SE AI Chatbot Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Overview

2. Installation

3. Displaying the Chatbot on Your Site

4. Quick Start

5. AI Providers and Models

6. Knowledge Base Sources

7. Widget Appearance

8. Conversation Behaviour and Limits

9. Conversation Memory

10. Suggested Prompts and Suggestions

11. Call-to-Action Buttons

12. Source Citations

13. GDPR and Privacy Consent

14. Full Page Mode

15. Contact and Escalation Options

16. Keeping the Knowledge Base Up to Date

17. Chat Logs

18. Free vs Pro Features

19. Multi-language Support

20. Troubleshooting

21. FAQ

1. Overview

SE AI Chatbot is a Joomla extension that adds an AI-powered chat assistant to your website. It answers visitor questions using an AI model of your choice (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, or DeepSeek), and can be given a knowledge base built from your own site content — articles, page-builder layouts, manual text, and a range of third-party Joomla extensions — so it answers using information specific to your site rather than generic knowledge.

Key capabilities:

• A floating chat widget (bubble) or an inline embed you place directly on a page

• A knowledge base built from your own Joomla content and, on Pro, several document and e-commerce extensions

• Conversation memory that persists as a visitor browses your site

• A full conversation history view for logged-in users

• Optional GDPR consent flow before any data is sent to the AI provider

• Suggested prompts, follow-up suggestions, and call-to-action buttons (Pro)

• An admin log of all conversations

• Automatic or scheduled re-indexing of your knowledge base

2. Installation

1. Log in to your Joomla administrator panel.

2. Go to System → Install → Extensions.

3. Upload the SE AI Chatbot package ZIP file (this contains the component and the accompanying module together).

4. Once installed, go to Components → SE AI Chatbot to begin configuration.

Requirements

• A working Joomla installation (the component targets current Joomla releases; check the extension's changelog if you are on an older Joomla version)

• An API key from at least one supported AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, or DeepSeek) — you obtain this directly from the provider, not from SE Extensions

• PHP's cURL extension enabled (required to call the AI provider's API)

You do not need a Pro licence to use core chatbot functionality. Pro unlocks additional AI models, additional knowledge base source types, and several UI features described later in this guide.

3. Displaying the Chatbot on Your Site

There are two independent ways to put the chatbot in front of visitors. You can use either one, or both.

Option A — System Plugin (site-wide floating bubble)

1. Go to Extensions → Plugins.

2. Find System — SE AI Chatbot and enable it.

3. The chatbot bubble will now appear on every page of your site, in the position and colour you configure in Settings.

This is the simplest option if you want the chatbot available everywhere.

Option B — Module (place it on specific pages)

1. Go to Content → Site Modules → New.

2. Choose the SE AI Chatbot module type.

3. Assign it to specific pages/menu items and a module position, as with any Joomla module.

Use the module if you only want the chatbot on certain pages, or want it to appear inline within a specific position on your template rather than as a floating bubble everywhere.

If both the system plugin and the module are active on the same page, the module takes priority so you don't get two widgets stacked on top of each other.

4. Quick Start

1. Go to Components → SE AI Chatbot → Settings.

2. Under AI Provider, choose a provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, or DeepSeek) and paste in your API key.

3. Choose a model from the dropdown for that provider.

4. Enable the widget (Enabled toggle) and choose its position on screen.

5. Enable the System Plugin (see Section 3) so the widget appears on your site.

6. Optionally, add a Knowledge Base source (Section 6) so the AI can answer questions using your own content rather than general knowledge.

7. Visit your site and test the chatbot.

5. AI Providers and Models

SE AI Chatbot supports four AI providers. You choose one as your active provider under Settings → AI Provider, enter your API key for that provider, and select a model from the dropdown.

Each provider offers a mix of free and Pro models. Free-tier models are usable with no Pro licence; Pro-tier models are marked (Pro) in the dropdown and require an active Pro licence to select.

Generally speaking, the free-tier model in each provider's lineup is the fastest and least expensive to run, while the Pro-tier models offer stronger reasoning and more nuanced answers at a higher per-message cost (billed to you by the AI provider directly, not by SE Extensions).

Gemini "Thinking" Level

If you select Google Gemini as your provider, an additional Gemini Response Speed setting appears. Gemini's newer models "think" before responding, which can add noticeable delay:

• Fastest (minimal reasoning) — quickest replies, least reasoning depth

• Fast (low reasoning) — recommended default for knowledge-base chatbots

• Balanced (medium reasoning)

• Slowest (deep reasoning) — most thorough, slowest replies

For a chatbot answering questions from your knowledge base, Fast (low) is recommended and is the default.

