Setting up the WordPress Plugin for the Editorial Calendar Software Desk-Net

Short feature description

The plugin connects Desk-Net with a WordPress site and syncs data between the two systems.

There are two main use cases for syncing data

1. A story is planned and coordinated in Desk-Net. The meta-data of that story is sent to WordPress, where a post is created. Updates made to the story in WordPress are synced back to Desk-Net.
2. Breaking news and other stories are created or published in WordPress. The plugin automatically creates a story list entry in Desk-Net.

Learn more about the Desk-Net and WordPress integration.

Before you start

The following conditions must be met before you can integrate Desk-Net and WordPress:

• You must be a Desk-Net customer or have a trial account (learn more about Desk-Net and get your free test account)
• You must have received the API credentials for your Desk-Net account. If you have a Desk-Net account, please create your API-credentials here.
• You must have admin access to a WordPress.org or WordPress VIP site (version 4.4.0 or higher). This site must not be placed behind a firewall, i.e. it must be accessible via the internet.

Installing the plugin

Install the plugin in your WordPress backend via the page Plugins > Add New.

If you have received the plugin code as a zip file, please use the Upload Plugin feature to install it.

Once installed you will see a line entry called "Desk-Net" in the navigation bar of your WordPress backend.

Connecting Desk-Net and WordPress

You need to "inform" both systems about the other's login credentials. You do this in two steps.

1. Desk-Net to WordPress
   

   In the WordPress backend, click on the label “Desk-Net” in the navigation bar and you will be taken to the page, “WordPress Credentials”. Keep this page open and access your Desk-Net account.

   In Desk-Net go to the list of platforms in the admin area and select the platform you want to connect for editing. Access the tab "Advanced Settings".

   At "Data export / API" select "Default / WordPress". At least for now, don’t alter the setting "All statuses".

   Now enter the URL, API User, and API Secret data that is displayed in WordPress into the corresponding fields in Desk-Net. Don't forget to click Save.

   You may want to test the connection by clicking Test connection.
   
   
2. WordPress to Desk-Net
   

   In the WordPress backend, go to the page "Desk-Net Credentials" in the Desk-Net plugin.

   Enter the API credentials that you have received from Desk-Net and click Save Changes.

That’s it! Now your Desk-Net account and your WordPress site are connected.

Configuring the plugin

Once you have connected WordPress and Desk-Net, the two systems start exchanging data.

Now you can define in more detail how and when data should be synced. This is done on the following pages in the Desk-Net plugin:

• Match status levels
• Match categories
• Insert Desk-Net ID in the URLs
• Content settings
• Slug syncing

Matching status levels

Your stories have status levels in both Desk-Net and WordPress.

You can map these status levels between the two systems so that a status change in WordPress is immediately and appropriately reflected in Desk-Net (and vice versa).

To do so, access the page “Status Matching” in the Desk-Net plugin in WordPress. It displays two sections:

1. "Desk-Net to WordPress": On the left are status levels of your Desk-Net account. (These can be customized in the admin area.)

1. The menus on the right list the WordPress status levels.

   Using these menus, you can define what status should be set in WordPress based on the status in Desk-Net.

   The plugin also displays the "status" Deleted/Removed, allowing you to define what status should be set in WordPress if a story is removed in Desk-Net.

2. "WordPress to Desk-Net": Use this section to define what status level in Desk-Net should be set depending on the status level set in WordPress.

Matching categories

The categories in Desk-Net and WordPress can be matched on the page “Category Matching” in the same way the status levels are matched (see above).

Desk-Net ID in URL

Every Desk-Net story features a unique ID across all Desk-Net accounts.

You can opt to have the ID included in your WordPress URLs to make it easier to identify stories on your website and stories in other systems that may receive the URL.

By default, this feature is OFF.

This is how WordPress-generated URLs will appear:

• Feature OFF:
  
  http://www.your-blog.com/new-story-1

• Feature ON:
  
  http://www. your-blog.com/12345678/new-story-1   (with "12345678" being the Desk-Net story ID)

Content Settings

Users can upload content in Desk-Net. This content is then exported to WordPress.

The plugin allows you to define where this content should be exported to:

• Media files can be inserted into the post's body AND get stored in the Media section.
• Alternatively, you can tell the plugin to move the files to the Media section only (media files are NOT inserted into the post’s body).
• Text will always be added directly to the post's body.

Uploaded content is never inserted into posts with the Published status in WordPress.

Please note the following restrictions in WordPress which can cause files not to be transferred:

• The default maximum file size for a file uploaded to WordPress is 64Mb, which is significantly lower than the 2Gb allowed in Desk-Net.
• WordPress has restrictions on what type of file types can be uploaded (see list of file types allowed by WordPress).

Slug Syncing

If you are using the Slug feature in Desk-Net, you can determine how it syncs with your WordPress installation.

The slug is a single field in Desk-Net, but it can be synced with two different fields in WordPress:

• The URL alias (or permalink / slug), or
• The story title.

When a story originates in Desk-Net, the plugin enters the slug into both fields.

If these two fields are edited in WordPress, or if a story originates with a URL Alias and a story title in WordPress, the plugin will use the field you identify as primary in the slug syncing settings.

Use the slug syncing settings to define which one of these two fields should be synced back to Desk-Net.

User Matching

The plugin automatically matches user profiles in Desk-Net and WordPress based on email address.

If an email address exists in both systems, the corresponding user is matched.

If a story with multiple assignees is created in Desk-Net, the plugin tries to match the email address of the assignee of the first text assignment.

Related link: Desk-Net for WordPress Plugin page in the WordPress Plugin Directory