WordPress
Connect WordPress to Citeca and publish articles automatically.
There are two ways to connect WordPress. The Citeca Integration plugin is the one to use if you can install plugins — it handles images, structured data and indexing properly. An application password works on any WordPress site without installing anything, and is the fallback when you cannot.
Setup time
About 1 minutes
Access needed
Admin on the site or store
What we touch
Blog posts only
Note
This connection can only read and publish blog posts. Your theme, products and settings are never modified.
What you need#
- Administrator access to the WordPress site
- Either the ability to install plugins, or permission to create an application password
- A REST API that is not blocked — some security plugins disable it
Plugin (recommended)
Install once, paste one Integration Key. Uploads images into your media library, adds article and FAQ markup, and keeps your sitemap fresh.
About 3 minutes
Application password
Built into WordPress, nothing to install. Publishes posts and images over the REST API. Use it when plugins are locked down.
About 3 minutes
Option A — the Citeca plugin#
- 1
Install and activate the plugin
Upload the Citeca Integration plugin in Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, then activate it. A Citeca item appears in your WordPress sidebar.
- 2
Copy your Integration Key
Open Citeca in the WordPress sidebar. A key is generated for you — copy it. Regenerating it here invalidates the old one immediately.
- 3
Paste it into Citeca
In Settings → Publishing, choose WordPress, enter your site address and paste the key. We verify it without creating a test post, so nothing needs cleaning up afterwards.
- 4
Choose publish or draft
The plugin has its own default under Citeca → Settings in WordPress, and it is respected. Leave it on draft if you would rather review each article in WP admin first.
What the plugin adds over an application password
Images are sideloaded into your media library rather than hotlinked, article and FAQ structured data is written properly, your SEO plugin’s sitemap cache is invalidated so new posts actually appear in it, and every publish is logged in WordPress where you can see it.
Option B — an application password#
Heads up
An application password is not your login password. WordPress generates a separate one under your profile, and it is the only thing that will work here.
Connecting WordPress#
Open Settings → Publishing, find WordPress and press Connect. The wizard walks you through the steps below.
- 1
Before you start
One quick thing to confirm — the whole setup takes about a minute.
- Confirm: I have Administrator role on my WordPress site
- You’ll create an Application Password in WordPress and paste it here.
- Most people finish in about a minute.
Note
This connection can only read and publish blog posts. Your theme, products, and settings are never touched.
- 2
What’s your WordPress URL?
Enter the address where your blog lives.
- WordPress site URL — Just the address is fine, like yourdomain.com. We’ll add https:// and tidy it up for you.
- 3
Create an Application Password
WordPress has this built in — no plugin needed.
- The button opens your profile at the Application Passwords section (near the bottom of the page). Sign in first if WordPress asks.
- Type a name so you recognise it later, then click Add New Application Password. Copy ours if you like:
- WordPress shows the password once — copy it before leaving the page.
- 4
Paste your credentials
We verify these straight away, so you’ll know immediately if something is off.
- WordPress username — Your login username — find it under Users → Profile → Username (not the name shown next to “Howdy”). Your account email works too.
- Application Password — The 24-character password WordPress just showed you, not your login password. Spaces are fine.
Note
An Application Password only allows posting articles — it can’t be used to sign in to your site.
You’re all set — articles are on the way
Your WordPress site is connected. We’re preparing your first articles — they’ll publish automatically when ready.
Check it worked#
Verify it’s working
4 checks
- The WordPress card shows Connected, with the plugin version or your username.
- Publishing an article returns a link on your own domain.
- The post appears under Posts in WP admin, with its images in Media.
- Pressing Republish after an edit updates that same post instead of adding another.
To test without waiting for a scheduled article, open any finished article in Blog content and press Publish. You get a result per destination immediately, including the exact error if something is wrong.
Managing the connection#
Once connected, the WordPress card shows a green Connected dot and a Manage button. Everything about the connection is changed from there — there are three controls.
- Test connection — checks the credentials against WordPress right now. If they fail you get the platform’s own response, not a generic message.
- Reconnect — walks through the setup again. This is how you paste a rotated credential or change where we publish. It replaces what is stored rather than adding a second connection.
- Disconnect — deletes the stored credentials and stops publishing. Articles already published stay on your site untouched, and your drafts and schedule in Citeca are kept.
Note
When something fails you get a plain explanation and the steps to fix it. The platform’s own response — status code, endpoint and response body — is folded away under Details for support; “Copy error report” puts all of it in one paste for a support message.
TroubleshootingQuestions#
The plugin did not answer at my site address.
Either the plugin is not active, or a security plugin or firewall is blocking the WordPress REST API. Check the plugin is activated first, then ask your host whether /wp-json/ requests are being filtered.
My Integration Key was rejected.
Keys are site-specific and single-valued. Open Citeca in your WordPress sidebar, generate a fresh key, and paste that one in. If you see a rate-limit message, WordPress is throttling after repeated failures — wait fifteen minutes.
Articles publish, but the markdown shows as plain text.
That was an older application-password behaviour and is fixed: content is converted to HTML before it is sent. Republish the affected article and it will be corrected in place.
Can I publish as a specific author?
Yes, with the plugin — pick the author under Citeca → Settings. With an application password, posts are attributed to the account whose password you used.
Do I need the IndexNow plugin?
No, but it helps. With an application password we install and activate it for you if we can, so new URLs are submitted to Bing — which is what ChatGPT’s search uses. The Citeca plugin handles this itself.
What happens if I regenerate the credentials?
The old ones stop working immediately and publishing fails with an authentication error. Press Manage on the card, then Reconnect, and paste the new ones — that replaces the old credentials rather than adding a second connection.
Can I disconnect without losing published articles?
Yes. Disconnecting only deletes the credentials we stored. Everything already published stays exactly where it is, because those are posts in your own CMS.
Will publishing the same article twice create a duplicate?
No. Articles are matched on their slug, so republishing updates the existing post rather than adding a second one.
Something missing or wrong here? Tell us and we will fix it.