To auto-post a WordPress article to X, connect your site to a service that sends a short social post when the article is published. A WordPress plugin is an add-on that extends your site. Buffer is a social publishing service that can hold posts in a queue and publish them to connected accounts.
PressQueue is a free, open-source WordPress plugin that sends posts to social networks through Buffer, including X. You need a WordPress site that lets you upload plugins and a Buffer account with your X account connected. PressQueue sets the sharing rules; Buffer handles the connection to X and publishing.
Set up PressQueue with Buffer
Download pressqueue.zip from the PressQueue download page. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add Plugin > Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP, and activate it.
Under PressQueue > Channels, paste a personal Buffer API key from your Buffer settings. An API key is a credential that lets PressQueue communicate with Buffer. There is no Buffer login button, and PressQueue stores the key encrypted. Your connected social accounts, called channels in Buffer, then appear in PressQueue with on and off switches. New channels start off. Buffer has a free plan.
PressQueue starts in Test mode, which records what it would share without sending anything. Create a sharing rule that tells PressQueue what to share and where. Test it against recent posts and review the results. New rules also start switched off. Once the message and destinations look right, turn on the rule and switch PressQueue to Live.
For a simple starting point, use the one-click rule Share every new post to all my channels. You can also make rules for selected post types, categories, tags, authors, custom fields (extra information stored with a post), or taxonomies (ways to group posts, such as categories and tags). A rule can share a post when you publish it, including a scheduled post when it goes live, or when you change the content of an existing post. Backdated posts are not shared automatically.
If you use WordPress.com, plugin installation is available on paid plans; free sites need to upgrade, according to WordPress.com’s plugin support page.
Write a message and choose when it posts
A sharing rule controls the message, channels, timing, and image. PressQueue supports placeholders such as {{ title }}, {{ excerpt }}, and {{ terms:category }}. It adds the article link for you. Messages can differ by network, and a live preview with a character count helps you check the wording before enabling the rule. You can also start from a saved template.
Choose whether Buffer should add the post to the end of its queue, put it at the top of the queue ahead of posts already waiting, or publish it right away. You can instead create a Buffer draft for review or set a date and time for one post. For example, a brief post with a useful reason to read the article, followed by its link, keeps the X update focused.
Choose an image and check the link preview
PressQueue can share no image, the post’s featured image, an image selected in the post, or a social image. A social image is a share graphic PressQueue creates from the post title and site name. Set its background, font, text color, and alignment under Settings > Social images, then check the live preview. PressQueue creates the image when a post first needs it and redraws it if the title or style changes. It requires PHP GD with FreeType; without that support, the post goes out with text and a link.
The social image can also fill the page’s og:image and twitter:image metadata fields. These fields help social networks display a preview when someone shares the article link. PressQueue works with Yoast SEO and Rank Math. It also works with The SEO Framework and Jetpack. If an image is already set for a post in a search engine optimization (SEO) plugin, that image takes precedence. Choose whether PressQueue should add social images to every post, only to posts without their own image, or not at all.
Review posts and control sharing
Each post has a Share this post switch and a Customize for this post option in the editor. Share now lets you preview what each channel will receive before sending a published post that has never been shared. To promote older content, Share old posts offers three options for published posts:
- Reshare them in batches spread across the Buffer queue.
- Reshare them individually.
- Create Buffer drafts.
Use Never share rules to keep a category, tag, or author off social media. Those rules take priority over sharing rules. PressQueue also prevents repeated WordPress events from creating duplicate posts and does not automatically retry a share when Buffer’s reply is unclear.
PressQueue supports X through Buffer, as well as LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Facebook. Follow X’s automation rules: avoid spam and duplicative posting, and share only content you are authorized to publish.