You install Tendlio like any other WordPress plugin, by uploading its ZIP file. The first time you open it, a short setup asks about your store, and then Tendlio analyzes it.
You will learn #
- What your site needs before you install Tendlio
- How to upload and activate Tendlio
- How your activation code works on your store and its copies
- What starts working on its own, and what stays off until you switch it on
- How to install a newer version
Before you begin #
- Check your versions. Tendlio needs WordPress 6.8 or newer, WooCommerce 10.0 or newer and PHP 8.2 or newer, and it’s built for MySQL 8.0 or newer (or MariaDB 10.11 or newer). You can see all four under WooCommerce → Status: WordPress and WooCommerce under WordPress environment, and PHP and your database under Server environment, where the line is called MySQL version even on MariaDB. Your host takes care of PHP and the database, so ask them if either is older.
- Install and activate WooCommerce first. Tendlio works from your WooCommerce orders, products and customers, and WordPress doesn’t let you activate Tendlio until WooCommerce is active.
- Use a single WordPress site. Tendlio isn’t supported on a WordPress multisite network.
- Keep the ZIP file as it is. WordPress installs the ZIP file itself, so don’t unzip it first.
Tip: It doesn’t matter how WooCommerce stores your orders. Tendlio works with both choices under Order data storage, in WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Features.
Upload and activate Tendlio #
- In your WordPress admin, open Plugins → Add Plugin.
- Click Upload Plugin at the top of the page.
- Choose the Tendlio ZIP file, and click Install Now.
- When WordPress has installed the plugin, click Activate Plugin.
- Tendlio opens Activate Tendlio. Enter the activation code from the email Alex sent you, and click Activate.
Once our server accepts the code, Tendlio opens its setup, starting with Welcome to Tendlio. How to set up Tendlio and run your first analysis walks you through it.
Your activation code #
Tendlio runs on a store once our server accepts its activation code. During early access, each store gets one code by email from Alex, and the code belongs to the store’s address: the Site Address under Settings → General in WordPress.
- Your store and its copies. The same code also works on up to two copies of your store, such as a staging site your host made from it. Tendlio recognizes a copy because it carries your store’s database. On a third copy, Tendlio says the code already runs on your store and on two copies of it. On another store, Tendlio says the code belongs to a different store address. In both cases Tendlio doesn’t run there.
- When our server doesn’t answer. Tendlio checks the code with our server once a day, when you click Activate or change the code in Settings, on the day the code ends, and when someone opens your WordPress admin and the last answer is more than 12 hours old. After a check that fails, the next one waits 15 minutes. If our server doesn’t answer, Tendlio keeps running for 7 days after its last successful check, and the Tendlio pages say until when.
- When Tendlio stops. If the code ends, or our server says it belongs to another address, Tendlio stops running and its menu shows only Activate Tendlio. Tendlio undoes nothing when it stops: the prices it changed stay as they are until you change them in WooCommerce, emails waiting to go out stay in the queue, and your settings, reports and data stay on your site. Storefront widgets disappear from your shop. What Tendlio already sent keeps working: the unsubscribe and review links in its emails, and its discount codes, which still don’t apply to products already on sale.
- Putting your prices back. While Tendlio isn’t running, Activate Tendlio shows Put the prices back for as long as a product still has an outlet discount or a test price from Tendlio. Each product gets back the price it had before, and a price you changed yourself since then stays as you set it. Once Tendlio runs again, Revert all on the Auto outlet page does the same for outlet discounts. Deleting the plugin puts the prices back only when Delete all plugin data when the plugin is deleted is on, and that also deletes all of Tendlio’s data. The switch is under Help → System status while Tendlio runs, and on Activate Tendlio while it doesn’t.
To change the code later, open Settings → General → License & data sharing.
What changes once Tendlio is active #
- Tendlio adds its own item to your WordPress menu, right below Dashboard, and its own tables to your WordPress database.
- Tendlio doesn’t email your customers, change any prices or show anything new in your shop until you switch those tools on. Customer emails start Off, Auto outlet starts switched off, and the product recommendations Tendlio can add to your shop, such as Frequently bought together, stay hidden until you turn each one on.
- From the start, Tendlio counts product views, clicks, add-to-carts and purchases on your storefront. The switch for that is Track widget and product performance, under Settings → General → Storefront. Once you’ve finished the setup, Tendlio also analyzes your store every week and emails you a summary.
- If your host marks the site as a staging site, Tendlio treats it as a copy of your store: from there, it doesn’t send customer emails or the weekly summary, and it doesn’t change prices on its own.
Your data and privacy lists what Tendlio keeps on your site and what it sends.
Install a newer version #
- Open Plugins → Add Plugin, click Upload Plugin, choose the newer Tendlio ZIP file, and click Install Now.
- WordPress sees that Tendlio is already installed and shows the version you have next to the one you’re uploading. Click Replace current with uploaded.
Your settings, scores and history stay, because Tendlio keeps them in your database, not in the plugin’s files. The version you’re running shows at the bottom of every Tendlio page, and under Help → System status.
Important: If Delete all plugin data when the plugin is deleted is on under Help → System status, don’t update Tendlio by deleting it and uploading it again. With that switch on, deleting the plugin removes all of Tendlio’s data. Replace current with uploaded keeps it.
If Tendlio doesn’t start #
- WordPress won’t install Tendlio, and says your PHP or WordPress version is older than the plugin requires. If it names PHP, ask your host to move your site to PHP 8.2 or newer. If it names WordPress, update WordPress to 6.8 or newer.
- A notice says Tendlio requires a newer WordPress or WooCommerce. Tendlio doesn’t run until you update the one the notice names. The WooCommerce notice has an Open updates link.
- A notice says Tendlio could not finish setting up its database tables. Tendlio tries again on the next page load. If the notice keeps coming back, contact your host.
- On Help → System status, the Database character set or Database index width line names tables. These two lines check whether your database can store what Tendlio needs, and each one says what to ask your host. Pass that line on to them.
- Activate Tendlio says the code belongs to a different address. The code is tied to the address your store had when it got early access. If your store moved, or the address in Alex’s email isn’t your Site Address, write to support@tendlio.com with your store’s address, and you’ll get a code for it.
- Activate Tendlio says it couldn’t reach our server. Click Activate again in a few minutes. If the line stays, your host may block connections from your site to other servers, so ask them to allow connections to api.tendlio.com.
Why Tendlio needs WooCommerce 10.0 #
Tendlio uses your cost prices for profit and dead-stock figures, and it reads them from WooCommerce’s own cost field. Tendlio works with that field from WooCommerce 10.0 on. WooCommerce keeps the field behind a switch, Cost of Goods Sold, under WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Features. If you’d rather not enter costs, Tendlio can estimate them from an average margin, and the setup asks whether your products have cost prices.
Additional resources #
- How to set up Tendlio and run your first analysis: the setup that opens after you activate Tendlio.
- Staging copies and moving your store
- Your data and privacy
- Starting over, or what happens if I uninstall
Frequently asked questions #
Does Tendlio work with High-performance order storage? #
Yes. Tendlio works with both choices under Order data storage in WooCommerce, High-performance order storage and WordPress posts storage.
Does installing Tendlio email my customers or change my prices? #
No. Customer emails start Off, and Auto outlet and the product recommendations Tendlio can add to your shop stay off until you switch them on.
Can I install Tendlio on a multisite network? #
Tendlio isn't supported on a WordPress multisite network. Install it on a single WordPress site.