WordPress connection fails

When you press Test & connect, Ranqo signs in to your site's REST API with the username and application password and asks WordPress who is signed in. Nothing is saved unless that works, and the panel shows the reason when it does not. Find the message below. Setup itself is in WordPress.

Messages about the site URL#

These appear before Ranqo contacts your site.

• Enter your site URL. The field is empty.
• That does not look like a valid URL. The address cannot be read as a web address. Check for spaces or stray characters.
• Site URL must start with https:// (or http://). You entered another scheme, such as ftp://. An address with no scheme is treated as https://.
• Enter your site's public URL. The address is localhost, ends in .local, has no dot, or is a private network address. Ranqo's servers connect from the internet, so they can only reach a public address. A site on your own computer or office network cannot be connected.

Ranqo tidies what you paste before testing: it removes a trailing /wp-admin, /wp-json or /wp-login.php and any trailing slash, and keeps a folder such as /blog.

Messages about reaching the site#

Could not reach the site#

Nothing answered at that address: a typo in the domain, a site that is down, or a domain that does not resolve. Open the address in a browser to check it loads.

The site took too long to respond#

The site did not answer in time. Try again. If it keeps happening, the site may be overloaded, or a firewall may be holding requests from Ranqo's servers without refusing them.

The site redirected to a different domain#

Ranqo follows redirects on the same host, such as http to https or an added slash, but not to another host. The usual cause is the www prefix: if example.com redirects to www.example.com, enter www.example.com. Enter the address your site ends up on in a browser.

The site redirected too many times#

The site kept redirecting on the same host. Check for a redirect loop, often between http and https, and enter the final https:// address.

WordPress REST API not found at this URL#

The address answered, but not with the WordPress REST API. Check:

• The folder. If WordPress is installed in a folder, the address must include it, for example https://example.com/blog.
• The site. The address may point at a different site or a landing page in front of WordPress.
• Permalinks. Ranqo calls your site at /wp-json/. That address depends on WordPress's permalink rewriting; if it does not load in a browser, your permalinks may be set to Plain under Settings, then Permalinks. Choose any other structure.
• A plugin that disables the REST API. Some security plugins hide it entirely.

The site did not respond like a WordPress site#

The site answered with a web page instead of the REST API's data. Usually a security plugin or firewall served its own page, such as a login or challenge page, or the REST API is turned off. Open https://your-site/wp-json/ in a browser: WordPress's REST API answers with a block of JSON text.

WordPress returned an error#

WordPress answered with an error. The panel shows the HTTP status and, in brackets, WordPress's own message when it sent one. That message usually names the problem, for example a plugin refusing the request.

The site returned an unreadable response#

The site said it was sending data but the data could not be read. A plugin or proxy modifying responses is the usual cause. Try again, then check with your host.

Messages about the credentials#

WordPress rejected the credentials#

WordPress refused the sign-in. Check, in order:

• The username is the one you sign in to WordPress with, not your display name.
• The password is an application password, created under Users, then Profile, then Application Passwords. Your normal WordPress password does not work here. Spaces in it do not matter; Ranqo removes them.
• The application password still exists. If it was deleted in WordPress, create a new one and save it with Update application password in the connection's Manage panel.
• Application passwords are allowed. Some security plugins and hosts turn them off. If the Application Passwords section is missing from your profile, see the next section.
• Nothing in between is refusing Ranqo. A firewall or security service that blocks Ranqo's servers returns the same kind of refusal, so it shows the same message. So does a server that drops the sign-in header before WordPress sees it. Your host can confirm either.

If the test passes but publishing shows this message, the account can sign in but is not allowed to publish. Use an account with a role that can publish posts, such as Author, Editor or Administrator. See Publishing to WordPress.

No Application Passwords section in your profile#

WordPress offers application passwords only when all of these hold:

• the site runs WordPress 5.6 or later;
• the site is served over HTTPS, which WordPress requires before it offers them on a live site;
• no plugin, host setting or custom code has turned them off.

Security plugins often have a setting to disable application passwords or the REST API. Turn it off, or allow application passwords for the account Ranqo uses.

WordPress.com sites#

As soon as you type a wordpress.com address, the panel warns that WordPress.com sites support application passwords only on the Business and eCommerce plans, so Simple, Personal and Premium sites cannot connect. Connect a self-hosted WordPress site instead.

A failed test on a wordpress.com address shows that same warning as its error, whatever the underlying cause.

Messages from Ranqo#

• You have reached the limit for this feature on your current plan. Your plan's WordPress connections, counted across all your brands, are used. Replacing the password on an existing connection does not count. See Plans and limits.
• Only the account owner can do this. Ask them to make this change. Team members can publish through a connection but cannot connect, update or disconnect one. See Team and seats.

When a working connection stops working#

A failed test or a refused publish marks the connection as having an error, and the WordPress card on Integrations reads Needs attention. Press Manage to see the last error, then:

1. Test it again

   Press Test connection. Connection is working. clears the error. Otherwise the reason is one of the messages above.

2. Replace the password if it was revoked

   Create a new application password in WordPress, open Update application password, paste it and press Save password. Ranqo tests it before saving.

3. Reconnect to change the address or username

   Neither can be edited. Disconnect, then connect again with the new details. Ranqo keeps its record of where each post was published, but posts sent through the old connection are not linked to the new one: publishing one of them again creates a new post in WordPress rather than updating the old one.

Related#