007AJ Askhaven

1. Install

1. Go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload Theme, choose askhaven-1.0.0.zip, click Install Now, then Activate.
2. The Askhaven Engine plugin is bundled inside the theme. It installs and activates itself when you activate the theme, and every theme update brings the matching engine update. Nothing else to install.
3. You land on Askhaven > Dashboard with your stats and a launch checklist.

Requirements: WordPress 6.5+, PHP 7.4+, the GD or Imagick image library and pretty permalinks (Set up my site turns them on).

2. Set up my site (one click)

Open Askhaven > Set up my site, pick a preset (General knowledge, Health and wellbeing, or Technology and careers) and click the button. It creates:

• Pages: Home, Questions (the app), Log in, Sign up, Community guidelines and Privacy.
• Clean links: /question/12/how-do-i-…/, /topic/cooking/, /profile/maya-collins/ and /circle/weeknight-kitchen/.
• The main and footer menus.
• Optional sample content: six sample members with credentials, six topics, ten questions, answers with images, votes, comments, two circles and one expert with a price. Every sample row is flagged and can be removed with one click.

It is safe to run again: pages you edited are kept and sample content is never duplicated.

3. Questions

• Members click Ask, type the question, add details (with formatting and images), pick up to five topics and can post anonymously (turn this off in Settings).
• While they type, similar questions already on the site appear under the box so duplicates are avoided. The top search does the same.
• Questions can be placed in a circle, edited by their author and deleted while they have no answers.
• Members can request answers from people the site suggests (active writers in the same topics). Requests show on the person's dashboard and in their updates.
• Optional review: switch on Review new questions before they go live and approve them under Askhaven > Questions.

4. Answers, votes and comments

• The answer editor supports bold, italic, headings, lists, quotes, links and images (uploaded privately and re-saved to strip location data).
• Each answer shows the writer's credential (set in Settings on the front end, or per answer).
• Up and down votes order answers: the asker's chosen best answer first, then paid expert answers, then by a score that weighs votes and freshness.
• Comments and replies on answers, with @mentions. Answer authors can remove comments on their own answers.

5. Feeds and search

• Home shows questions from topics, people, questions and circles you follow; guests see popular questions.
• Tabs: Popular, New and Unanswered. Each topic has its own feed and follower count.
• Search covers questions, topics and people. #words in text link to search.
• Question pages carry QAPage structured data for search engines.

6. Follows, circles, profiles and updates

• Follow topics, questions (get told about new answers) and people.
• Circles are member-run groups with their own about text, rules and question feed.
• Profiles show answers, questions, followers and totals for answer views and upvotes.
• The bell and the mobile Updates tab show new answers, comments, upvotes, requests, payments and moderation notes. They refresh every few seconds (set in Settings).

7. Moderation and merging

• Every question, answer, comment, circle and profile has a Report link. Reports land in Askhaven > Reports where you can remove the content (or suspend the member) or dismiss.
• Askhaven > Questions: approve, hide, restore or remove (with a reason the member sees). Lists open on All.
• Merge duplicates: next to a question press Merge and type the number of the question to keep. Answers, followers, topics and requests move over and the old address redirects (301) to the kept question.
• Members: suspend or restore accounts, filter experts and supporters, give 30 days of supporter membership.
• Settings include rate limits and blocked words.

8. Paid expert questions, earnings and withdrawals

1. A member turns on Take paid questions under Earnings and sets a price (between your minimum and maximum).
2. Askers press Ask privately on the expert's profile or on the Ask an expert page and pay by card through Stripe Checkout.
3. The expert is notified and has the number of days you set to answer. Their answer is pinned above the others.
4. When they answer, the payment minus your commission becomes an earning that is held for the hold period, then becomes available.
5. Experts request a withdrawal (with their PayPal email or bank details). You pay them outside the site and press Mark paid under Askhaven > Withdrawals; declining returns the amount to their balance.
6. If the expert misses the deadline, the question is marked late and shown under Questions > Paid: refund it in Stripe and the webhook cancels the earning.

You collect all payments in your own Stripe account and pay experts yourself. Check your local rules on paying people and taxes.

9. Supporter membership (optional)

Members can support the site with a one-time payment for 30 days or a year (edit the plans, the name and the discount in Settings). Supporters get a badge and a discount on paid questions. Set every plan price to 0 or remove the lines to hide it.

10. Stripe

1. In Stripe go to Developers > API keys and copy the secret key (sk_test_… to test, sk_live_… when live). Paste it in Askhaven > Settings > Stripe, or define AH_STRIPE_SECRET in wp-config.php.
2. Press Create Stripe webhook. It adds one webhook for this site (events checkout.session.completed and charge.refunded) and saves the signing secret. If your Stripe account already has the maximum number of webhooks, add it by hand with the URL shown, or rely on the built-in return check: payments are also confirmed when the buyer returns from Checkout.
3. Test with card 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future date and any CVC.

11. Settings

Design: use Appearance > Editor to change fonts, colours and the header or footer templates.

12. Going live

1. Work through the checklist on Askhaven > Dashboard.
2. Edit the Community guidelines and Privacy pages for your site.
3. Remove the sample content under Set up my site. Real members and orders are never touched.
4. Switch Stripe to your live key and create the live webhook.

13. FAQ

Links show 404

Go to Settings > Permalinks and press Save once.

Images do not upload

Check Askhaven > System info: the image editor and the private files folder must both be OK.

A paid question stays "unpaid"

The asker closed Checkout before paying. Orders that were started but not paid are listed under Orders & revenue.

Updates

Upload the new theme zip over the old one. The bundled engine updates itself and your data stays.