API Keys

You supply your own API key for whichever provider you choose. SE AI Chatbot does not include AI usage costs — you are billed directly by Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or DeepSeek according to their own pricing, based on how much the chatbot is used on your site.

6. Knowledge Base Sources

By default, the chatbot answers from general AI knowledge only. To make it answer using information specific to your site, add one or more Knowledge Base sources under Components → SE AI Chatbot → Knowledge Base.

Each source is indexed into searchable chunks of text, which the chatbot searches through and uses as context when answering a visitor's question.

Available Source Types

For document- and product-based sources (DOCman, EDocman, RSFiles!, ZOO, HikaShop, VirtueMart), you can typically choose to index everything or restrict indexing to specific categories, using the category picker shown when you select that source type.

Adding a Source

1. Go to Components → SE AI Chatbot → Knowledge Base.

2. Click New.

3. Choose the source type.

4. Fill in the required details for that type (a URL to crawl, the text itself, or the categories to include).

5. Save, then click Index Now on the source in the list to run the initial crawl/import.

The list shows each source's status, when it was last indexed, and how many pages/chunks were found. Click Re-index at any time to refresh a source after your underlying content changes.

Full Text Extraction

For document-based sources (DOCman, EDocman, RSFiles!), the chatbot extracts and indexes the actual text content of each file — including PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenDocument formats, plain text, and more — not just the file's title or description.

7. Widget Appearance

Under Settings, you can customise:

• Widget Position — Bottom Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Centre, Top Right, Top Left, Top Centre, Middle Right, or Middle Left

• Primary Colour — the accent colour used throughout the widget

• Header Title — the title shown at the top of the chat panel

• Welcome Message — the first message shown when a visitor opens the chat (default: "Hi! I'm your AI assistant. Ask me anything!")

• Placeholder Text — the placeholder shown in the message input box

• Avatar — upload a custom avatar image for the assistant, or remove it to use the default

• Auto-open — whether the widget automatically opens itself after a visitor arrives on a page

Various button and label texts throughout the widget (Send, Close, New Conversation, error messages, and so on) can also be customised individually, which is useful if you want to run the widget in a language other than English or simply prefer different wording.

8. Conversation Behaviour and Limits

Message Limits

To manage AI usage costs, you can set a maximum number of messages per conversation:

• Max Messages (default: 10) — applies to logged-in users, and to all users if you are not on a Pro licence

• Guest Max Messages (default: 5) — a separate, typically lower cap specifically for anonymous (not logged-in) visitors, available on Pro

When a visitor reaches the limit, the AI naturally wraps up and can be configured (via your system prompt) to suggest starting a new conversation or contacting support instead.

Max Tokens

You can also set a maximum response length (in tokens) per AI reply, to control both cost and answer length.

System Prompt

The System Prompt defines the assistant's overall instructions and personality — for example, its tone, what topics it should focus on, and how it should behave. Customising the system prompt requires a Pro licence; free-tier installs use a sensible built-in default.

A separate Guest System Prompt Suffix can be appended specifically for anonymous visitors — useful for nudging guests toward creating an account or contacting support, without changing the prompt for logged-in users.

New Conversation

Visitors can click New Conversation at any point to reset the current chat and start fresh. This assigns a brand-new session, so the AI no longer has access to what was discussed previously in that browser tab.

9. Conversation Memory

SE AI Chatbot remembers conversations as a visitor browses your site, within certain limits.

How It Works

When a visitor sends their first message, a random session ID is generated and stored in the browser's sessionStorage. This ID is sent with every subsequent message and maps to a saved conversation on the server, so the AI has full context of everything discussed in that session — even after the visitor navigates to a different page.

As of the version that introduced this feature, reopening the chat widget on a new page will also visually restore the previous messages into the chat window, so visitors see their prior conversation rather than an empty panel.

Limits of Browser-Based Memory

• The session persists only within the same browser tab. Closing the tab, closing the browser, or opening the site in a new tab starts a fresh session.

• It is not the same as localStorage — it does not survive a closed browser session by design.

Full History for Logged-in Users

If your site administrator has set up a full-page chatbot view with history (see Section 14), logged-in users get an additional benefit: a browsable history of their own past conversations, tied to their Joomla account rather than to a single browser tab. This is not available to anonymous guests.

10. Suggested Prompts and Suggestions

There are several distinct suggestion features, each configurable independently. Most are Pro features.

