Common questions
CandorBrief FAQ
Straight answers about how CandorBrief works, what stays private, and when Pro makes sense.
Getting started
General
The basics: what CandorBrief is, what's included in Free, and how the plugin works day to day.
Does CandorBrief use AI in the background?
No. CandorBrief does not send your Resume/CV, profile, notes, or prompts to an AI service. It provides carefully crafted prompts that a visitor can review and copy into the AI tool they choose.
Is CandorBrief Free useful on its own?
Yes. Free includes one complete professional profile, visibility and access controls, verified connection flows, Protected Brief invitations, and a 40-prompt library with up to three eligible public prompts active at a time.
What do I need to run CandorBrief?
CandorBrief is a WordPress plugin, not a hosted service or a standalone app. You need a WordPress site you manage (WordPress 6.6 or later, PHP 8.1 or later). You need to be able to log in to wp-admin, install and activate plugins, and create a page for your CandorBrief shortcode. Your site also needs working outgoing email for verification and invitation messages. CandorBrief Pro also requires CandorBrief Free.
I don't have a WordPress site. What are my options?
You will need one before you can install CandorBrief. Most web hosts offer one-click WordPress installs, and you own the site and its data. Once it is running, CandorBrief installs like any other WordPress plugin.
Can I use WordPress.com?
Possibly. WordPress.com only allows plugins on its paid plans, and its free plan does not. I have not tested CandorBrief on WordPress.com, so I cannot promise it works there. A self-managed WordPress site is the supported setup.
How technical is setup?
You do not need to code. You install and activate a plugin, import your Resume/CV with the guided prompt, and place a shortcode on a page. If you have installed a WordPress plugin before, you have done the hardest part. The Videos page walks through setup step by step.
Does CandorBrief upload or parse my Resume/CV file directly?
No. You copy a backend-provided prompt into your own AI tool, remove personal details, then paste the returned structured data back into WordPress for validation. CandorBrief never uploads or parses a Resume/CV file itself.
Do I need an AI account to import my Resume/CV?
The guided import runs a prompt in an AI tool you choose, so you need access to one. It is optional. You can also start with a blank profile and enter your details by hand. Either way, CandorBrief itself never sends your information to an AI service.
Can I edit my profile after importing it?
Yes. Every imported section, including Work History, Education, and Skills, is fully editable afterward, with editing tailored to the shape of that specific section.
Can my CandorBrief be found in search results?
Yes, if you choose to. Search visibility is opt-in and separate from whether someone with the link can view your Brief. Turn it on when you’re ready to be discoverable, with a canonical URL, sitemap entry, and preview-friendly tags handled automatically. It’s available on Free and Pro alike.
Privacy & upgrading
Privacy & Pro
What stays private by default, and when a Pro upgrade makes sense.
Do I need an account to view a CandorBrief?
No WordPress account is needed to view information shared publicly. Some access modes invite you to submit and verify an email request before the professional shares more.
When does Pro make sense?
Pro makes sense when you need distinct professional variations for separate roles, audiences, clients, engagements, or opportunities. Your Free primary profile remains intact while Pro adds up to five focused variations.
What Pro information stays private?
Workspace labels, profile-purpose notes, the Workspace contact email, and the existence of other profile variations remain private. Visitors see only the deliberate public presentation you share with them.
Can I make my profile private again after publishing it?
Yes. The public brief only renders while “Publish brief” is enabled, and every section and Professional Link has its own public/private toggle you can change at any time.
Does CandorBrief ever infer or guess protected characteristics?
No. Protected-characteristic inference and final hiring recommendations are explicitly excluded from CandorBrief’s design, encoded directly into the rules that govern how a Resume/CV is imported.
Do I need to create a page for each Pro profile variation?
No. Each Pro Profile Variation is automatically published at its own URL the moment you create it, with nothing to build manually. If you’d rather embed a variation inside a page you’ve designed yourself, you can do that too, using the same shortcode with the variation’s slug.
Does CandorBrief use Google Fonts on public profiles?
CandorBrief includes and locally serves the open-source fonts used by its public-profile styles. CandorBrief itself does not ask visitors’ browsers to contact Google’s servers for profile typography, so it does not send visitor IP addresses or font-request metadata to Google for that purpose. The selected profile style loads only the font files it uses.
If a browser cannot load a bundled font, it uses a safe system-font fallback. The profile’s content, sharing controls, and prompt-copy features still work normally.
Your WordPress theme or other plugins may load their own fonts separately. CandorBrief does not control those requests.
AI prompts
Using AI Prompts
How CandorBrief's copy-only prompts work, and exactly where CandorBrief's responsibility ends.
Can visitors use any AI tool?
Yes. When a prompt is available, the visitor reviews it and copies it into the AI tool of their choice. CandorBrief does not control that external tool or claim to isolate it from its own memory, knowledge, or settings.
Does CandorBrief make hiring decisions or write my Resume/CV?
No. CandorBrief helps a professional organize and share source-based information. It does not invent claims, write a Resume/CV for you, rank candidates, or decide who should be hired.
Are CandorBrief's prompt guardrails enforceable once a prompt leaves WordPress?
No, and CandorBrief is upfront about that. The guardrails are advisory only. Once a prompt leaves WordPress, CandorBrief has no way to control or verify how a third-party AI tool behaves.
Can I see the full prompt before it's copied?
Yes. The complete generated prompt is always visible and reviewable before you copy or download it, and there’s no hidden prompt behavior.
How many hiring-manager prompt types does Free include?
Three approved, copy-only prompt cards: a factual overview, relevant experience against a supplied requirement, and evidence for a supplied responsibility.
Hosting & setup
Technical
What CandorBrief needs from your WordPress host, and where your data lives.
What are CandorBrief's technical requirements?
WordPress 6.6 or later and PHP 8.1 or later, deliberately modest baselines chosen for broad hosting compatibility.
Does CandorBrief use custom database tables?
Yes. CandorBrief stores its data in its own set of tables rather than post meta, including candidate profiles, profile sections, links, and import logs.
Does CandorBrief need any specific hosting setup?
Its tables use the InnoDB storage engine, which the import process depends on for safe, transactional updates, a standard feature on essentially every modern WordPress host.
Do I need an API key or external AI service to run it?
No. CandorBrief never calls an AI API from inside WordPress, in Free or Pro, so there’s nothing to configure or pay for on that front.
Where does my Resume/CV data live?
Nowhere outside your own site. CandorBrief never uploads or parses your Resume/CV file directly. The structured data you paste back in is validated and stored in CandorBrief’s own tables on your own WordPress database.
