If you already use WordPress to manage content on your site, you have the option of syncing your content to Microsoft Start via the Microsoft Start WordPress Plugin.
Install the Microsoft Start WordPress Plugin
Log into your WordPress site with administrator privileges.
In the navigation bar at left, click Plugins > Add New
Type Microsoft Start into the search bar.
Click Install Now and then Activate.
You will now see Microsoft Start listed under Plugins in the navigation bar, and the Microsoft Start Module will be visible at the top left.
Having trouble with this step? Contact WordPress support or your site’s hosting provider for assistance.
Connect Microsoft Start Partner Hub and WordPress
Publish Your Content With WordPress via Editor
Once you have the Microsoft Start WordPress Plugin installed, you can manage syncing by clicking the Microsoft Start Module at the top of your navigation bar in WordPress. Make sure you are logged in with Administrator or Editor privileges to access this feature. You may need to click Reconnect and log in with your Microsoft Start Partner Hub credentials to continue.
In Settings on your WordPress dashboard, select Content and then Publish by Editor.
For best results, set the Writing settings to use the Block Editor as the default for all users. You can enable Allow Users to Switch Editors if desired.
In the navigation bar on the left, select Posts to bring up a list of your articles. Navigate to the post you would like to publish, click Edit, and then tap the Microsoft Start Icon at the top right and make sure Publish to Microsoft is selected.
Select the post you would like to sync to Microsoft Start Partner Hub, remembering to check the compatibility of your article. You may edit the metadata such as category, tag, local news, canonical url, and may republish evergreen articles individually. Currently batch republishing is not supported.
Please note that editing the settings for a single article is only possible when using the Block Editor (Gutenberg). WordPress Classic users should temporarily switch to the other editing mode to access these settings.
Click Publish or the Microsoft Logo up at the top left of your navigation bar to open the Publish Window.
Choose your Featured Image. Be sure to follow the image rights requirements as specified in the Publishing Guidelines.
Write a short Summary of your article.
Choose a Content Category and add Tags with metadata keywords.
Choose your Location. Remember to flag your content as Local to promote your article in the right local feed.
Publish Your Content With WordPress via Feed
You can also publish your articles in batches via RSS or ATOM feed. Once set up, all articles published to your WordPress will automatically cross-publish to Microsoft Start and update about every 15 minutes. Custom article settings are not supported at this time.
To set up your feed, Navigate to Microsoft Start > Settings > Content and select Automatically Publish New Posts to Microsoft.
Avoiding Feed Errors
WordPress users are recommended to publish via WordPress using the Publish by Feed setting. If you already set up feed ingestion on MSPH, set the Microsoft Start WordPress plugin to turn off Automatically Publish New Posts to Microsoft, so your ingestion isn't duplicated, which can result in double posts of the same articles.
Avoiding Content Display Errors
If you notice missing components or unexpected layout changes when your WordPress posts are published on MSPH, you may have issues:
Missing Content
Your article may be using a custom JavaScript snippet to render a piece of content. This can sometimes happen with third-party widgets. MSPH filters out JavaScript upon feed ingestion.
Your article may be using elements that are not supported by Microsoft Start, such as <form> or images with hyperlinks. Unsupported elements are filtered out upon feed ingestion. To learn what elements Microsoft Start supports, read the Feed Content Specifications guide.
Misplaced Content
Your article might have used the mixed layout of pictures and texts, but the pictures in Microsoft Start articles will be displayed as separate paragraphs.
Your article page may use custom CSS styles, and custom styles will not be imported into MSPH.
To work around the needs such as embedding an affiliate widget in the article, you might use a hyperlink text instead.
Republishing Existing Articles
You can republish evergreen articles via Publish by Editor. Navigate to the list of All Posts, select the one you would like to republish, and hit Publish on the right.
Take note that the publish date displayed on Microsoft Start will update to the date you republish, not the original date you posted the article on WordPress.
Unpublishing Articles
You can take down any post by using the Microsoft Start Partner Hub dashboard. Navigate to Management > Content, select the post, and click Unpublish. Please note that using Delete is not recommended, as this renders the article unrecoverable after deletion.
If you don't plan to ever republish the article to Microsoft Start, remember turn off Publish to Microsoft in the block editor status for the article on WordPress so it isn't republished again when you update the post.
Checking the Status of an Article
An article may have one of several statuses, such as Draft, Under Review, Published, Rejected, Not Found, and Unknown. You have two ways to check the status of an article.
Checking Status via the WordPress Plugin
Make sure you have WordPress set to Publish by Editor, and navigate to All Posts. The status for each article is listed in the Microsoft Start Publish Status column.
Checking Status via Microsoft Start Partner Hub
If you wish to keep WordPress set to Publish by Feed mode, you can check the status of your articles on the MSPH dashboard. Navigate to Management > Content
Issue Diagnosis
You can use the dashboard to diagnose issues with your feed.
