Installation & Setup

Go from zero to a working chatbot in about 5 minutes.

Requirements

Step 1 — Install the Plugin

Option A: From WordPress.org (recommended)

  1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for "AxiaChat AI".
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

Option B: Upload manually

  1. Download the plugin ZIP file.
  2. Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
  3. Select the ZIP and click Install Now, then Activate.

Step 2 — Add Your API Key

  1. Go to AxiaChat AI → Settings in your admin menu.
  2. In the API Keys section, enter your key for at least one provider:
  3. Click Save Changes.
💡 Which provider should I start with? If you want to get started with zero cost, Google Gemini offers a free API key with a generous free tier — no credit card required. It's the fastest way to try things out. OpenAI and Claude are also excellent choices if you already have an account there. See How to get your free Gemini key.

Step 3 — Run the Easy Config Wizard

After activation, the Easy Config wizard launches automatically. It does the heavy lifting for you:

  1. Scans your site — Discovers up to 200 published posts, pages, and WooCommerce products. Prioritizes your homepage, legal pages, FAQ, About, and main categories.
  2. Creates your knowledge base — Generates a context with embeddings so the bot can understand your content.
  3. Indexes in batches — Processes 10 items at a time via AJAX so your browser stays responsive.
  4. Links to your bot — Automatically connects the default bot to the freshly created context.
📘 Selective indexing Before indexing starts, you can deselect specific pages or products you don't want the bot to learn from. This saves API tokens and reduces noise.

Step 4 — Configure Your Bot

  1. Go to AxiaChat AI → Bots.
  2. Edit the default bot or create a new one.
  3. In the General section you can set the name, type, and role.
  4. In Appearance, customize colors, avatar, position, etc.
  5. Everything auto-saves — no "save" button needed.

Step 5 — Train Your Bot (Optional)

The wizard already created a basic knowledge base, but you can enrich it:

  1. Go to AxiaChat AI → Training.
  2. In the Instructions tab, define your bot's personality, tone, and rules.
  3. In the Context tab, add more sources: upload PDFs, select specific pages, or add custom text.

See the Training Guide for a complete walkthrough.

Step 6 — Deploy Your Bot

Option A: Global floating widget

The quickest option — your bot appears on every page of your site.

  1. Go to AxiaChat AI → Bots and open your bot.
  2. In the General section, check "Show on all pages as a floating widget".
  3. Done! The widget will appear in the corner you choose (default: bottom-right).

Option B: Inline via shortcode

Place a specific bot inside any post or page:

[aichat id="your-bot-slug"]

The shortcode is shown in the General section of each bot's settings, with a copy button.

💡 Mix & match You can have a global widget AND inline bots on specific pages. When a page has a shortcode, the shortcode bot takes priority over the global widget on that page.

Step 7 — Test & Refine

  1. Visit your site and chat with the bot.
  2. Review conversations in AxiaChat AI → Logs.
  3. Adjust instructions and context as needed in AxiaChat AI → Training.

Troubleshooting Installation

The widget doesn't appear

Embeddings fail during indexing

The Easy Config wizard doesn't appear