# WordPress

> Connect a WordPress site with an application password so Ranqo can send your generated posts to it, as drafts or as live posts.

Source: https://ranqo.ai/docs/integrations/wordpress

Connecting WordPress lets you send posts from [Generate Blog](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/generate-blog) straight to your site, as a draft to review or as a live post. Ranqo signs in through the WordPress REST API with an application password, a separate password WordPress issues for one app. Your main WordPress password is never used or stored.

## What you need

- **WordPress 5.6 or later**, self-hosted, or a WordPress.com plan that supports application passwords. WordPress.com sites on plans without them cannot connect: see [WordPress.com sites](#wordpresscom-sites).
- **The REST API reachable from the internet** at your site's address. If a security plugin turns off the REST API or application passwords, the connection cannot work.
- **A WordPress account that can publish posts.** The connection test checks that Ranqo can sign in, not what the account is allowed to do, so an account that cannot publish passes the test and fails later, when you publish.
- **Owner access in Ranqo.** Only the account owner can connect, update or disconnect WordPress. Team members can publish through the connection once it exists. See [Team](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/team).

## Create an application password

### 1. Open your profile in wp-admin
Sign in to WordPress as the account Ranqo will publish as, and go to **Users**, then **Profile**.

### 2. Add a new application password
Scroll to **Application Passwords**. Enter a name you will recognise later, such as `Ranqo`, and add it.

### 3. Copy it now
WordPress shows the password once, as six groups of four characters. Copy it. You can paste it with or without the spaces.

## Connect the site in Ranqo

### 4. Open the WordPress card
In **Integrations**, press **Connect** on the **WordPress** card. The **Connect WordPress** panel opens.

### 5. Fill in the three fields
**Site URL** is your site's address (see the rules below). **Username** is the WordPress username the application password belongs to. **Application password** is the password you just copied.

### 6. Test and connect
Press **Test & connect**. Ranqo signs in to your site with those details before saving anything. If it works, you see **WordPress connected** and the card shows your site's name. If it fails, the panel shows why and nothing is saved.

Each brand connects one WordPress site. To publish, follow [Publishing to WordPress](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/publishing).

## Site URL rules

- **Use your site's public address.** `localhost`, `.local` names, names without a dot and private or loopback IP addresses are refused, because Ranqo's servers cannot reach them.
- **The scheme is optional.** An address without one is treated as `https://`. An `http://` address is accepted as typed.
- **Include the folder if WordPress lives in one**, for example `https://example.com/blog`.
- **Pasting a longer address is fine.** A trailing `/wp-admin`, `/wp-json` or `/wp-login.php` is removed before Ranqo saves the address.
- **Enter the final address.** Ranqo follows a redirect on the same host, such as `http` to `https`, but not to another host. If `example.com` redirects to `www.example.com`, enter `www.example.com`.

## What the test does

Ranqo asks your site's REST API who is signed in, using the username and application password, and reads the site's name for the card. It creates, changes and publishes nothing. The same check runs when you press **Test connection** later, and whenever you save a new application password.

## How your credentials are stored

The application password is encrypted with AES-256-GCM before it is saved, and it is never sent back to your browser: the dashboard shows the site, the username and the connection's status, never the password. Ranqo decrypts it only to call your site's REST API when testing the connection or publishing.

## Manage the connection

On the **WordPress** card, press **Manage**. The panel shows the site, the username, the status and the date of the last publish, plus three actions:

- **Test connection** signs in again and reports **Connection is working.** or the reason it failed. A failure marks the connection as having an error and the card reads **Needs attention**, with the reason shown in the panel. A failed publish does the same. A later successful test or publish clears it.
- **Update application password** replaces the saved password. Use it to rotate the password, or after you revoked the old one in WordPress. Ranqo tests the new password before saving it (**Save password**), and a password that works clears any error.
- **Disconnect** removes the connection after you confirm. Posts already published stay on your site, and Ranqo keeps its record of where each post was published.

Disconnecting does not revoke the application password in WordPress. Delete it yourself in wp-admin under **Users**, **Profile**, **Application Passwords**. Deleting it there first, without disconnecting in Ranqo, makes the next test or publish fail.

To change the site address or the username, disconnect and connect again.

## Plan limits

WordPress connections are counted across all your brands: 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, Unlimited on Agency Growth and Unlimited on Agency Scale. Disconnecting frees the slot. Publishing does not count toward any monthly limit. See [Plans and limits](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/plans-and-limits).

## When the connection fails

The panel shows WordPress's answer in plain words. The common ones:

| The panel says | What to check |
| --- | --- |
| WordPress rejected the credentials | The username and application password. A normal login password does not work here. If **Test connection** passes but publishing shows this, the account is not allowed to publish posts. |
| WordPress REST API not found at this URL | The address. If WordPress is installed in a folder, include it. |
| The site did not respond like a WordPress site | The address, and whether a security plugin has turned off the REST API. |
| The site redirected to a different domain | Enter the address the site redirects to. |
| The site took too long to respond | Your site answered too slowly. Try again, and check the site is up. |
| Could not reach the site | The address is spelled correctly and the site is online. |

More causes are in [WordPress connection fails](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/troubleshooting/wordpress-connection-fails).

### WordPress.com sites

Sites hosted on WordPress.com support application passwords only on the Business and eCommerce plans. Simple, Personal and Premium sites cannot connect. When you type a `wordpress.com` address, the panel warns you before you test; if the test then fails, it names this as the reason. Connect a self-hosted WordPress site instead.

## Related

- [Publishing to WordPress](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/publishing): Send a post as a draft or live, and update it later.
- [Exporting content](https://ranqo.ai/docs/guides/exporting-content): Copy the HTML, Markdown and JSON-LD schema.
