Getting Started with
Sellsmith

• WordPress: 6.0 or higher
• PHP: 7.4 or higher (the plugin will not activate on older PHP)
• WooCommerce: Optional. Needed only for live product answers.
• AI engine: A free Google Gemini API key, for AI mode. Message mode needs no key.

• Sellsmith: Your settings, across the five tabs.
• Sellsmith, Leads: Every saved conversation, with stats and transcripts.

• Gemini API key: Paste the key you copied from Google AI Studio.
• AI model: Leave it on the recommended Gemini Flash-Lite. It is the fastest and cheapest on the free tier. Advanced users can set a custom model id.
• Test connection: Click it to confirm the key works. You should see "Key is valid. Connection working."
• Save settings: Each tab saves on its own, so saving here will not touch your other tabs.

For safety, the key field always shows blank, even after you save. Your saved key is still there. Leaving it blank when you save keeps the existing key. Paste a new value only to replace it.

• Store overview: A short description of what you sell.
• Delivery charges and time: What you charge and how long it takes.
• Delivery areas: Where you ship.
• Cash on delivery: On or off.
• Open parcel policy, returns and warranty, discounts, payment methods: Your store policies.
• Notes for the AI: Anything else, like size guides or store timings.

Fill at least the Store overview and Delivery fields. The setup checklist marks this step done once both are filled.

• Show the chat widget: The master on/off. Off by default.
• Chat mode: AI or Message (see the next section).
• Position: Bottom right or bottom left (left suits right-to-left sites).
• Brand color: The widget accent color. Defaults to terracotta.
• Widget title, welcome message, teaser text: The wording your visitors see.
• Credit link: An optional small "AI agent by Sellsmith" link.

• WhatsApp number: International format, digits only, no plus sign and no spaces. For example 923001234567.
• WhatsApp handoff: Keep it on so the assistant can offer the WhatsApp button.

It uses a normal wa.me link that opens your everyday WhatsApp. There is no WhatsApp Business API and no Meta approval to deal with.

The assistant answers buyers from your live products and your business profile, shows product cards, and offers the WhatsApp button. Needs a Gemini key saved.

No AI and no key. The chat collects the visitor's question and their email or phone as a lead for you to answer later. Perfect for going live instantly while you set up the AI.

• Answers only from your business profile and live product data. It never invents prices, stock, or policies.
• Searches your catalog for any product or price question and can show up to three product cards in the chat.
• Replies in the visitor's language, in one to three short sentences.
• On a product page, understands that "this product" means the page the buyer is on.
• Offers the WhatsApp button when a buyer wants to order or asks for a human.

• A per-visitor hourly message limit (set on the Advanced tab).
• A per-chat message cap. After it, the assistant hands the buyer to WhatsApp.
• If you hit Google's free daily limit, the AI pauses for about 10 minutes and offers WhatsApp instead, then resumes on its own.

• Stats: Chats today, chats in the last 7 days, and WhatsApp clicks in the last 7 days.
• Columns: When the chat started, the first message, city, contact, products discussed, message count, and whether they tapped WhatsApp.
• Conversation detail: Open any row for the full transcript (labeled Buyer, You, and AI), plus the city, contact, note, and products.
• Search and delete: Search by city or message, and delete chats one at a time or in bulk.

• Messages per visitor per hour: Default 20. Protects your free AI limit from abuse.
• Messages per chat, then WhatsApp: Default 10. After this many messages the assistant hands the buyer to WhatsApp.
• Auto-delete old conversations: Default 0, which keeps them forever. Set a number of days to clean up automatically.
• Privacy consent: Off by default. Ask visitors to accept a short note before the first message. Recommended for EU stores.
• Keep my data on uninstall: Off by default.

• Show the button: switches on a button on your store chat so buyers can reach a real person. In AI mode it shows in the chat; in Message mode, when you are online, buyers are connected to you automatically.
• Who replies? Just me (solo) or A team. This changes the wording buyers see, for example "Talk to me" instead of "Talk to a person".
• Status text: your own Online and Away wording, shown under the chat title.
• Email capture: optionally ask the visitor for their email after their first message, so you can reach them if they leave.

Open Sellsmith, Leads, then click the "Live now" filter. You get a two-pane console: live chats on the left, the conversation on the right, and a reply box. Type and the buyer sees it in seconds. Use "End & back to AI" to hand the chat back to the assistant when you are done.

While chatting, a buyer can tap "Email me this chat" to get a secure link. They can close the tab, then carry on the same conversation later from their phone or laptop.

• Automatic online status: when on, the chat shows online only during your open hours and away the rest of the time, with no switch to flip.
• Timezone, open days, open and close times: set your real hours. Overnight hours, like 9am to 2am, are handled.
• Shown in the buyer's time: your hours are converted to each visitor's own timezone, so no one is told to expect a reply at 3am their time.
• When you are away: the buyer sees an away note, can leave a message, and can reach you on WhatsApp, so you still get the lead.

• Hot: Asked a price, gave a city or address, asked about delivery, or said they want to buy.
• Warm: Asking about specific products, comparing, real interest but not ready yet.
• Cold: Vague, just looking, greetings only, or off topic.

Message-mode leads are not scored, so your AI quota is only spent on real AI chats. A chat already marked Hot is not re-scored.

• Send alerts to: the email address for alerts. Defaults to your admin email.
• Alert me for: Hot leads only, or Warm and Hot. Cold never triggers an email.
• One email per conversation: it includes why the lead is hot, the city, the products they looked at, whether they tapped WhatsApp, the last few messages, and a link to the chat.

Add a Telegram bot token and chat ID, and Sellsmith pings your phone for every live message, with a preview and a link to the chat. There is a "Send test Telegram" button to check it, and the setup help walks you through @BotFather and @userinfobot.

While your Sellsmith inbox is open, a new live chat plays a quiet beep and shows a browser notification, so you do not miss a buyer while in another tab.

When a visitor sends a live message, you also get a short email with the message and a link to the Live now inbox. Turn it on or off under Notifications on the Live chat tab.

• Default: the built-in friendly chat icon.
• Gravatar: pull a photo from any email address, including a Gmail.
• Upload an image: pick any image from your Media Library, with a live preview.

Plugins, Deactivate. Turns off the widget but keeps all your settings and saved conversations. Reactivate anytime.