Install Social Terminal

Social Terminal is the free command host for the Cointacted ecosystem. Install it first, publish one canonical Terminal page, and verify the core before adding optional products.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.5 or newer
• PHP 7.4 or newer
• An administrator account that can install and activate plugins
• HTTPS for production sites, wallet integrations, account connection, and protected downloads

The customer site does not need ShopiChain Licensing. Licensing runs on Cointacted's authority service; Social Terminal contains only the signed customer client needed to connect an account, activate a key, and receive protected packages.

Choose an installation source

Use one of these supported paths:

1. Install the free core from WordPress.org when only the local terminal is needed. This distribution intentionally omits Cointacted's remote add-on installer.
2. Upload the current cointacted-social-terminal.zip package from Cointacted to Plugins → Add Plugin → Upload Plugin when the site should also install and update official add-ons from the Add-ons Hub.

Keep the plugin folder and main entrypoint unchanged. Do not unpack one version over another by FTP while WordPress is running; use WordPress's plugin installer or signed updater so replacement and activation state are handled safely.

Create and publish the Terminal page

1. Activate Social Terminal.
2. Open Cointacted → Settings → General.
3. Confirm that a canonical Terminal page exists. If the page was previously removed or emptied, use the repair action shown in Settings.
4. Choose the public route and add that page to the desired WordPress menu.
5. Open the route in a private browser window. Confirm that one terminal shell, its welcome message, and a focused input appear.
6. Run help. The catalog should list only commands available to the current visitor.

If SnapWeb or FluentCommunity is installed, activate its Cointacted adapter after this direct WordPress check passes. The adapter enhances the same terminal runtime; it must not create a second terminal, iframe, header, or page title.

Configure the four settings areas

Open Cointacted → Settings and review each tab:

• General — canonical page, route, terminal shell behavior, and basic presentation.
• Commands — enabled core commands, aliases, visibility, and catalog behavior.
• Security — guest policy, request protection, abuse controls, and Cloudflare Turnstile.
• Appearance — colors, density, sizing, and presentation settings owned by the terminal.

Add-on-specific settings stay in that add-on's own screen. The Terminal settings should not duplicate AI providers, search sources, wallet policy, reward rules, or blockchain networks.

Secure guest commands

Every command is checked when it is listed and again when it is executed. Review guest, signed-in, role, capability, and administrator-only policies before publishing the route. Test with a separate low-privilege account; an administrator session does not prove that public access is safe.

Cloudflare Turnstile can be saved in the Security screen. For production, keeping its secret outside the database is preferable. Add these constants to wp-config.php before WordPress's stop-editing comment:

define( 'COINTACTED_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY', 'replace-with-your-site-key' );
define( 'COINTACTED_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY', 'replace-with-your-secret-key' );
define( 'COINTACTED_TURNSTILE_ENFORCE', 'guests' );

COINTACTED_TURNSTILE_ENFORCE accepts disabled, guests, or all. Constants override the corresponding saved controls. The site key may appear in public markup; the secret key must never be committed, logged, or sent to support.

Install official add-ons

Open Cointacted → Add-ons. Free or Free + Pro products can expose their Free functionality without a license. Depending on the Social Terminal distribution, install an add-on by uploading its verified ZIP or by selecting Install & activate in the Hub.

For protected delivery or Pro capability, use either access method:

• Connect account opens Cointacted, displays the requesting site, and asks for explicit approval. Keep the Hub open until the popup closes and the product cards refresh.
• Manage license accepts a product or Access Pass key. License details display only a safe hint, product coverage, activation use, term, and expiry—not the complete reusable key.

Connected-account and manual-license access can coexist. Disconnecting an account removes the site's connected credential and cached connected access; it does not delete purchases, local plugin data, or an independently activated license.

Use Refresh products when a purchase, license, release, or selected account access has just changed. Use Manage plugin on an installed card to review its exact version and folder, activate or deactivate it, apply a verified update, or delete it after deactivation.

Production acceptance test

Complete this test before inviting users:

1. Load the Terminal URL directly while signed out. Confirm the configured guest policy and welcome message.
2. Navigate to Terminal from another site page. On a supported SPA, the persistent shell must remain mounted and the URL, title, active menu item, and terminal content must update together without a document reload.
3. Run help, an allowed core command, and one denied command. The denial must not expose hidden command details.
4. Sign in as a normal member. Confirm member-only commands appear and administrator-only commands remain absent.
5. Sign in as an administrator. Open Cointacted → Add-ons, refresh products, and confirm every installed product reports its real version and status.
6. Open a copied Terminal URL in a new tab, reload it, and use browser Back and Forward. Each path must produce the same canonical terminal state.
7. Inspect the browser console and WordPress Site Health for new errors before launch.

Common installation problems

• The welcome message is absent: verify the managed page contains the canonical terminal content, clear optimization caches, and test a direct load before testing an SPA transition.
• The page fully reloads inside SnapWeb: update both SnapWeb Builder and the Cointacted SnapWeb adapter, then confirm the exact Terminal page is registered as a document route.
• The terminal appears twice: remove manually embedded terminal markup or duplicate shortcodes from the managed page. Only the owning plugin should mount the runtime.
• A command is missing: activate its owning add-on, confirm dependencies, and test with a user who satisfies the command's visibility policy.
• Install or update is unavailable: refresh products, confirm HTTPS and account/license access, then read the exact package, signature, entitlement, or dependency message on the card.
• A wallet appears connected unexpectedly: disconnect the browser wallet provider and clear its site session. Social Terminal must not invent a server-side wallet connection.

Continue with the administrator guide, or return to the product overview.