The TidyConsent guide

Ten minutes, start to finish. You do not need to read all of it: the plugin's settings screen has a "Getting started" list that ticks itself off as you go. This page is for when you want the detail.

1. Install

1. Get the plugin ZIP: enter your email and we send you the download link.
2. In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the ZIP, and press Install Now, then Activate.
3. Open Settings → TidyConsent.

That is all it needs to start working. The banner is on, and the tools it recognises are already being held back from visitors who have not chosen.

2. The first five minutes

1. Look at your site as a visitor. Open your home page in a private (incognito) window. You should see the banner. Use a private window because your normal browser may already have a choice saved.
2. Reload the settings screen. Under What TidyConsent is holding back you will now see the tools it found on your site, and which category a visitor must allow for each.
3. Try all three answers in the private window: Accept, Reject, and Preferences. After any choice, the small Cookie preferences button in the corner lets a visitor change their mind.

3. Make it look like your site

Press one of the looks under Start from a look, then adjust. The preview on the right follows every change; visitors see nothing until you press Save Changes.

• Position: a bar along the bottom, a card in a corner, or a box in the centre with the page dimmed. On phones it always becomes a sheet at the bottom.
• Colours: Light, Dark, Automatic (each visitor gets light or dark to match their device), Match my theme (uses your theme's own colours), or Custom.
• Button colour: pick your brand colour. The button text turns black or white by itself so it stays readable.
• Logo: press Choose from Media Library and pick an image.

Accept and Reject always look the same. That is deliberate: a banner that makes one answer stand out is the thing consent rules are written to stop.

Want to try looks before installing? Use the live playground.

Changing the words

Every piece of text can be changed, including each category's name and description. Leave a field blank to keep the built-in wording shown in grey. The four tones at the top fill in the title and message for you.

4. Decide how it behaves

• Entrance and wait: slide in, fade in, or appear at once, optionally after a few seconds. Tools stay off while it waits.
• Category switches open straight away: shows the choices without the visitor pressing Preferences first.
• Close (×) button: closing counts as Reject.
• Page waits for a choice: with the centred position, the page behind cannot be used until the visitor answers.
• When a visitor rejects: a short note tells them optional cookies are off and how to change that. You can also ask people who rejected again sooner.
• Ask again after: how long a choice lasts. About six months is common.

5. Your cookie policy page

1. Press Create or update Cookie Policy page. A draft page is created.
2. Open it under Pages and read it. It lists the tools found on your site, what each cookie does, and how long it lasts.
3. Publish it when it is right. The banner then links to it.

Already have a privacy page? Put its address under Wording → Policy link and the banner links there instead.

The generated policy is a starting point written from what was detected. It is not legal advice, and you are responsible for what your site publishes.

6. The consent log

Every choice is recorded: when, which categories, and a scrambled form of the visitor's IP address (never the address itself). You can filter by date and export a CSV. The log cannot be edited or deleted from the screen; it is your record of what visitors chose.

7. Scan your site

1. Under Advanced → Agent Scan service, enter https://api.tidyconsent.com and save.
2. In the Agent Scan panel, press Run scan. Your home page address is sent to the service, which reads the public page and reports the tools it finds in plain English.
3. If the proposal looks right, press Apply proposed configuration. Nothing changes until you do.

The scan is optional. With the service address left blank, the plugin contacts nobody.

8. Pro

Pro adds a weekly re-scan that emails you when a new tool appears on your site, and a hosted backup of your consent log.

Buying and switching it on

1. Buy a plan from the pricing section. After payment you land on a page that shows your license key (TC-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX). Copy it.
2. Install the Pro add-on from the link on that page, the same way as the free plugin.
3. Open Settings → TidyConsent Pro, paste the key, and press Activate this site.

Moving to another site, or a new address

Under Sites using this license, press Release next to the old site, then activate on the new one. You can do this yourself at any time.

Cancelling

Press Manage or cancel subscription on the Pro screen. Pro keeps working until the end of the period you paid for. The free plugin is never affected.

9. When something is wrong