Your Cloudways WordPress application, blogging on its own through one plugin.
Cloudways runs WordPress as managed applications, and the DraftSEO WordPress plugin connects the one your readers see. What can get in the way is not WordPress but the layers around it: a staging application’s password prompt, and Imunify360 or the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on challenging automated requests.
| Connection | DraftSEO WordPress plugin — installed on the live application from the plugin directory |
|---|---|
| Published output | Native WordPress posts — images in the Media Library; category, slug and meta description set |
| Staging applications | Password-protected by default — that prompt takes the Authorization header, so connect the live application |
| Imunify360 anti-bot | Can challenge automated requests — Server → Security → Firewall; relax it for /wp-json/draftseo/ |
| Cloudflare Enterprise add-on | Rate limits can challenge — loosen them for /wp-json/draftseo/ if publishing is challenged |
Who does what
Setup happens once: install the plugin on the live application, connect from its own domain, and — only if Imunify360 or the Cloudflare add-on challenges the requests — relax those rules for /wp-json/draftseo/. After that, articles post with no work from you.
Server tuning is still yours. Blog output isn’t.
Setup
On Cloudways, which application you connect matters as much as the plugin itself.
Choosing Cloudways under Connect a site brings up the WordPress connect card, with Cloudways-specific notes above it. What you end up with is a regular WordPress connection.
~10 seconds
Open WP Admin for the application your visitors use, go to Plugins → Add New, search for “DraftSEO”, then install and activate it.
~1 minute
Use the plugin’s Connect with DraftSEO.ai button while the application is on its own domain — not the wordpress-xxxxx.cloudwaysapps.com address, and not a staging application, whose default password prompt takes the Authorization header DraftSEO’s requests carry.
~1 minute
Imunify360’s anti-bot protection sits under Server → Security → Firewall, and the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on applies rate limits of its own. If either challenges DraftSEO, loosen those rules for /wp-json/draftseo/.
Only if challenged
Pick a posting rhythm and a publish mode. Articles then reach the application by themselves, SEO fields and images attached.
Ongoing · zero clicks
FAQ
Yes — a Cloudways WordPress application takes the DraftSEO WordPress plugin like any WordPress site. The condition is connecting the live application on its own domain: staging applications are password-protected by default, and that password prompt swallows the Authorization header DraftSEO’s requests depend on.
Connect the live application instead. Cloudways password-protects staging applications by default, and the password prompt claims the same Authorization header DraftSEO’s requests are signed with, so those requests cannot identify themselves to the plugin.
No. Connect the live application from its own domain rather than the wordpress-xxxxx.cloudwaysapps.com address, so the articles are tied to the domain your blog is known by.
Both can challenge automated requests: Imunify360 through its anti-bot protection under Server → Security → Firewall, and the Cloudflare Enterprise add-on through its rate limits. DraftSEO’s servers cannot solve a challenge, so if publishing is challenged, relax those rules for /wp-json/draftseo/ — the path every DraftSEO call goes to.
No card required. Your Cloudways application connects in about two minutes.