How to show on-site banners and slide-in messages

Banners and slide-ins on your site — separate from push notifications.

What it is

On-site messages are little pop-ups that appear right on your website — either a bar across the very top of the page (a "Top banner") or a small card tucked in the bottom-right corner (a "Slide-in"). They are completely separate from push notifications: they show to anyone browsing your site, including people who never subscribed to push and haven't allowed notifications.

When to use it

Use one when you want a message in front of every visitor on your site right now — a sale, an announcement, or a nudge to subscribe — without needing them to have signed up for anything first.

Find it at: Left nav → On-site

Before you start

The relaybell code must already be on your website — the same one-time install you set up in the Setup tab that also powers push. On-site messages appear through that code, so if it isn't on your pages, nothing will show.
A Title. Nothing can be published without one; every other field is optional.
No subscribers needed. Unlike push notifications, on-site messages show to everyone visiting your site, so you don't need any existing subscribers for them to work.

Set it up

1Open the On-site tab from the left nav.
2In the "New on-site message" box, choose a style: "Slide-in" (a card in the bottom-right corner) or "Top banner" (a bar across the top of the page). Slide-in is selected for you by default.
3Type a Title. This is the only required field — the "Publish message" button stays greyed out until you fill it in.
4Optionally add a Message. This is the smaller line of text that appears under the title.
5Optionally add a button: type the Button text (for example, "Shop now") and the Button URL (the web address it should open). If you fill in either one, a button appears. If you enter a URL but leave the text blank, the button simply reads "Learn more."
6Look at the "Live preview" panel on the right. It updates as you type, so you can see exactly what your visitors will see.
7Click "Publish message." It saves and goes live on your site right away, and shows up in the "Your on-site messages" list at the bottom of the page.
8To turn a message off later, find it in that list and click its green "Live" pill to switch it to "Paused." Click again to bring it back.

Every setting, explained

Style: Slide-in vs. Top banner: Slide-in is a compact card that appears in the bottom-right corner — subtle, easy to ignore. Top banner is a full-width strip across the very top of the page — much harder to miss. Pick based on how much attention you want to grab.
Title: The bold headline of the message. This is the only required field. Up to 120 characters.
Message: The optional, smaller line of text shown beneath the title. Up to 300 characters. Leave it blank for a headline-only message.
Button text: The words shown on the optional button, up to 40 characters. If you set a Button URL but leave this blank, the button automatically reads "Learn more."
Button URL: The web address the button opens when a visitor clicks it, up to 500 characters. Only shows a button if you fill in the text and/or URL.
Live / Paused: The status pill next to each saved message. Green "Live" means it is showing on your site right now. Click it to switch to grey "Paused," which hides the message without deleting it. Click again to make it Live once more.
Publish message: Saves your new message and turns it on immediately — there is no separate "go live" step.

Tips

Because on-site messages don't require anyone to subscribe, they're the quickest way to reach 100% of your visitors — a great spot to promote a sale or to invite people to turn on push notifications.
Trust the Live preview. It's an exact mock-up of what visitors will see, so if it looks wrong there, fix it before you click Publish.
Use "Paused" as your reusable archive. Instead of deleting a seasonal banner (like a holiday sale), pause it — then flip it back to "Live" next time you need it.
Keep just one message Live at a time so visitors get a single clear message instead of a cluttered screen.
For a gentle nudge, use a Slide-in. For something you really want noticed, like a limited-time offer, use a Top banner.

Watch out for

There is no targeting. Every on-site message shows to every visitor on every page of your site. You cannot limit it to certain pages, certain visitors, certain countries, or certain devices — not on this screen and not through the API. Whatever you publish, everyone who visits sees it.
There is no scheduling. You can't set a start or end date or time. A message shows from the moment you publish it until you Pause or Delete it. To end a sale banner, you have to come back and pause or delete it yourself.
New messages go live the instant you click "Publish message." There's no draft or "save for later" state, so don't publish until the wording is final — or publish and then immediately click "Paused."
Nothing stops several messages from being Live at the same time. If you leave two or three set to "Live," visitors may see all of them at once. Check the list and pause the ones you're finished with.
Delete is instant and permanent. There's no "Are you sure?" confirmation and no undo. If there's any chance you'll want the message back, use "Paused" instead of Delete.
There are no frequency or "show once" controls. Visitors can close a message using the × in its corner, but the dashboard gives you no way to cap how often someone sees it. Your only on/off controls are the Live and Paused settings.
Text has length limits and longer text is trimmed to fit when saved: Title 120 characters, Message 300, Button text 40, Button URL 500.

More setup guides

New to relaybell? Start with the full setup guide.

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