WCRE Virtual Assistant

A WordPress plugin that adds an AI-powered chat widget to the Weiser Center for Real Estate website, powered by the University of Michigan's Maizey platform.

What it does

• Displays a floating "💬 Virtual Assistant" button on every page (visible to logged-in WordPress users only during testing)
• Opens a chat window connected to the WCRE Maizey bot
• Answers questions about programs, events, scholarships, alumni engagement, and more
• Routes academic/scheduling questions to Taubman Advising
• All API calls happen server-side — the API token is never exposed to the browser

Requirements

• WordPress 5.8+
• PHP 7.4+
• A Maizey project at umgpt.umich.edu with an API token
• The WCRE_UMGPT_KEY constant set in wp-config.php (see below)

Installation

1. Download the latest release zip from the Releases page
2. In WordPress admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
3. Upload the zip → Install Now → Activate
4. Go to Settings → WCRE Virtual Assistant
5. Enter your Maizey Project ID (found in your Maizey project dashboard)
6. Save

Configuration

API Token (required)

The API token should be set as a constant in wp-config.php by your server administrator. Add the following line to wp-config.php:

define('WCRE_UMGPT_KEY', 'your-maizey-api-token-here');

Once set, the token field in the plugin settings will show as locked and cannot be overridden via the UI.

If wp-config.php access is not available, the token can also be entered directly in Settings → WCRE Virtual Assistant, though this is less secure as it stores the value in the WordPress database.

Project ID (required)

Enter your Maizey Project ID in Settings → WCRE Virtual Assistant. This is visible anytime in your Maizey project dashboard and is not sensitive.

Making the widget public

By default the widget only appears to logged-in WordPress users. To make it visible to all visitors, remove the is_user_logged_in() checks in wcre-chatbot.php:

• Line in wp_enqueue_scripts hook
• Line in wp_footer hook
• Lines in wcre_chatbot_init() and wcre_chatbot_ask() AJAX handlers

Also register the nopriv AJAX actions to allow unauthenticated requests:

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_wcre_chatbot_init', 'wcre_chatbot_init');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_wcre_chatbot_ask', 'wcre_chatbot_ask');

Releasing updates

1. Make your changes
2. Bump WCRE_CHATBOT_VERSION in wcre-chatbot.php (e.g. 1.2.0 → 1.3.0)
3. Push to main
4. Go to Releases → Create a new release
5. Tag it with the version number (e.g. v1.3.0)
6. Attach the plugin zip as a release asset
7. Publish

WordPress will detect the new version and show an update notification in the Plugins dashboard.

File structure

wcre-chatbot-plugin/
├── wcre-chatbot.php        # Main plugin file — settings, enqueue, AJAX handlers
├── css/
│   └── chatbot.css         # Widget styles (U-M Navy + Maize color scheme)
├── js/
│   └── chatbot.js          # Widget UI — open/close, send messages, display responses
└── lib/
    └── plugin-update-checker/  # Bundled library for GitHub-based auto-updates

Data sources

The bot's knowledge comes from data sources configured in the Maizey project dashboard at umgpt.umich.edu. To update what the bot knows, add or edit data sources there — no code changes needed.

Current data sources include:

• WCRE main website pages
• Real Estate Development Minor (Taubman College)
• Faculty and staff
• Events and programming
• Alumni resources
• Scholarships and funding (coming soon)

Contact

Weiser Center for Real Estate — um.realestate@umich.edu
Website — studyrealestate.umich.edu