diff --git a/frontend/src/ContactOverlay.vue b/frontend/src/ContactOverlay.vue
index 38b00d9..55065a2 100644
--- a/frontend/src/ContactOverlay.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/ContactOverlay.vue
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ const emit = defineEmits(['send', 'close'])
 
 const admin = computed(() => props.state.mode === 'admin')
 
+// The visitor dialog's title is the localized site contact label (the
+// {contact:} buttons' default label); the mailto link carries the
+// localized subject.
+const mailto = computed(
+  () => `mailto:${props.state.email}?subject=${encodeURIComponent(props.state.subject)}`
+)
+
 // Escape closes, like the paskia dialogs whose backdrop we share.
 function onKey(ev) {
   if (ev.key === 'Escape' && props.state.open) emit('close')
@@ -31,10 +38,11 @@ onUnmounted(() => removeEventListener('keydown', onKey))
       class="contact-panel"
       :class="{ admin }"
       role="dialog"
-      :aria-label="admin ? 'Messages' : 'Contact us'"
+      :aria-label="admin ? 'Messages' : state.label"
     >
       <header>
-        <h2>{{ admin ? 'Messages' : 'Contact us' }}</h2>
+        <h2>{{ admin ? 'Messages' : state.label }}</h2>
+        <a v-if="!admin && state.email" class="mailto" :href="mailto">{{ state.email }}</a>
         <button type="button" class="close" title="close" @click="emit('close')">✕</button>
       </header>
       <ContactPanel v-if="!admin" :state="state" :token="token" @send="(p) => emit('send', p)" />
@@ -80,11 +88,24 @@ onUnmounted(() => removeEventListener('keydown', onKey))
 .contact-panel header {
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.6rem;
 }
 .contact-panel h2 {
   margin: 0;
   font-size: 1.1rem;
 }
+.contact-panel .mailto {
+  color: var(--muted);
+  font-size: 0.85rem;
+  text-decoration: none;
+  overflow: hidden;
+  text-overflow: ellipsis;
+  white-space: nowrap;
+}
+.contact-panel .mailto:hover {
+  color: var(--text, CanvasText);
+  text-decoration: underline;
+}
 .contact-panel .close {
   margin-left: auto;
   padding: 0 0.3rem;
diff --git a/frontend/src/SiteEditor.vue b/frontend/src/SiteEditor.vue
index 4d871e8..b07da89 100644
--- a/frontend/src/SiteEditor.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/SiteEditor.vue
@@ -57,6 +57,69 @@ async function errorDetail(res) {
 // empty brand removes the header link and the title suffix entirely.
 const brand = ref('')
 const theme = ref('')
+
+// --- Messaging (contact) ---------------------------------------------------
+// Site-wide contact settings: the enabled toggle and mailto address are
+// global; the label (the {contact:} buttons' default and the visitor
+// dialog's title) and the email subject are per-language strings — the
+// selector switches the two text fields between the original and a
+// translation override (stored in the chunk-keyed trans store; auto
+// translators fill the same store, so this is the manual-override UI).
+const contactEnabled = ref(true)
+const contactEmail = ref('')
+const contactLabel = ref('')
+const contactSubject = ref('')
+const contactLabelOrig = ref('')
+const contactSubjectOrig = ref('')
+const contactLang = ref('') // '' = the original strings
+const primaryLang = ref('en')
+const translateLangs = ref([])
+const translating = computed(() => contactLang.value && contactLang.value !== primaryLang.value)
+
+async function onContactLangChange() {
+  if (!translating.value) {
+    contactLabel.value = contactLabelOrig.value
+    contactSubject.value = contactSubjectOrig.value
+    return
+  }
+  try {
+    const s = await apiJson(`/_api/settings?lang=${contactLang.value}`)
+    contactLabel.value = s.contact_label_tr || ''
+    contactSubject.value = s.contact_subject_tr || ''
+  } catch { /* keep empty */ }
+}
+
+function onContactInput() {
+  // Capture the language being edited: a debounced save must not land in
+  // whatever language happens to be selected when the timer fires.
+  const lang = contactLang.value
+  if (!lang || lang === primaryLang.value) {
+    contactLabelOrig.value = contactLabel.value
+    contactSubjectOrig.value = contactSubject.value
+  }
+  debounce('contact', () => saveContact(lang, contactLabel.value, contactSubject.value))
+}
+
+async function saveContact(lang = contactLang.value, label = '', subject = '') {
+  if (lang && lang !== primaryLang.value) {
+    // Translation override: only the label/subject apply (empty = drop).
+    const res = await apiFetch(`/_api/settings?lang=${lang}`, {
+      method: 'PUT',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({
+        brand: brand.value,
+        theme: theme.value,
+        custom_css: customCss.value,
+        contact_label: label,
+        contact_subject: subject,
+      }),
+    })
+    saveError.value = res.ok ? '' : '⚠️ changes could not be saved'
+    if (res.ok) dropPageCache()
+    return
+  }
+  saveSettings()
+}
 // Theme options come from the backend (theme folders on disk, see GET
 // /_api/settings), so added themes need no frontend changes.
 const themeOptions = ref([{ value: '', label: '☀️ none' }])
@@ -88,6 +151,16 @@ async function loadSettings() {
     ]
     transition.value = s.transition || 'cube'
     transitionOptions.value = s.transitions || []
+    contactEnabled.value = s.contact_enabled !== false
+    contactEmail.value = s.contact_email || ''
+    contactLabelOrig.value = s.contact_label || ''
+    contactSubjectOrig.value = s.contact_subject || ''
+    if (!translating.value) {
+      contactLabel.value = contactLabelOrig.value
+      contactSubject.value = contactSubjectOrig.value
+    }
+    primaryLang.value = s.primary_lang || 'en'
+    translateLangs.value = s.translate_langs || []
     fontOptions.value = [
       ...BASE_FONT_OPTIONS,
       ...(s.fonts || []).map((f) => ({
@@ -255,6 +328,12 @@ async function saveSettings(opts = {}) {
       custom_css: customCss.value,
       brand_html: brandHtml.value,
       transition: transition.value,
+      contact_enabled: contactEnabled.value,
+      contact_email: contactEmail.value,
+      // The originals: while a translation override is being edited the
+      // input refs hold the override, not the original.
+      contact_label: contactLabelOrig.value,
+      contact_subject: contactSubjectOrig.value,
       ...opts,
     }),
   })
@@ -655,6 +734,63 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
       </div>
     </section>
 
