Authentication Settings / Quick Start

These steps apply if you’re using either Free or Pro versions of the Plugin.  You won’t need do these again if you are upgrading from Free to Pro.

Register a Hootsuite Account

If you don’t yet have a Hootsuite account, you’ll need to register for a free Hootsuite account here.

Connect Plugin to Hootsuite

Before using WordPress to Hootsuite Pro, you’ll need to authenticate your WordPress to Hootsuite Pro installation to use your Hootsuite account.  This ensures that WordPress to Hootsuite Pro can send status updates to Hootsuite when Posts are published, updated, reposted or bulk published, based on the Plugin’s settings.

  1. In the WordPress Administration interface, click on WP to Hootsuite Pro > Settings
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Settings Menu
  2. Next, click the Authorize Plugin button.
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Authorize Plugin
  3. Login to your Hootsuite account
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Login
  4. Confirm that the next screen asks Authorize WordPress to Hootsuite to access your account? Click on Allow access
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Authorize
  5. If the process was successful, confirmation will be displayed on screen
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Authorized Notice

Connect Social Media Accounts to Hootsuite

If you’ve already used Hootsuite with your social media accounts, you can skip this step.

If your Hootsuite account does not have any of your social media profiles connected to it (for example, you’ve just registered an account with Hootsuite), you might be prompted to connect your social media accounts to Hootsuite:
WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Connect Profiles

This is required, so that WordPress to Hootsuite Pro can then let you choose which social media accounts to send your status messages to.

  1. Click the Connect Profiles button
  2. Follow the on screen steps on Hootsuite to connect your social media accounts.  You can also perform this step directly at https://hootsuite.com/dashboard#/member
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Connect Profiles on Hootsuite
  3. Once complete, refresh the Plugin screen, and you’ll see the connected social media accounts listed:
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Connected Profiles

You’ll see a notice at the top of the screen, stating that at least one social media profile must be enabled.  Continue reading for the next steps.

Enable Social Media Accounts

Finally, WordPress to Hootsuite Pro needs to be configured to tell it which social media profile(s) to send statuses to via Hootsuite.

  1. Click each social media profile in the left hand list of tabs that you want to post to:
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Profiles List
  2. Tick the Account Enabled option
    WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Account Enabled
  3. Click the Save button

The warning message should disappear, and a green tick appear on the Posts tab, telling us that the Plugin has been successfully configured to send your WordPress Posts to the selected social media profiles via Hootsuite when you publish a WordPress Post:
WordPress to Hootsuite Pro: Account Enabled Result

For an in depth guide to configuring statuses, including how to configure different Post Types, actions and conditions, refer to the Status Settings Documentation.