How to Create a Persistent Menu in BotSailor

Prerequisites

Before creating a Persistent Menu, make sure you have:

What Is a Persistent Menu?

A Persistent Menu is a permanent menu available to users inside a Facebook Messenger conversation.

It allows users to access important pages or resources without having to type a message.

For example, a Persistent Menu can contain:

Each menu item can be connected to a different website URL.

For example:

Watch Videos → YouTube video or channel
Our Service → BotSailor website or service page
Contact Us → Contact page

When a user selects a menu item, the configured URL opens.

How to Create a Persistent Menu

Step 1: Open Your Facebook Bot

This opens the Persistent Menu configuration window.

BotSailor Facebook Bot settings showing the option to create a Persistent Menu.

Step 2: Configure the Locale

After opening the Persistent Menu configuration, you will see the Locale field.

Keep the locale set to:
Default

The Default locale is used for the Persistent Menu configuration shown in this setup.

You will also see the Composer Input Disabled? option. Keep it set according to your chatbot requirements. In this example, it is set to:
No

This allows users to continue using the Messenger composer while accessing the Persistent Menu.

BotSailor Persistent Menu configuration showing the Default locale and Composer Input Disabled option.

Step 3: Enable Get Started Settings

Before saving the Persistent Menu, make sure Get Started is enabled for your selected Facebook Bot.

Go to:

Facebook Bot → Engagement → Get Started Settings

Then find the Get Started Status option.

If the status is disabled, click the dropdown and select:
Enabled

This enables the Get Started feature for the Facebook Messenger bot.

Important:
If your Persistent Menu does not save or does not work as expected, check that Get Started Status is set to Enabled before trying again.

BotSailor Get Started Settings showing Get Started Status set to Enabled.

Navigation
Facebook Bot → Engagement → Get Started Settings → Get Started Status → Enabled

Step 4: Add the First Menu Item

Under the Menu section, you will see three fields:

Enter the name of the option you want users to see in the menu.

For example:

Menu Title:
Watch Videos

From the action dropdown, select:
Web URL

Then enter the destination URL.

For example:

https://youtu.be/z-GzUFgU

When a user clicks Watch Videos, BotSailor opens the configured YouTube URL.

BotSailor Persistent Menu showing the Watch Videos menu item configured with a Web URL.

Step 5: Add Another Menu Item

To create another menu option, click the Add button.

A new Menu section will appear.

Enter the next menu title.

For example:

Menu Title:
Our Service

Select:
Web URL

Then enter the destination URL.

For example:

https://botsailor.com/

Now users can select Our Service from the Persistent Menu to visit the configured website.

BotSailor Persistent Menu showing the Our Service option with a website URL.

Step 6: Add the Contact Us Option

Click Add again to create another menu item.

Enter:

Menu Title:
Contact Us

Select:
Web URL

Then enter the URL of your contact page.

For example:

https://botsailor.com/

You can replace this URL with the actual contact page you want users to visit.

Step 7: Add More Menu Items

You can continue clicking Add to create additional menu items based on your requirements.

For example:

Keep the menu titles short and descriptive so users can easily understand where each option will take them.

If you add a menu item by mistake, use the Remove button to delete that item.

BotSailor Persistent Menu showing multiple menu items with Add and Remove controls.

Step 8: Save the Persistent Menu

After adding all the required menu items, review the configuration.

Make sure:

Then click Save.

BotSailor Persistent Menu configuration ready to be saved.

Example Persistent Menu

For this setup, the final menu can look like:

Persistent Menu
Watch Videos → YouTube
Our Service → BotSailor website
Contact Us → Contact page

When a user opens the Messenger menu, these options provide quick access to the configured destinations.

How the Persistent Menu Works

The workflow is simple:

For example:

Watch Videos
→ YouTube video opens

Our Service
→ BotSailor website opens

Contact Us
→ Contact page opens

This makes the Persistent Menu useful for providing quick access to important websites and resources.

Expected Result

After saving the configuration, users can access the Persistent Menu from the connected Facebook Messenger bot.

For example:

When users select an option, they are taken to the corresponding URL configured for that menu item.

Expected Facebook Messenger Persistent Menu showing Watch Videos, Our Service, and Contact Us options.

Troubleshooting

Persistent Menu Already Exists for This Locale

If BotSailor displays:

Error: Persistent menu is already exists for this locale.

It means a Persistent Menu already exists for the selected locale.

Instead of creating another Persistent Menu, open the existing menu and edit it if you need to change the menu items or URLs.

A Menu Item Does Not Open the Correct Page

Check:

Need to Add Another Menu Item

Click Add at the bottom of the existing menu configuration.

A new Menu section will appear. Enter the menu title, select Web URL, add the destination URL, and save the changes.

Need to Remove a Menu Item

Click the Remove button associated with the menu configuration you want to delete.

Then click Save to apply the updated menu.

Success Checklist

✅ Facebook Bot selected
✅ Persistent Menu created
✅ Locale set to Default
✅ Composer Input setting configured
✅ Watch Videos menu added
✅ Our Service menu added
✅ Contact Us menu added
✅ Web URL selected for each menu item
✅ URLs entered correctly
✅ Menu saved
✅ Persistent Menu tested in Messenger