+    <section class="block">
+      <div class="block-head">
+        <span class="field-label">messaging</span>
+        <select
+          v-if="translateLangs.length"
+          v-model="contactLang"
+          class="text-input theme-select contact-lang"
+          title="Language of the label/subject strings (auto translators fill these too; this edits the manual override)"
+          @change="onContactLangChange"
+        >
+          <option value="">original</option>
+          <option v-for="l in translateLangs" :key="l" :value="l">{{ l }}</option>
+        </select>
+      </div>
+      <div class="field-grid">
+        <label class="field">
+          <span class="field-label">enabled</span>
+          <input
+            v-model="contactEnabled"
+            type="checkbox"
+            title="Visitor messaging ({contact:} buttons, corner icon)"
+            @change="saveSettings()"
+          />
+        </label>
+        <label class="field">
+          <span class="field-label">email</span>
+          <input
+            v-model="contactEmail"
+            class="text-input"
+            title="Contact email — a mailto link in the visitor dialog (empty = no link)"
+            :disabled="!!translating"
+            @input="debounce('contact-email', () => saveSettings())"
+          />
+        </label>
+        <label class="field">
+          <span class="field-label">label</span>
+          <input
+            v-model="contactLabel"
+            class="text-input"
+            title="Default {contact:} button label and visitor dialog title (empty = built-in default)"
+            :placeholder="translating ? contactLabelOrig : 'Contact us'"
+            @input="onContactInput"
+          />
+        </label>
+        <label class="field">
+          <span class="field-label">subject</span>
+          <input
+            v-model="contactSubject"
+            class="text-input"
+            title="Subject for the mailto link (empty = the label)"
+            :placeholder="translating ? contactSubjectOrig : ''"
+            @input="onContactInput"
+          />
+        </label>
+      </div>
+    </section>
+
     <section class="block grow" @paste="onBrandPaste">
       <div class="block-head">
         <span class="field-label">brand code (replaces the brand link)</span>
@@ -785,6 +921,13 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
   font-size: 1rem;
 }
 
