Bulk Publishing

WordPress to Buffer Pro provides a manual option for you to:

  1. Choose one or more Post(s),
  2. Send the status(es) defined for the Post Type under the Bulk Publish action.

Bulk Publish statuses are best for reviving (reposting) old Posts on a one time basis, that you’re not likely to update the content of very often.

Want to automatically send status updates to Buffer for old Posts that you’re unlikely to update?  Use the Repost Settings options.

Define Status Updates

To set your status messages for bulk publishing:

  1. In the WordPress Administration, click on the WP to Buffer Pro > Settings in the menu.
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Settings Menu
  2. Click on the Post Type tab you’ll be Bulk Publishing
  3. Define your default status settings, and optionally define per-profile settings, under the Bulk Publish action.
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk PublishRefer to the Status Settings Documentation for more information on defining statuses.

Select Posts to Bulk Publish through WordPress

When viewing a list of Posts, Pages or Custom Post Types:

  • Click the checkbox beside each Post you want to send to Buffer
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Bulk Actions
  • Under the Bulk Actions dropdown, choose the Send to Buffer option
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Bulk Actions
  • Click Apply

You will then be taken to WordPress to Buffer Pro’s Bulk Publish screen, where you can confirm the Post(s) you have selected. This is documented below.

Select Posts to Bulk Publish through the Plugin

Click on WP to Buffer Pro > Bulk Publish
WordPress to Buffer Pro: Settings Menu

1. Choose a Post Type

Click on the Post Type tab, relevant to the Post Type you want to publish in bulk
WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish Tab

2. Choose / Filter Post(s)

Next, we’ll query our Post Type to get a subset of Posts that we can then choose to publish to Buffer.   Several filters are available, which allow you to determine the Post(s) that you want to select for Bulk Publishing to Buffer.

WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Filter

Published Date

You must specify start and end dates.

Click on the date fields, and use the datepicker to choose the start and end publication dates.

Author

To only publish Posts to Buffer written by specific Author(s), select them by clicking the checkbox beside their username.

Meta / Custom Fields

To only publish Posts to Buffer that contain specific Post Meta (or “Custom Field”) data, use this option

To add a Meta Key / Value constraint:

  • Click the Add Meta / Custom Field Condition Button
  • Key: The Post Meta Key to search
  • Compare: How to compare the Value
  • Value: The Value required (or not required, depending on the Compare option above)

To remove an existing Meta Key / Value constraint, click the Remove button beside the Key/Value pair.

Search Terms

Posts will only be published to Buffer if their Title or Content contain the given search term(s).

If you’re looking to restrict Posts by Page Builder or Advanced Custom Fields data, you’ll need to use the Meta / Custom Fields option above with the ‘LIKE’ comparison.  Most Page Builders / ACF data is stored in Post Meta, meaning the Search Terms options here will not apply.

Taxonomy Terms

Depending on your Post Type, you’ll see options to select Terms for e.g. Categories, Tags.  Posts will only be included for publication if they match any of the chosen term(s).

To add Term(s):

  • Start typing in the Taxonomy field for the Term
  • Select the Term from the dropdown list
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Taxonomy Term: Search
  • Repeat for additional Term(s) that you require for the Post to be included for publication
    WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Taxonomy Term: Search

Order

  • Order By: Defines how to order Posts that will be added to your Buffer queue.
  • Order: Defines the order in which Posts will be processed and added to your Buffer queue.  This is used in combination with the Order By setting – for example, you can choose to send Posts to Buffer starting with the oldest published date first.

Click Choose Posts

3. Select which Post(s) to publish to your Buffer account

Based on the query conditions entered above, or the Posts chosen in the Post Edit screen, you’ll now see any matching Post(s):

WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Select Posts

Either use the Select All option to choose to publish all Posts to Buffer, or use the checkboxes beside the Post(s) you want to publish to Buffer.

Click Publish to Buffer Now to publish the selected Post(s) to Buffer.


Publishing Progress

WordPress to Buffer Pro will display on screen progress whilst it publishes each of your Post(s) to Buffer.  Make sure you don’t close your browser window / tab until this process is complete.

For each Post and status, you’ll see an on screen message confirming whether publication succeeded or not.

WordPress to Buffer Pro: Bulk Publish: Log

Programmatically Bulk Publish

To programmatically Bulk Publish Posts to Buffer, without having to user the above interface, refer to the WP-CLI documentation.

Testing

Sometimes Bulk Publishing Posts, Pages or Custom Post Types may (or may not) send statuses as expected.

WordPress to Buffer Pro’s Test Mode allows you to test your Plugin and status(es) configuration, logging the result as if a status would be sent to Buffer, without actually sending it.

Want to test Reposting?  Refer to the Repost Settings: Testing Documentation
Want to test Publish or Update actions?  Refer to the Status Settings: Testing Documentation

1. Enable Test Mode

Enable Test Mode in the Plugin’s Settings.

2. Enable Logging

Enable Logging in the Plugin’s Settings.

3. Test: Bulk Publish

In the WordPress Administration, either:

In WP to Buffer Pro > Logs, filter by Result = Test:
WordPress to Buffer Pro: Repost Settings: Debugging: Log: Filter Results

You’ll see status(es) that would have been sent.  Make a note of any errors or issues, and make configuration changes as necessary to resolve:
WordPress to Buffer Pro: Repost Settings: Debugging: Log: Filter Results Example