversation (e.g., name, phone, decision type). These are the variables the chatbot gathered from the person’s responses and used for actions like sending a text or adding them to a list.
Actions Performed and Replay
The Actions Performed panel lists each action the chatbot executed during the conversation (e.g., Send Text to User, Add to List, Record Decision). For many actions, a Replay Action button is available. Clicking it resubmits that action—for example, resending a text message. Use this for troubleshooting or when a message failed to deliver. Caution: Replaying an action can create duplicate data in your ChMS (e.g., duplicate list additions or decision records). Confirm before replaying. Replay is not available for text.user and giving actions.
Archiving and Unarchiving
Archiving moves conversations out of your default view without deleting them. Use archiving to keep your Open and Completed lists focused on conversations that need attention. Archived conversations can be viewed by applying the Archived filter.
Bulk Archive and Unarchive
To archive or unarchive multiple conversations:
- Check the boxes next to the conversations you want to archive or unarchive.
- Click the dropdown arrow in the first column header (next to the select-all checkbox).
- Choose Archive Selected or Unarchive Selected.
If no rows are selected, you’ll see an alert asking you to select at least one conversation. After the action completes, the page redirects and the conversation counts update.
Exporting to CSV
To export conversations to a spreadsheet:
- Apply any filters you want (status, platform, date range, chatbot, etc.).
- Click the Export Results dropdown.
- Select Export CSV Spreadsheet.
The export includes the current filters. Columns include user first name, last name, email, chat session UDID, sender ID, platform, created_at, updated_at, and any intent parameters from the conversation payload. Note: Exports are limited to 3,000 rows. If your filtered result exceeds 3,000, narrow your filters (e.g., shorter date range) and export again.
Deleting Conversations
To delete a single conversation:
- Open the actions dropdown for that conversation.
- Click Delete Conversation.
- Confirm when prompted.
Deletion is permanent. The conversation is removed from the database. Use this for test conversations or when you need to remove a conversation for compliance reasons. For routine cleanup, prefer archiving.
Chatbot Integration
Text Conversations are created when someone triggers a chatbot-enabled auto-responder. The flow is:
- Person texts a keyword (e.g., PRAYER) or interacts via Facebook Messenger or the Giving Assistant.
- The auto-responder matches the keyword and starts a chatbot conversation.
- The chatbot (Chatbot Intent) guides the person through a flow, collects responses, and performs actions.
- Each exchange is stored as a conversation record with messages, parameters, and actions.
To configure chatbots, go to Text Marketing > Chatbots (/admin/chatbot/intents). Each chatbot can have multiple conversations. From the Chatbots page, you can click View Conversations or the Open/Completed/Archived counts to jump to the Conversations list filtered by that chatbot.
Links to User Profile and Related Data
When a conversation is linked to a donor profile, you have quick access to:
- View All Conversations: All conversations for that user.
- View All for Chat Session: All conversations in the same chat session (same device/session).
- View User Profile: Full donor profile with activity, donations, and AI insights.
- Edit User Profile: Edit the donor’s contact and preference data.
- Sign In as User: Impersonate the donor to troubleshoot their experience.
These links appear in the conversation row actions dropdown and in the Donor panel on the detail view.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms are supported for Text Conversations?
Conversations can come from Text Message (SMS), Facebook Messenger, and the Giving Assistant chatbox on your giving website. You can filter by platform to focus on one channel. All platforms appear in the same list.
Can I manually reply to a conversation from the control panel?
The Text Conversations page is a read-only log of chatbot interactions. Outbound messages are sent automatically by the chatbot based on the flow and actions you configured. There is no built-in “compose reply” box in the control panel. For manual follow-up, use the donor’s email (from the User Profile) or your normal pastoral care process. You can use Replay Action to resend a specific chatbot action (e.g., a text message) if it failed or needs to be sent again.
What’s the difference between Open and Completed?
Open means the conversation is still active—the person may send another message and the chatbot will respond. Completed means the conversation has been closed, typically because the chatbot flow reached an end state or the session expired. Use the Open filter to focus on conversations that might need pastoral follow-up.
Why can’t I export more than 3,000 rows?
The CSV export is limited to 3,000 rows to avoid timeouts and oversized files. If you hit this limit, narrow your filters: use a shorter date range, filter by a specific chatbot, or filter by platform. You can run multiple exports with different date ranges and combine them in a spreadsheet if needed.
What happens when I archive a conversation?
Archiving marks the conversation as archived. It remains in the database and can be viewed by applying the Archived filter. Archiving does not delete the conversation or affect the chatbot. It simply moves it out of your default Open/Completed views so you can focus on active conversations. You can unarchive at any time.
How do I get to the Conversations page from the Text Marketing Reports?
The Text Marketing Reports hub has a Conversations report at /admin/textmessagingreports/conversations. That report shows analytics: chatbot performance cards, completion rates, and an open conversation queue with pastoral care metrics. Clicking a conversation in that report opens the conversation detail at /admin/chatbot/conversations/view/[id]. The Reports Conversations page is for analytics; the Chatbot Conversations page is for viewing and managing individual conversation threads.
Do I need a chatbot to use Text Conversations?
Yes. Text Conversations are created only when a chatbot-enabled auto-responder is triggered. If you use simple auto-responders (one-time keyword replies) without a chatbot, those interactions do not create conversation records. To use Text Conversations, you need at least one Chatbot Intent connected to an auto-responder keyword. Configure chatbots under Text Marketing > Chatbots.
Need help setting up chatbots or managing conversations? Contact us at support@onlinegiving.org or (615) 206-4000. OnlineGiving.org offers courtesy setup assistance for text ministry features.