Install the free BotDesk plugin and paste your key, or paste your install code into a footer box. Either way your chatbot is live on every page in about 5 minutes, with no coding.
Setup in 4 steps
The easiest way is the free BotDesk AI Chat plugin. Prefer not to add a plugin? There is a copy-and-paste method below the steps.
Install the plugin, 37 seconds
Plugins > Add Plugin, paste the key into Settings > BotDesk, save, and the chat is live on your site.Create your BotDesk account and type in your website address. BotDesk reads your site and learns your services, hours and common questions on its own, so there's nothing to type in by hand. Pick what you want the bot to do and try it out. Then open the Install tab in your BotDesk dashboard, open Site key (used in your install code) near the bottom, and click Copy. The key starts with bd_. Don't type it by hand.
In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add Plugin (called Add New on older WordPress). Search for BotDesk AI Chat, click Install Now, then click Activate. (Here is the plugin's page on WordPress.org if you want to check it first.)
More detail: the WordPress side
BotDesk AI Chat instead. Watch on YouTubeGo to Settings > BotDesk. Paste your key into the API key box, make sure Show widget is checked, and click Save Changes. That's all the plugin needs: your bot's look and everything else come from your BotDesk account.
Open your site in a new tab. The chat bubble appears in the bottom corner of every page. Click it and ask a question to test it.
If your site already uses a code snippets plugin such as WPCode (once called "Insert Headers and Footers"), click Copy your install code on the Install on your site page and paste the whole code into that plugin's Footer box, then save. Copy the full code, not just the key. It looks like this:
<script async src="https://botdesk.studio/widget.js" data-api-key="YOUR_API_KEY" data-name="AI Assistant" data-color="#1F5AA8" data-greeting="Hi! 👋 How can I help you today?"></script>
Copy yours from the dashboard instead of typing it: your copy has your own key where this one says YOUR_API_KEY. The code carries your key and a few display settings. Everything else, like what the bot knows, your hours and where leads go, loads from your BotDesk account.
Then check your site as in step 4. Avoid pasting it into your theme's files: a theme update can erase it.
After you install
Open your website and look for the chat bubble in the bottom corner, then ask it a question. You can also open the Install tab in your dashboard, type your website address and click Check if it's live.
When the bot takes a visitor's name and phone number, we email it to you and it also shows in the Leads tab. It goes to the email you signed up with unless you change it: open What your bot does, click Emails to you, and fill in Where should we send new leads?
The Free plan takes up to 3 leads a month. Starter and up take unlimited leads.
Change anything in your dashboard, like what the bot knows, how it looks, the pop-up message or the booking button, and save. Changes reach your site automatically within a few minutes. You don't need to paste the code again. Not seeing a change yet? Do a hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R, or Cmd+Shift+R on a Mac.
Your business hours (What your bot knows, then Business info, then Hours) are what the bot tells visitors when they ask if you're open. The team schedule in the Team tab (Growth plan and up) only decides when your staff show as available for live chat. They are separate, so changing one doesn't change the other.
Open What your bot knows, then Business info, and scroll to Hours. Under Closed days and holidays, tap a holiday, use Going on vacation? for a run of dates, or click + Add a closed day. Check that Your time zone is right, then click Save settings. The bot will tell visitors you're closed on those days.
Send us your website address and we'll help you get it live by email, free.
Someone else runs your website? Open Install on your site in your BotDesk dashboard and click Email steps to my web person. Or email hello@botdesk.studio. We'll reply by email within 24 hours.
FAQ
The free BotDesk AI Chat plugin is the easiest way, but it isn't required. BotDesk's install code is one line, so you can also paste it into the Footer box of a code snippets plugin you already use, such as WPCode, or ask your web developer to add it just before the closing </body> tag.
It adds the BotDesk chat to every page of your site using your key. That's all it needs. Your bot's name, look, knowledge and hours come from your BotDesk account, so you change them in the dashboard, not in WordPress.
No. The chat code loads in the background after the rest of your page, so visitors see your page first and the chat bubble appears a moment later.
Yes. The chat loads with your site's footer, so it works with any theme or page builder. Use the plugin or a footer code box rather than an HTML block on a single page.
If you use a caching plugin such as WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache, clear its cache and reload your site. Then check that Show widget is ticked in Settings > BotDesk and that your key was copied in full.
Yes. Log into your BotDesk dashboard any time to update your business info, hours, services and FAQ answers. Changes reach your site automatically within a few minutes. You don't need to paste the code again.
Get Started
Start free, copy your install code, and your chatbot is live in minutes.
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