Destinations and field mapping for native connections

When you connect a platform, Serpio needs two things: where the article goes, and which fields at the destination receive which parts of the article. For most connections there is nothing to decide. This guide covers the cases where there is, and what Serpio sends when there is not.

Which connections ask you to choose a destination

A destination picker appears when the connected account can hold more than one place to publish. It lives in the Destination block of the connection dialog, under your publishing settings.

The block tells you what Serpio did. Before a choice is saved it reads "We select the only available option automatically. Choose below when there is more than one." After saving it reads "Used for future articles. You can change this anytime." Click Customize destination to open the dropdown and pick a different site or blog, then Done to collapse it. Save with Save connection.

What Serpio sends to every destination

Serpio builds one article package for all connections. Each platform adapter then places the parts into the fields that platform supports. The names below are the ones you see under Customize field mapping on connections that expose it.

Title

The article title, trimmed to 300 characters if longer.

Article body

The sanitized HTML body. DEV / Forem receives the Markdown version of the same body.

URL slug

The Slug from Search appearance in the article workspace.

Summary / excerpt

The article summary, falling back to the SEO description.

SEO title

The SEO title field.

SEO description

The SEO description field.

Hero image

The generated hero image, passed by URL. WordPress uploads it into the media library and sets it as the featured image. Blogger has no cover field, so Serpio places the image at the top of the post body.

Hero image alt text

The Image alt text you set on the hero, falling back to the title.

Tags / keywords

The Keywords and tags list. Ghost keeps up to 20 tags, Blogger up to 20 labels within its size limit, DEV / Forem up to 4.

Canonical URL

Sent only when the article has an explicit canonical URL. Serpio never invents one and never copies one back from the platform.

Author

The article author, when set.

Publication date

The date the article was published in Serpio, or its creation date if it has not been.

When the field mapping controls appear

Some content platforms let you define your own fields. There Serpio cannot guess where the body belongs, so the connection dialog adds a Customize field mapping control under the destination. None of the currently available connections, WordPress, Ghost, Blogger, DEV / Forem, and Webhook, use custom fields. Each has fixed post fields and Serpio fills them without asking. If you only use these, you will not see the mapping controls.

When a connection does expose mapping, this is how it works. Serpio reads the fields of the collection or content type you selected and matches them to the list above. The dialog states the rule: "Fields are matched by name and type. Change any match, or choose Do not send for optional content."

1. 1

   Read the match summary

   "N article fields matched. Ready to use." means Serpio found a home for everything it can send. "Some required fields need your input." means at least one required match is missing.

2. 2

   Open Customize field mapping

   Each article field gets a dropdown of destination fields with their types. Required fields default to "Select a field…". Optional fields default to Do not send.

3. 3

   Set the title and the body at minimum

   Saving is blocked with "Choose the title and article body fields to finish setup." until both have a destination field.

4. 4

   Resolve required destination fields

   If the collection requires a field Serpio cannot fill, the dialog lists it under "Required in" the platform name. Map supported article content to it, make the field optional in the platform, or choose another collection.

5. 5

   Click Save connection

   Mappings are stored with the destination and reused for every article sent through this connection. Click Done customizing fields to collapse the list.

Mapping, drafts, and live publishing

A destination and its mapping decide where content lands. They do not decide whether readers see it. That is the When Serpio sends an article setting on the same connection: Create a draft or Publish live. The settings are saved together but work independently.

• The draft or live choice is frozen when a delivery is queued. Changing the setting afterwards does not touch deliveries already in flight, and switching to Publish live never promotes a draft that already exists at the destination.
• Webhook connections have one state, Create destination item. Your receiver decides whether the article becomes visible.
• If the platform confirms a different state from the one requested, the result carries a warning such as "Requested draft; the platform confirmed live. Review the article on the platform."

When to revisit a destination

• The site or blog you publish to changed. Click Manage on the connection card, open Customize destination, choose the new one, and click Save connection.
• A delivery failed and Publishing results says "Complete this platform's publishing settings in Connections, then publish again." The saved destination is missing or no longer valid.
• The card reads Finish setup. Credentials were verified but no destination has been saved yet, so nothing is sent.
• On a connection with custom fields, you changed the content model. The dialog asks you to reopen the connection after changing its model so it can re-read the fields.