chatleadr Docs
Open Chatleadr

Install on WordPress

The plugin connects your WordPress site to your Chatleadr account and renders the widget for you. It writes nothing into your theme and nothing into your WordPress database, and it changes nothing on a live site until you activate the bot in step 3. It adds one Chatleadr screen to the WordPress admin, where Overview and Recent Leads read your figures and leads back from Chatleadr.

Requires WordPress 5.8 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer.

WordPress admin: Chatleadr Settings & Rules chatleadr Overview Settings & Rules Billing Recent Leads Version 1.4.2 Authentication •••••••••••••••••••••••• Save Connection From Bot Settings → Deployment in your Chatleadr dashboard. Page Visibility Rules Control exactly where the bot is allowed to load on your website. Publish on all public pages Unchecked, the bot renders nowhere unless an Included Path forces it. Show in WordPress Admin Section For testing the bot while logged in as an admin. Included Paths If populated, the bot displays ONLY on these paths. /pricing Excluded Paths Never loads here. Matched from the start of the URL. /checkout Save Rules
The plugin's own screen inside WordPress admin. Page Visibility Rules decide where the widget loads, and an Included Path list, once it has anything in it, becomes the only place it loads.

1. Install and Activate#

In the Chatleadr dashboard, open your bot's Channels tab, then the WordPress card, and download the plugin ZIP. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP and activate it. A Chatleadr entry appears in the admin menu.

2. Connect With Your Secret Key#

An Owner or Admin of the workspace creates the key and pastes it into the plugin:

  1. On the same WordPress card you downloaded the ZIP from, click Create secret key. The key appears once.
  2. Click Copy. Chatleadr does not show the key again after you close the window.
  3. In the WordPress admin, open Chatleadr Settings, paste the key into Secret Key on the Settings & Rules tab, and click Save Connection. The screen reports Successfully connected to Chatleadr! when the key works.

When the card says the bot already has a key and you no longer have it, click Replace key. The old key stops working at once, so paste the new one into the plugin straight away.

To disconnect the site, click Disconnect on the WordPress card. The secret key stops working, so the plugin can no longer load your leads, statistics or settings until you create a new key and paste it in. The chat already on the site keeps answering visitors until you deactivate the plugin.

3. Activate the Bot#

Once connected, the settings screen shows an Activate Bot control, and until it is switched on the plugin renders nothing. To try the bot on your own pages first, activate it and turn on Preview mode, show only to logged-in staff in Visibility Settings, which shows the widget only to logged-in users who can edit posts.

4. Choose Where It Appears#

Visibility Settings control which parts of the site show the widget. Start with everywhere, then narrow it where a chat launcher is unhelpful, such as checkout or a landing page with its own call to action.

5. Check It Worked#

Check the install with the steps in install on any website.

Common Problems#

"Invalid Secret Key or Chatleadr API is unreachable." Either the key is wrong or the host is blocking outbound HTTPS to api.chatleadr.com. Retype the key first, then ask the host about outbound connections.

"Onboarding connection timed out. Returning to setup." This belongs to the Create Free Account auto-connect path. Connect with your secret key instead, or retry with other plugins temporarily deactivated.

Connected and activated, but no widget. Check Visibility Settings, then clear your caching plugin's cache, which may be serving a page built before you activated the bot.

The widget appears twice. The plugin is running and the manual snippet is also in the theme. Remove the snippet.

Common Questions#

Is the Secret Key the Same as the Bot Key?#

No. The bot key identifies a bot to the widget and is visible in page source. The secret key authorises a site to act for your account and stays private. The plugin uses the secret key, the manual snippet the bot key.

Does the Plugin Work With Caching Plugins?#

Yes. The widget fetches its configuration from Chatleadr each time it loads, so a cached page still runs the current bot. Clear the cache after activating the bot and after changing Visibility Settings, because those two decisions are built into the page.

Can I Run Different Bots on Different Pages?#

The plugin runs one bot per site, chosen by the secret key you saved. To run a second bot on particular pages, add that bot's manual snippet to those pages and use Visibility Settings to keep the plugin's bot off them.

Will a Theme Update Break the Installation?#

No. The plugin renders the widget itself and holds the configuration in Chatleadr, so nothing lives in theme files. That is the main reason to prefer it over the manual snippet on WordPress.