Getting started

This guide takes a WordPress site from nothing to protected. Not on WordPress? Follow steps 1 and 2, then go to the API reference.

1. Create your account

Go to app.cayve.co and enter your email address. We’ll email you a 6-digit code; there’s no password to remember. Name your account after your business or agency.

2. Add your site and create a key

In the dashboard, open Sites → Add a site and enter the website’s address. Then, on the site’s page, press Create key and choose a Live key.

Copy the key straight away: it’s shown once. If you lose it, revoke it and create another. Keys start with cv_live_ (live) or cv_test_ (test). Test keys give fixed answers and aren’t counted, which is handy on a staging site.

3. Install the plugin

1. On the site’s page in the dashboard, press Download the plugin.
2. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the file and press Install Now, then Activate.
3. Open Cayve → Overview, paste your key and save.
4. Press Test the connection. You should see Connected.

That’s it. Comments, WooCommerce reviews and registrations, and every supported form plugin are now checked. See Integrations for the full list.

4. Watch for a week

New sites start in shadow mode for seven days. Cayve checks every message and records what it would have done, but lets everything through.

Open Cayve → Messages in WordPress, or your dashboard, and read the decisions. If Cayve got one wrong, open it in the dashboard and press It’s spam or It’s a real message. That teaches Cayve on your site straight away.

5. Switch protection on

When you’re happy, open the site in the dashboard and switch it from Shadow mode to Protecting. If you do nothing, protection starts by itself when the seven days are up.

What next

• Adjust what happens to each kind of message in the site’s rules.
• Invite your team under Team (roles).
• Read about held messages, so you know how to release one.