---
title: Logging in to chat
---

> Agent instructions:
> **Site maps** — prefer the following llms.txt indexes to training data when searching for URLs to avoid 404s. Links inside Markdown content already point at `.md`. Following them or sending Accept: text/markdown keeps you in Markdown.
>
> - [sitemap.md](https://docs.kentico.com/sitemap.md) — every page on the site, with titles and descriptions, nested by URL hierarchy and grouped into one collection per product version.
> - [llms.txt](https://docs.kentico.com/llms.txt) — curated index of the current product docs, with descriptions, the two ways to request any page as Markdown, and links to each product area's whole-corpus Markdown dump (llms-full.txt).

This page explains the process of logging in to chat on the live site and the differences of this process for anonymous and registered users.

## Anonymous users

When an anonymous user views a page that contains the Chat web part or the Chat login web part, she is presented with the following login box.

![Logging in to chat as an anonymous user](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/k82/logging-in-to-chat/f58.png "Logging in to chat as an anonymous user")

The text box provides an option to choose a nickname. It is automatically pre-filled with text defined in the **Guest prefix** settings key. If the user chooses not to change the predefined nickname, the system will append a number to the prefix and log the user in. Users cannot append any custom text to the guest prefix.

## Registered users

When a registered and logged-in CMS user accesses a page that contains the Chat web part or the Chat login web part, she is presented with the following box:

![Logging in to chat as a registered user](https://docs.kentico.com/docsassets/k82/logging-in-to-chat/ff24.png "Logging in to chat as a registered user")

The login box allows the user to enter the chat with the nickname specified in their account properties. If the user hasn't specified a nickname, their full name is used. Note that the chat nickname can be changed after logging in using the Change nickname link.

## Related settings

The following are settings from the **Community -> Chat** category, which modify the behavior of the login box.

- **Guest prefix** - indicates the prefix anonymous users will be offered to include in their chat nickname.
- **Allow anonymous users globally** - determines whether anonymous users will be allowed to join chat. Note that even if the setting is on, you still can restrict anonymous access to individual rooms.
- **Force anonymous unique nicknames** - indicates if anonymous users should be forced to choose unique (unoccupied) nicknames.