I’ve now setup a new integration which uses some additional tools (Directus and n8n) to help with this process. The below provides a quick run-through of the process and explanation of this approach.

Advantages

Directus provides a quick way of creating an API around data models. They offer a free cloud version which is perfect for this small-scale integration. It can also be self-hosted in a number of ways, including using Docker which makes it very easy to setup.

Note that you don’t necessarily need Directus – you could use a database (e.g. MySQL) and replace the n8n API calls with database queries instead.

n8n (nodemation) is a powerful automation tool similar to Zapier or Logic Apps. You can build workflows to help you achieve complicated processes using simple building blocks. This also has a Cloud version (paid) or a self-hosted version.

Using the above means that I have far more control over what is going out to Mastodon, and can easily be expand to cover additional platforms e.g. Telegram, Slack or Teams.

• messages can be customised to your liking
• messages can be deleted if a post is updated, and you can resubmit
• you use your own Mastodon account so your profile can be managed fully

The Process

1. In Directus create a Collection called ‘rss_feed_items’ with a field called ‘guid’. This is used to track posts which have already been sent to Mastodon to prevent duplicates
2. In n8n, use a Schedule trigger to run every 5 minutes or so
3. Use the RSS block to fetch the RSS feed for your WordPress blog
4. Use the HTTP block to get a list of existing guids from the Directus API
5. Use the Merge block to keep only new blog posts
6. Use a Code block to prepare the message for Mastodon i.e. get the title, link and convert the categories to hashtags
7. Use the Mastodon block to post the message to Mastodon. This is a third-party block at the moment.
8. Use the HTTP block to call the Directus API and create a record for the guid of the blog post

Using this method, if a blog post is updated, I can just edit my post on Mastodon. It could actually be made more sophisticated by keeping the Mastodon status ID and Mastodon post content in Directus with the GUID, and then if the new content is different to the old n8n can delete the old post and create a new post for you.

Note that on the first run, it will send all the posts that appear on your current RSS feed to Mastodon.

Enjoy!

The post Guide: Using n8n to Send New WordPress Posts to Mastodon appeared first on Cube Websites.

The idea is to automatically make all your blog posts on WordPress available on the Fediverse that people can follow on their apps such as Mastodon.

Caution: before doing this read the notes below around the downsides to this integration.

Doing this is really easy…

1. Note that this will only work on self-hosted WordPress installations
2. Note that there’s very limited configuration options
3. Install the ActivityPub for WordPress plugin
4. Activate it
5. Done – on the plugin settings page it will give you the username and URL that can be shared for others to follow. Any new posts will start to appear to all followers.

Quick fix: when I installed the plugin and went to the Health Checks page, it was showing that my author page was not returning valid JSON with the error:

Your author URL https://cubewebsites.com/author/Cube Websites/ does not return valid JSON for application/activity+json. Please check if your hosting supports alternate Accept headers

The reason for this issue was that the author name format in the URL is from an old version of WordPress. To fix it all you need to do is:

1. Connect to your database using a management tool e.g. phpMyAdmin, TablePlus etc
2. Go to the users table
3. Find your user account
4. Change the user_nicename field to a username/slug format i.e. no spaces, lowercase
5. Save the changes
6. You’ll now see that your author page starts to work and the error message goes away

Why do this?

I only set this up to test this feature out. It’s quite cool but extremely limited as it creates a Fediverse presence for your site with little to no control. From what I can tell it registers your site domain as a Fediverse server to give you a unique presence.

The following is all missing:

• option to modify a post once it’s published
• specify hashtags to include (very useful on Mastodon)
• personalise your profile directly
• receive notifications for any engagement with your content i.e. replies and favourites
• changing your Fediverse address

The Fediverse address, it’s always @admin@yourdomain.com which isn’t a particularly appealing good name in this world of vanity usernames. For profiles it will pick up your profile picture from the user account, so you can modify that. Perhaps it picks up additional fields from your WordPress user profile but I haven’t explored that far.

I made a post that I published without setting the category, so the URL includes the ‘uncategorized’ slug. After fixing this mistake, there was no way to go back and change the automatic post it’s pushed out on the Fediverse feed.

Alternative Approaches

1. An easy option is to create a Fediverse account on an existing Mastodon server. Then connect your blog to push to this account using the API via a plugin, or via the RSS feed
2. Setup your own Mastodon server so you can use your own server address instead of a general one, and then use that to push the same way as above
3. Explore Friendica which seems to have the option of making RSS Feeds into Fediverse accounts

My preferred option is Option 1, and perhaps at a later date when I have the time to setup my own server, I would migrate the account to that server. It provides the most control and personalisation and means you can use the Mastodon app to engage with readers.

The post How To: Add Your WordPress Blog to the Fediverse appeared first on Cube Websites.