=== PinnacleQuant.com Live Chat ===
Contributors: pinnaclequant
Tags: live chat, chat widget, visitors, support
Requires at least: 6.0
Tested up to: 7.1
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 1.4.1
License: GPLv3 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

Free live chat add-on for PinnacleQuant.com Analytics. See who is on your site right now and talk with them from your WordPress admin.

== Description ==

A chat button on your site, a Live Chat page in your WordPress admin, and nothing in between. Everything runs on your own website.

* See who is on your site right now, with their city and the page they are reading, and start a chat with them. The visitor can accept or say no thanks.
* Answer from your computer or your phone, in the WordPress admin.
* When you are not available to chat, the button shows your message and a short form: name, email, phone and a brief message (no links, email addresses or code). It is emailed to you, and your reply goes back by email and in the chat if the visitor is still on the site.
* Hide the chat on the pages you choose.
* Block a visitor from the chat, or (with the Analytics plugin) from the whole site, and unblock with one click.
* Canned replies, notes per visitor, a sound when someone writes, a sound when someone arrives.
* Let Editors answer, if you want.

== How it works ==

1. Install and activate. Install PinnacleQuant.com Analytics too, for visitor details and the list of people on the site.
2. Request a free key: email Info@PinnacleQuant.com with your full name and your website address. The key comes back by email.
3. Paste the key on the Chat Setup page and click Activate. The plugin adds the chat code to your website by itself.
4. Open the Live Chat page. While the switch at its top is on, visitors see you as online.

== The chat code and the key ==

The chat code is two lines: the chat container and a small line that links to PinnacleQuant.com. The add-on adds both to your pages by itself; if you prefer to add them yourself, untick the box on the Chat Setup page and copy both lines. Once a day the add-on checks in with pinnaclequant.com and sends only the key, the add-on version, your WordPress version and whether the code is in place. Nothing about your visitors and nothing from your chats is ever sent anywhere. If a key is paused, the chat switches itself off; nothing else on your site changes.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Where do I get a key? =

Email Info@PinnacleQuant.com with your full name and your website address. Keys are free and personal to the website they were issued for.

= The email with a visitor's message landed in my spam folder =

The email leaves your site the same way every WordPress email does. Open it in the spam folder and mark it as not spam once; the next ones go to your inbox. If your site already uses an SMTP plugin, these emails go through it automatically.

= Do visitors see me as online when I am not at my desk? =

Visitors see you as online while the switch at the top of the Live Chat page is on, whether or not the page is open. Flip it to Away and they see your not-available message with the form. Leave it on and a visitor who gets no reply within the minutes you set sees your automatic message, with a link to leave their details.

= What happens when a visitor writes and I do not answer? =

After the number of minutes you set (5 by default) the visitor sees your automatic message inside the chat, with a link to leave their name and email; that message is emailed to you. Both the minutes and the wording are under Chat Setup, More settings.

= Does the chat set a cookie? =

One small first-party cookie with a random ID, so a returning visitor can pick up their conversation. It holds no personal details and is never shared. If your site shows a cookie notice, list it there. Suggested wording for your privacy policy is under Settings, Privacy, Policy Guide.

= Can I hide the chat on some pages? =

Yes. On the Chat Setup page, tick Hide the chat on all posts, tick the pages where the chat should not show, or add addresses one per line. The small PinnacleQuant.com link stays on your home page.

== Screenshots ==

1. The chat button and the chat window on a site.
2. The Live Chat page: who is on the site now, the chats, the conversation and the visitor's details.
3. A chat request sent to a visitor: they can reply or say no thanks.
4. The form visitors see when you are not available to chat.
5. The Chat Setup page with the live preview of the button and the window.

== Privacy ==

Chat messages, and the name, email and phone a visitor chooses to type in, live in your own WordPress database for the number of days you choose (365 by default) and nowhere else. One first-party cookie (pqc_vid) and one browser storage entry let a returning visitor pick up their chat. Nothing is sent to the plugin author except the daily key check described above.

