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Create a Hosted Chat Page
A hosted chat page is a full-screen chat that lives at its own web address, like your-name.hope.chat. Hope Chat builds and hosts it for you, so you do not need a website. You just share the link. This guide covers the free hope.chat address; to use a domain you own, see Connect Your Own Domain.
1. Create the page
- On the Hope chat tab, click Add new chat.
- Upload a thumbnail, enter a Title, and choose Web page.
- Click Create. The web page editor opens.
2. Choose your address
The Domain section is where you pick where the page lives. The simplest option is selected by default:
Free hope.chat subdomain works instantly
Type the name you want in front of .hope.chat - for example grace gives you https://grace.hope.chat. The name must be 3 to 63 characters, using lowercase letters, digits, or hyphens.
As you type, Hope Chat checks the name and shows one of:
- Domain verified and connected. - the name is free and now yours.
- This domain is already connected to another chat. - pick a different name.
- This subdomain is reserved. Pick another. - some names (like
www,api,app,admin) are reserved.
No extra setup is needed - the address works as soon as the name is accepted. Your Page URL appears just below, with a copy button and an Open chat page button to preview it.
3. Fill in the page details
Give the page its content and look:
- Headline - the main heading visitors see.
- Subtitle - a short line under the headline (up to 500 characters).
- Background image - shown behind the chat. Use a high-resolution image (at least 1200x800) so it stays sharp on large screens.
- Primary color - the accent color of the page.
4. Share it
The page becomes Active once you have chosen an address and filled in the headline, subtitle, background image, and primary color. From then on the link is live - copy the Page URL (or use Open chat page) and share it anywhere: social bios, emails, printed material, a QR code.
Messages from visitors arrive in your Engage inbox / Interaction Feed, the same as every other channel. Filter by the Hope Chat source to see them.
Want to use your own domain?
You can point a domain you own (like chat.yourchurch.org) at this page while keeping the free hope.chat address as a backup. See Connect Your Own Domain.