Frequently Asked Questions

CraftChat requires WordPress 6.0 or later and PHP 8.0 or later. MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+ is required for the WordPress database. If you plan to use the WooCommerce integration, you need WooCommerce 7.0 or later. Your server must allow outbound HTTPS connections on port 443 to communicate with the CraftChat API.

CraftChat requires the ability to install custom plugins, which is only available on WordPress.com Business or eCommerce plans (or higher). It is not available on the Free or Personal plans. Self-hosted WordPress.org installations are fully supported.

Yes. CraftChat can be activated on individual subsites within a WordPress multisite network. Each subsite requires its own API key and is treated as a separate domain in your CraftChat account. Network-wide activation is also supported for administrators who want to deploy CraftChat across all subsites simultaneously.

CraftChat updates are delivered through the standard WordPress plugin update mechanism. When a new version is available, you will see a notification in your WordPress admin under Plugins. Click Update Now to install the latest version. You can also update via WP-CLI with wp plugin update craftchat.

Yes. The number of domains depends on your plan: Free allows 1 domain, Starter allows 5, Business allows 20, Pro allows 100, and Enterprise supports unlimited domains. Each domain is configured independently with its own content index and widget settings.

Navigate to CraftChat → Settings → Widget in your WordPress admin. You can set the primary color, text color, and user message bubble color using hex values or the color picker. A live preview shows your changes in real time before you save.

Yes. By default, the widget appears on all pages. You can restrict it using the Widget Visibility setting under CraftChat → Settings → Widget. Options include: show on all pages, show only on specific pages (include list), or hide on specific pages (exclude list). URL patterns with wildcards are supported.

The CraftChat AI can respond in any language that the visitor uses. It automatically detects the language of incoming messages and replies accordingly. The admin dashboard interface is available in 6 languages: English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Thai.

CraftChat does not allow you to manually script individual responses (it is not a rule-based chatbot). However, you can influence the AI’s behavior by: (1) editing the content on your site that the AI learns from, (2) setting custom instructions in CraftChat → Settings → AI Behavior (e.g., "Always recommend contacting support for warranty questions"), and (3) creating a dedicated FAQ page on your site that the AI will prioritize.

CraftChat supports all standard WooCommerce product types: Simple, Variable, Grouped, and External/Affiliate products. For Variable products, each variation is indexed individually so the AI can answer questions about specific sizes, colors, or other attributes.

With real-time sync (the default), product changes are reflected in CraftChat within 60 seconds. This is handled via WooCommerce webhooks. If webhooks are not available on your hosting, you can switch to hourly or daily sync from the integration settings.

CraftChat syncs the base product prices as configured in WooCommerce. Dynamic pricing rules applied by third-party plugins (such as role-based pricing, bulk discounts, or conditional pricing) are not automatically reflected in the AI’s responses. The AI will use the standard regular/sale price. You can add a note in your AI behavior instructions to inform visitors that pricing may vary.

Currently, CraftChat provides links to product pages where visitors can add items to their cart. Direct add-to-cart functionality from within the chat panel is on our roadmap and planned for a future release.

Yes. The Free plan includes 50 AI responses per month on 1 domain with no credit card required and no time limit. It is free forever. The CraftChat branding is displayed on the widget, and community support is provided.

When you reach your monthly response limit, the chatbot will display a message to visitors indicating that the AI assistant is temporarily unavailable and directing them to your contact page. Your site and existing conversations are not affected. You can upgrade your plan at any time to increase your limit, and the upgrade takes effect immediately.

Yes. You can switch between monthly and annual billing at any time from the CraftChat dashboard under Settings → Billing. When switching from monthly to annual, you receive a prorated credit for the remaining days on your current monthly cycle. Annual billing provides a discount equivalent to approximately 2 months free.

All paid plans include a 14-day money-back guarantee from the date of your initial purchase. If you are not satisfied, contact support@craftchat.net within 14 days for a full refund. Refunds are not available for renewal charges or after the 14-day period.

