What can I try if I'm having trouble with WordPress?

This page covers the steps you should take if you're experiencing issues posting to your WordPress blog, as these are usually due to the following:

Incorrect information was provided when the profile was set up, e.g. login details.
Issues with the settings on the WordPress site itself mean that our integration cannot successfully communicate with your WordPress blog.

Most are fairly simple to troubleshoot, so please review the steps below to make sure everything is set up correctly.

Are you using the correct WordPress integration?

Sendible integrates with both types of WordPress blogs, WordPress.org and WordPress.com. You might simply be using the wrong WordPress integration.

The WordPress blog profile is for the self-hosted version of the WordPress software found at WordPress.org. If your blog resides on your own server, or you pay a third party to host your blog - such as BlueHost, DreamHost, SiteGround, or WPEngine, among thousands of others - you should use the WordPress option. This self-hosted option is often available as an auto-installer within your web hosting service.

The WordPress.com blog profile option is for the WordPress.com service that is hosted and managed by Automattic. If you went to WordPress.com to set up your site, this is the option you should choose.

Tip: WordPress.com (hosted) provides free website hosting, and you don’t have to download software, manage a web server, or pay for hosting, but you could pay for some additional services. Learn more about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Are you using the correct blog URL?

When entering the blog URL for this profile, please make sure that you enter the main URL, and not the URL for the page the blog is located in. Our system requires just the URL for the WordPress site and will post any updates to the associated blog automatically, so the URL required is:

Correct: https://www.Sendiblog.com
Incorrect: https://www.Sendiblog.com/resources/blog

Important: Also, ensure you’re entering the correct protocol (HTTP or HTTPS) because entering the wrong protocol will cause your posts not to publish because the connection has not been established correctly.

Are you receiving a 'Forbidden' error when trying to post?

If you’re receiving the bounced message "Forbidden", this usually means that the hosting site of the blog has a firewall blocking the posts.

XMLRPC.PHP may be disabled. Please enable this by following the steps outlined here: How to enable XMLRPC.PHP
The categories you enter in the “Default Categories” field when setting this profile up, may also affect your ability to connect to a WordPress profile.

Please bear in mind, Sendible does not create categories, so you can only enter categories that have already been added within WordPress.

Please click on that WordPress profile on the My Profiles page, and then

Remove the categories you have added in the Default Categories
Click on "Save Settings"

Now, you should be able to post to your WordPress account without any issues, however, if you’re still unable to do so, please contact our Support team by creating a ticket here.

Is your xmlrpc.php is accepting POSTs?

This is the page that Sendible uses to communicate with when posting to a WordPress blog. To do this, use the same URL for your WordPress site, but instead of /wp-login, you add ‘/xmlrpc.php’ i.e. http://www.yourwebsite.com/xmlrpc.php’.

You should see one of these messages:

You should see “XML-RPC server accepts POST requests only”. (This is correct)
If you get an error code of 404 (Page not found). This means this page was moved or renamed. You will need to put the correct page URL into the ‘Blog's URL’ field in the setup of the profile on Sendible. This should then work.
If you get an error code of 403 (Forbidden), this means that the WordPress site probably has XMLRPC disabled. If it is disabled, please look to enable it; otherwise, Sendible will not be able to send post requests to the related server.

For the above, you can use the following doc to help re-enable that page so it will accept requests: https://codex.wordpress.org/XML-RPC_Support

Is your web host blocking XML-RPC connections?

If you have set up to allow connections and everything is set up correctly, we would recommend checking with your web hosting company as this may be disabled "server-wide", which means that it would override your setting.

It is also important to note that firewalls such as Cloudflare can cause various issues when posting, and if you see these issues, we recommend turning off the firewalls.

Users of Plesk should note that if you see the following posting error "You do not have permission to this task." It is likely that the modsecurity option is enabled. This feature identifies the automated connection to WordPress xmlrpc.php as malicious. This issue can be intermittent as modsecurity has a timed reset that may allow connections through before blocking the Sendible IP. This setting is server-wide, so all domains hosted with this are affected by the setting. We recommend that subscribers ask their host about this should they see the error mentioned above.

Have you turned off all WordPress plugins?

Occasionally, certain plugins may block access for posting messages from third-party integrations. The next step would be to check the plugins.

Turn all the plugins off and try to post again, as sometimes certain plugins can interfere when connecting to the blog. To do this, in the WordPress dashboard, go to: Plugin > Installed Plugins > Select all > Deactivate > Apply.

Still an issue?

No worries! We can take it from here.

Please submit a support ticket and be sure to mention you have gone through the typical troubleshooting steps. In addition, providing screenshots and including where you were and the steps you took when the issue happened will help us resolve it more quickly!