Publications Overview
Manage and distribute your content across multiple platforms with Forest SEO's automated publication system.
Publications in Forest SEO are the bridge between your generated content and your target platforms. They represent instances of content published to specific integrations like WordPress, Ghost, Tilda, and more.
🎯 What is a Publication?
A publication is a link between:
- Your Content - An article generated in Forest SEO
- Target Integration - A connected platform (WordPress, Ghost, etc.)
- Publishing Status - Current state (pending, published, failed)
Think of it as a deployment of your content to a specific destination.
📊 Publication Lifecycle
Status Types
| Status | Description | Actions Available |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Created but not published yet | Publish, Delete |
| Publishing | Currently being sent to platform | Wait |
| Published | Live on target platform | Unpublish, Sync, Delete |
| Failed | Publishing attempt failed | Retry (Publish), Delete |
🔑 Key Features
1. Multi-Platform Publishing
Publish the same content to multiple platforms:
Benefits:
- Wider Reach - Content appears on multiple sites
- Audience Segmentation - Different platforms for different audiences
- Backup & Redundancy - Same content in multiple places
2. Status Synchronization
Keep track of publication status across all platforms:
Why Sync?
- Verify content is still live
- Update external post IDs
- Detect manual deletions
- Refresh publishing metadata
3. Independent Management
Each publication is managed independently:
| Operation | Scope | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Publish | Single | Push content to one platform |
| Unpublish | Single | Remove from one platform |
| Sync | Single | Update status for one platform |
| Delete | Single | Remove publication record |
Note: Unpublishing from WordPress doesn't affect Ghost publications - they're independent.
📍 Where to Manage Publications
Option 1: Publications Page
Path: Dashboard → Publications
A dedicated page showing all publications across all content:
Features:
- View all publications in one place
- Filter by status, integration type
- Search by content title
- Bulk operations (coming soon)
Option 2: Content Detail Page
Path: Dashboard → Content → [Select Content] → Publications Tab
View publications for a specific article:
Features:
- See all platforms where content is published
- Create new publications to additional platforms
- Manage existing publications
- Quick publish/unpublish actions
🚀 Common Use Cases
Use Case 1: Multi-Site Network
Scenario: You manage 3 WordPress sites in different languages
Workflow:
- Generate content once in Forest SEO
- Create 3 publications (one per site)
- Publish to all sites
- Content appears on all 3 WordPress installations
Use Case 2: Platform Diversity
Scenario: Different platforms for different content types
Strategy:
- WordPress for long-form blog content
- Ghost for news and updates
- Tilda for marketing landing pages
- Each platform optimized for its content type
Use Case 3: Staged Rollout
Scenario: Test content before wide release
Process:
- Publish to staging WordPress first
- Review and refine
- Once approved, publish to production sites
- Unpublish from staging
📋 Publication Information
What's Tracked
Each publication stores:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Link to source article | "10 SEO Tips for 2025" |
| Integration | Target platform | WordPress (myblog.com) |
| Status | Current state | Published |
| External ID | Platform post ID | 1234 |
| External URL | Live post URL | https://myblog.com/seo-tips |
| Published At | When it went live | 2025-01-15 10:30 AM |
| Error Message | If failed, why | Connection timeout |
Status Indicators
Visual indicators show publication status at a glance:
🔗 Integration Compatibility
Publications work with all Forest SEO integrations:
| Integration | Auto-Publish | Manual Publish | Sync Status | Unpublish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ghost | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tilda | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ (External) |
| Wix | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Payload CMS | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Webhook | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Note: Webhook integrations receive content but don't support status sync or unpublish (it's one-way delivery).
🎛️ Publication Settings
Per-Publication Configuration
When creating a publication, you can configure:
Available Settings:
- Target Platform - Which integration to publish to
- Initial Status - Draft or Published (platform-dependent)
- Categories - Platform categories/taxonomies
- Tags - Content tags/keywords
- Featured Image - Include or exclude images
📊 Publication Analytics
Tracking Metrics
Monitor publication performance:
| Metric | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total Publications | All-time publications created | Forest SEO |
| Active Publications | Currently published | Forest SEO |
| Failed Publications | Publishing errors | Forest SEO |
| Platform Distribution | Publications per integration | Forest SEO |
| Success Rate | Successful publishes / Total | Calculated |
⚡ Quick Actions
From Publications List
Available actions for each publication:
| Action | Icon | When Available | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| View | 👁️ | Always | View publication details |
| Publish | 📤 | Pending/Failed | Send to platform |
| Unpublish | 📥 | Published | Remove from platform |
| Sync | 🔄 | Published | Update status |
| Delete | 🗑️ | Always | Remove publication |
From Content Detail
Additional content-centric actions:
| Action | Description | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| + Add Platform | Create new publication | Add content to another platform |
| Publish All | Publish all pending | Quick multi-platform publish |
| View All | Navigate to Publications page | See all publications for content |
🔍 Filtering & Search
Publications List Filters
Find publications quickly:
Filter Options:
- Status - Pending, Published, Failed
- Integration - Filter by platform type
- Date Range - When published
- Search - By content title or publication ID
🛠️ Troubleshooting Publications
Common Issues
| Issue | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Publish fails | Integration disconnected | Reconnect in Integrations page |
| Status not updating | Sync needed | Click "Sync" button |
| Missing external URL | Platform error | Retry publishing |
| Duplicate content | Published twice | Unpublish duplicate |
Error Messages
Understanding publication errors:
🎓 Best Practices
1. Test Before Scale
Start small:
- Create publication to one integration
- Verify it works correctly
- Then scale to multiple platforms
2. Regular Syncing
Keep status accurate:
- Sync published content weekly
- Detect manual deletions
- Update external IDs
3. Error Monitoring
Address failures promptly:
- Review failed publications daily
- Fix integration issues
- Retry failed publishes
4. Clean Up
Remove old publications:
- Delete publications for removed content
- Archive old publications
- Keep publication list manageable
🔗 Next Steps
Ready to publish your content?
📤 Publication Workflow
Learn the step-by-step process for creating and managing publications
🔌 Integrations
Set up platform integrations to publish your content
📄 Content Management
Manage your generated content before publishing
💡 Quick Tips
Tip #1: Create publications early - you can publish later when ready.
Tip #2: Use the Content Detail page for focused publication management of a single article.
Tip #3: The Publications page is best for managing all publications across all content.
Tip #4: Sync regularly to ensure platform status accuracy, especially after manual changes.
Tip #5: Failed publications can be retried - check the error message first to fix the underlying issue.