Up until now, adding Lantern to a WordPress site meant a script tag. Either you pasted it into your theme's footer.php, added a header/footer plugin to handle it, or told clients to do something with theme files they shouldn't be touching.
It worked. But it added steps. And steps add friction when you're managing bug tracking across a dozen client sites.
The Lantern WordPress plugin is now live in the WordPress plugin directory. You can install it directly from wp-admin in under a minute, with no code, no theme editing, and nothing to maintain.
What the plugin does
The plugin adds a floating bug report button inside the WordPress admin dashboard — visible only to logged-in WordPress admin users, completely invisible to visitors and customers on the front end.
When your client spots something broken while managing their site, they click the button from wherever they already are in wp-admin. They record a quick Loom video showing the issue, submit it, and the bug report lands in your Lantern dashboard with the page URL, browser, and device captured automatically.
There's nothing new for clients to learn or remember. The button is already there, inside the admin they open every day. Most clients figure it out on the first report without any instructions.
From the agency side, the workflow is the same as always — structured issues in your dashboard, scoped by client, with full context instead of "the site looks weird."
How to install it
Three steps:
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New and search Lantern (or LanternHQ Bug Reporter).
- Click Install Now, then Activate.
- Go to Settings → Lantern, paste your client's embed key, and save.
That's the entire setup. The widget appears in the WordPress admin immediately for all logged-in admin users.
Your embed key is in the Lantern dashboard under Clients → [client name] → Embed. Each client has a unique key — use the right one for each site.
If you prefer to install directly: wordpress.org/plugins/lanternhq-bug-reporter.
Why the plugin is cleaner than the script tag
The script tag approach still works and the widget behaves identically either way. But for most setups the plugin is the better choice.
No theme dependency. The script tag lives in footer.php or a child theme. That means it's tied to the theme — if the client switches themes or you hand off the site to another developer, it disappears. The plugin is independent of the theme entirely.
Survives updates. Theme updates can wipe manually edited footer.php files. The plugin doesn't care what the theme does.
Settings UI for the embed key. Instead of editing a script tag whenever a key changes or a new client needs configuring, you update it in Settings → Lantern. No code to touch.
Easier to audit and remove. When someone looks at the plugins list, Lantern is there. It's obvious, it's auditable, and removing it is one click. A script tag buried in theme files is less visible — which cuts both ways.
Works without a header/footer plugin. If you were using something like Insert Headers and Footers just to inject the Lantern script, you can remove that dependency now.
Already using the script tag?
If you've got the script tag working across your client sites and the workflow is smooth, you don't need to change anything. The widget output is identical.
If you want to migrate — especially if you're managing multiple sites and spending time maintaining script tags — the switchover takes a few minutes per site. Install the plugin, paste the embed key, confirm the widget still appears, then remove the old script tag.
For new client sites, the plugin is the default. Search, click, paste key, done.
The plugin is free. Install it from the WordPress plugin directory or search "Lantern" in wp-admin.
If you haven't tried Lantern yet, start a free 14-day trial — no card required. You'll have the widget on your first client site in under five minutes.
Simple bug tracking for agencies. No credit card required.