Troubleshooting

Quick fixes for the most common issues. Still stuck after this? Contact us.

An article didn't appear, or its status didn't update

Finished articles are pulled into WordPress automatically — you don't need to keep any page open. If one hasn't shown up, reload the Content Queue to refresh the list. See Generate & publish.

Articles are stuck at "Queued"

Queued means an article is waiting to be sent for generation. That handover runs on WordPress's built-in scheduler (WP-Cron), which only wakes up when someone visits your site — so on a brand-new site with no traffic, queued articles can sit there.

• Quick check: open any page of your site, or the WordPress admin, and give it a minute. That's usually enough to get things moving.

• Proper fix: set up a real cron job, running every minute. This keeps generation moving no matter how quiet the site is, and is worth doing before queueing a large batch.

Run it every minute — not every 10 or 15. TMN sends a batch of queued articles each time the scheduler runs, so the interval sets the pace: every minute clears a few hundred articles in under an hour, while every 15 minutes stretches the same batch across most of a day. It also decides how quickly finished articles appear in WordPress.

Most hosts have a Cron jobs panel. Add this, set to run every minute (* * * * *), replacing the domain with your own:

wget -q -O - https://example.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron >/dev/null 2>&1

Then switch off the built-in scheduler by adding this to wp-config.php, above the "That's all, stop editing!" line:

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

Do both, in that order — disabling the built-in scheduler without a real cron in place stops background work altogether. If you're unsure, your host's support can set this up for you; it's a routine request.

TMN shows a warning on the Content Queue when it detects that the scheduler isn't running.

Autopilot isn't generating anything

Check these in order on Too Much Niche → Autopilot — the panel at the top usually says which one applies.

• It's switched off. The switch at the top of the page.

• You've used your articles for the month. Autopilot waits and starts again on its own when your allowance resets. The panel shows the date.

• It stopped after repeated failures. Five failures in a row pause it, and it emails you. Fix what the error describes, then press Resume.

• The plan isn't included. Check the Plans list and make sure the plan is ticked.

• The articles aren't ready. Affiliate and e-commerce money articles need a product source before anything can be written — see Curate products.

• Background tasks aren't running. See "Articles are stuck at Queued" above. Autopilot shows a warning when it detects this, and it's the most common cause on a brand-new or low-traffic site.

A plan is still "generating"

Unlike articles, plan building needs the page open. Keep the plan's details page in front of you while it builds — planning takes a few minutes. If you closed it, reopen the plan from Content Plans to let it finish loading.

Generation failed

• Read the error message first — it usually says exactly what went wrong (for example, no relevant products found). Fix the cause before retrying.

• Click Retry. After three failed attempts the button becomes Edit to Retry — open the article, adjust it, and try again.

• For affiliate / e-commerce money articles, Generate stays disabled until the article has a product source. Set one on the plan, or attach products — see Curate products.

Blocks don't render

Content Egg must be installed, active, and up to date alongside TMN — it renders the article blocks. If you're using Content Egg Pro, make sure its license is active too. See Why TMN needs Content Egg.

If blocks render everywhere else but one article shows raw code in the middle of the page, that article's block data has been damaged — usually by another plugin rewriting your posts. See Check and restore articles.

A pillar article's internal links are missing

Almost always because the articles it links to haven't been generated yet. The links are already in the pillar: contextual [nodelink] links stay plain text until their target exists, and Related Posts blocks list only articles that are published or scheduled.

Generate the rest of the hub and the links activate on their own — one at a time, as each supporting article goes live. Don't regenerate the pillar: it spends a credit and still can't link to an article that doesn't exist yet.

In a large hub (more than about twelve articles) a pillar links to most of its children rather than every one — that part is by design. See Interlinking.

You've hit your monthly limit

Each article uses one credit (½ with your own API key). If you've used your monthly articles or content plans, they reset next cycle — or connect your own API key to stretch further. See Plans & limits and Bring your own API key.

Can't connect to the license server

TMN reaches our servers over your site's outbound connection. If activation or generation can't connect, check that your host allows outbound HTTPS requests, then try again. See Activate your license.

Still stuck?

Contact us and we'll help.