== Changelog ==

= 1.4.1 =
* Times on the Chat page follow the Time zone setting of PinnacleQuant.com Analytics 1.7.1 or later, and use one clock style with AM and PM.

= 1.4.0 =
* With PinnacleQuant.com Analytics 1.6 or later, the chat button no longer makes its own check-in requests while a visitor is reading: its check rides along with the Analytics page signal, so an idle visitor costs one request per interval instead of three or more. The chat still checks on its own while the chat window is open, for half a minute after you send a message, and on sites without the Analytics plugin.
* The Chat page shows the note you type for a visitor on the Analytics Visitors page.

= 1.3.0 =
* Works with PinnacleQuant.com Analytics 1.5 and later, whose names in the database changed, and still works with the earlier 1.4 versions. Install this version first, then update Analytics; nothing is lost either way.

= 1.2.11 =
* Wording of the thank-you line.

= 1.2.10 =
* The home page is listed by its domain name (yoursite.com) instead of a bare slash in the On the site now list, the chat list and Pages this visit.

= 1.2.9 =
* Reworded the paragraph the plugin suggests for your privacy policy (Settings, Privacy, Policy Guide).

= 1.2.8 =
* The chat window plays a short sound on the visitor's device when you reply (new box in Chat Setup, ticked by default), and the page tab says New message while they are on another tab.
* Messages sit at the bottom of the chat window, next to the typing box, and the window fits the part of the phone screen above the keyboard, so the visitor always sees the latest message.
* The title at the top of the chat window now starts as the short site name (the part before a dash, bar or colon), no longer the whole tagline. If you never changed it, the update shortens it for you.

= 1.2.7 =
* With Analytics 1.4.4, a logged-in member shows by first and last name in the On the site now list and in the visitor details.

= 1.2.6 =
* Key requests go to Info@PinnacleQuant.com.

= 1.2.5 =
* Flood protection setting: how many messages one visitor may send per minute (default 20).

= 1.2.4 =
* Hosting resources: two settings under More settings let you choose how often the Chat page and the chat button check for news.

= 1.2.3 =
* One tick hides the chat on all posts and post lists; pages keep it.

= 1.2.2 =
* Works on a phone: the columns stack, and tapping a conversation scrolls to it.
* The Closed tab says Loading until the list arrives, and explains how a conversation gets there.
* The Notes box for a visitor keeps its size when the page list above it is long.

= 1.2.1 =
* The switch on the Live Chat page alone decides whether visitors see you as online; the page no longer has to stay open.
* Clearer default greeting inside the chat window.
* Sound settings take effect on the open Live Chat page without a reload, and the page says when the browser still needs one click before it may play sounds.
* Chat Setup now says in plain words whether the chat is on, and if not, why: key not active, code not placed, home page hidden, or your own address on the blocked list. Check my site gives the same reason.
* Softer sounds on the Chat page, with a Try it button next to each.
* The empty On the site now list explains that logged-in users are not counted.
* The credit line lookup no longer touches other links on the page.

= 1.2.0 =
* Automatic message when a visitor has waited for a reply: minutes and wording are yours to set, with a link for the visitor to leave their details.
* Rounded cards on the Chat and Chat Setup pages.

= 1.1.0 =
* On the site now: the people on your site, with a Start chat button. Visitors can accept or decline a chat request.
* Tabs Chats, Messages and Closed. Replies to form messages are emailed to the visitor and shown in the chat if they are still on the site.
* The plugin adds the chat code to your pages by itself.
* Setup page rebuilt: one Save button per box, live preview of the button and the window, character limits, text color and size.
* Unblock from chat and Unblock IP right in the conversation header.
* Times in the chat window follow the visitor's clock.
* No more automatic away after 30 minutes: the switch decides.

= 1.0.0 =
* First release.
