Skip to content

Quick Start Guide

Section: 11-user-documentation
Document: Quick Start Guide
Time to Complete: 5 minutes
Audience: New users

🎯 Welcome to MachineAvatars!

Get your first AI chatbot up and running in just 5 minutes. This guide will walk you through creating, training, and deploying your chatbot.

Step 1: Sign Up (1 minute)

Create Your Account

  1. Go to machineavatars.com
  2. Click Get Started or Sign Up
  3. Enter your details:
  4. Email: Your work or personal email
  5. Password: Minimum 8 characters
  6. Name: Your full name
  7. Click Create Account

Verify Your Email

  1. Check your inbox for an email from MachineAvatars
  2. You'll receive a 6-digit OTP code (valid for 60 seconds)
  3. Enter the OTP code on the verification page
  4. Click Verify

✅ You're in! Your account is now active.

Step 2: Create Your First Chatbot (2 minutes)

Launch the Creation Wizard

  1. After login, you'll land on the Dashboard
  2. Click the + Create New Chatbot button
  3. The 3-step creation wizard will open

Wizard Step 1: Choose Chatbot Type

Select your chatbot type:

🎭 3D Avatar Chatbot (Recommended for beginners)

  • Lifelike 3D character with voice and facial animations
  • Choose from 5 avatars: Lisa, Emma, Jack, Sarah, Michael
  • Perfect for: Customer support, virtual assistants, brand ambassadors

💬 Text Chatbot

  • Traditional chat interface
  • Fast, lightweight
  • Perfect for: Quick Q&A, websites, mobile apps

🎤 Voice Chatbot

  • Audio-only chatbot (no visual avatar)
  • Natural voice responses
  • Perfect for: Phone systems, voice-first applications

For this guide, select: 3D Avatar Chatbot

Wizard Step 2: Select Your Avatar

Choose one of our 5 professional avatars:

Avatar Description Voice Best For
Lisa Professional businesswoman Female, friendly Corporate, professional services
Emma Young, energetic Female, warm Customer support, e-commerce
Jack Confident professional Male, authoritative Sales, B2B
Sarah Approachable expert Female, calm Healthcare, education
Michael Friendly guide Male, friendly Tech support, onboarding

For this guide, select: Emma

Wizard Step 3: Name & Configure

  1. Chatbot Name: Give your chatbot a name
  2. Example: "Support Bot" or "Sales Assistant Emma"
  3. Brand Color: Choose a color that matches your brand
  4. Click the color picker or enter a hex code (e.g., #4A90E2)

  5. LLM Model: (Advanced - keep default for now)

  6. Default: GPT-4 Turbo (best quality)

  7. Click Create Chatbot

⏱️ Creation takes 5-10 seconds...

✅ Success! Your chatbot is created.

Step 3: Train Your Chatbot (1 minute)

Your chatbot needs knowledge to answer questions. Let's add some quick training data.

Option A: Upload a Document (Easiest)

  1. You'll be on the Data Training page
  2. Click Upload Files
  3. Select a document:
  4. PDF (product brochure, FAQ document)
  5. Word document
  6. Text file
  7. Click Upload
  8. Wait for processing (10-30 seconds depending on file size)

Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT, Excel, JSON, CSV

Option B: Add Website URL

  1. Click Add Website
  2. Enter your website URL
  3. Example: https://yourcompany.com
  4. Select pages to crawl:
  5. Free Plan: Up to 5 pages
  6. Pro Plan: Up to 50 pages
  7. Click Start Crawling
  8. Wait for crawling to complete (30-60 seconds)

Option C: Quick Q&A Pairs

Perfect for getting started without documents:

  1. Click Add Q&A
  2. Enter a question and answer:
  3. Q: What are your business hours?
  4. A: We're open Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM EST.
  5. Click Add
  6. Repeat for 3-5 common questions

Tip: Start with your most frequently asked questions!

✅ Your chatbot is now trained!

Step 4: Test Your Chatbot (30 seconds)

Try It Out

  1. Look for the Test Chat button (usually in the top right)
  2. Click to open the chatbot preview
  3. Ask a question based on your training data:
  4. Example: "What are your hours?"
  5. Watch Emma respond with voice and animation!

What to expect:

  • Response time: 1-3 seconds
  • Text response appears
  • Voice audio plays (3D chatbots)
  • Avatar lip-syncs to speech (3D chatbots)

Troubleshooting

"I don't know" response?

  • Your question might not match training data
  • Try rephrasing or add more training data

Slow response?

  • Give it a few seconds (first query can take longer)
  • Check your internet connection

Step 5: Embed in Your Website (30 seconds)

Get Your Embed Code

  1. Go to Chatbot Settings or Embed tab
  2. You'll see an iFrame code snippet:
<iframe
  src="https://machineavatars.com/chatbot/User-123456_Project_1"
  width="400"
  height="600"
  frameborder="0"
  allow="microphone; camera"
></iframe>
  1. Click Copy Code

Add to Your Website

Option 1: Direct Embed

  1. Open your website's HTML file
  2. Paste the code where you want the chatbot to appear
  3. Save and refresh your page

Option 2: Widget (Floating Button)

<!-- Add before closing </body> tag -->
<script src="https://machineavatars.com/widget.js"></script>
<script>
  MachineAvatars.init({
    chatbotId: "User-123456_Project_1",
    position: "bottom-right", // or 'bottom-left'
  });
</script>

Option 3: WordPress/Wix/Squarespace

  1. Use "Custom HTML" or "Embed" widget
  2. Paste the iframe code
  3. Adjust width/height as needed

✅ Your chatbot is live!

🎉 Congratulations!

You've successfully:

  • ✅ Created your MachineAvatars account
  • ✅ Built your first 3D chatbot
  • ✅ Trained it with knowledge
  • ✅ Tested the responses
  • ✅ Embedded it on your website

Total Time: 5 minutes

🚀 What's Next?

Customize Your Chatbot:

  • Change avatar appearance
  • Adjust voice settings
  • Write custom system prompts
  • Add more training data

Add More Training Data:

  • Upload additional documents
  • Crawl multiple website pages
  • Add comprehensive Q&A database

Invite Your Team:

  • Add team members
  • Assign roles (Viewer, Editor, Admin)
  • Collaborate on chatbots

Upgrade Your Plan:

  • More chatbots (Free: 1, Pro: 5, Business: Unlimited)
  • More conversations (Free: 50/month, Pro: 1000/month)
  • Advanced analytics

👉 Read: Subscription Plans →

📞 Need Help?

Common Issues:

Contact Support:

  • Email: support@machineavatars.com
  • Live Chat: Available in dashboard (Pro+ plans)
  • Response Time: Within 24 hours

💡 Pro Tips

Tip #1: Start Small

  • Begin with 3-5 Q&A pairs or one simple document
  • Test thoroughly before adding more data
  • Quality over quantity!

Tip #2: Test with Real Questions

  • Ask questions your customers would ask
  • Try different phrasings
  • Check for "I don't know" responses

Tip #3: Monitor Analytics

  • Check which questions are most common
  • Identify gaps in training data
  • Improve based on real usage

Tip #4: Update Regularly

  • Add new Q&As as you get questions
  • Update outdated information
  • Keep knowledge base fresh

Ready to build amazing chatbot experiences? 🚀