Modern Widget vs. Widget 2.0 Comparison

For customers already using Modern or Legacy Widget, sometimes we're asked: why should I switch to Widget 2.0?

We're so glad you asked.

First, the big reason:

While we don't plan to totally discontinue Modern Widget any time soon, we also aren't going to prioritize working on it, either.

As of January 2022, we will no longer be releasing new features or functionality for the Modern or Legacy Widgets. We're focusing our developer resources on Widget 2.0. As of August 2022, we are largely not fixing newly reported bugs with these widgets.

But more importantly, Widget 2.0 offers a lot of things that Modern Widget (and Legacy Widget) do not.

Here's a full side-by-side feature comparison. Here's a quick breakdown of the color coding:

  • No background: Widget 2.0 and Modern Widget have the exact same feature
  • Green background: Widget 2.0 has a feature that Modern Widget lacks
  • Yellow background: Widget 2.0 has a feature that exists in a different way from Modern Widget; you decide which you prefer
  • Red background: Widget 2.0 lacks a feature that Modern Widget has
AreaFeatureModern WidgetWidget 2.0
Layout & Navigation



Widget layoutSingle page, contact form accessed through buttonSeparate tabs for Knowledge, Recommended, and Contact

Widget container widthPreset; uneditablePreset; uneditable

Navigation through knowledge baseLimited; navigation through Popular Articles list, Recommended Articles list, hyperlinks within content, and search onlyFull navigation possible through Knowledge tab

BreadcrumbsNo content breadcrumbs displayedSummary breadcrumbs always displayed; full breadcrumb display available with toggle

Open in full site link in footerMust be manually created/addedAutomatically included in footer

Scroll to top link in footerMust be manually created/addedAutomatically included in footer

AccessibilityWidget iframes have ids, but no titlesWidget iframes have ids and titles
Content Display



Article content displaySupportedSupported

Custom content category displaySupportedSupported

Topic display category displaySupportedSupported

Default category displayNot supported; prompts to open in full siteSupported

Blog style category displayNot supported; prompts to open in full siteSupported

Display of recommended articlesIn Suggested For You section (if none, section isn't displayed)In Recommended tab (Widget opens to this tab if there are any; if none, opens to Knowledge tab)

Popular Articles listDisplayed in its own sectionNot displayed anywhere
Search




Typeahead search vs. full search UINo visible difference/hard to tell which search is being usedVisible difference and text to make full search discoverable

Glossary terms in search resultsNot supportedSupported

Contact form searchRegular search bar shown, but no deflection in contact form subjectContact Form subject does auto-suggested search, so ticket deflection is possible
Authentication



Supported authentication methodsJWT, OAuth2JWT, OAuth2
Custom Widget Content



Custom body contentHTML block editable in settings to insert under Suggested for you/Popular Articles displayNo explicit custom body content section

Custom footer contentHTML block editable in settingsHTML block editable in settings
Contact Form



Contact Form Zendesk custom fieldsSupportedNot supported

Contact Form custom fieldsSupportedNot supported

Contact Form multiple email addressesSupportedSupported

Contact Form reCAPTCHANot supportedSupported; automatic for KO subdomains; must be manually configured for private domains
Reporting



Article viewsTracked in Popular Articles reportTracked in Popular Articles report

Why stick with Modern Widget?

In case tables aren't your thing, there are a couple features in Modern Widget that do not yet exist in Widget 2.0:

  • Zendesk contact form integration using custom fields
  • Contact Form custom fields
  • Popular Articles in-widget display
  • Editable Custom HTML block in widget body

If you're heavily using those features, Modern Widget might not be right for you. (Though if you are using these features and that's the only thing holding you back from making the switch, please contact us so we can add you to these feature requests and let you know once they're available!)