WordPress + Google Sheets: posts published consistently
Publishing consistently sounds simple until you’re staring at half-finished drafts, hunting for a usable stock image, and trying to remember what actually went live last week. Then you lose an afternoon. Again.
This WordPress posting automation hits busy marketing managers hardest, but agency owners and solo operators feel it too. You get steady publishing without the messy scramble, plus a clean Google Sheets log you can share with clients or your team.
Below you’ll see the exact automation, what it fixes, and how it turns “we should post more” into “it’s already scheduled.”
The Problem: Consistent publishing breaks down in the last mile
Most content plans don’t fail because you can’t write. They fail because publishing has too many tiny steps that steal attention. A draft sits in a doc. Someone copies it into WordPress, then re-formats headings, then finds an image, then adds categories, then schedules it, then forgets to tell anyone it happened. Multiply that by a few posts a week and you’ve got a quiet, expensive backlog. And frankly, the worst part is the uncertainty: “Did we publish that already?”
The friction compounds. Here’s where it typically falls apart.
- Drafts get written, but publishing gets postponed because formatting and uploading is tedious.
- Image selection becomes a time sink, and posts go out without visuals when the deadline wins.
- Scheduling is inconsistent, so traffic and indexing look random week to week.
- Status tracking lives in someone’s head, which makes client updates and reporting awkward.
How This Automation Works
The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:
n8n Workflow Template: WordPress + Google Sheets: posts published consistently
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The Solution: Auto-generate, schedule, publish, and log every post
This workflow runs on a schedule (weekly or at the times you choose) and produces a complete WordPress post without you babysitting the process. First, it triggers automatically, then pauses by a randomized delay so posts don’t all hit your site at the exact same minute. After that, it uses ChatGPT to generate a draft that’s meant to be publish-ready, including SEO-friendly structure and keywords. Those keywords also help it find a relevant image through Pexels, so the post doesn’t look bare. Finally, it publishes the post to your self-hosted WordPress site and logs the details to Google Sheets so you always have a simple record of what went out and when.
The workflow starts with a scheduled trigger, then adds a short random pause. From there, AI creates the draft, Google Sheets captures the entry, Pexels provides the image, and WordPress receives the final post via the REST API. No copy-paste. No “where did we put that image credit?”
What You Get: Automation vs. Results
| What This Workflow Automates | Results You’ll Get |
|---|---|
|
|
Example: What This Looks Like
Say you publish 3 posts a week. Manually, a typical post takes about 20 minutes to copy into WordPress, 10 minutes to format, 15 minutes to find and add a decent image, and 5 minutes to update your tracking sheet, so roughly 50 minutes per post. That’s about 2.5 hours a week just on “last mile” tasks. With this workflow, you spend maybe 10 minutes reviewing the output and tweaking tone, then it schedules and publishes on its own (including a random delay up to about 6 hours). You get your week back without the content calendar slipping.
What You’ll Need
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- WordPress (self-hosted) with REST API enabled
- Google Sheets to log post titles, dates, status
- OpenAI API key (get it from your OpenAI API dashboard)
- Pexels API key (get it from your Pexels developer account)
Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll connect accounts, paste API keys, and map a few fields like title, content, categories, and post status.
Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
How It Works
Scheduled publishing kickoff. The workflow runs from a schedule trigger (weekly and/or at predefined times), and there’s also a manual trigger for testing so you can safely validate outputs before you let it run hands-free.
Natural timing is built in. A small code step calculates a randomized pause, then a Wait step delays execution (up to about 6 hours). This keeps publishing from looking like a bulk content dump.
Draft generation and tracking. ChatGPT generates the post draft (with keyword help for SEO and image matching), then the workflow appends key details into Google Sheets so you can see what was created, when it ran, and what should be live.
Image + publish. An HTTP request searches Pexels for a relevant stock image, then the WordPress node publishes the final post with content, metadata, and image setup (including support for featured image from URL if you use FIFU).
You can easily modify the schedule to match your editorial calendar, or switch the logging sheet columns to match what clients ask for. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Schedule Trigger
This workflow begins on a schedule and can also be launched manually for testing.
- Open Weekly Post Scheduler and set the interval to weekly with Trigger At Day set to
[2,4,0]. - Set Trigger At Hour to the expression
={{ 12 }}to post around noon. - If you want a frequent test schedule, enable Utility: Scheduled Auto Trigger and set minutesInterval to
1(disabled by default). - Optionally enable Utility: Manual Test Launch for manual runs during setup (disabled by default).
Step 2: Connect Google Sheets
The AI draft is stored in a spreadsheet before the image lookup and publishing steps.