+/* The messaging block's language selector sits at the block head's right. */
+.block-head .contact-lang {
+  margin-left: auto;
+  flex: 0 0 auto;
+  width: auto;
+}
+
 .text-input {
   flex: 1;
   min-width: 4rem;
diff --git a/frontend/src/contact-main.js b/frontend/src/contact-main.js
index 6f8517f..1e54c97 100644
--- a/frontend/src/contact-main.js
+++ b/frontend/src/contact-main.js
@@ -25,8 +25,34 @@ const state = reactive({
   unread: false, // visitor: an unread admin reply
   adminUnread: 0, // admin: unanswered threads
   viewerAdmin: false, // set once the inbox has been opened: icon badge = adminUnread
+  // Localized site contact strings (pagerite:contact-* asset config,
+  // refreshed on every open — they change with the page language):
+  // label doubles as the visitor dialog's title; email gets a mailto
+  // link with subject prefilled.
+  label: 'Contact us',
+  email: '',
+  subject: '',
 })
 
+// The localized contact strings ride the page's asset config (the
+// production JSON block, or pagerite:* meta tags in dev).
+function readContactStrings() {
+  let assets = {}
+  const el = document.getElementById('pagerite-assets')
+  if (el) {
+    try {
+      assets = JSON.parse(el.textContent)
+    } catch { /* keep empty */ }
+  } else {
+    for (const m of document.querySelectorAll('meta[name^="pagerite:contact-"]')) {
+      assets[m.name] = m.content
+    }
+  }
+  state.label = assets['pagerite:contact-label'] || 'Contact us'
+  state.subject = assets['pagerite:contact-subject'] || state.label
+  state.email = assets['pagerite:contact-email'] || ''
+}
+
 // The panel is main content, not a sidebar: while open it holds paskia's
 // shared blur backdrop (refcounted, z-index 1099; the overlay itself sits
 // at 1100, below the auth iframe's 9999).
@@ -154,6 +180,7 @@ export function open(br, { admin = false } = {}) {
     bridge.register(token, onThread, onPow)
   }
   state.mode = admin ? 'admin' : 'visitor'
+  readContactStrings()
   state.open = true
   if (!admin) markSeen()
   else refreshBadges()
diff --git a/frontend/src/pagerite.js b/frontend/src/pagerite.js
index 7158ab1..d5ab1ed 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pagerite.js
+++ b/frontend/src/pagerite.js
@@ -191,12 +191,16 @@ import { reconnectPolicy, socketSlot, watchConnecting } from "./reconnect";
   // contact_unread. Once the bundle has loaded, its refreshBadges keeps
   // the marker live.
   let adminUnreadSeed = 0;
+  // Messaging disabled in the site settings (no pagerite:contact-label in
+  // the asset config): no icon for visitors — admins keep theirs, the
+  // inbox still holds the existing threads.
+  const contactEnabled = !!assets["pagerite:contact-label"];
   function makeContactIcon(admin) {
     const b = document.createElement("button");
     b.type = "button";
     b.id = "contact-icon";
     b.className = "contact-icon icon-btn";
-    b.title = admin ? "messages" : "contact us";
+    b.title = admin ? "messages" : (assets["pagerite:contact-label"] || "contact us");
     b.textContent = "✉️";
     if (admin) {
       if (adminUnreadSeed > 0) b.classList.add("has-unread");
@@ -245,8 +249,9 @@ import { reconnectPolicy, socketSlot, watchConnecting } from "./reconnect";
       const onToolPage = currentPath === "/_a";
       if (document.getElementById("page-banner")) {
         const pens = pensContainer();
-        // The contact icon is there for everyone.
-        pens.append(makeContactIcon(canEdit));
+        // The contact icon is there for everyone — except visitors when
+        // messaging is disabled (admins keep the inbox).
+        if (canEdit || contactEnabled) pens.append(makeContactIcon(canEdit));
         if (canEdit && !onToolPage) {
           // Analytics viewer is a normal page at /_a.
           const a = document.createElement("a");