Setting Up WordPress Python Integration: 2 Easy Steps

WordPress is one of the widely used platforms for publishing and managing content. It powers around 14-15% of the world’s top websites. Though WordPress is written on PHP, companies also use other programming languages to access WordPress and automate their workflow. Connecting WordPress and Python using the WordPress REST API allows developers to develop and integrate WordPress websites with other applications. 

WordPress Python Integration allows users access to WordPress Data for Data Analysis and other business activities. In this article, you will learn the steps to set up WordPress Python Integration. We will go through basic operations to handle WordPress APIs using Python. It also includes the benefits of Python WordPress connection and how it helps users automate their workflows.

Prerequisites

• An active WordPress account.
• Some basic knowledge of Python

Introduction to WordPress

WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) and a website creation platform. Launched in 2003, it is now the most popular content management system available in the market, used by 42.8% of the top 10 million websites. WordPress is written in PHP and works best with MySQL Database. It is free-to-use software, and anyone can install it to leverage the features that include plugin architecture, template design, media galleries, online stores, etc.

WordPress offers a user-friendly interface and allows users to publish content without any coding experience. Its drag and drop features make it easier for the users to add and manage content on the web pages. It comes with a plethora of plugins, extensions, and themes that make the website creation a click-and-go process. Users can add more functionalities to their WordPress website using free and paid plugins. WordPress ensures that your website is SEO-friendly so that it can rank higher in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).

Key Features of WordPress

WordPress is a widely used platform by companies and individuals for managing content and online stores. A few features of WordPress are listed below:

• Flexible Post Scheduling: WordPress allow users to schedule their posts at a specific time and date so that you can create content ahead of time and schedule it to be published. 
• SEO-Friendly: WordPress has been optimized for SEO so that your website ranks higher on search engines easily and gets more traffic.
• Easy Installation and Upgrades: WordPress is easy to install as many web hosting providers offer one-click installation of the WordPress software.
• Simplicity: The WordPress interface allows you to get publishing very quickly, with a simplistic UI to supplement your user experience.
• Themes and Plugins: WordPress has a huge marketplace for free and paid plugins and themes that allow users to customize their websites easily.

To learn more about WordPress, click here.

Introduction to Python

Python is an open-source, high-level, general-purpose programming language developed by Guido Von Rossum and released in 1991. It is widely used in various fields including Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Server-Side Scripting, Data Analytics, and Deep Learning. Python lets you work quickly and integrate systems more efficiently. It has a huge robust global community with many tech giants like Google, Facebook, Netflix having dependencies on it.

Due to its simplicity and wide usability, users can easily learn and write short-line codes. Python supports all major Databases and makes it easier for users to test and debug the applications.

Key Features of Python

Python offers a wide variety of applications than other programming languages. A few features of Python are listed below:

• Portable: A Python code written on one system can run another system without any issues.
• Beginner Friendly: Python has a simple and easy-to-understand workflow that suits entry-level coders. It is a hassle-free option for developers to perform any task in short-line code.
• Scalability: Python can easily handle massive amounts of data when compared to other programming languages. It can assist in solving problems that other programming languages are unable to address.

To learn more about Python, click here.

Steps to Set Up WordPress Python Integration

Now that you have understood WordPress and Python. In this section, you will learn how to connect WordPress Python. For this, you have to use WordPress REST API so you can access your WordPress portal using Python code. The following steps to set up WordPress Python Integration are listed below:

• Step 1: Authenticating with WordPress
• Step 2: Connecting WordPress Python 

Step 1: Authenticating with WordPress

• Log in to your WordPress account.
• Now, navigate to your dashboard and click on the “Plugins” option from the side navigation bar, as shown in the image below.

• Here, click on the “Add New” button and search for the “Application Passwords” plugin in the search box.

• Click on the “Install Now” button and then click on the “Activate” button, as shown in the image below.

• Now, go to your profile settings and select the user, as shown in the image below. 

• Here you can see a section for “Application Password“. 
• It will show a text field for “New Application Password Name“. Provide a valid name such as “wordpress_python“, as shown in the image below. 

• Then, click on the “Add New” button. 
• It will show you a pop-up window where you can view the password. Copy it and store it in a safe location because you cannot access it again.

