Getting good results
Buddy understands plain words, so there is no special way you have to talk to it. A few habits still make a big difference.
Say what “done” looks like
Section titled “Say what “done” looks like”“Make the homepage better” leaves Buddy guessing. “Make the homepage hero shorter, put the phone number in the top right, and use the photo I uploaded to Artifacts” gives it something to finish and something you can check.
Good things to include:
- Where: which page, template or section.
- What: the change, or the problem you see (“the menu overlaps the logo on a phone”).
- How you will judge it: “it should look like the About page”, “it must still work on mobile”.
Give it the material
Section titled “Give it the material”Upload briefs, copy, photos and spreadsheets to the Artifacts pane, then mention them: “Use the copy in homepage-copy.docx.” See files and uploads. If the material lives in a service (Google Drive, analytics, your CRM), connect it as an integration and Buddy can fetch it itself.
Plan big things first
Section titled “Plan big things first”For a small, clear change, just ask. For anything bigger (a redesign, a migration, a new feature), switch the mode to Plan and ask for a plan. Read it, adjust it (“skip step 3, and use our existing colors”), then switch to Build and say “go ahead”. See chat and modes.
Tell it once, not every time
Section titled “Tell it once, not every time”Brand details, tone of voice, “never touch the checkout”, “always write in British English”: put these in the site’s instructions, or just say “remember that”, and Buddy follows them in every conversation. See teaching Buddy about a site.
One job per conversation
Section titled “One job per conversation”A conversation remembers everything said in it, which is useful until it gets long. When you move on to something
unrelated, start a new conversation (New conversation, or type /clear). If a long job is running out of room,
type /compact to have Buddy condense the conversation so far and carry on.
When it gets something wrong
Section titled “When it gets something wrong”- Say so, specifically. “The button is still blue on the Services page” works better than “that didn’t work”.
- Show it. If a page looks wrong, tell Buddy which page and what you see; with a browser connected it can look for itself.
- Undo it. If a change went badly, restore a checkpoint. Take one yourself before anything risky, or ask Buddy to.
Things Buddy is good at
Section titled “Things Buddy is good at”- Building and changing pages, templates, themes and plugins.
- Finding and fixing bugs, broken links, slow pages and layout problems.
- Writing and editing content in your voice, and publishing it on the site.
- Pulling figures from analytics, search consoles and ad accounts, and explaining them.
- Routine upkeep on a schedule: updates, checks, weekly reports.