FAQ

Is each user's Buddy private?

Yes. Buddy is stored per-user in wp_usermeta under the buddy_state key. Other admins on the same site cannot see your Buddy, and you cannot see theirs. WordPress's user-meta API enforces this — there is no shared site-wide state.

Does Buddy send any data off my site?

No. RangerHQ Buddy makes zero outbound HTTP requests. No telemetry, no analytics, no fonts from a CDN, no third-party JavaScript. Everything stays on your own WordPress installation. See Privacy for the full audit.

Will Buddy slow down my site?

No. The plugin only loads on the four admin pages it owns (Dashboard, My Buddy, Settings, About). It does not enqueue assets on the public-facing site, doesn't run on every admin page, and uses inline SVG (no image files, no extra HTTP requests) for the character. The CSS file is small. There is no JavaScript framework involved.

Can I have more than one Buddy?

Not yet. Phase D will add a species picker (dog, dragon, sprite, robot) but each user will still have one Buddy at a time. Multi-Buddy farming is a Pro-tier consideration (Phase F).

When will Buddy react to my site's actual health?

That's Phase E on the Roadmap — the headline feature. For now (Phase A), Buddy's stats just persist at their default values. Phase B will add interactions (Feed / Play / Clean / Sleep) so YOU can directly affect the stats. Phase C will add time-based decay so the stats drift down when you're away. Phase E ties the stats to wp_get_site_health() results — outdated plugins make Buddy sick, published posts feed Buddy, cleared spam makes Buddy happy.

Why does Buddy wink sometimes?

The wink Easter-egg landed in v0.1.1. When Buddy's overall mood is ≥ 75 (which is most of the time on default settings), there's a ~5% chance on each page render that the wink tone fires instead of the standard happy face. The wink is a real CSS keyframe animation as of v0.1.3 — for a brief moment in v0.1.1 and v0.1.2 it would get "stuck" mid-wink, that's been fixed.

Why is there no JavaScript?

The character renderer is inline SVG, and the animations are CSS keyframes. No JS framework is required to make the Buddy bob, blink, or wink. The first JavaScript file will arrive in Phase B when the Feed / Play / Clean / Sleep AJAX buttons are added.

This is a deliberate architectural choice — see Architecture.

Is the source code open?

Yes. The plugin is GPL v2 or later and the full source is published on Gitea at https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/rangerhq-buddy. You can inspect every line.

Why is it called "RangerHQ Buddy" and not just "Buddy"?

"Buddy" is a one-word brand that's hard to trademark search and easy to confuse with other plugins. "RangerHQ Buddy" places it in the larger RangerHQ family (see Family), which makes naming, discovery, and family-installs all easier. The plugin slug is still buddy internally so file paths and admin URLs stay short; only the user-facing brand and the WordPress text domain are rangerhq-buddy.

I don't want the Buddy on my Dashboard. Can I hide it?

Yes — same as any other Dashboard widget. Click "Screen Options" at the top right of your Dashboard, uncheck "Buddy", and it disappears. Your Buddy still exists in wp_usermeta and you can still visit the My Buddy page from the sidebar.

Will RangerHQ Buddy work on multisite?

Yes. Each user's buddy_state is per-user, not per-blog. If you have multiple sites, your Buddy is the same across all of them. (Phase F's "multi-pet farm" idea would add an explicit per-blog mode for those who want it.)

I removed the plugin. Is my data gone?

WordPress leaves wp_usermeta rows in place when a plugin is deactivated — that's by design so reinstalling restores your Buddy. To fully wipe Buddy data:

DELETE FROM wp_usermeta WHERE meta_key = 'buddy_state';

A "Reset Buddy" button on the Settings page is on the future roadmap.

How do I report a bug or request a feature?

Open an issue at https://git.davidtkeane.com/ranger/rangerhq-buddy/issues or email david@davidtkeane.com.

Who made this?

David Keane, Dublin, Ireland. david@davidtkeane.com · https://davidtkeane.com