publish to wordpress

Publish to WordPress in one click

Connect your self-hosted WordPress site once, then send articles from the WritingTools editor whenever you're ready. Keep formatting and images, add an SEO title and meta description, and choose a draft or a live post or page. Nothing is scheduled.

How to connect

  1. Download writingtools-ai.zip from the Integrations page, or from /downloads/writingtools-ai.zip.
  2. In WordPress, open Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Choose the zip, install it, then activate it.
  3. Open Settings → Permalinks. Choose any option except Plain and save. Plain permalinks block the connection.
  4. Open WritingTools in the WordPress sidebar. Copy the site URL and the connection key (it starts with writingtools_).
  5. In WritingTools, open Integrations, click Connect on WordPress, and paste the site URL and key. Premium is required to save the connection.
  6. In the editor, choose Publish, pick the site, then choose Draft or Published and Posts or Pages.

Good to know

  • WordPress.com and username-and-password login are not used—only the WritingTools plugin key.
  • If the key is wrong, copy it again from the plugin screen in WordPress.
  • If permalinks are set to Plain, WordPress won't accept the connection until you change them.
  • The WordPress user selected under Publish as must be allowed to publish posts.
  • Categories, tags, a featured image, and SEO fields can go with the post when you provide them.
Open connectionsOpen the editorSee Premium

Other destinations: Ghost, Webflow, Wix, Blogger, Webhook, API.

Self-hosted WordPress, plugin key only

This connection is for a WordPress site you administer, including a site in a subfolder. WritingTools does not log in with a WordPress.com account, an application password, or your wp-admin username. The plugin generates a key that starts with writingtools_. You copy that key into Integrations. The editor then talks to the plugin’s status route and to the normal WordPress posts, pages, and media endpoints.

The plugin’s job is narrow. It checks the key, tells WritingTools whether the selected user can publish posts and pages and upload files, and stores an SEO title and description. Publishing itself uses WordPress core. There is no schedule, no social queue, and no “app password still works” fallback.

Install the plugin before you paste anything

  1. 1

    Download the zip

    Get writingtools-ai.zip from the Integrations page or from /downloads/writingtools-ai.zip. Do not rename the folder inside the zip. WordPress expects the plugin slug writingtools-ai.

  2. 2

    Upload it in wp-admin

    Open Plugins, then Add New, then Upload Plugin. Choose the zip, install, and activate. The WritingTools item appears in the sidebar. On activation the plugin creates a key if one does not exist, and it picks a user who can publish. If you activated it from the command line and no user was current, it falls back to an administrator.

  3. 3

    Turn off Plain permalinks

    Settings, then Permalinks. Any structure except Plain, then save. Plain permalinks leave /wp-json/ unavailable, so the status check cannot run. That looks like a missing plugin even when the plugin is active.

  4. 4

    Copy the site URL and the key from the plugin screen

    The key is created in WordPress, not in WritingTools. It starts with writingtools_. Paste the site URL, including a subfolder if WordPress lives in one, and the key, into the WordPress card. Premium is required to save the connection. The check is GET /wp-json/writingtools/v1/status with the header X-WritingTools-Key.

What the editor can send

Publish asks for Posts or Pages, and for Draft or Published. Draft is a WordPress draft. Published is a public post or page. You can attach a featured image, categories, and tags when you supply them. The SEO title and description are written to the plugin’s own post meta. If Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO, SEOPress, or The SEO Framework is active, the same values are written to that plugin’s fields as well. If none of them is active, the plugin meta is still saved.

A wrong key comes back as writingtools_invalid_key. Copy the key from the plugin screen again. If the user selected under Publish as cannot publish posts, the status check refuses the connection even when the key matches. Fix the user on the plugin screen. You can connect more than one site. Each site is its own card, and you pick the site in the editor.

WordPress versus pasting HTML by hand

Pasting into the block editor is still fine for a one-off. The connection is worth it when the same site receives drafts often, when you want the featured image and SEO fields set with the post, or when more than one person publishes from WritingTools. It is not a replacement for the theme, for comments, or for WordPress revisions. Open the draft in wp-admin and read it in the theme before you switch the status to Published.

If you also need a file, export PDF, Word, Markdown, HTML, or plain text from the editor first. Export does not require the plugin. The plugin is only the path onto the site.

Other ways to publish, besides WordPress

Use the destination that already hosts the article. Each setup is different.

All connectionsEditorGhostWebhookPlugin zip

WordPress publishing is part of Premium

You can read the steps on the free plan. Saving the connection and sending a draft or a live post from the editor uses the Premium plan on the pricing page. Exporting a file does not.

See Premium

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Each site is its own connection. Pick the site in the editor when you publish.

No. You send a draft or a live post when you click Publish.