Suggested Prompts (Pro)

A fixed list of starter questions, defined by the site administrator, shown as clickable chips before the visitor sends their first message. Useful for showing visitors what kinds of questions the chatbot can answer.

AI-Suggested Prompts from Chat History (Pro)

Instead of (or alongside) a fixed list, the chatbot can generate starter suggestions dynamically based on what your knowledge base actually covers.

Follow-up Suggestions (Pro)

After each AI response, three short follow-up question chips appear beneath the answer, tailored to what was just discussed. Clicking one sends it instantly. These are generated as part of the same AI response, so they don't cost an extra API call.

Continue Where You Left Off (Free)

For logged-in users, when they open the chat, chips showing their recent past questions can be shown so they can quickly pick up a previous line of enquiry. This is shown only when AI-Suggested Prompts is turned off — AI suggestions take priority when both are enabled.

11. Call-to-Action Buttons

Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons let you show a styled button inline within an AI response when specific keywords appear in the conversation — for example, showing a "Book a Consultation" button whenever pricing is discussed.

CTAs are managed from a separate Call to Actions admin screen (linked from the Settings page), where you define the keyword triggers, button text, and destination for each CTA. You can also configure:

• Whether CTA buttons are enabled at all

• The maximum number of CTA buttons shown per response

• The background and text colour of CTA buttons

12. Source Citations

When the AI answers using your Knowledge Base, it can show "Read more" links pointing to the specific pages or documents it used to formulate its answer. This is helpful for visitors who want to verify an answer or read further, and it builds trust in the chatbot's responses.

You can configure the maximum number of source links shown per response, and customise the label text shown above them (e.g. "Read more" or "External resources you may find useful").

13. GDPR and Privacy Consent

If your knowledge base or your legal requirements call for it, you can enable a GDPR consent step that visitors must accept before they can chat.

When enabled:

1. The first time a visitor opens the widget, they see a consent notice instead of the chat input.

2. The default notice text explains that the chatbot uses your chosen AI provider to process requests, that inputs are transmitted to and processed by that provider, that no personal data is stored by the chatbot itself, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time by closing the chat.

3. The visitor must click Accept before the chat becomes usable. If they click Decline, they see a message explaining that the chatbot is unavailable without consent.

You can customise:

• The full consent notice text

• The Accept and Decline button labels

• The consent dialog's title

• A link to your site's full privacy policy

• The title and message shown if the visitor declines

Consent choices are remembered per browser tab for the duration of that session, in the same way the conversation session itself is remembered (see Section 9).

14. Full Page Mode

In addition to the floating widget, you can enable a Full Page button at the bottom of the chat panel, which lets visitors open the chatbot as a dedicated full-page experience rather than a small floating window — useful for more involved conversations, or for a page that gives logged-in users full conversation history (see Section 9).

To use this feature:

1. Enable Show Full Page Button in Settings.

2. Set the Full Page URL to the page where you've set up the full-page chatbot view.

3. Set up that page as directed in the on-screen instructions in Settings (this typically involves creating a menu item pointing to the chatbot's full-page view).

15. Contact and Escalation Options

You can configure a "Contact" link shown to visitors — for example, to direct them to a human support channel if the AI can't help:

• Link Text — the text shown for the contact link (default: "Contact Support")

• Open In — whether the link opens in the same tab or a new one

• Guest Contact Text/URL — a separate contact link specifically for anonymous visitors, in case you want to route guests differently (e.g. to a sign-up page) than logged-in users

16. Keeping the Knowledge Base Up to Date

Your knowledge base needs to be re-indexed whenever the underlying content changes (new articles, updated documents, new products, etc.), so the chatbot's answers stay current.

Manual Re-indexing

Click Re-index next to any source in the Knowledge Base list at any time.

Automatic Re-indexing (Cron)

If your server supports scheduled cron jobs, SE AI Chatbot includes a System — SE AI Chatbot Cron plugin and a CLI script that can re-index all sources automatically on a schedule you control at the server level.

Pseudo-Cron (No Server Cron Required)

If you don't have access to set up a real server cron job, you can enable Pseudo-Cron in Settings instead:

1. Enable Pseudo-Cron.

2. Set the Interval (in hours) between automatic re-indexes.

With this enabled, re-indexing is triggered automatically based on site traffic rather than a true scheduled job, so the interval is a target rather than an exact guarantee — but it means you don't need any server-level cron access to keep your knowledge base fresh. The Settings page shows the last time re-indexing ran and when the next one is expected.

