# WordPress

> Share articles to your channels from the WordPress editor, or automatically when they're published.

The [Orbitwrite for WordPress](https://wordpress.org/plugins/orbitwrite) plugin puts the composer inside WordPress. Write
the social post for an article and publish it now, schedule it, or queue it for your workspace's next free slot. Each
person on your site connects their own Orbitwrite account, so there's no API key to share.

## Before you start

Your site needs:

- A public address over **HTTPS**, since Orbitwrite connects to your site to finish signing you in.
- **Permalinks** set to anything other than Plain, under **Settings → Permalinks** in WordPress.
- WordPress 6.6 or later, and PHP 7.4 or later.

The plugin checks each of these on its Orbitwrite page and tells you which one to change. You also need an Orbitwrite
workspace with at least one [connected channel](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/channels/connect).

## Install and connect

1. In WordPress, open **Plugins → Add New Plugin** and search for **Orbitwrite**. Install it and activate it.
2. Open **Orbitwrite** in the admin menu and choose **Connect Orbitwrite**.
3. Sign in on orbitwrite.com and approve the connection. You're sent back to WordPress with your channels listed.

The plugin posts to the workspace you picked when you signed in, and the composer names it ("Posting to Acme").

## Share an article

In the block editor, open the **Share on Orbitwrite** sidebar from the share icon in the toolbar. It starts the post
from the article's title and link, and attaches its featured image.

![The Share on Orbitwrite sidebar in the block editor: the post text and featured image taken from the article, X and Bluesky selected, and a button to schedule it in the next free slot](https://orbitwrite.com/images/features/wordpress/share-sidebar.webp)

- **Main post**: the text and image every channel uses by default.
- **Channels**: tick the channels to post to. Untick **Same as main post** under a channel to give it its own text or
  image. Each channel shows its character count and flags anything its network won't accept, such as an Instagram post
  with no image.
- **When**: **Next slot** uses your workspace's [posting schedule](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/channels/posting-schedule), **Pick a
  time** takes a date and time, and **Now** publishes straight away. Times are in your workspace's timezone, and the
  sidebar names it.

Images go to each network at the largest size it accepts, picked from the sizes WordPress already generated. A post you
haven't sent is kept if you close the sidebar or reload the page; **Start over from the article** resets it.

On a site using the Classic Editor, the same controls appear in a **Share on Orbitwrite** box on the edit screen.

### After it's sent

The sidebar lists every post sent for the article, with its status (scheduled, awaiting approval or published) and a
link to each live post. Published posts show their impressions, reactions, comments, reposts and link clicks. A post
that hasn't gone out yet can be deleted from there.

The **Posts** list gets a **Social** column showing which articles have been shared, and a **Share** link on each row.

## Auto-share

Under **Orbitwrite → Auto-share**, turn on **Share my articles when they're published** and choose:

![Auto-share settings: the channels to share to, the post text built from template tags, and a preview filled in from the latest article](https://orbitwrite.com/images/features/wordpress/auto-share.webp)

- **Channels**: where each new article goes.
- **Text**: the post, written with template tags that are filled in from the article.
- **Attach the featured image**: on by default.
- **When**: the next free slot, or as soon as the article is published.
- **Share these**: posts, pages, or both.

| Tag          | Filled in with                           |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------- |
| `{title}`    | The article's title                      |
| `{url}`      | Its link                                 |
| `{excerpt}`  | Its excerpt, or the start of the article |
| `{author}`   | The author's name                        |
| `{hashtags}` | Its tags, as hashtags                    |

The preview fills the text in from your latest article, so you can check it before saving.

An article is auto-shared once, the first time it's published, and never if it was already shared from its sidebar. To
leave one article out, turn auto-share off in its **Share on Orbitwrite** sidebar before publishing.

Auto-share settings belong to each author. When an editor publishes someone else's article, it goes to the **author's**
channels with the author's settings.

## Results

The **Orbitwrite** page in the admin menu, and a widget on the WordPress dashboard, compare your last four weeks with
the four before: posts published, impressions, engagements and link clicks, plus your top posts. The page also has a
composer for posts that aren't about an article. For the full picture, open
[Analytics](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/analytics/overview) in Orbitwrite.

![The Orbitwrite page in WordPress: a composer for a post not tied to an article, beside the last four weeks of results and the top posts](https://orbitwrite.com/images/features/wordpress/overview.webp)

## Approvals and permissions

The plugin acts as you, with your role in the workspace. If your role needs [approval](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/collaboration/approvals)
to publish, a post from WordPress waits for a reviewer, and the sidebar shows it as awaiting approval.

## Disconnect

Choose **Disconnect** on the plugin's Orbitwrite page, or remove the WordPress connection under **Settings → MCP →
Connected apps** in Orbitwrite. Either one cuts the plugin off straight away.