Steps 2: Connecting WordPress Python 

• Using WordPress Python, you can perform many operations and automate your workflow. For simplicity, you will go through how to perform basic CRUD (Create Read Update Delete) operations on your website using WordPress Python Integration.
• The following operations are listed below:
  • Posting Content Using WordPress Python 
  • Updating Content Using WordPress Python 
  • Deleting Content Using WordPress Python 

Posting Content Using WordPress Python 

• Open up your code editor supporting Python.
• Now, import the 3 packages named “requests” for accessing content over the web, “json” to structure the content, “base64” for encoding. To import the following libraries in Python the code is given below.

import requests
import base64
import json

• For simplicity, in this tutorial localhost connection is used instead of a live website. You can use any based on your preference. 
• Now, let’s write some code for connecting WordPress Python using the credentials and valid URL.

username = "your WordPress Username"
password = "your Application Passwords password"

creds = username + ':' + password
cred_token = base64.b64encode(creds.encode())

header = {'Authorization': 'Basic ' + cred_token.decode('utf-8')}

url = "http://localhost/wordpress/wp-json/wp/v2"

post = {
 'title' : 'This is WordPress Python Integration Testing',

 'content' : 'Hello, this content is published using WordPress Python Integration',
 'status' : 'publish', 
 'categories': 5, 
 'date' : '2021-12-05T11:00:00'
}

blog = requests.post(url + '/posts' , headers=header , json=post)
print(blog)

• In the above code, the “username” is the username from which you are accessing your WordPress account.
• The “password” is the password generated from the Applications Password plugin.
• Then, username and password are encoded in the “cred_token“.
• The “url” is the URL of the site from where you want to publish or read posts.
• The “post” is JSON format data that contains all the information on the content to be published.
• The “blog” will send the POST request to the URL specified and provide the valid credentials using headers and submit the “post” in JSON format.

Updating Content Using WordPress Python 

• To update any post, you need to provide some reference to that blog. WordPress follows the Post ID mechanism that it assigns to every published blog. You need to pass the Post Id for the blog you want to update.
• In the above code add the Post ID and add the content in JSON format that you want to update.
• A similar code to update content using WordPress Python is given below.

username = "your WordPress Username"
password = "your Application Passwords password"

creds = username + ':' + password
cred_token = base64.b64encode(creds.encode())

header = {'Authorization': 'Basic ' + cred_token.decode('utf-8')}

url = "http://localhost/wordpress/wp-json/wp/v2"

postID = 2
post = {
 'title' : 'WordPress Python Integration: Updating Content',
 'content' : 'Hello, this content updated.'
}

blog = requests.post(url + '/' + postID , headers=header, json=post)
print(blog)

Deleting Content Using WordPress Python 

• To delete the entire blog from your website you need the PostID of the blog.
• A similar code to delete the blog is given below.

username = "your WordPress Username"
password = "your Application Passwords password"

creds = username + ':' + password
cred_token = base64.b64encode(creds.encode())

header = {'Authorization': 'Basic ' + cred_token.decode('utf-8')}

url = "http://localhost/wordpress/wp-json/wp/v2"

postID = 3
post = {
 'title' : 'WordPress Python Integration: Updating Content',
 'content' : 'Hello, this content updated.'
}

blog = requests.post(url + '/' + postID , headers=header)
print(blog)

That’s it! You have completed WordPress Python Integration and accessed WordPress content using its REST APIs.

Benefits of WordPress Python Integration 

A few benefits of using WordPress Python Integration are listed below:

• Connecting WordPress Python allows companies to leverage the WordPress REST APIs and develop decoupled applications that surface content across multiple channels.
• WordPress Python Integration help developers or individuals automate the workflow by writing Python scripts.
• WordPress Python Integration allows users to integrate their WordPress site with other applications or create a data flow.
• Companies use WordPress Python Integration to connect their internal systems and enhance the digital experiences of their users.

Conclusion

In this article, you learnt about WordPress, Python, and the steps to set up WordPress Python Integration. You also read about the benefits of connecting WordPress Python and how it helps companies and individuals automate the workflow. WordPress Python Integration allows companies to leverage Data Analysis techniques on their website data and use the WordPress content over other applications after implementing some backend logic.

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