WordPress
Overview
Connect your WordPress site to outwrite.ai and publish content directly with one click. Supports posts and pages, categories and tags, featured images, scheduling, and draft mode.
Hosting requirement: Self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org) or WordPress.com Business plan and above. Free, Personal, and Premium WordPress.com plans don't expose the REST API and won't work.
Getting Started
Go to Settings → Integrations, find the WordPress section and expand it. This is where you'll add and manage your WordPress site connections.
What You Need Before Connecting
Before you begin, make sure you have:
- A WordPress site running version 5.6 or higher
- Administrator access to your WordPress site
- Your WordPress username (not your email address)
- An Application Password created in WordPress
Step 1: Create an Application Password in WordPress
Application Passwords are the secure way to connect external apps to your WordPress site.
- Log into your WordPress admin dashboard
- Go to Users → Profile (or Users → All Users → Edit your user)
- Scroll down to the "Application Passwords" section
- Enter a name (e.g., "outwrite" or "Content Generator")
- Click "Add New Application Password"
- Copy the generated password immediately - it won't be shown again!
- Keep this password ready - you'll paste it in the next step
Can't find Application Passwords?
- Your user may not have Administrator privileges
- Your WordPress version may need updating to 5.6 or higher
- A security plugin may have disabled this feature
Step 2: Add Your WordPress Site in outwrite.ai
- In Settings → Integrations → WordPress, fill in the connection form:
Site URL (Required)
- Enter your WordPress site URL
- Format: https://yoursite.com
- No trailing slash, no /wp-admin, no subfolders
- ✅ Correct: https://mysite.com
- ❌ Wrong: https://mysite.com/
- ❌ Wrong: https://mysite.com/wp-admin
Site Name (Optional)
- A friendly name to identify this site (for your reference only)
- Example: "Company Blog" or "Personal Site"
Authentication Type
- Keep this set to Application Password (Recommended)
- OAuth support is coming soon
Username (Required)
- Use your WordPress username, not your email!
- Find it in: WP Admin → Users → All Users
- Look for your username, not your display name
- Must have Administrator role
Application Password (Required)
- Paste the password you created in Step 1
- Include the spaces - copy it exactly as WordPress gave it
- Regular login passwords won't work here
- Click "Add WordPress Site"
Connection Checklist
Before clicking Add WordPress Site, verify:
- ☐ Your WordPress user has Administrator access
- ☐ Site URL is in the correct format: https://example.com (no trailing slash or /wp-admin)
- ☐ You're using your WordPress username (not email address)
- ☐ You've created an Application Password in WP Admin → Users → Profile
- ☐ Your site's REST API is accessible (not blocked by security plugins)
- ☐ All spellings are correct - typos are the most common issue
- ☐ WordPress version 5.6+ is installed
Managing Connected Sites
Once connected, your sites appear in the Connected Sites section:
- Site name and URL are displayed for each connection
- Username shows which WordPress user is connected
- Click the trash icon to remove a connection
You can connect multiple WordPress sites and choose which one to export to each time.
Exporting Content to WordPress
Once you have a connected site, you can export content directly from your Library:
- Open any content piece in your Library
- Click the WordPress icon in the actions area
- The Export to WordPress dialog opens
In the export dialog:
Select WordPress Site
- Choose from your connected sites
- Only active connections appear here
Post Status
- Draft: Content is saved but not published (recommended for review)
- Publish: Content goes live immediately
Publishing Options (when Publish is selected)
- Publish Immediately: Content goes live right away
- Schedule for Later: Select a future date and time
Featured Image
- Search for images from Pexels
- Or upload your own image
- The image will be uploaded to your WordPress media library
Categories
- Type to add new categories
- Click existing WordPress categories to select them
- New categories are created automatically in WordPress
- Selected categories show "(new)" if they don't exist yet
Tags
- Type to add new tags
- Tags from your content keywords are auto-suggested
- Click existing WordPress tags to select them
- New tags are created automatically in WordPress
- Click Export to publish to WordPress
- On success, click "View on WordPress" to see your post
Pro Tips
- Use Draft status first — review the post in WordPress before going live
- Application Passwords are safer than regular passwords — they can be revoked individually without affecting your main login
- One app password per integration — makes revocation clean if you ever disconnect
- Check your REST API — some security plugins (Wordfence, Sucuri) or Cloudflare WAF rules block REST endpoints. Whitelist outwrite if needed
- Spelling matters — typos in site URL, username, or password are the #1 cause of failed connections
- Categories auto-create — you don't need to pre-create them in WordPress
- Tags auto-suggest — keywords from your content are offered as tags
Common Issues
| Error | Likely cause |
|---|---|
401 Unauthorized | Wrong username, password copy/paste error, or user lacks Administrator role |
403 rest_cannot_create | The connected user lacks publish_posts capability |
Post created but response is undefined | A security plugin (Wordfence, Sucuri) or Cloudflare WAF stripped the response. Whitelist outwrite |
| Can't find Application Passwords | User isn't Administrator, WP version is below 5.6, or a security plugin disabled the feature |