Sometimes when you click Connect in the GoPublish sidebar, nothing happens or you end up on your dashboard instead of the “Generate Application Password” screen. Don’t worry—this guide walks you through every common scenario, with simple steps and screenshots to get you publishing in minutes.
1. Introduction
When GoPublish can’t integrate with your WordPress site, it’s almost always due to one of these blockers:
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- Entered a wrong site
- Your browser is hiding pop-ups
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) redirects you away
- WordPress login redirects before you can generate the application password
- A security plugin (e.g. Wordfence) blocks application passwords
2. What Is an Application Password (and How Does It Differ from Your Login Password)?
When GoPublish connects to your site, it needs a secure way to authenticate and connect without using your main WordPress login password. That’s where Application Passwords come in. It ensures GoPublish can publish on your behalf without ever touching your main login password.
To use GoPublish, please ensure first that your WordPress is above version 5.6. In the two cases mentioned below, you will need to add a separate plugin for the Application Password feature :
- If your WordPress version is below 5.6
- You are hosting with EasyWP
In both cases mentioned above, you need to install and enable the Application Password plugin first. Use this link to install the plug-in: https://wordpress.org/plugins/application-passwords/
- Sometimes Hostinger-hosted sites have Hostinger plugins that interfere with the Application Password feature. Disable those in case they are present.
3. Troubleshooting Steps
Case 1 – You’ve Entered the Wrong Site Address
When you click Connect, the popup either shows a 404 page or can’t find your site at all.
Common mistakes:
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- Adding an HTTP site. (GoPublish only supports HTTPS sites)
- Typos in your domain (e.g. exmaple.com instead of example.com)
- Using the wrong connection type of WordPress .org and .com site. You must check the “My website is hosted on WordPress.com” check box only when your site is hosted with wordpress.com as host. Check this link to understand the difference. ( https://wordpress.com/support/com-vs-org/ )
- Including /wp-admin or /login.php in the “Website” field (e.g. example.com/wp-admin or example.com/login.php ). Don’t include anything after your site address. Check the below table:
| WordPress Location | Site URL Example | What to Enter in GoPublish |
| Installed in site root (/) | example.com | example.com |
| Installed in a subdomain | blog.example.com | blog.example.com |
| Installed in a sub-directory | example.com/blog | example.com/blog |
Case 2 – Pop-up Window Never Shows
What you should see:
You enter your site and click the Connect button in the GoPublish sidebar. A popup opens asking you to login in the WordPress admin panel. Take example from below video:
What you actually see:
You enter your site and click the Connect button in the GoPublish sidebar—and…nothing happens. It happens when the browser silently blocks the pop-ups by default without asking you.
How to fix:
Step 1: Look for the “Pop-up blocked” icon.
In Chrome or any other browser, you’ll see a small “🚫” or “🔒” or icon on the right side of the address bar.
Step 2: Allow pop-ups from Google Docs
- Click that icon.
- Choose Always allow pop-ups and redirects from docs.google.com.
- Hit Done (or Allow) in the little menu that appears.
Step 3: Connect again
- Reload your Google Doc (⌘R or Ctrl+R).
- Open GoPublish and click Connect—this time, you should see the WordPress login pop-up window.
Case 3: Login Redirects You to the Dashboard
What you should see:
After successfully logging in to your WordPress admin panel, you should see an option to Authorize Application. It’ll be displayed as “An application would like to connect to your account”. You’ll be able to see the GoPublish-Connection-xyz as the application password name with a “Yes, I approve of this connection” button. Take an example from the video below:
What you actually see:
You enter credentials in the popup, but end up on the main dashboard without the Authorize Application screen with any option to approve the Application password creation. It happens due to some plug-in making you redirect to the Dashboard page.
How to fix:
Step 1: Open a new tab in the same browser window where you are using GoPublish add-on
Step 2: Open your WordPress admin panel in the new tab (your-site.com/wp-admin) and log in normally using your credentials.
Step 3: Go back to the GoPublish and start the connection again. This time, the popup will now skip the login screen and land directly on the Authorize Application screen. Click on “Yes, I approve of this connection” button.
In case of Two-factor authentication (2FA): Follow the same directions given above. Login in a new tab -> Start Connection process again
Watch the below video for help
Note: If it still redirects to the dashboard with already logged-in in that browser window, check the next case.
Case 4: Redirected to dashboard even with already logged-in panel
After following the second case solution or you know you’re logged-in in the same browser window, but GoPublish still lands on the dashboard screen in the popup instead of the Authorize Application screen? It happens due to some plug-in making you redirect to the Dashboard page (similar to Case 2).
How to fix:
We will annually generate an Application Password from the WordPress admin panel and use that to integrate the website with your Google Docs.
Step 1: In the GoPublish sidebar, click Switch to Application Password button. You’ll see three fields: Website, Username and Application Password.
Step 2: Enter your website address (example.com), WordPress username (your WP username you use to log-in in your website’s admin panel).
Step 3: Create an application password. For creating application password:
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- You must have Administrator or Editor role
- In your WordPress admin, go to Users → Profile (or Your Profile).
- Scroll down to the Application Passwords section, give it a name (e.g., “GoPublish”), and click Add New Application Password.
- Copy the generated password and paste it into the application password field in GoPublish.
- Click on the Connect button
Take the example from the video below:
Case 5: Wordfence (or Other Security Plugin) Blocks Application Password
In this case, when you log in to the Connection pop-up, you will see that the Application Password is disabled by some plug-in.
Or if you try to generate an Application Password using the User Profile page in WordPress admin, and you see that it has been disabled or is even missing.
Then in this case, your application password has been disabled by a security plug-in. Some plugin examples that can do that: WordFence, One WP Security & Firewall plugin, Astra Security, WebARX, Disable Application Passwords, Solid Security Pro etc.
How to fix:
Step 1: Please follow this tutorial link to enable the Application password for Wordfence plug-in.
Step 2: Start the connection process again. This time, you’ll be able to see the Authorize Application page. Follow the general process for connection after that.
Case 6: Site is hosted on Hostinger
In this case, you will probably see a message on the connection pop-up after log-in: “Application passwords are not available.“
This happens generally due to Hostinger’s default plug-ins, which are installed on the site. There are generally 2 plugins: Hostinger Tools and Hostinger Easy Onboarding.
How to fix:
Step 1: Go to the Installed Plugins page and deactivate the “Hostinger Tools” plug-in.
Step 2: Reconnect the site with GoPublish.
Additional: If it still displays the error, please deactivate the other Hostinger plug-in too: “Hostinger Easy Onboarding” and retry connection.
Case 7: Nothing works
In this case, we recommend using our chat support. You can ping us anytime, and we would love to help you out. We are already 5-star rated on Google Workspace Marketplace and 90% of our reviews mention our awesome support. 😃
Use the chat support icon in the add-on.
