=== Botender ===
Contributors: conversionsystem
Tags: chat, chatbot, dispensary, cannabis, live chat
Requires at least: 5.8
Tested up to: 7.1
Requires PHP: 7.2
Stable tag: 1.0.0
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Adds the Botender AI budtender chat to your dispensary website. Paste one line and the chat appears on every page.

== Description ==

Botender is an AI budtender for licensed dispensary websites. It answers shoppers day and night: deals, delivery, payment, ID rules, store hours and your products. When someone wants a person, your team takes over from one inbox.

This plugin adds the Botender chat to your WordPress site without editing your theme:

* Paste your line from your Botender dashboard. The plugin keeps your ID and loads the chat on every page.
* The chat loads in the footer, after your page.
* It marks the chat's script so WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache and Cloudflare Rocket Loader leave it alone. Without that, they can hold the chat back until a visitor scrolls or taps.
* Leave the field empty to turn the chat off. Deleting the plugin removes its setting.

You need a Botender account. The free plan includes AI replies every month for one dispensary.

== External services ==

This plugin loads the chat script from Botender (https://botender.com) on your site's public pages. The script is what draws the chat, so the plugin does nothing without it. Like any script loaded from another service, the request carries the visitor's IP address and the address of the page they are on.

When a visitor uses the chat, the script sends Botender the messages they write, the address of the page (without its query or fragment, and with order, receipt and other ids taken out), the store they picked on your menu (if your menu shows one) and a random chat session ID, so it can answer. It also sends usage events, such as the chat being opened or a suggestion being shown, which feed the Insights in your Botender dashboard.

The chat keeps its session in the visitor's browser storage (localStorage), so a conversation continues from page to page.

If your Botender menu is searched through Jane's menu API (Jane Technologies, https://www.iheartjane.com), the chat also uses a random device ID: the one Jane's menu keeps in the visitor's browser storage if your site has one, otherwise one the chat keeps there. The script sends it to Botender with each message, and Botender passes it to Jane with the product search. The script also tells Jane's server (dmerch.iheartjane.com) which of Jane's products the chat showed and which ones the visitor opened, which Jane requires of every site using its menu API. When the visitor's browser sends Global Privacy Control, Jane is told the visitor opted out. Jane uses this for its product recommendations and to measure the sponsored products it shows. Jane publishes its terms of service and privacy policy on https://www.iheartjane.com. Without Jane's menu API the chat keeps and sends no device ID.

Botender's terms of service: https://botender.com/terms
Botender's privacy policy: https://botender.com/privacy

== Installation ==

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins, then Add Plugin (older versions say Add New Plugin).
2. Search for Botender and click Install Now, or click Upload Plugin and choose the zip file.
3. Click Activate.
4. Go to Settings, then Botender.
5. Paste your line from your Botender dashboard (Widget, then Embed & Install) and click Save Changes.
6. Open your site in a private window and look for the chat bubble.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Where do I find my line? =

In your Botender dashboard, open your dispensary, then Widget, then Embed & Install. Paste the whole line: the plugin keeps only your ID.

= Do I need a developer? =

No. The plugin adds the chat for you. There is no theme file to edit.

= I saved my line but I do not see the chat bubble. =

Open your site in a private window. If the bubble is still missing, your site is serving saved copies of its pages: clear the cache in your caching plugin or at your host, then look again.

= The chat bubble only shows after I scroll. =

A speed plugin is holding scripts back until a visitor interacts. This plugin marks the chat's script so WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache and Cloudflare Rocket Loader skip it. With another speed plugin, add botender.com to its JavaScript exclusions.

= I downloaded the zip file and got a folder instead. =

Safari on a Mac unzips downloads. Control-click the botender folder and choose Compress to get botender.zip back, then upload that.

= My site already has an age gate. =

Turn Botender's own age gate off in your Botender dashboard (the Rules tab), so shoppers only see one.

= How do I turn the chat off? =

Empty the field in Settings, then Botender, and save. Or deactivate the plugin.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.0 =
* First release.
