Getting started
Once activated, Readllly Chat adds a floating chat bubble to your site. Visitors chat with it directly — every reply comes from phrases, documents, or a live agent you control. Nothing is generated by AI, and every conversation stays in your own site's database.
What happens on activation
- The plugin connects your site to Readllly automatically — no API keys to paste in.
- The chat bubble appears on every page by default. You can restrict it to specific pages later under Pages.
- Go to Readllly Chat → Settings to choose your chat mode, set your welcome message, appearance, hours, and replies before visitors start chatting.
How the chat works
Under General → Chat mode, you choose one of two modes for the whole site.
Automated mode
Readllly Chat matches what a visitor types against the phrases and documents you've configured, and replies instantly — there's no AI model generating answers, so replies are predictable and always exactly what you wrote.
Reply priority:
- Does it match a trigger phrase you've set up? If so, that exact reply is shown.
- If not, does it match anything in your uploaded documentation? If so, a short excerpt is shown with a link to the full page.
- If neither matches, your fallback response is shown instead.
Live agent mode
Instead of automated replies, messages wait for a human. Anyone you've added as an agent can pick up the conversation from the Live Chat screen. See that section for the full workflow.
General settings
Basic text and behavior for the chat window.
Appearance
Everything here is purely visual and saves instantly — it never affects how the chat replies.
Pages
Control where the bubble is shown. By default it appears everywhere.
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Show on all pages | Default — the bubble appears site-wide. |
| Only show on these pages | Bubble appears only on the URLs you list. |
| Hide on these pages | Bubble appears everywhere except the URLs you list. |
You can enter a full URL or just a path (e.g. /checkout) — either is matched against the current page.
Schedule
Set the hours the chat is available for each day of the week. Outside those hours, the bubble shows as unavailable and opening it displays a "no agent available" message instead of starting a chat.
Triggers
Triggers are phrase-and-reply pairs — the core of how your chat answers questions.
Simple triggers
A phrase (e.g. "refund") matched against the visitor's message, paired with a fixed reply. You can also attach an optional link, which shows as a clickable card with an arrow.
Prompt triggers
Instead of free text, the visitor is shown buttons to choose from (e.g. "Yes" / "No") before the conversation continues. Useful for qualifying questions like "Are you an existing customer?"
Documentation search
Upload help articles, guides, or excerpts so the chat can answer questions that don't match a specific trigger.
The Live Chat screen
When Chat mode is set to Live agent, incoming messages wait here instead of getting an automated reply. Found under Readllly Chat → Live Chat.
Layout
A two-column view, left to right: the list of open conversations (most recent first), and the selected conversation on the right. The conversation header shows the visitor's name, email, and IP address.
Acting as an agent
Pick your identity from the "Acting as" dropdown (populated from the agent list in General settings), then click Go online so the chat shows as available to visitors. Click Join this chat on any unclaimed conversation to start replying under that agent's name.
Handling several chats at once
Leaving the Live Chat screen, switching tabs, or selecting a different conversation does not end a chat you've joined — it keeps running in the background so you can hold several conversations at once. Only the explicit End chat button closes it, at which point it moves to the Inbox.
Ping sound & spy typing
Two toggles at the top of the Live Chat screen, saved per-browser.
Inbox
Every conversation — automated or live — is logged under Readllly Chat → Inbox for 30 days, so you can follow up with visitors after the fact.
- Each row shows the visitor's name, email, when the chat started and ended, how many messages were exchanged, and why it ended.
- Click a visitor's name to expand the full transcript inline.
- Use the email address to follow up directly if a conversation needs a human reply.
Credits & billing
Readllly Chat runs on credits rather than a flat subscription, so you only pay for the conversations that actually happen.
How credits are used
- Every 15 messages in a conversation (yours and the visitor's combined) uses 1 credit.
- If the review prompt is enabled and shown at the end of a chat, that uses 1 additional credit for that conversation.
- Credits are only deducted when a chat ends — sending messages mid-conversation doesn't touch your balance.
