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The WordPress Connector available in Cascade 6.4 and beyond makes it possible to synchronize Cascade content with a WordPress instance.  WordPress is a 3rd party blogging application that supports comments, tags and a host of other Web 2.0 features.

The Cascade WordPress Connector is compatible with WordPress version 2.8.x.

Understanding the WordPress Connector

The WordPress Connector allows connections to be made to various WordPress instances to which Cascade content can be published.  From within a Site, those with access to the Site Administration area can create, edit, and manage WordPress Connectors and their associated Content Types. This allows end-users to easily publish content to both Cascade Server Destinations and/or a WordPress blog.

Things to Keep in Mind

When publishing a WordPress Page that links to another WordPress Page that has not yet been published to Wordpress, the link between these Pages is managed using a WordPress draft.  A draft of the linked-to page is created to serve as a placeholder for the link between the original Page and the linked-to Page until the linked-to Page has been published.

For example, if you publish WordPress Page A which links to an unpublished WordPress Page B, the link to Page B in the associated WordPress blog will essentially be "broken" until Page B is published. Cascade saves these linked-to pages as unpublished drafts because WordPress uses IDs to link to other pages. In order for these IDs to be created and the links maintained, the system has to create these unpublished drafts in order to generate page IDs to which to link when these pages are available on the WordPress blog.

See the diagram below for a simple example of what happens when publishing a page (with links to both live and unpublished pages) to WordPress:

To see more Wordpress Connector notes and potential hazards, click here.

Before Setting Up the WordPress Connector

Before setting up the WordPress Connector, you must set up your instance of WordPress. To do so:

• Install Apache or any other web server that supports PHP
• Install the PHP plugin for your webserver (PHP version 4.3 or higher)
• Install MySQL version 4.0 or higher for WordPress 2.8 (must be MySQL 4.1.2 for WordPress 2.9)
• Follow the WordPress 5-minute install guide

Setting up the WordPress Connector

To create a new WordPress Connector:

1. Navigate to Connectors in the Site Administration area
2. Click "Create Connector"
3. Choose "WordPress" as the Connector type
4. Click "Submit"
5. Fill in the WordPress Connector's name, parent folder, and URL (pointing to the WordPress instance to be used)
6. 
7. Username and password are optional and refer to the login credentials associated with the WordPress instance to be used. If left blank, the connector will be unable to verify.
8. Content Types are selected from the "Content Types" pane.  Each Content Type assignment is paired with a drop-down menu which is used to select the Page Configuration to be published to WordPress.  The Content Type assignment also allows Metadata fields to be mapped to Categories and Tags for the post that is generated in WordPress.  It is important to note that each Wordpress Connector must have its own unique Content Type and Page Configuration combination within a particular Site.  This means that Wordpress Connectors that use the same Content Type must use different Page Configurations or an error will occur.  Connectors that have different Content Types may use the same Page Configuration when those Content Types use the same Configuration Set.

WordPress Connector Fields

General Pane

• System Name - The name of the Connector.  Appears in the left navigation.
• Parent Container - The Connector Container where the Connector is located.  Change to move the Connector to a different Container.
• URL - The address where the WordPress instance is located.
• Username - The username for the WordPress instance that Cascade Server will connect to.
• Password - The password for the WordPress instance.

Content Types Pane

• Content Type - A Content Type to associate with the Connector.  When selected, the Page Configuration, Metadata mapping for categories, and Metadata mapping for tags fields will be auto-populated using information from the selected Content Type.  Due to the way Cascade publishes content to Wordpress, multiple Wordpress Connectors within a Site can not use the same Content Type and Page Configuration combination.  If multiple Connectors are using the same Content Type, those Connectors will have to use different Page Configurations.  It is worth noting, however, that Connectors can use the same Page Configuration if they have different Content Type assignments.
• Page Configuration - Dropdown menu of all available Page Configurations in the Content Type.  The selected Page Configuration is used when publishing to the Connector.
• Metadata mapping for categories - Dropdown menu of all available Metadata fields in the Content Type to use for WordPress categories.  The values in the metadata fields are used to associate the WordPress post to a category.  Multiple categories can be assigned using a comma-separated list in plain-text fields, or radio button and multi-select dropdown Dynamic Metadata fields. Note: Start Date, End Date, Expiration Folder, Review Date and any hidden Metdata fields do not appear in the Metadata field dropdown.
• Metadata mapping for tags - Same as Metadata mapping for categories, but to associate the Metadata values to WordPress tags on a post.

Parameters Pane

• WordPress Connectors do not have any additional parameters at this time.

Editing a WordPress Connector

1. Select the WordPress Connector to be edited from the Site Administration area left navigation.
2. Click the "Edit" tab.
3. Update any of the fields available on the edit screen. 
4. Click the Submit button.

Verifying a WordPress Connector

1. Select the WordPress Connector to be verified from the Site Administration area left navigation.
2. Click the "Verify" link on the view screen.
3. A message will be displayed indicating whether or not the Connector has been verified. If unsuccessful, an appropriate error message will be displayed.
4. Once verified, the "Unverify" link is available to deactivate the Connector.

Publishing using a WordPress Connector

When creating or editing a WordPress Connector, a "Content Types" pane is available. From this pane, a user can specify any number of applicable Content Types and a Page Configuration to be paired with each Content Type.

The rendered content of the default region of the selected Page Configuration is the content that is synchronized with WordPress.

To set up a Page that publishes to WordPress:

1. Create a new WordPress Connector and assign it a Content Type used by Pages that should be synchronized with WordPress.
2. For this Content Type assignment, choose the Page Configuration from the Page Configuration dropdown which should be used as the rendering to be sychronized with WordPress.
3. Finalize the creation by clicking the Submit button.
4. From the View tab, verify the Connector using the "Verify" link (See steps for verifying a WordPress Connector above).
5. Create a Page and assign to it the Content Type assigned to the WordPress Connector created in step 1.
6. Edit the Page and enter blog content.
7. Alternatively, supply a Block and/or Format to the 'DEFAULT' region of the Page's Page Configuration which matches the Page Configuration selected in step 2.
8. Click the Submit button to save the Page.
9. Publish any of the following to sync the Page with WordPress:

• The Page itself
• The Parent Folder of the Page
• The Page's Site
• A Destination in the current Site
• A Publish Set containing the Page

When publishing any of the assets listed in step 9, it is not necessary to select any Destinations (when a list of Destinations is available) in order for content to be sync'ed with WordPress.  Connectors existing in the current Site that are enabled will be listed on the Publish screen and will be automatically processed when publishing.  Note, however, that only Connectors which are deemed applicable to assets included in the publish will be used during the publish.  When only publishing using Connectors, assets that do not apply to any of the enabled Connectors will show up in the corresponding publish report under the Skipped Jobs section.

To publish an asset to both WordPress and a Destination, simply select desired Destinations on the publish screen.

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