Skinning & Customization

Important

Helpshift’s Legacy SDKs (SDK Version <=7.x.x) reached their end of life on 31 Dec 2022, and end of support on 31 March 2023. Please upgrade to the Latest SDKif you haven't already.

Skinning & Customization

Customize the Helpshift SDK to completely match the look and feel of your app.

Note

Using UIAppearance

UIAppearance customisations are applied to Helpshift SDK by default. However if there is a conflicting property, then the value in HelpshiftConfig.plist will take precedence.

For example: If the app uses UIAppearance to change the colour of Navigation Bar title and also specifies a colour for the same property in the HelpshiftConfig.plist file, then the value in plist will be used. In order to use the UIAppearance value, the app must leave the corresponding entry in the plist blank.

Introduction

Head over to Theming and Skinning if you want to customize your SDK integration's typeface, colors or background images. It is done via simple key-value pairs in a plist file.

If you want to change strings used in the SDK's UI or want to translate them as per device language, see [String Customization](/unity/string-customization-ios/.

Theming and Skinning

Default Skinning Configurations

Helpshift comes with four default skinning configurations -

• Light - HSThemes/HelpshiftConfig.plist
• Dark - HSThemes/HelpshiftConfigDark.plist
• Light High Contrast - HSThemes/HelpshiftConfigHighContrast.plist
• Dark High Contrast - HSThemes/HelpshiftConfigDarkHighContrast.plist

Customized Skinning Configurations

Helpshift SDK allows following ways to customize the theme:

1. Runtime Theme Changes
2. Compile time Theme Changes

Runtime Theme Changes

If your app allows users to change theme at runtime (for eg using a Theme Change menu or Dark Mode switch), Please use the following APIs

If your app wants to change both light and dark themes at runtime, use the following API:

HelpshiftSdk.setThemes(lightThemeFileName, darkThemeFileName)

This API supports OS level Dark Appearance toggle to switch between the two provided themes, You can specify both light and dark variants of your custom Helpshift theme and Helpshift SDK will switch themes as per OS level theme.

Steps to follow:

1. Navigate to the Assets/Helpshift/Plugins/iOS/HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
2. Make a copy of HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist and rename it to your preferred name, for eg HelpshiftCustomLightConfig.plist
3. Make desired changes in your custom file HelpshiftCustomLightConfig.plist file. For details, refer to the Guide
4. Similarly make a copy of HelpshiftCustomConfigDark.plist and rename it your preferred name, for eg HelpshiftCustomDarkConfig.plist
5. Make desired changes in your custom file HelpshiftCustomDarkConfig.plist file. For details, refer to the Guide
6. Make sure both custom plist files are present in the same HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
7. Uncomment the line HelpshiftPostProcess.AddHelpshiftCustomThemes(project); in HelpshiftPostProcess.cs to ensure the theming files are copied in the final Xcode project.
8. Call HelpshiftSdk.setThemes(lightThemeFileName, darkThemeFileName) API anytime after the SDK is initialized

Example Code

HelpshiftSdk support = HelpshiftSdk.getInstance();
support.setThemes("HelpshiftCustomLightConfig", "HelpshiftCustomDarkConfig");

Note

1. Light and Dark Appearance switching works only if your app is built with Xcode 11 or above.
2. You can pass null to reset the theme to default SDK theme for that param.
3. If value of any of the passed parameter is invalid, i.e. your application's main bundle does not contain a plist file with that name, the API will behave as no-op.
4. The automatic switching will only work on iOS 13 and above, on older versions SDK will use light theme by default, you can use setTheme API to specify the theme on older versions.
5. The enableAutomaticThemeSwitching config flag is ignored when this API is used and SDK will use the provided themes for Light and Dark Appearances respectively.

If your app does not support Dark Appearance and uses same theme irrespective of the OS Appearance, use the following API:

HelpshiftSdk.setTheme(themeFileName)

Steps to follow:

1. Navigate to the Assets/Helpshift/Plugins/iOS/HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
2. Make a copy of HelpshiftConfig.plist and rename it to your preferred name, for eg HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist
3. Make desired changes in your custom file HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist file. For details, refer to the Guide
4. Make sure the custom plist file is present in HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
5. Uncomment the line HelpshiftPostProcess.AddHelpshiftCustomThemes(project); in HelpshiftPostProcess.cs to ensure the theming file is copied in the final Xcode project.
6. Call HelpshiftSdk.setTheme(themeFileName) API anytime after the SDK is initialized.

