Connect a WordPress site

WordPress is one card under Connections with two ways to connect. WordPress.com / Jetpack signs you in through WordPress.com and asks you to pick a site. Self-hosted WordPress uses an Application Password from your own site's admin. Both create posts through WordPress's REST API. Pick the path that matches where your site is hosted; you do not set up both.

Before you start

• A paid Serpio plan. Native connections are not available on Free.
• An account on the site that can create posts. Editor or Administrator both work.
• For the self-hosted path: WordPress 5.6 or newer, served over HTTPS, with the REST API reachable at /wp-json. WordPress disables Application Passwords on plain HTTP sites by default, and hosts that put the whole site behind Basic Auth, an access proxy, or a VPN block Serpio's requests.
• For the WordPress.com path: permission to authorize Serpio for the site. Serpio only lists sites where the account can edit posts.

Path A: WordPress.com or Jetpack

1. 1

   Choose the tab

   Open the WordPress card, press Connect, and select WordPress.com / Jetpack at the top of the dialog.

2. 2

   Authorize in the popup

   Press Connect with WordPress. A WordPress.com window opens; sign in and approve the request. Keep the Serpio dialog open while the button reads Waiting for authorization. If no window opens, the dialog shows "Your browser blocked the authorization popup. Allow popups for Serpio and try again."

3. 3

   Confirm the site

   Back in Serpio the card reads Finish setup and the dialog says "Credentials verified. Save the connection to finish setup." The Destination block lists the WordPress.com site. With one eligible site the choice is made for you: "We select the only available option automatically. Choose below when there is more than one." Use Customize destination to pick a different site.

4. 4

   Set delivery and save

   Leave Scheduled articles on Review before sending and When Serpio sends an article on Create a draft for the first run, then press Save connection. The card turns Connected.

Path B: a self-hosted site with an Application Password

1. 1

   Create the Application Password

   Sign in to your site's WP Admin and open Users → Profile. Scroll to Application Passwords, type Serpio as the name, and press Add New Application Password. WordPress shows a 24-character string grouped in fours. Copy it now; WordPress does not show it again.

2. 2

   Fill in the form

   In Serpio, select Self-hosted WordPress and complete Site URL (the root of the site, for example https://yourblog.com, without /wp-admin), Admin username (your login name, not your display name), and Application Password (spaces are fine; Serpio strips them).

3. 3

   Press Test & save

   Serpio asks WordPress for the authenticated user and checks that the reply contains a real user with capabilities. Nothing is written to the site. On success the dialog closes and the card reads Connected. There is no site to choose because the Site URL is the destination.

4. 4

   Set delivery

   Scheduled articles and When Serpio sends an article sit in the same form, above the button. New connections default to Review before sending and Create a draft.

What a delivered article looks like in WordPress

Both paths create one post per article. It appears under Posts with status Draft or Published depending on the connection setting. Serpio sends the title, the HTML body, the excerpt, and the slug. The hero image is added to the media library with its alt text and set as the featured image. If that upload fails, the post is still created and the results carry a note such as "The post was saved without its featured image. You can add it in WordPress."

Draft or live

Create a draft saves the post as a WordPress draft. Nothing is public until you press Publish inside WordPress. Publish live creates the post with status publish, so it appears on your site as soon as WordPress confirms it. Serpio never changes a post after creation, so switching the connection to live later does not publish drafts that already exist. Start with drafts, check how your theme renders headings, lists, and tables, then decide.

When something fails

• An Unauthorized reply almost always means the Admin username is wrong. Use the login name shown when you hover your name in the top right of WP Admin.
• A message that the REST API was not found means /wp-json is blocked. Open https://yourblog.com/wp-json/ in a browser; if it returns an error page, a security plugin or host setting is disabling it.
• A Forbidden reply means the account cannot create posts. It needs at least the Editor role.
• If you revoke the Application Password in WP Admin, the next delivery fails and the card changes to Reconnect. Open the card, press Reconnect credentials, enter a new password, and press Test & reconnect. Your delivery settings are kept.
• Disconnect in Serpio removes the saved credential from Serpio only. The Application Password row stays in WP Admin until you revoke it there.

For a longer list of causes, see Troubleshooting connections.