Yes. All data transmitted between your WordPress site and CraftChat servers is encrypted using TLS 1.3. Data at rest is encrypted using AES-256. API keys are stored using one-way hashing and are never logged in plaintext.

CraftChat infrastructure is hosted on AWS in the Tokyo (ap-northeast-1) region. Conversation data and indexed content are stored exclusively in this region. CDN edge nodes are distributed globally for widget delivery performance.

CraftChat is designed with GDPR compliance in mind. We process data as a data processor on your behalf. We provide a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) upon request. Features include: configurable data retention periods, the ability to delete individual visitor conversations, and a "do not store" mode that prevents conversation data from being persisted. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

No. CraftChat does not use your site content or visitor conversation data to train, fine-tune, or improve any AI models. Your data is used exclusively to provide the chatbot service for your site. This is contractually guaranteed in our Terms of Service and Data Processing Agreement.

CraftChat uses a single session cookie (cc_session) to maintain conversation context during a visitor’s browsing session. This is classified as a "strictly necessary" cookie under GDPR as it is required for the service to function. However, if you want to gate the widget behind cookie consent, you can defer the widget initialization by setting data-craftchat-defer="true" on the script tag and programmatically calling CraftChat.init() after consent is given.

Check the following in order:

1. Ensure the CraftChat plugin is activated under Plugins in WordPress.
2. Verify your API key is entered correctly in CraftChat → Settings.
3. Check for JavaScript errors in the browser console (F12 → Console tab). Look for errors containing "craftchat."
4. If you use a caching plugin (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed, etc.), clear the cache and check again.
5. If you use a CDN (Cloudflare, etc.), purge the cache.
6. Check if your theme or a security plugin is blocking the CraftChat script. Look for CSP violations in the browser console.

The AI can only answer based on the content it has indexed. To improve response quality:

1. Verify that the relevant pages are included in the crawl. Check CraftChat → Content for the list of indexed pages.
2. Trigger a re-crawl if your content has changed recently.
3. Ensure your pages have clear, well-structured content. The AI performs better with headings, lists, and concise paragraphs.
4. Add custom AI behavior instructions in CraftChat → Settings → AI Behavior to guide the AI’s tone and focus.
5. Create or update a FAQ page on your site covering common questions. The AI learns from this content and prioritizes it.

The CraftChat widget script is approximately 35 KB gzipped and loads asynchronously, so it should not impact your page load time. If you notice slow widget loading:

• Check your network tab in browser DevTools to see if the widget script from widget.craftchat.net is being blocked or delayed.
• Ensure your site is not blocking third-party scripts via a Content-Security-Policy header.
• If you use a script optimization plugin (Autoptimize, WP Rocket, etc.), exclude the CraftChat script from minification and deferral.

This error occurs when:

• The API key was copied incorrectly (check for trailing spaces or missing characters).
• The API key has been revoked or regenerated in the CraftChat dashboard.
• Your account has been suspended due to a billing issue.

To resolve, log in to the CraftChat dashboard at app.craftchat.net, navigate to Settings → API Keys, and copy a fresh key. If your account is suspended, update your payment method under Settings → Billing.

Crawl failures usually indicate one of the following issues:

• Timeout: Some pages take too long to load. Check if the affected pages have performance issues (heavy images, slow database queries).
• Authentication: Pages behind a login or HTTP basic auth cannot be crawled. Ensure the pages you want indexed are publicly accessible.
• Robots.txt: CraftChat respects robots.txt directives. Check that your robots.txt does not block the CraftChatBot user agent.
• Server errors: If your server returns 500 errors, the crawl will retry up to 3 times before marking the page as failed.

Check the crawl log in CraftChat → Content → Crawl History for detailed error messages per page.

Plugin conflicts are rare but can occur with JavaScript optimization plugins or aggressive caching plugins. To diagnose:

1. Temporarily deactivate other plugins one at a time to identify the conflicting plugin.
2. Switch to a default WordPress theme (e.g., Twenty Twenty-Four) to rule out theme conflicts.
3. Check the browser console for JavaScript errors.
4. If you identify the conflicting plugin, contact us at support@craftchat.net with the details and we will investigate.