Example Code

HelpshiftSdk support = HelpshiftSdk.getInstance();
support.setTheme("HelpshiftCustomConfig");

Note

1. You can pass null to reset the theme to default SDK theme for that param.
2. If value of the passed parameter is invalid, i.e. your application's main bundle does not contain a plist file with that name, the API will behave as no-op.
3. The enableAutomaticThemeSwitching config flag is ignored when this API is used and SDK will use the provided theme for both Light and Dark Appearances.

Compile time Theme Changes

If your app does not change theme on runtime, Please read the below documentation:

If your app supports Dark Appearance in iOS 13

Helpshift SDK bundles themes for light and dark mode out of the box but leaves the decision to enable dark mode switching to the application developers. You can enable automatic switching of Helpshift SDK theme using enableAutomaticThemeSwitching flag.

If you turn this flag on, Helpshift SDK will use HelpshiftConfig.plist theme when device is in light mode and will use HelpshiftConfigDark.plist when the device is operating in Dark Appearance.

If you want to customize the skinning attributes of the Helpshift SDK, there are 2 options:

1. Navigate to the Assets/Helpshift/Plugins/iOS/HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
2. Change the values in HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist and HelpshiftCustomConfigDark.plist.
3. Uncomment the line HelpshiftPostProcess.AddHelpshiftCustomThemes(project); in HelpshiftPostProcess.cs to ensure the theming files are copied in the final Xcode project.

Helpshift SDK will first look for the HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist file in the Application's main bundle. If it fails to find such a file, it will look for the HelpshiftConfig.plist file in the Helpshift SDK's bundle.

If your app does not support Dark Appearance in iOS 13

Helpshift SDK by default uses HelpshiftConfig.plist file for skinning the SDK. You can change the plist values for theme elements that you want to customize in HelpshiftConfig.plist. For details, refer to the Guide

If you want to customize the skinning attributes of the Helpshift SDK, there are 2 options:

1. Navigate to the Assets/Helpshift/Plugins/iOS/HelpshiftCustomThemes folder.
2. Change the values in HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist.
3. Uncomment the line HelpshiftPostProcess.AddHelpshiftCustomThemes(project); in HelpshiftPostProcess.cs to ensure the theming files are copied in the final Xcode project.

Helpshift SDK will first look for the HelpshiftCustomConfig.plist file in the Application's main bundle. If it fails to find such a file, it will look for the HelpshiftConfig.plist file in the Helpshift SDK's bundle.

We'll now walk through each group of customizations -

Global Attributes

These attributes control the looks of in-app support over many screens.

Font name	Global font face - applies to texts for sections list, FAQ list, FAQ answer, search results and notification banner sub-title
Bold font name	Applies to FAQ section headers on support screen, FAQ question and notification banner title
Background color	Applies to regions with no UI elements or content. E.g. spaces around table views, FAQ section headers.
Content background color	Background color for content - table cells, single FAQ screen, conversation screen.
Separator line color	Separator color for table views - search results, section & faq lists.
Text color	Applies to text color for table cells, FAQ answer & search results.
Secondary text color	Applies to text color of footers, attachment info, conversation ended message and ratings.
Placeholder text color	Applies to text color of all the place holders like Name, email fields etc in the SDK.
Contact us button color	Applies to "contact us" button below search results
Cell selection color	Applies to tableview cells. Sets the cell selection color.
Search highlight color	Highlight the search result with specified colour.
Status bar light content	Specify wether the status bar needs to use light content mode. Use only if you have ViewController based StatusBar appearance.
Table view cell extra vertical padding	Provide custom padding for cell row height. Valid values are between 0 and 100 (included).
Hide back button label	Hides the text for back button.
Table view max lines	Sets the max number of lines to be shown in a section, an FAQ and or search lists. If the text exceeds this value, the last line will be ellipsized.
Font file name	The file name of the font to be used for displaying the FAQ body.
Bold font file name	The file name of the font to be used for displaying the FAQ title.
Table view disclosure color	The color of the disclosure indicator in the inbox table view.
Notification banner color	The background color of notification banner
Notification banner title color	The text color of the title in notification banner
Notification banner subtitle color	The text color of the subtitle in notification banner