Low balance
Your account keeps a minimum reserve of 3 credits so a conversation that's already started can always finish. Below that reserve, the bubble automatically shows red and displays "No chat agent available at the moment" instead of starting new chats — regardless of your schedule, chat mode, or any other setting. You'll also see a notice on your dashboard whenever this applies.
Buying more credits
Click Buy more credits on the Readllly Chat dashboard to open our pricing page. Have your site's URL or account email ready in case you're asked to confirm which site the credits should apply to.
Where your data lives
Every chat, trigger, document, and agent name you set up is stored in your own site's WordPress database — the same place your posts and pages live. None of it is sent to Readllly.
What actually gets sent to Readllly
- Your site URL and admin email, once, when you first connect.
- A read-only check of your current credit balance and account status.
- One short report each time a chat ends: the date, whether it was automated or live, and how many credits it used. No message content, no visitor name, email, or IP is ever included.
Reset & clear options
Found under Settings → Advanced. All three ask for confirmation before running, and none of them affect your credit balance.
| Action | What it clears | What it keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Clear settings & styling | Appearance, schedule, triggers, documentation, agents | Chat history in the Inbox |
| Delete all chats | Every conversation in the Inbox | Settings, styling, triggers, documentation, agents |
| Reset to factory | Everything above, combined | Your credit balance on Readllly |
Troubleshooting
The bubble isn't showing on my site
- Check Pages — you may have restricted the bubble to specific URLs.
- Confirm the plugin is active and connected: open Readllly Chat → Settings. If you see "This site isn't connected," click Connect to Readllly.
- Check your Schedule — outside your set hours, the bubble still shows but as unavailable, not hidden.
Chat shows "No chat agent available"
- Most often this means your credit balance is below the 3-credit minimum — check the credits banner on the Settings page and top up if needed. This overrides every other setting.
- It can also mean you're outside your configured Schedule hours, or — in Live agent mode — no agent is currently marked online.
Live Chat: a new message isn't showing up
- The screen polls for updates every few seconds rather than pushing instantly — give it a moment before assuming something's wrong.
- Confirm you've selected the right agent identity in "Acting as," and that you've clicked Go online.
I accidentally cleared settings or deleted chats
All three Advanced actions ask for confirmation first and can't be undone afterward — there's no built-in recovery. If your host keeps regular database backups, that's the only way to restore what was cleared.
My credit balance or settings won't update
If the error banner still shows a message afterward, contact support with the exact wording shown — it tells us precisely what failed.
A trigger isn't matching
- Keep trigger phrases short and specific (2–4 words works best) rather than a full sentence.
- Check Triggers for duplicate or overlapping phrases — the closest match wins, which can sometimes pick a different trigger than you expected.
Appearance changes aren't showing on the live site
- Hard-refresh the page (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+R) — browsers cache the widget's styles.
- If you're using a page caching plugin, clear its cache after saving Appearance changes.
Frequently asked questions
Does the chat use AI to generate answers?
No. Every reply comes from a trigger, document, or live agent you control. This means answers are predictable and can never say something you didn't approve.
Is my visitors' data sent to Readllly's servers?
No. Chat content, visitor names, emails, and IP addresses stay in your own site's database. Readllly only ever sees your site's credit balance and a short usage report when a chat ends — never message content.
What's the difference between Automated and Live agent mode?
Automated mode replies instantly from your triggers and documentation. Live agent mode routes every message to a human via the Live Chat screen instead — no automated replies happen in that mode.
Can I use this on more than one site?
Each site needs its own installation and its own credit balance. Refer to your license terms for how many sites your plan covers.
What happens to a chat if my credits run out mid-conversation?
A reserve of 3 credits is held back specifically so an in-progress chat can always finish. New chats simply won't start below that reserve, regardless of any other setting.
How long are chat transcripts kept?
30 days, visible under Inbox. After that they're automatically removed from your site's database.
Can I edit the plugin's code?
No — see the license agreement included with your purchase. If you need a feature the settings don't cover, contact support instead of modifying the code directly.