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Frequently Asked Questions

SitePal Frequently Asked Questions are organized according to topic

Account Questions
View our pricing page for an in-depth comparison of the different SitePal plans. As you can see - plans differ in both features and allocated streams. A good way to go about it is to first decide which features you need, and make the plan selection accordingly.
Then, if you are not sure how many streams you will require, sign up for a monthly subscription. After the first month, review your account’s stream usage report, and decide whether to upgrade.
An audio stream is a single audio playback instance. Whenever your SitePal character speaks, the audio is streamed from the cloud which counts as 1 audio stream.
Obviously you should select a plan that best serves your website needs. Should you run low on streams you will receive an automated email message, so that you may purchase additional streams or upgrade to a different plan.
After logging into your account, click on "Account Info" at the top of the page. Your account information is displayed, including purchase date, expiration date, stream balance, invoices, and other details.
After logging into your account, click on "Account Info" at the top of the page. Your account information and contact information are displayed. To modify, click on the "Edit Contact Info" button.
Click on "Forgot Password?" at the bottom of the login window. You will be asked to enter your login name (email address), and a temporary password will be automatically generated and emailed to you. Please be sure to write down your new password in a safe place. If you do not receive our email within a few minutes, check your SPAM folder or contact our support at support@sitepal.com.
. If you purchased an account and cannot login, you may have entered your email incorrectly. Contact our support at support@sitepal.com.
Model and Character Questions
A Model is what we call a base avatar, which has not yet been customized by accessory selection or coloring. Every SitePal plan comes with a huge selection of Models to choose from.
A character is an edited Model, after coloring and selection of accessories. Most 2D (Illustrated) Models can be edited by selecting accessories such as clothing, eyeglasses, skin color, hairstyle and more. The edited Model is referred to as a 'character'. Once created, a character may be assigned to your Scene or saved in your character library for future use.
Select the desired 2D Model from the "Models" Panel. Next, customize the accessories for the Model you've selected by modifying the hair, glasses, outfit, hats, necklace/earrings and facial hair. Select the ‘color’ tab to modify skin tone, eye color, hair color & more. Note: Not all options are available for all models.
With 3D models, you have the option to create your own character from a photo. This feature is called “Photoface 3D”. (requires Gold plan and higher).
There are two ways to do so. When you design a character you may add it to your Character Library for future use. To do so select the "My Library" tab and click the “Add to Library” button. Note: this option is available only for 2D characters.
Another way, is to copy an existing Scene in which your previously created character is used. The Scene will be copied, character and all.
Yes. Drag the character to position it in your Scene, and use the + or – magnifying glass buttons (at top left of the display area) to zoom in and out. At the bottom left of the display area is a small tab, that opens the positioning panel. This allows precise numerical control of both position and scale.
Each Scene may only contain one character, but you may embed multiple Scenes in your web page if you wish. In our support pages we include several examples that feature multiple characters in a page. Look for “Advanced API Examples”, and locate “SitePal Conversation”.
Yes. Customers with Gold subscriptions and higher can generate Photoface 3D models. You can upload photos to convert into 3D characters by clicking the '3D Photoface' tab and then the 'Create Your Own' button. A wizard will walk you through the process.
To get good results use a high quality photo, and adhere closely to the guidelines:
  1. face forward & evenly lit
  2. closed mouth (a mild smile is ok – no teeth showing!)
  3. eye-glasses are not recommended but may work….
Audio Questions
Your Audio Library is where all of your audios are saved. The Audio Library allows you to manage, edit and re-use your audios.
Note: If an audio is used, and you edit it, the change will apply to any Scene where it is used.
Whenever you upload or record an audio, it is automatically added to the Audio Library.
Select the "Audio Library" tab and click on the name of an audio to select it.
Audios that you record or upload to your SitePal account, or create via Text-To-Speech, are automatically converted to an optimal streaming format as follows:
  1. Channels: 1 (mono)
  2. Sampling Rate: 22.050 KHz,
  3. Bitrate: 48Kbps
Over 40 languages and hundreds of voices are included, and more are added from time to time. To see what’s available & try out available voices in the SitePal Editor, select the “Audio” tab, and then the “TTS” option. You will see the “Language” menu – where you can browse available languages. Select a language to see available voices for that language, and try out each voice.
There are also special categories of voices: Kids, and Offbeat (see icons to the right of the language menu). Check them out as well!
Audios that you record or upload to your SitePal account, or create via Text-To-Speech, are automatically converted to an optimal streaming format as follows:
  1. Channels: 1 (mono)
  2. Sampling Rate: 22.050 KHz,
  3. Bitrate: 48Kbps
To add a pause, try using a comma, or a period. If you need the pause to be specifically timed, you may want to use SSML tags in your audio. SSML tags allow you to affect some aspects of the generated audio, including adding a precise break in the speech. Learn more and try it out in our example page “Fine Tuning TTS” – click the button at the bottom to learn more.
Note: not every voice supports SSML tags. The voices included in our Fine Tuning example page all do.
Yes, you can do that & much more by using SSML tags in your text. See the previous response for details.
This option is not available at the moment, we are looking into adding it in future.
Scene Questions
A Scene combines a speaking character, a background image (or video) an audio that you record to deliver an “embed-able unit” that you can add to your web page. The Scene is what you eventually include ('embed' is the term often used) in your web page.
By creating multiple Scenes, you can embed several talking characters with several different messages across your website. You can update your Scenes anytime and any change immediately appears in your web pages where your Scenes are embedded.
Yes, the same Scene can be embedded in multiple pages in your site, or you may prefer to embed different Scenes. There is no limit to the number of Scenes you can create.
You need to copy and paste a small piece of HTML code called the “Embed Code”, from your SitePal account into your web page. In your account, locate the “Publish” button for the Scene you wish to embed. Our Getting Started guide describes this process in detail.
Yes. To control this limit click on the ‘Scene Options’ button for your Scene. Under the "Play on load" option select the number of times the audio should play for repeat visitors.
Yes it is possible. We’ve found that variability of the audio message adds to its effectiveness. To do that - create different versions of the audio message, then assign them all to your Scene. The Scene will then randomly select one of those audio each time it is called upon to speak. In your audio library, hold down the ‘CTRL’ key to multi-select.
Another option is to use the API. Programmers can select audios dynamically, that might be specifically targeted to individual visitors.
You may specify the dimensions of the embedded Scene when you publish it.
Every time you make changes to your Scene,this affects any instance of the Scene previously published to your website. Creating separate Scenes is therefore necessary if you want different SitePal content to be included in different pages of your website.
Yes. You would need to generate a video of your Scene and then add the video to PowerPoint. Video generation is support for Gold plan and higher.
There is no limit.
Yes. SitePal is fully compatible with all modern browsers on all platforms including mobile.
Programming Questions
The Standard API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of JavaScript function calls that enable programmers to control SitePal characters’ behavior from the web page in which it is embedded. The API enables control of every aspect of your character’s appearance and actions. This includes speech of course, which, by using the API can be tailored to specific visitors.
Please review the API Reference and examples on the SitePal support pages. The API examples demonstrate the use of every API function, and by copying their source code you can get off to a quick start.
Yes. Programmers may use the API functions to modify the behavior of a character in response to user interaction with the page. For example: add a button that will initiate speech, or speak a specific audio when user rolls over a specific image.
Yes, Programmers can do so using our Client API. Repeated calls to sayText or sayAudio are automatically queued for playback, and will play the audios in sequence. (note: you can disable queuing by turning on “interrupt mode”).