Association of "Global Attributes" to UI elements -

Header background and layering

Background for section headers is transparent, hence it inherits from Background color in Global Attributes -

Support UI Overview

Navigation Bar

Font name	Font face used for navigation bar title
Font size	Font size of navigation bar title. It's a unitless number, e.g. 20.
Title color	Color for navigation bar title
Bar button text color	Text color for navigation bar buttons
Background color	Applies to navigation bar's background
Bar button font name	Font name for navigation bar button.
Bar button font size	Font size navigation bar button.
Set Translucent	Translucent property for navigation bar. It's a boolean value.

Search Bar

Background color	Background color for search bar.

Note

While iOS allows developers to set a background color on search bars, it forbids one from controlling the Cancel button's color. While Apple may fix this soon, we're aware of this and are working on ways around this issue. You should avoid complete white (FFFFFF), and lighter shades for the "Background color" attribute so that Cancel button remains easily visible.

Note

Starting from iOS 11, search bar is part of the navigation bar. So this attribute has no effect on iOS 11 and later. The color of the whole navigation bar, including the search bar, can be changed using the "Background color" attribute of navigation bar

FAQ and Chat

Chat send button color	Color for send button on conversation chat screen.
Timestamp text color	Applies to the chat Timestamps in the SDK.
FAQ yes button color	Color for FAQ helpfulness choice "YES"
FAQ no button color	Color for FAQ helpfulness choice "NO"
Screenshot tutorial button color	Color for screenshot request tutorial button and back button in screenshot tutorial
Screenshot attach button color	Color for screenshot request attach button and take screenshot button in screenshot tutorial
Media message background color	Color of the background shown in the attachment message or QuickSearch Bot FAQs message bubble.
Media message border color	Color of the border shown in the attachment message bubble.
Media message action color	Color for the action button in the media message.
Message error color	Color of the error thrown for a message.
User message text color	Color for the text in the user chat bubble
Agent message text color	Color for the text in the agent chat bubble
User message background color	Color for background of the user chat bubble.
Agent message background color	Color for background of the admin chat bubble.
Typing indicator color	Color for the dots shown in the typing indicator
Selectable Option Text Color	The color of the text in option pills of the QuickSearch Bot or skip button.
Selectable Option Background Color	The background color of the option pills of the QuickSearch Bot or skip button.
Selectable Option Border Color	The border color of the option pills of the QuickSearch Bot or skip button.
Field Background color	The background color of the reply field.
Field border color	The border color of the reply field.
Notification color	Color of the dot indicator on the 'jump' button to indicate there are new messages.
Links in FAQ color	Color of the links inside FAQs

Message Retry Badge

A retry badge is shown on messages in conversation screen, that fail to reach customers.

Text color	Color for the exclamation mark (!) on message retry badge.
Background color	Retry badge's background color

Conversation Resolution

Background color	Background color for conversation resolution footer
Text color	Color for labels on conversation resolution footer
Rating star color	Color for rating stars when customer satisfaction survey is enabled
Yes button color	Color for confirmation button "YES"
No button color	Color for confirmation button NO"

Using Custom Fonts

Step 1: Add the font to your project. Edit your app's plist file <App-name-Info.plist> and add a key "Fonts provided by application" to it. Under the key, list out file names of all the fonts you want to use in your app and in support. If you've already listed such fonts, skip this step.

Step 2: Copy the font's full name. To do this, select the font in Finder and hit Command ⌘+I (Get Info).

Step 3: Paste the font name into HelpshiftConfig.plist, wherever necesary

Note

Starting 5.10.0, if you need to apply font name and bold font name to Single FAQ screen, you need to add the font file name and bold font file name in HelpshiftConfig.plist

Step 4: Test the font in simulator. Errors in font names are ignored by the SDK —

Orientation support

The iOS SDK will follow the orientation, that the application supports in plist file.

Troubleshooting

If you are having issues with skinning the SDK, head over to the Troubleshooting section for further information.