- Open Append to Spreadsheet and set Operation to
append. - Set Document to
YOURDOCUMENT_URLand Sheet Name toSheet1. - Map the columns with expressions: title to
={{ $json.message.content.title }}, content to={{ $json.message.content.content }}, and Image search keyword to={{ $json.message.content.keywords.join("+") }}. - Credential Required: Connect your googleSheetsOAuth2Api credentials.
Step 3: Set Up AI Draft Generation
The AI model generates the article content, title, and image keywords in JSON format.
- Open Generate AI Draft and confirm Model is set to
gpt-4o. - Enable JSON Output by setting jsonOutput to
true. - Paste your prompt into the Messages content field, ensuring it outputs the JSON structure with
title,content, andkeywords. - Credential Required: Connect your openAiApi credentials.
Step 4: Add Delay and Randomization
A randomized pause prevents predictable posting patterns.
- Open Compute Random Pause and keep the JavaScript that generates a random delay up to 6 hours.
- In Delay Timer, set Amount to the expression
={{$json["delay"] / 1000}}to convert milliseconds to seconds. - Verify the execution order is Weekly Post Scheduler → Compute Random Pause → Delay Timer → Generate AI Draft.
Step 5: Configure Image Fetching and WordPress Publishing
The workflow retrieves a related image and publishes the article with a featured image section.
- Open Fetch Pexels Image and set URL to
=https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?per_page=1&orientation=landscape&query={{ $json["Image search keyword"] }}. - In Fetch Pexels Image, set the Authorization header value to your Pexels API key (replace
[CONFIGURE_YOUR_API_KEY]). - Open Publish WordPress Article and set Title to
={{ $('Append to Spreadsheet').item.json['title'] }}. - In Publish WordPress Article → Additional Fields, set Status to
publishand Content to=<img src="{{ $('Fetch Pexels Image').item.json.photos[0].src.landscape }}" alt="image text" style="width:100%; height:auto;"><br><br> <br><br> {{ $node['Append to Spreadsheet'].json['content'] }}. - Credential Required: Connect your wordpressApi credentials.
Step 6: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Run a manual test to validate the flow before enabling scheduled production runs.
- Manually execute the workflow by enabling Utility: Manual Test Launch or use the Execute button from Weekly Post Scheduler.
- Confirm the run order: Weekly Post Scheduler → Compute Random Pause → Delay Timer → Generate AI Draft → Append to Spreadsheet → Fetch Pexels Image → Publish WordPress Article.
- Check that a new row appears in your spreadsheet and that a WordPress post is created with the image and HTML content.
- Activate the workflow and keep Weekly Post Scheduler enabled for ongoing publishing.
Common Gotchas
- WordPress credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If publishing fails, check the WordPress Application Password (or user role permissions) and confirm REST API access first.
- If you’re using Wait nodes or external rendering, processing times vary. Bump up the wait duration if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
- OpenAI prompts default to “safe and generic.” Add your brand voice, product details, and preferred heading style early, because otherwise you will spend your time rewriting instead of approving.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 30–60 minutes if your API keys are ready.
No. You will mostly connect accounts and map fields like title, content, and categories.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in OpenAI API usage costs (usually a few cents per post) and Pexels API access.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
Yes, and it’s one of the best reasons to use n8n. You can adjust the fields sent in “Publish WordPress Article” to set categories, tags, and SEO meta fields, then tweak the “Generate AI Draft” prompt so it naturally includes your internal links and preferred structure. Many teams also add an extra approval step by saving drafts as “Pending Review” instead of publishing immediately. If you rely on external featured images, you can keep using FIFU and only change how the image URL is passed through.
Usually it’s an Application Password issue or a user role that can’t create posts. Confirm your WordPress REST API is reachable, regenerate the Application Password if needed, and then update the credential inside n8n. If it works in a manual test but fails on schedule, also check hosting security tools that block repeated API calls.
On n8n Cloud Starter, you can run thousands of executions per month, which is more than enough for most blogs. If you self-host, there’s no hard execution limit; it depends on your server size and how long your OpenAI calls take. Practically, this workflow handles “a few posts a day” comfortably on modest infrastructure, since it’s mostly waiting on API responses.
Often, yes. This workflow uses logic that’s awkward in many no-code tools: scheduled triggers, random delays, branching conditions, and a clean multi-step chain from AI to Sheets to an HTTP image search to WordPress publishing. n8n also gives you the option to self-host, which matters once you start running lots of automations every week. Zapier or Make can still be fine for simple “when X happens, do Y” flows. But for a content pipeline, you usually want more control. Talk to an automation expert if you want a quick recommendation based on your posting volume.
Once this is running, publishing stops being a recurring project. The workflow handles the repetitive stuff, and you just approve, refine, and move on.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
