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How to Set Up Support Pro: Installation & Configuration Guide

A complete walkthrough for installing and configuring Support Pro on your WordPress site — from plugin upload to SLAs, email, auto-responders, and staff management. Estimated setup time: 20 minutes.

R

Ryan Pullman

Founder & Lead Developer at Metorox Software LLC — 10+ years of full-stack development experience building custom software, WordPress plugins, SaaS platforms, and digital marketing solutions for small businesses. Learn more about Ryan →

Published: July 5, 2026Updated: July 5, 202610 min read

This guide covers every step of installing and configuring Support Pro on your WordPress site. By the end, you'll have a fully functional support ticketing system with SLAs, email notifications, auto-responders, and a customer portal.

New to Support Pro? Read the Support Pro features overview first to understand what's included.

Prerequisites

  • •WordPress 6.0 or higher
  • •PHP 8.1 or higher on your hosting server
  • •MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
  • •Support Pro plugin ZIP file (from your purchase)
  • •Admin access to your WordPress dashboard

Step-by-Step Setup

1

Step 1: Install the Plugin

What you need

  • •WordPress 6.0+ installed
  • •PHP 8.1+ on your server
  • •Support Pro plugin ZIP file (from your purchase)
  1. 1.Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
  2. 2.Navigate to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
  3. 3.Click 'Choose File' and select the Support Pro ZIP file.
  4. 4.Click 'Install Now' and wait for the upload to complete.
  5. 5.Click 'Activate Plugin'.
  6. 6.Support Pro creates its database tables automatically on activation (11+ custom tables).
  7. 7.You'll see a new 'Support Pro' menu item in the WordPress admin sidebar.

💡 Tip: Back up your WordPress database before installing any new plugin. Support Pro creates its own tables and won't modify existing data.

2

Step 2: Configure Company Settings

What you need

  • •Your company logo (PNG/SVG)
  • •Support email address
  • •Business timezone
  1. 1.Navigate to Support Pro → Settings → Company.
  2. 2.Enter your company name — this appears in email templates and the customer portal.
  3. 3.Upload your company logo.
  4. 4.Set your support email address (where notifications are sent).
  5. 5.Select your timezone (SLA calculations use this).
  6. 6.Configure business hours (e.g., Mon–Fri 9am–5pm) — SLA timers pause outside business hours.
  7. 7.Save settings.

💡 Tip: Use a dedicated support email (e.g., [email protected]) rather than a personal email for professional appearance.

3

Step 3: Set Up Email Notifications

What you need

  • •Your email provider credentials (SendGrid API key or SMTP server details)
  1. 1.Navigate to Support Pro → Settings → Email.
  2. 2.Choose your email provider:
  3. 3.• WordPress (wp_mail): Uses your server's default mail function. Simplest but least reliable.
  4. 4.• SendGrid: Paste your SendGrid API key. Recommended for reliable delivery.
  5. 5.• SMTP: Enter server, port, username, password, and encryption type.
  6. 6.Customize email templates — Support Pro uses responsive HTML templates with variable substitution.
  7. 7.Available variables: {ticket_id}, {customer_name}, {subject}, {status}, {priority}, {assigned_to}.
  8. 8.Send a test email to verify delivery.

💡 Tip: SendGrid offers a free tier (100 emails/day) that's sufficient for most small businesses. It's more reliable than wp_mail.

4

Step 4: Configure SLAs

What you need

  • •Your desired response time targets per severity level
  1. 1.Navigate to Support Pro → Settings → SLAs.
  2. 2.Set response time targets for each severity level:
  3. 3.• Severity 1 (Critical): Default 12 hours — system down, data loss
  4. 4.• Severity 2 (High): Default 24 hours — major feature broken
  5. 5.• Severity 3 (Medium): Default 48 hours — minor issue, workaround available
  6. 6.• Severity 4 (Low): Default 72 hours — question, feature request
  7. 7.Configure SLA breach notifications (who gets alerted when a deadline is missed).
  8. 8.Enable/disable business hours for SLA calculations.
  9. 9.Save settings.

💡 Tip: Start with the defaults and adjust based on your team's capacity. It's better to exceed SLA targets than to miss them.

5

Step 5: Add Staff Members

What you need

  • •WordPress user accounts for each support agent
  1. 1.Navigate to Support Pro → Staff.
  2. 2.Click 'Add Staff Member'.
  3. 3.Select a WordPress user from the dropdown.
  4. 4.Assign a role: Admin (full access), Agent (ticket management), or Viewer (read-only).
  5. 5.Optionally assign to a department for ticket visibility filtering.
  6. 6.Repeat for each team member.
  7. 7.Staff members will receive email notifications for assigned tickets.

💡 Tip: Start with yourself as Admin and add agents as your team grows. You can change roles anytime.

6

Step 6: Create Auto-Responders

What you need

  • •Understanding of your support workflow (which actions should be automated)
  1. 1.Navigate to Support Pro → Auto-Responders.
  2. 2.Click 'Create New Rule'.
  3. 3.Select a trigger: new ticket, category match, severity change, status change, staff assignment, or customer reply.
  4. 4.Select an action: send email, add internal note, change status, or assign to staff.
  5. 5.Configure the action details (e.g., which email template, which staff member).
  6. 6.Set priority order if you have multiple rules for the same trigger.
  7. 7.Enable the rule and save.
  8. 8.Test by creating a ticket that matches the trigger condition.

💡 Tip: Start with a simple 'new ticket acknowledgment' auto-responder: trigger on new ticket → send email to customer confirming receipt.

Troubleshooting

❓ Plugin activation fails

✅ Check that your PHP version is 8.1+. Navigate to Tools → Site Health → Info → Server to verify. Contact your hosting provider to upgrade PHP if needed.

❓ Database tables not created

✅ Deactivate and reactivate the plugin. Support Pro creates tables on activation. Check your WordPress debug log (wp-content/debug.log) for database errors.

❓ Emails not being delivered

✅ If using wp_mail, your server may not have a mail function configured. Switch to SendGrid (free tier: 100 emails/day) or SMTP. Check spam folders.

❓ SLA timers seem wrong

✅ Verify your timezone in Support Pro → Settings → Company. Check that business hours are configured correctly. SLA timers pause outside business hours if enabled.

❓ Auto-responders not firing

✅ Verify the rule is enabled (not disabled). Check that the trigger condition matches your test ticket. Review the activity log for auto-responder entries.

❓ Customer portal not showing

✅ Support Pro creates a support page automatically. Check Pages in WordPress admin for the Support Pro page. Ensure it's published and linked in your navigation.

Still stuck? Contact our support team — we respond within 24 hours.

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