AI Blog Writer with Sources

Getting started

By Luis Rita ·

AI Blog Writer with Sources turns a brief and a short list of sources into a normal WordPress draft. The draft includes citations, warnings and a record of how it was made. It is never published automatically.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0 or later (tested up to 7.1), single site or multisite
  • PHP 7.4 or later with the Sodium extension, which is needed to encrypt saved API keys
  • An API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google (Gemini) or xAI (Grok)
  • WP-Cron running, or a server scheduler that calls wp-cron.php (see Background jobs and WP-Cron)

1. Install and activate

Once the plugin is live on WordPress.org, search for “AI Blog Writer with Sources” under Plugins → Add New. Until then, copy the plugin folder into /wp-content/plugins/ and activate it.

A new AI Blog Writer menu appears with these screens: Dashboard, New article, Writer profiles, Usage and cost, Settings and Diagnostics.

2. Connect your AI provider

  1. Open AI Blog Writer → Settings.
  2. Choose the AI provider and click Save Changes. Keys are stored per provider, so save after switching.
  3. Paste the provider’s API key and save again. The key is encrypted before storage and never displayed again.
  4. Pick a Default model and click Test connection.

For stronger isolation you can define the key in wp-config.php instead. See AI providers and API keys.

3. Set your defaults

On the same screen, set the default language, approximate length and other content defaults. Under Cost, privacy, and advanced controls you can set a monthly cost ceiling and a retention period for prompts, sources and logs.

4. Create your first draft

  1. Open AI Blog Writer → New article.
  2. Enter a topic or working title. Add talking points, audience, search intent, a primary phrase and supporting terms if you have them.
  3. Paste up to eight source URLs, one per line. Only these pages are fetched.
  4. Choose a workflow. Guided pauses so you can check the sources and the outline. Delegated runs straight through to the draft. Start with Guided.
  5. Optionally pick a writer profile.
  6. Tick the review acknowledgement and click Create WordPress draft.

The job screen shows each stage as it runs. When it finishes you get a link to the draft, the sources used, SEO suggestions and the provider usage for the job.

5. Review before you publish

Open the draft in the block editor. The AI Blog Writer sidebar shows provenance, warnings, sources and SEO suggestions, and it lets you rewrite a single section. Check every claim against its source before publishing. The guide How to review an AI-generated article before publishing has a checklist.