WordPress integration
Approved work lands in WordPress, without copy-paste.
Publish to WordPress over the REST API with drafts, scheduling, media, and native block markup.
How it works
SearchHandled connects to your WordPress site with an Application Password and writes through the core REST API. We create posts with titles, slugs, body content, featured images, categories, tags, and metadata, and we can update existing posts for refresh work. Media is uploaded through the same API and attached to the post before it goes anywhere near your readers.
WordPress supports draft, publish, future (scheduled), pending, and private statuses through the API, and we use them directly. By default new content lands as a draft or a pending review item so your team approves it inside wp-admin. Scheduled posts use the native future status, so your existing editorial calendar and any scheduling plugins see them the same way they see a post scheduled by hand.
Best forTeams already running WordPress who want content to arrive as normal, editable posts inside the workflow they have.
Setup, step by step
- Log in to wp-admin, open Users, and create or select a user with Editor or Author permissions for SearchHandled.
- On that user's profile page, generate an Application Password named something recognizable like SearchHandled.
- Paste your site URL, the username, and the Application Password into the SearchHandled connection form.
- Run the connection check. It verifies REST API access, write permissions, and media upload before anything is published.
- Choose your default publish state (draft, pending, or live) and default category, then send a test draft.
What lands in WordPress
| Element | How it lands |
|---|---|
| Title and body | Converted to the native format, then verified by reading the entry back. |
| SEO metadata | Mapped to the platform's own fields, and flagged where it has none. |
| Images | Uploaded to your media storage with alt text. Never hotlinked. |
| Internal links | Rewritten to your live URLs and checked against redirects. |
| Publish state | Draft, scheduled, and live. |
Field mapping is confirmed against your own content model during setup. Connectors are on every plan; the number of connected sites is what varies.
Best practices
Use a dedicated user for the connection
Create a separate WordPress user for SearchHandled instead of reusing a personal admin account. Posts get a clear author attribution, the Application Password can be revoked without locking anyone out, and audit trails stay readable.
Grant the least role that works
An Editor role covers publishing and media. Avoid Administrator unless you have a specific reason; the API connection does not need plugin or theme access.
Keep drafts as the default at first
Start with draft or pending status until you have reviewed a few deliveries and confirmed formatting, categories, and featured images look right in your theme. Then loosen to scheduled or live publishing if you want.
Tell your security plugin about the integration
If you run Wordfence, iThemes Security, or a host-level firewall, allowlist REST API authentication for the SearchHandled user before connecting. It saves a round of confusing 401 errors later.
Use it in the full SEO workflow
The connector is the last mile, not the strategy. Read the WordPress SEO automation workflow for the evidence gates, draft state, review rules, publish checks, and measurement loop that surround this integration.
Known issues
What practitioners actually report, from official docs, issue trackers, and community forums.
Security plugins or hosts disable Application Passwords
Every API request returns 401 even though the username and Application Password are correct, because a security plugin such as Wordfence or iThemes, or the host itself, has disabled Application Passwords or REST authentication.
How we handle itOur connection preflight detects this case and names the blocking plugin or host where it can, with per-host setup docs for the common managed WordPress providers so you know exactly which switch to flip.
wordpress.org, gigapress.net
WAF or CDN blocks REST writes
GET requests to /wp-json work but POST requests fail with 403, 406, or an HTML challenge page, typically caused by Cloudflare rules or ModSecurity on the origin server.
How we handle itWe detect challenge pages and non-JSON responses instead of treating them as generic failures, and we surface the exact rule or rule ID to whitelist so your host or Cloudflare dashboard change is a two-minute fix.
community.cloudflare.com, blogaid.net
Media uploads fail on size or post-processing
Image uploads return 413 errors or the WordPress message that post-processing of the image failed, usually from server upload limits or image processing timeouts.
How we handle itWe compress images before upload, retry transient failures, and if an image still cannot be uploaded we publish the post with a clear warning rather than failing the whole delivery silently.
wpfixit.com, malcare.com, community.cloudflare.com
Raw HTML becomes one opaque Classic block
Posts sent as plain HTML open in Gutenberg as a single Classic block, which makes them awkward for your team to edit block by block.
How we handle itWe emit proper wp:paragraph and related block-comment markup instead of raw HTML, so posts open in Gutenberg as normal, natively editable blocks.
github.com/WordPress/gutenberg, kinsta.com
Questions teams ask
- Do I need to install a SearchHandled plugin?
No. The integration uses the REST API and Application Passwords that ship with WordPress core, so there is nothing to install or update on your site. If a security plugin blocks that API, you allowlist it rather than adding software.
- Will posts be editable in Gutenberg afterward?
Yes. We write block-comment markup rather than raw HTML, so content opens as regular paragraph, heading, list, and image blocks. Your team can edit anything we publish the same way they edit their own posts.
- Can content go live without a human looking at it?
Only if you configure it that way. The default is draft or pending review, and you choose per-site whether scheduled or immediate publishing is allowed. You can change the setting at any time.
Connect WordPress
One tested path from approval to publish.
Bring your content model to setup. We will map the destination and validate a draft before anything goes live.