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Settings Configuration

This guide explains the main settings available in AI Content Writer, how they affect your campaigns, and how to configure them for best results.

Most settings are managed from the plugin’s admin pages rendered by the Settings class in includes/Admin/Settings.php and its related view files.

Table of Contents

Accessing the Settings Page

To configure AI Content Writer settings:

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin panel
  2. In the left-hand menu, go to AI Content Writer → Settings
  3. You’ll see multiple sections/tabs for configuring the plugin

The Settings page is registered by the Admin::settings_menu() method in includes/Admin/Admin.php and rendered using the Settings class (includes/Admin/Settings.php).

Settings Tabs & Sections

Depending on your version, the Settings screen usually includes at least these sections:

  1. General Settings – Overall behavior of campaigns and scheduling
  2. API Settings – Third-party API keys and related options

Pro versions may include additional sections for advanced scheduling, logging, or integration settings.

General Settings

The General Settings section controls how campaigns behave at a global level. It is registered by the Settings::general_settings() method and rendered through the general-settings.php view file.

Typical options include:

  • Campaign Frequency (Pro)
  • Allowed Hosts for Article campaigns
  • Other global defaults that affect all campaigns

You’ll usually find General Settings under a tab or area labeled General.

API Settings

The API Settings section defines how AI Content Writer communicates with external services:

  • Google Gemini (AI content)
  • OpenAI / ChatGPT (AI content)
  • Pexels (images)

These settings are registered by the Settings::api_settings() method and rendered through the api-settings.php view file.

For a deeper dive into API configuration, see Getting API Keys.

General Settings in Detail

Note: Some general settings, such as campaign frequency, are only fully configurable in the Pro version. The free version uses safe defaults (for example, hourly scheduling).

Campaign Frequency (Pro)

Location: General Settings → Campaign Frequency

This option controls how often AI Content Writer runs its scheduled tasks, such as:

  • Generating titles
  • Generating content
  • Creating thumbnails
  • Publishing posts

In the free version, frequency is generally fixed (e.g., hourly), with the following cron setup in includes/Cron.php:

  • aicw_generate_title – scheduled at base frequency (e.g., hourly)
  • aicw_generate_content – offset (e.g., +5 minutes)
  • aicw_generate_thumbnail – offset (e.g., +10 minutes)
  • aicw_publish_posts – offset (e.g., +15 minutes)
  • aicw_cleanup_logs – daily

In the Pro version, the Campaign Frequency dropdown (seen in general-settings.php) may include options like:

  • Every 15 minutes
  • Every 30 minutes
  • Hourly
  • Twice daily
  • Daily
  • Weekly

You can select how often campaigns should run automatically. This setting typically influences the scheduling used by the Cron class via the aicw_campaign_frequency filter.

Best Practice:

  • Start with Hourly until you confirm that everything runs smoothly
  • Use more frequent intervals only if you need higher content volume and your server + API quotas support it

Allowed Hosts for Articles

Location: General Settings → Allowed Hosts (if available in your version)

Article campaigns scrape content from search results (e.g., Bing). To ensure security and compliance:

  • AI Content Writer introduces an Allowed Hosts option
  • Only URLs whose host matches a value in this list are used for scraping

For example:

bing.com
bing.com/news

This configuration is read by code in the Articles campaign handler (includes/Campaigns/Articles.php), which:

  1. Reads the host from the campaign or falls back to a default host
  2. Extracts the domain (e.g., bing.com)
  3. Checks whether the host/domain is present in the allowed hosts option
  4. Skips scraping if the domain is not allowed

Why this matters:

  • Prevents scraping from random or potentially unsafe domains
  • Keeps content sources under your control
  • Helps align with your content policy and source agreements

Best Practice:

  • Start with a limited list of known, trusted hosts (e.g., Bing)
  • Only add new hosts if you understand and agree with their content usage terms

Other General Options

Depending on your version, General Settings may also include:

  • Default post type for generated content
  • Default post status for new posts (Draft, Pending, Publish)
  • Default author, category, or tags (if managed globally)

In most cases, content-specific defaults are configured per campaign in the campaign edit screen. General settings might provide fallback or global behavior.

When in doubt, treat the campaign edit screen as the primary place to configure post behavior for each campaign, and General Settings as a way to control global behavior like frequency and allowed hosts.

API Settings in Detail

The API Settings tab centralizes all configuration for external services.

Google Gemini API Settings

Purpose:

  • Power Gemini Campaigns
  • Provide AI-generated content using Google’s Gemini models

Typical Fields:

  • Gemini API Key – your Google Cloud API key for the Generative Language/Gemini API
  • Optional: Model selection or related toggles (depending on your plugin version)

Usage:

  • Required to create and run Gemini campaigns
  • Without this key, Gemini campaigns will fail with errors like Gemini API error: ...

See: Getting API Keys and Configuring Gemini Campaigns.

OpenAI / ChatGPT API Settings

Purpose:

  • Power ChatGPT Campaigns
  • Provide content via OpenAI models such as GPT-4, GPT-4o, or GPT-3.5 (depending on your configuration)

Typical Fields:

  • OpenAI API Key – secret key generated in your OpenAI dashboard
  • Optional: Default model selection (if supported)

Usage:

  • Required to create and run ChatGPT campaigns
  • Without this key, ChatGPT campaigns will not be able to generate content

See: Getting API Keys and Configuring ChatGPT Campaigns.

Pexels API Settings

Purpose:

  • Fetch free stock images
  • Automatically assign featured images (thumbnails) to generated posts

Typical Fields:

  • Pexels API Key – your key from the Pexels developer portal

Usage:

  • Used by the Cron class when running the aicw_generate_thumbnail hook
  • If not configured, posts will not receive auto-generated featured images, but content will still be created

See: Getting API Keys and Troubleshooting.

How Settings Affect Campaigns

Here’s how the main settings influence your campaigns:

General Settings

  • Campaign Frequency (Pro): Controls how often tasks run
  • Allowed Hosts: Controls where Article campaigns may scrape from
  • Other defaults: Provide global fallback behavior for new campaigns

API Settings

  • Gemini API Key: Enables Gemini Campaigns
  • OpenAI API Key: Enables ChatGPT Campaigns
  • Pexels API Key: Enables automatic thumbnails

If any required API keys are missing or invalid, corresponding campaigns will:

  • Fail with errors recorded in Logs
  • Not generate new content or images until keys are fixed

Best Practices

  • Configure General Settings immediately after installing the plugin
    • Set allowed hosts for security and compliance
    • Understand the default frequency (especially if you plan to upgrade to Pro)
  • Configure API Settings before creating campaigns
    • At least one AI provider (Gemini or ChatGPT)
    • Pexels for thumbnails
  • Keep Your Settings Documented
    • Note which API keys and models are used
    • Document allowed hosts and content policies
  • Test Before Scaling
    • Start with small campaigns (1 post per run)
    • Check Logs and Dashboard for behavior
    • Increase volume only after confirming stability
  • Review Settings After Updates
    • Plugin updates may introduce new options
    • Visit the Settings page after updates to see what’s new

Last Updated: November 28, 2025 | Plugin Version: 2.1.0

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