Current release: 2.1.05
Ask Site lets visitors ask your site a question in plain language and get an answer grounded in your own indexed content, with the sources it drew from listed alongside it.
Ask Site is built on the same index that powers Lumenare Search. It does not crawl the web, and it never answers from content that is not already in your index.
How Ask Site Works
- A visitor submits a question through the Ask Site form.
- Lumenare retrieves the most relevant indexed content for that question and assembles a source bundle.
- Depending on the configured answer mode, Lumenare either returns the sources on their own or asks the WordPress AI Client to write a short answer grounded in that bundle.
- The answer is displayed with its cited sources so visitors can click through to the original content.
Because every answer is assembled from the source bundle, Ask Site degrades safely: if a generated answer cannot be produced, visitors still get the relevant sources instead of an error.
Answer Modes
Ask Site has two answer modes, set in Settings → Lumenare Search → Ask Site.
| Mode | What Visitors See | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Sources only (default) | A ranked, cited list of the most relevant indexed content for the question | Ask Site enabled, a healthy index, rate limiting configured, a resolvable search profile |
| AI Client | A short written answer grounded in the source bundle, with the same cited sources below it | Everything above, plus WordPress 7.0 or newer with AI Client support and AI answers enabled |
Sources-only mode is the default and is a complete, useful feature on its own. Turn on AI answers only when you want a written summary layered on top.
If AI Client mode is selected but its requirements are not met, Ask Site does not fail — it falls back to sources-only mode and reports the unmet requirement on the settings screen.
Enabling Ask Site
- Go to Settings → Lumenare Search → Ask Site.
- Enable Ask Site.
- Review the Ask Site Readiness panel and clear anything it reports as missing.
- Choose an answer mode. Leave it on sources-only unless you specifically want generated answers.
- Set the maximum number of sources and, for AI Client mode, the maximum answer length.
- Confirm the request cap and time window are non-zero.
- Save, then place the form on a page with the shortcode or block below.
Readiness Requirements
The readiness panel checks each requirement and tells you what to do about it. Ask Site stays unavailable to visitors until the base requirements pass.
Base requirements (required for any mode):
| Requirement | What It Means | How To Fix It |
|---|---|---|
| Ask Site enabled | The public Ask Site UI is switched off | Enable Ask Site in settings |
| Index available | The Lumenare index table is not ready | Repair or rebuild the index |
| Index has public content | No public indexed content was found | Select searchable post types and run a full reindex |
| Rate limiting configured | The request cap or window is zero | Set a non-zero request cap and window |
| Search profile resolves | The Ask Site adapter points at a profile that does not exist | Assign a valid profile to the Ask Site adapter |
Additional requirements for generated answers:
| Requirement | What It Means |
|---|---|
| WordPress 7.0 or newer | Generated answers depend on the WordPress AI Client |
| AI answers enabled | AI answers are switched on and AI Client mode is selected |
| AI Client available | WordPress 7.0 AI Client support is active on the site |
While base requirements are unmet, the form is hidden from visitors. Administrators still see it so they can diagnose the problem on the front end.
Placing the Ask Site Form
Shortcode
[lumenare_ask_site]
Both attributes are optional:
| Attribute | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
placeholder |
Ask this site a question |
Placeholder text inside the question field |
button |
Ask |
Label on the submit button |
[lumenare_ask_site placeholder="What would you like to know?" button="Get an answer"]
Block
Search for Lumenare Ask Site in the block inserter. The block exposes the same placeholder and button label, and supports the standard WordPress spacing, color, and typography controls.
Settings Reference
| Setting | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ask Site enabled | Off | Master switch for the public UI |
| AI answers enabled | Off | Must also select AI Client mode to generate answers |
| Answer mode | Sources only | Falls back to sources only when AI requirements are unmet |
| Maximum sources | 5 | How many cited sources are gathered per question |
| Maximum answer words | 120 | Length ceiling for generated answers |
| Request cap | 5 | Requests allowed per visitor within the window |
| Rate window | 60 seconds | Length of the rate-limit window |
Ask Site is off by default on new and upgraded installs. Nothing is exposed publicly until you enable it.
Rate Limiting
Ask Site is a public, unauthenticated endpoint, so rate limiting is a readiness requirement rather than an option. The defaults allow five questions per visitor per minute.
Rate-limit buckets are keyed on request attributes that a visitor cannot freely change. As of 2.1.05, the client-supplied User-Agent header is no longer part of the bucket key, so the limiter cannot be bypassed by varying that header.
Raise the cap only if you have a reason to, and watch the Ask Site opportunity list for automated traffic.
REST And Abilities API
Ask Site answers are available programmatically as well as through the form.
REST endpoint:
POST /wp-json/lumenare-search/v1/ask
The request takes a single required question parameter. Questions are clamped to the same length limit as search queries. The endpoint is public, and the same rate limiting and readiness gating apply.
Ask Site is also registered with the Abilities API, so AI clients and agents on the site can request grounded, cited answers through the same retrieval path rather than guessing from raw content.
Search Intelligence For Ask Site
Questions that Ask Site could not answer well are surfaced in Settings → Lumenare Search → Search Intelligence as opportunities, so a content gap becomes a work item instead of a lost visitor.
For each unanswered question you can:
- Create a draft answer — start a draft post seeded from the question
- Find existing content — check whether something already covers it before writing anything new
- Mark reviewed — record that the question was looked at and needs no action
- Dismiss — remove noise that is not a real content gap
Zero-result and unanswered questions are also classified so genuine content gaps can be separated from imported query noise, non-English queries, bare numbers, and bot-like traffic. This keeps the opportunity list focused on questions worth acting on.
Privacy And Content Visibility
Ask Site answers only from content that is already in the Lumenare index and publicly viewable.
- Draft, private, and trashed content is not used as a source.
- Password-protected posts remain findable by title, matching WordPress core behavior, but their excerpt text is withheld from Ask Site sources, search results, and live results as of 2.1.05.
- In sources-only mode, no question text is sent anywhere outside your site.
- In AI Client mode, the question and the assembled source bundle are sent through the WordPress AI Client to whichever provider that site has configured. Review that provider's terms before enabling generated answers on a site handling sensitive content.
Troubleshooting
The Form Does Not Appear For Visitors
Base readiness requirements are unmet. Administrators can still see the form; visitors cannot. Open Settings → Lumenare Search → Ask Site and clear everything listed in the readiness panel.
Answers Are Sources Only Even Though AI Mode Is Selected
The generated-answer requirements are not satisfied, so Ask Site fell back. Check that the site runs WordPress 7.0 or newer, that AI answers are enabled, that AI Client mode is selected, and that AI Client support is active.
Answers Cite The Wrong Content
Ask Site uses the search profile assigned to its adapter. Review that profile's weighting and searchable post types in Search Profiles, then confirm the index is current. See the Tuning Guide.
Visitors Hit The Rate Limit Too Often
Raise the request cap or lengthen the window in Ask Site settings. If a single source is generating the traffic, check the Search Intelligence opportunity list for bot-like classification before loosening the limit.
No Sources Are Returned For Obvious Questions
The index is likely incomplete. Run a full reindex and confirm the relevant post types are searchable. See Index Management.