Troubleshooting WordPress connections
Most WP Assist connection problems have a straightforward fix. Work through the relevant section below — if you're still stuck, get in touch and we'll help you resolve it.
Site shows as "Not Connected" in the dashboard
This is the most common issue. Check each of the following:
- Is the plugin installed and activated? Go to your WordPress admin → Plugins and confirm WP Assist is listed and shows as Active.
- Is the API key correct? Go to Settings → WP Assist in your WordPress admin. Check that the API key matches exactly what's shown in your WP Assist dashboard. Even a single extra space will cause the connection to fail.
- Does the site URL match? The URL you entered in WP Assist must match your WordPress site address exactly, including
https://vshttp://. Check under Settings → General in WordPress to confirm. - Is your site publicly accessible? If your WordPress site is in maintenance mode, behind a coming-soon plugin, or on a restricted staging environment, WP Assist may not be able to reach it.
- Try clicking "Verify connection" in the WP Assist dashboard to force a fresh connection check.
REST API is blocked or returning errors
Some WordPress security plugins and hosting configurations restrict access to the REST API. This can prevent WP Assist from connecting even if everything else looks correct.
- Security plugins: Wordfence, iThemes Security, and similar plugins can block REST API requests. Check your security plugin settings and add an exception for WP Assist REST API endpoints, or temporarily disable the restriction to test.
- Hosting restrictions: Some managed WordPress hosts restrict the REST API by default. Contact your hosting provider and ask them to allow REST API access for your site.
- Basic auth on staging sites: If your staging environment is protected by HTTP basic authentication (a browser username/password prompt), WP Assist won't be able to reach it. Whitelist your WP Assist requests or use a non-protected environment.
Plugin doesn't appear in the WordPress plugin search
- Try searching for WPAssist (no space) or wp assist.
- Alternatively, download the plugin .zip directly from the WordPress plugin directory and upload it via Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
WP Assist makes changes but they don't appear on the site
- Check your site's caching. If you use a caching plugin (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, etc.), clear the cache after WP Assist makes a change.
- If you use a CDN (Cloudflare, etc.), you may also need to purge the CDN cache.
- Check the WP Assist activity log to confirm the change was recorded — if it is, the update reached WordPress successfully and a cache clear should resolve the display issue.
Still stuck? Get in touch via the contact page with your site URL and a description of what's happening. We respond quickly and can usually diagnose connection issues within a few messages.