--- title: "Getting Started with Waggle" url: "https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-getting-started.md" canonical: "https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-getting-started/" published: "2026-07-28" modified: "2026-08-03" author: "Fahim" description: "Waggle starts working the moment you activate it. See what runs on its own, what to check first, and the two settings that can block everything." tags: - "Waggle" --- # Getting Started with Waggle **Waggle starts working the moment you activate it.** There is no setup wizard and nothing you have to configure. Meta tags, the sitemap, schema, `llms.txt`, Markdown pages, AI bot tracking and the site audit all run straight away, with no API key. The next ten minutes are about direction: finding out which of the 100 readiness points you are missing, and which two settings can cancel everything else. --- ## What works with no setup? All of this is live as soon as the plugin is active. None of it calls an AI provider, and none of it costs you anything per use. - **Search engine tags** — SEO titles and descriptions, Open Graph, X/Twitter cards, canonical URLs, per-post robots meta - **XML sitemap** at `/sitemap.xml`, covering every public post type - **JSON-LD schema** — `Article` on posts, `WebSite` on the homepage, FAQPage from question-style headings - **LLMs.txt & Markdown** — `/llms.txt`, `/llms-full.txt`, and a Markdown copy of every page - **AI bot tracking** — visits from GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and 16 other crawlers, kept for 90 days - **Redirects and the 404 log** - **Scores** — the per-page answer score and the site readiness audit One point surprises people: **the site audit never calls an AI provider.** It is a fixed set of checks, so it is safe to run with no API key at all. ## Two settings that block everything else Rule these out before you tune anything. Both are common, and both are silent. ### Is WordPress hiding your site from search engines? WordPress has one checkbox that turns off indexing for your whole site: **Settings → Reading → "Discourage search engines from indexing this site"**. When it is on, WordPress adds `noindex, nofollow` to every page, telling search engines to keep the whole site out of their results. Waggle cannot override it. It is usually on by accident. WordPress offers it during install, and most staging and "coming soon" tools switch it on, so it often survives a launch. Check it in one command: ``` curl -s https://example.com/ | grep -i "name=['"]robots" ``` An affected site returns ``. Waggle also shows a warning banner on every screen. See [site not showing on Google or in AI answers](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-troubleshooting-site-not-indexed/). ### Do you have an AI provider connected? Look at the pill in the top right of any Waggle screen. It reads **AI ready**, **No AI provider**, or **AI unavailable** (which means you are below WordPress 7.0). Most of Waggle does not need one. Only the generate features do. See [connecting an AI provider](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-connecting-an-ai-provider/). ## Your first ten minutes 1. **Run the audit.** Open **Waggle → Dashboard** and press Run audit. You get a score out of 100 and a ranked list of fixes, each worth a stated number of points. See [the readiness score](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-dashboard-and-readiness-score/). 2. **Work the Top fixes list.** Every fix shows a preview first. Nothing is written until you approve it. See [running the site audit](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-running-the-site-audit/). 3. **Import from your old SEO plugin**, if you have one. **Settings → Import** handles Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO and Slim SEO. See [switching to Waggle](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-migrating-from-another-seo-plugin/). 4. **Fill in Search Appearance → Homepage.** Your front page title and description are the two fields most likely to be wrong out of the box. 5. **Set Search Appearance → Social defaults** so shared links get a fallback image. 6. **Paste your verification tokens** under **Search Appearance → Verification** — Google Search Console, Bing, Yandex, Pinterest and Baidu. 7. **Check AI Visibility → Crawler access.** Every AI crawler is allowed by default. Blocking one stops that engine reading you, and citing you. 8. **Check AI Visibility → LLMs.txt & Markdown** to confirm Markdown is on for the post types you care about. See [llms.txt and Markdown pages](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-machine-files/). ## Where is Waggle in wp-admin? ![The Waggle Dashboard showing the site readiness score, stat tiles and a ranked Top fixes list](https://plugpress.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/waggle-dashboard-screen-scaled.png) One **Waggle** menu, six sections under two group headings — Insights and Optimize — with Settings at the bottom: | Section | What it does | | --- | --- | | **Dashboard** | Your score, top fixes, recent activity | | **Site Audit** | The full readiness audit and its fixes | | **AI Visibility** | Answer readiness, Bot traffic, Crawler access, LLMs.txt & Markdown, AI agents, AI provider | | **Search Appearance** | Homepage, Social, Content types, Archives, Verification | | **Content SEO** | Post SEO and Image SEO — bulk SEO generation for posts and images | | **Redirects** | Redirect rules and the 404 log | | **Settings** | Features, Notifications, Import, License | There is also a **Waggle panel in the block editor**, plus **SEO** and **Markdown** columns in the posts list. See [the Waggle panel in the editor](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-editor-sidebar/). ![Waggle's Features screen with per-module on/off toggles, AEO features listed first](https://plugpress.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/waggle-settings-features-screen-scaled.png) ## Do I need a license? No. The license unlocks **updates and support only. It never gates features.** If it expires you stop getting automatic updates, and everything keeps working. Activate yours under **Settings → License**. ## FAQ ### Does Waggle replace Yoast or Rank Math? It can, and it does the same job: titles, descriptions, Open Graph, canonicals, robots meta, sitemap and schema, plus the AI visibility layer. You do not have to choose. Running Waggle beside Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO or SEOPress is supported and needs no setup. Waggle writes the tags on pages where you gave it a title or description, and leaves the other plugin alone everywhere else. ### Do I need an API key? No. Everything under "What works with no setup" runs without one. You only need an AI provider for generating text, brand mention checks and prompt research. ### Which WordPress version do I need? WordPress 7.0 or later, and PHP 7.4 or later. Waggle's AI features and agent abilities are built on the AI Client and Abilities API that ship in WordPress 7.0. ## Related guides - [Switching to Waggle from another SEO plugin](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-migrating-from-another-seo-plugin/) - [Connecting an AI provider](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-connecting-an-ai-provider/) - [How the Waggle readiness score works](https://plugpress.io/docs/waggle-dashboard-and-readiness-score/)