17. Chat Logs

Every conversation is logged and can be reviewed by administrators under Components → SE AI Chatbot → Chat Logs. This lets you:

• See what visitors are actually asking the chatbot

• Spot gaps in your knowledge base (questions the AI couldn't answer well)

• Review and, where relevant, follow up on conversations

Conversations can have different statuses, including active, closed (reset by the visitor via New Conversation), escalated, and deleted.

18. Free vs Pro Features

A summary of what requires a Pro licence:

Pro-only:

• Premium AI models across all four providers (see Section 5 for the exact free/Pro split per provider)

• DOCman, EDocman, RSFiles!, ZOO, HikaShop, and VirtueMart knowledge base sources

• Custom system prompt

• Suggested Prompts (fixed starter chips)

• AI-Suggested Prompts from Chat History

• Follow-up Suggestions (post-response chips)

• A separate, typically lower message limit specifically for guest visitors

Free:

• The floating widget and/or module, in either position/colour configuration

• Website URL, Manual Text, Joomla Articles, and SP Page Builder knowledge base sources

• Base-tier AI models from each of the four providers

• Conversation memory and session restore

• "Continue where you left off" chips for logged-in users

• GDPR consent flow

• Call-to-Action buttons

• Source citations

• Chat Logs

• Full page mode

• Manual and automatic (cron/pseudo-cron) re-indexing

19. Multi-language Support

The component's admin and site-facing text ships with an English (en-GB) language pack, with additional language packs available depending on the release (for example, Slovenian). If your preferred language isn't available, most of the widget's visible text (buttons, labels, messages) can be overridden directly in Settings regardless of the underlying language pack, since these are stored as plain configurable text fields.

20. Troubleshooting

The chatbot doesn't appear on the site at all

• Confirm the System Plugin is enabled (Extensions → Plugins → System — SE AI Chatbot), or that a module has been published and assigned to the current page.

• Confirm Enabled is switched on under Settings.

The chatbot gives an error instead of a response

• Check that a valid API key is entered for your selected provider.

• Confirm the API key has not expired, been revoked, or hit its usage/billing limit with the provider.

• Check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests (cURL) to the AI provider's API endpoint.

A knowledge base source shows an error after indexing

• For DOCman, EDocman, RSFiles!, ZOO, HikaShop, or VirtueMart sources, confirm that extension is actually installed and enabled on your site — these sources depend on the corresponding extension's own database tables.

• Check the specific error message shown next to the source in the Knowledge Base list; it usually points to the exact cause (e.g. a missing table, meaning the underlying extension isn't installed).

Gemini responses are slow

• Lower the Gemini Response Speed setting from a higher reasoning level (Balanced/Slowest) to Fast (low) or Fastest (minimal).

A visitor's conversation didn't restore when they came back

• Conversation memory only persists within the same browser tab for the duration of that browsing session; closing the tab or the browser clears it by design (see Section 9).

Automatic re-indexing doesn't seem to run

• If using real server cron, confirm the cron job is correctly configured on your server to call the CLI script or trigger the cron plugin.

• If using Pseudo-Cron instead, remember it's triggered by site traffic rather than a guaranteed schedule, so it may not fire exactly on the interval during low-traffic periods.

21. FAQ

Does the chatbot store conversations forever? Conversations are stored server-side and are not automatically deleted on a schedule; they persist until removed via the Chat Logs admin screen.

Can I use more than one AI provider at once? No — one provider is active at a time, selected under Settings. Switching providers changes which AI answers all future messages; existing conversation history is unaffected.

Do I need a Pro licence to use the chatbot at all? No. The free tier is fully functional with base-tier AI models and several knowledge base source types. Pro adds premium models, additional source types, and several conversation/engagement features listed in Section 18.

Will the chatbot answer questions using content it wasn't given access to? No — it only knows what's in its knowledge base sources plus general AI knowledge. If you haven't added a source covering a topic, the AI will typically fall back to general knowledge or say it doesn't have that information, depending on your system prompt.

Does the visitor's browser need to support anything special? No special requirements beyond a modern browser with JavaScript enabled — the widget uses standard browser session storage, which is supported in all current browsers.

Can I change the AI's personality or tone? Yes, via the custom System Prompt setting (Pro). Free-tier installs use a built-in default assistant personality.

This guide covers SE AI Chatbot's user-facing and administrator-facing features as configured through the Joomla admin panel. Specific setting names, defaults, and feature availability may vary slightly between versions — always check your installed version's Settings page for the definitive, current list of options.

You can buy SE AI Chatbot here