Help · WordPress

Connect WordPress in two steps

Connecting lets MayhemSEO publish the search titles and descriptions you approve straight to your WordPress site. You do not need a developer, and you never copy or paste a password.

Before you start

A paid MayhemSEO plan, and the Owner or Admin role on your MayhemSEO team.
A WordPress account with the Administrator role on your site.
Your site uses HTTPS: its address starts with https://.
One of these SEO plugins is active: Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress or The SEO Framework.

1
Install the MayhemSEO Connector plugin
Download the plugin
1. Download the plugin. It is one file, and you do not need to open it.
2. Sign in to WordPress and open Plugins in the side menu.
3. Press Add New Plugin (older WordPress says Add New), then Upload Plugin at the top.
4. Choose the file you downloaded and press Install Now.
5. Press Activate. A MayhemSEO item appears in the WordPress side menu.
The plugin works on WordPress 5.6 or newer. Open the new MayhemSEO item to see straight away whether anything on your site still needs attention.
2
Press Connect WordPress, then approve
1. In MayhemSEO, open Fixes. Under Setup and records, WordPress is already chosen. If you are fixing a page, the same button is in the Fix this page box.
2. Check Your WordPress address is right, then press Connect WordPress.
3. Your WordPress opens in a new tab and asks Connect this site to MayhemSEO? Sign in first if it asks you to.
4. Check it shows your own email address, then press Approve connection. If you do not recognise the email, press Cancel.
5. Go back to the MayhemSEO tab. It notices the connection by itself, so you do not need to reload.
If the WordPress tab does not open, MayhemSEO shows an open the approval screen link to use instead.

What the plugin can and cannot do

It can

Change the search title and search description of your published posts and pages, through your SEO plugin.
Only with wording that an Owner or Admin on your MayhemSEO team has approved.

It cannot

Install or remove plugins or themes.
Change your WordPress settings.
Add, change or remove users.
See your WordPress password.

How it signs in: approving creates a WordPress user named mayhemseo-connector with the Editor role, and MayhemSEO signs in as that user. WordPress lets an Editor edit posts and pages; MayhemSEO uses it only to change search titles and descriptions. The sign-in key for that user goes from your site to MayhemSEO directly and never passes through your browser.

If you see a message

“The MayhemSEO Connector plugin is not answering on that site”: Check the plugin is installed and activated. Then check the address you typed matches your site exactly, with or without www. Some security plugins switch off the part of WordPress that MayhemSEO uses to find the plugin; allow it there if you use one.
“That site could not be asked whether the MayhemSEO Connector plugin is installed”: Check the address for typing mistakes, and that the site is open to the public, not behind a password or in maintenance mode.
“No supported SEO plugin is active on this site”: Install and activate Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress or The SEO Framework, then press Connect WordPress again.
“This site is not using HTTPS”: Ask your web host to switch on HTTPS. Most hosts do this for free. MayhemSEO only connects over HTTPS so the connection cannot be read on the way.
“This link was made for …, and this site is …”: The address you typed is not the one WordPress uses. Copy the Site Address from Settings, then General in WordPress, paste it into MayhemSEO, and press Connect WordPress again.
“This approval link is no longer valid”: Approval links last 15 minutes. Press Connect WordPress again for a new one.

Disconnecting

In WordPress, open MayhemSEO in the side menu and press Disconnect this site. MayhemSEO can no longer sign in from that moment.
In MayhemSEO, open Fixes and press Disconnect and remove saved access under Setup and records to remove the saved connection there too.
Switching the plugin off keeps everything, so you can switch it back on without connecting again. Deleting the plugin also deletes the mayhemseo-connector user.

Still stuck? Contact support and tell us the message you saw. Never send us a password.

Install the MayhemSEO Connector plugin

Download the plugin

Download the plugin. It is one file, and you do not need to open it.

Press Add New Plugin (older WordPress says Add New), then Upload Plugin at the top.

Choose the file you downloaded and press Install Now.

Press Activate. A MayhemSEO item appears in the WordPress side menu.

The plugin works on WordPress 5.6 or newer. Open the new MayhemSEO item to see straight away whether anything on your site still needs attention.

Press Connect WordPress, then approve

In MayhemSEO, open Fixes. Under Setup and records, WordPress is already chosen. If you are fixing a page, the same button is in the Fix this page box.

Check Your WordPress address is right, then press Connect WordPress.

Your WordPress opens in a new tab and asks Connect this site to MayhemSEO? Sign in first if it asks you to.

Check it shows your own email address, then press Approve connection. If you do not recognise the email, press Cancel.

Go back to the MayhemSEO tab. It notices the connection by itself, so you do not need to reload.

If the WordPress tab does not open, MayhemSEO shows an open the approval screen link to use instead.

What the plugin can and cannot do

It can

Change the search title and search description of your published posts and pages, through your SEO plugin.
Only with wording that an Owner or Admin on your MayhemSEO team has approved.

It cannot

Install or remove plugins or themes.
Change your WordPress settings.
Add, change or remove users.
See your WordPress password.

If you see a message

“The MayhemSEO Connector plugin is not answering on that site”

Check the plugin is installed and activated. Then check the address you typed matches your site exactly, with or without www. Some security plugins switch off the part of WordPress that MayhemSEO uses to find the plugin; allow it there if you use one.

“That site could not be asked whether the MayhemSEO Connector plugin is installed”

Check the address for typing mistakes, and that the site is open to the public, not behind a password or in maintenance mode.

“No supported SEO plugin is active on this site”

Install and activate Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress or The SEO Framework, then press Connect WordPress again.

“This site is not using HTTPS”

Ask your web host to switch on HTTPS. Most hosts do this for free. MayhemSEO only connects over HTTPS so the connection cannot be read on the way.

“This link was made for …, and this site is …”

The address you typed is not the one WordPress uses. Copy the Site Address from Settings, then General in WordPress, paste it into MayhemSEO, and press Connect WordPress again.

“This approval link is no longer valid”

Approval links last 15 minutes. Press Connect WordPress again for a new one.

Disconnecting

In WordPress, open MayhemSEO in the side menu and press Disconnect this site. MayhemSEO can no longer sign in from that moment.

In MayhemSEO, open Fixes and press Disconnect and remove saved access under Setup and records to remove the saved connection there too.

Switching the plugin off keeps everything, so you can switch it back on without connecting again. Deleting the plugin also deletes the mayhemseo-connector user.