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rangerhq-buddy/README.md
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ranger 48e97862a6 chore: initial commit — Buddy v0.1.0 (Phase A complete)
Buddy is born. First commit of a new standalone WordPress plugin —
the spiritual successor to the tamagotchi that once lived inside
A-WP-Notes v1.1.5 (gracefully retired). Rebuilt from scratch with
all the v3-discipline lessons baked in from day one.

PHASE A — pet exists
- Dashboard widget at WP Admin → Dashboard showing SVG character +
  name + mood label + four stats bars.
- Dedicated admin page at WP Admin → Buddy → My Buddy (bigger view).
- About page with side-by-side intro + plain-prose cards (Logbook
  About-page pattern carried forward).
- Settings page with name-rename form + Updates panel.
- Per-user state in user_meta key buddy_state (each WP admin gets
  their own pet, no shared state).
- Inline SVG sprite renderer with three mood tones (happy/neutral/
  sad) and three sizes (sm/md/lg). CSS keyframe animations: bobbing
  + periodic blinking. Zero image files.
- Self-hosted update checker wired up from commit 1, ported from
  Logbook v3.3.5: /releases/latest with /tags?limit=1 fallback,
  12h success cache / 1h negative cache. UI on Settings page.
- dashicons-pets admin-menu icon — literal paw-print, brand match.

ARCHITECTURE LOCKED FROM COMMIT 1
- Single-word brand name "Buddy" — no WP prefix, no future rebrand.
- Public GPL v2+ Gitea repo (ranger/a-buddy).
- Constants prefix BUDDY_*, function prefix buddy_*, text domain
  buddy. Clean naming throughout — none of Logbook's wp-notes-*
  historical-artifact baggage.
- Single H1 per admin page, no nested toggle boxes, no duplicate
  sections — Tier-1 discipline carried forward from Logbook.
- All assets local (inline SVG, plain CSS), no third-party CDN,
  no Gravatar-style external pings.

NOT IN THIS RELEASE (planned)
- Phase B — Feed/Play/Clean/Sleep interactions + cooldown timers.
- Phase C — WP-cron decay + "Buddy is hungry" dismissible notices
  (port the persistent-dismissal pattern from Logbook).
- Phase D — Multiple species (dog, dragon, sprite), per-species
  personality phrases.
- Phase E — Site-health hook: pet stats react to wp_get_site_health()
  results. The killer feature.
- Phase F — Pro tier (€2.99 lifetime) with custom skins + multi-pet.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-25 10:23:57 +01:00

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2.2 KiB
Markdown

# 🐾 Buddy
> A friendly little companion that lives in your WordPress dashboard.
Adopt a small virtual pet that lives in your WordPress admin. Right now Buddy just exists — they bob, they blink, they show their mood. As the plugin grows, their stats will reflect how well you take care of your WordPress site itself: published posts feed them, outdated plugins make them sick, clearing spam makes them happy.
**Gamifies WordPress maintenance with a bit of charm.**
---
## What this is
- A standalone WordPress plugin, GPL v2+ licensed.
- The spiritual successor to the tamagotchi feature that once lived inside A-WP-Notes v1.1.5 (now gracefully retired). Rebuilt from scratch, with all the v3-discipline lessons baked in from day one.
- Sister plugin to [Logbook](https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/a-logbook) in the RangerHQ plugin family. Logbook is *work*. Buddy is *play*.
## What it does
- Dashboard widget shows your Buddy with name, mood, and four stats bars.
- Dedicated Buddy admin page for the bigger view.
- Settings page where you can rename your Buddy and check for updates.
- Each WP admin gets their own Buddy stored per-user in `user_meta` — nothing leaves your site's database.
## What it doesn't do (yet)
- No interactions — feed / play / clean / sleep coming in Phase B.
- No time-based stat decay yet — Phase C.
- Only one species available right now — Phase D will add dog, dragon, sprite, etc.
- The killer feature — having Buddy's stats reflect your actual WP site health — is Phase E.
See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for the full version history and roadmap.
## Install
1. Download the latest [release zip](https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/a-buddy/releases) from Gitea.
2. WordPress admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin → choose the zip → Install Now → Activate.
3. Find Buddy in the admin sidebar (paw-print icon).
The plugin self-checks for updates via the Gitea repo — see Settings → Buddy → Settings → Updates.
## Project pace
This is a **side project** built at a side-project pace. No commercial pressure, no release deadlines. Issues and feedback welcome via Gitea.
## Licence
GPL v2 or later — see [LICENSE](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html).