Install the WordPress plugin
Download the plugin from your dashboard, upload it in WP admin, activate. The connection completes on its own.
The plugin is how the platform reaches your WordPress site. It applies approved fixes (alt text, titles and descriptions, schema, llms.txt and agents.md, the agent-friendly 404) and publishes articles as drafts. It authenticates with a secret in the request body rather than the Authorization header, so it works on Hostinger, LiteSpeed and CDN-fronted hosts where the usual WordPress login header never arrives.
1. Download the plugin
- 1Open your project → Settings → Connections → Publishing.
- 2On the WordPress tile, check the site address and click Download plugin.
- 3A small file named ranknexus-connect.zip lands in your downloads. It is built for this project only, so don't reuse it on another site.
2. Upload it in WordPress
- 1In WP admin, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
- 2Choose ranknexus-connect.zip and click Install Now.
- 3Click Activate.
That's it. On activation the plugin introduces itself to the dashboard, and the WordPress tile turns green within a few seconds. There is no secret to copy and nothing to type on either side.
Uploading the ZIP again later replaces the installed copy; WordPress recognises it by its folder name. You rarely need to, though: the dashboard updates the plugin on your site automatically when it needs a newer route.
Confirm it's live
In WP admin, Settings → (your agency's name) shows Status: Connected and the last time the plugin spoke to the dashboard. Or visit yoursite.com/wp-json/nexus/v1/ping in a browser: you should see {"ok":true,"service":"nexus-apply"}.
Disconnecting
Settings → (your agency's name) → Disconnect and deactivate, or deactivate and delete the plugin like any other. Nothing already applied to the site is undone. To lock out an old copy of the plugin (say, a ZIP that was shared by mistake), use Regenerate secret on the WordPress tile and upload the fresh download.
One thing still needs the Authorization header: rewriting markup inside a post body. If those fixes are on your list, follow the auth-header guide's Fixes 1-2 as well.
Manual install (older sites)
Sites connected before September 2026 run the same code as a must-use plugin at wp-content/mu-plugins/nexus-apply.php. They keep working and keep receiving updates; there is nothing to migrate. If you would rather have the file than the ZIP, unzip the download and place ranknexus-connect.php in mu-plugins instead. A must-use copy has no Activate step and no Disconnect button: delete the file to remove it.
Common questions
Why a plugin instead of an application password?
Many hosts strip the Authorization header that application passwords rely on, so a correct password still returns 401. The plugin authenticates in the request body, which every host forwards, and it can also do things the stock REST API cannot: set Yoast and Rank Math fields, write llms.txt, change the 404 page.
Is it safe?
Every write route checks a random per-project secret with a constant-time compare, and the secret only ever exists in your dashboard and in the plugin file. Regenerate secret revokes any older copy instantly.
Will it slow the site down?
No. It registers a few REST routes and a handful of filters that only run when a fix has been applied to that page. There is no front-end script.
Related guides
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