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The HelpJet WordPress Plugin

Install the HelpJet plugin from the WordPress plugin directory, connect your site to a bot in one click, and go live with the chat widget, the HelpJet Chat block, or the shortcode.

On this page

The WordPress plugin is the no-code way to put your bot on a WordPress site. You install it from the WordPress plugin directory, click Connect to HelpJet, choose a bot, and you're live: the chat bubble site-wide, plus a block and a shortcode for inline chat on specific pages. There is no embed code or Bot ID to copy.

Installing the plugin

  1. In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
  2. Search for "HelpJet".
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate.

Prefer to upload a file? Open your bot's Deploy tab in your HelpJet dashboard, switch to the WordPress sub-tab, and click Download zip (or View on WordPress.org to see the plugin's listing). Then use Upload Plugin at the top of Plugins → Add New, choose the zip, and install and activate it.

The plugin is the same for every bot and every site. Which bot it shows is decided when you connect, in the next step.

Connecting your site to a bot

After activating, WordPress shows a notice with a Set up HelpJet button. You can also go straight to Settings → HelpJet.

  1. On Settings → HelpJet, click Connect to HelpJet.
  2. Sign in to HelpJet if asked. You can create a free account at this point if you don't have one.
  3. Under Choose the bot for this site, pick a bot. If you need a different one, use Create a new one; it appears in the list when it's ready.
  4. Click Connect and return to your site.

You're sent back to WordPress, connected. The floating chat bubble is switched on for you, so in most cases it appears on your site immediately.

The connection shows up on both sides:

  • In WordPress, Settings → HelpJet shows a Connected card with the bot, a Connection ID, and the date you connected, plus a Manage bot in HelpJet button.
  • In your HelpJet dashboard, the site is listed under Connected sites on the bot's Deploy → WordPress tab.

Plugin settings

The plugin keeps WordPress configuration minimal. Once connected, Settings → HelpJet has one display setting:

Plugin settings

Setting

What it does

Default

Chat widget

Show the floating chat widget on this site. Uncheck to remove the bubble without disconnecting or deactivating the plugin.

On

Click Save Changes after changing it. The See Chat Widget on Site button next to it opens your site so you can check the bubble.

Everything else (training, appearance, display rules, allowed domains) is managed in your HelpJet dashboard.

The HelpJet Chat block

To put the chat inside a page instead of (or as well as) the floating bubble, use the block:

  1. Edit a page or post in the block editor.
  2. Open the block inserter and search for "HelpJet".
  3. Add the HelpJet Chat block where you want the chat.
  4. To change the height, open the block settings and edit Height under Layout. The default is 600px; any CSS height works, such as 80vh.

The editor shows a placeholder; the chat itself renders for visitors on the published page.

The shortcode

If you use the classic editor or a page builder, the shortcode renders the same inline chat as the block:

  • [helpjet] renders the chat panel at the default height of 600px.
  • [helpjet height="500px"] sets a custom height. Any CSS height value works.

Paste it wherever you want the chat to appear: a dedicated support page, a docs sidebar, a contact page. You can use it alongside the widget: bubble site-wide, inline panel on your /support page.

Showing the widget only on some pages

You have two ways to control where the floating bubble appears:

  • Display rules in HelpJet. Show or hide the widget by URL path from your dashboard, with no code. See Widget Display Rules.
  • The helpjet_show_widget filter. Developers can return false from this filter for any request where the widget should not load, for example on a checkout page.

Changing bots, multiple sites, and multisite

  • One bot per site. A site connects to one bot at a time. To switch, click Disconnect on Settings → HelpJet, then connect again and choose a different bot.
  • Several WordPress sites. Install the plugin on each site and connect each one. They can share a bot or each use their own.
  • WordPress multisite. Each site in the network has its own Settings → HelpJet screen and its own connection.

Updating the plugin

Updates arrive through WordPress like any other plugin: when a new version is available it appears under Dashboard → Updates and on the Plugins screen. Your connection and settings are kept.

Disconnecting and uninstalling

  • Disconnect (on Settings → HelpJet) removes the link between the site and the bot. The widget, block, and shortcode stop showing the chat, and the site is removed from Connected sites in your dashboard.
  • Deleting the plugin removes its settings from WordPress and closes the connection.

Neither affects your bot. Its training, conversations, and settings stay in your HelpJet account.

Moving from the older downloaded plugin

Before the plugin was listed on WordPress.org, HelpJet generated a separate plugin zip for each bot, downloaded from the Deploy tab. If you installed one of those:

  • It keeps working, but it no longer receives updates, and it can't be downloaded again.
  • To move to the current plugin: install HelpJet from the plugin directory, connect it to the same bot, then deactivate and delete the older plugin. While both are active, the current plugin shows a warning on the Plugins and Settings → HelpJet screens, because two plugins would try to load the widget.
  • Update your pages. The older plugin used a bot-specific shortcode ([helpjet-yourBotId]) and a block named HelpJet Chatbot. Those stop rendering once the older plugin is removed. Replace them with [helpjet] or the HelpJet Chat block.

Troubleshooting

The chat bubble doesn't appear

Work through these in order:

  1. Settings → HelpJet shows the Connected card. If it shows Connect to HelpJet instead, the site isn't connected yet.
  2. Show the floating chat widget on this site is checked, and you clicked Save Changes.
  3. The Bot Widget channel is enabled on your bot's Deploy tab in HelpJet.
  4. The bot's status is Active.
  5. If you use Widget Display Rules or allowed domains, check they don't exclude the page or the site.
  6. Your caching plugin may be serving a stale page; purge the cache (and any CDN), then test in an incognito window.
  7. Check the browser console (F12 → Console) for errors mentioning "HelpJet"; see the deployment troubleshooting guide for what each error means.

Connecting fails or returns an error

  • "The connection attempt expired or could not be verified": the connection must be finished within 15 minutes, by the same WordPress administrator who started it. Click Connect to HelpJet and go through it again.
  • "HelpJet did not return a valid bot": start again and make sure a bot is selected before you click Connect and return to your site.
  • You don't see the bot you expected: check you're signed in to the right HelpJet account and organization, or create the bot from the connect screen.

The block or shortcode shows a message, or nothing at all

Administrators see an explanation in place of the chat; visitors see nothing.

  • A message that HelpJet is not connected yet: connect a bot under Settings → HelpJet.
  • A message that the inline chat has not loaded: enable the Page Embed channel on your bot's Deploy tab and save.

Two chat bubbles appear, or the wrong bot shows

Something else is loading the widget as well: usually the older downloaded plugin, or an embed code pasted into your theme. Keep the current plugin and remove the other.

Widget appears but uses the wrong color or message

Appearance comes from your HelpJet dashboard, not WordPress. Edit the brand color in the Appearance card on the Deploy page, or the welcome message under Bot Widget → Customization, and save; see Customizing the Chat Widget.

Where to go next

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