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Shopify · Blog publishing

Publish articles to your Shopify blog

Connect your store once and every article from your Content Plan lands in your Shopify blog — live or as a draft, you decide. This guide walks you through each click, on both sides.

About 10 minutes

One-time setup, no code

Blog access only

read_content and write_content

Live or draft

Your choice, changeable anytime

Before you begin
  • You can sign in to Shopify as the store owner, or as a staff member allowed to develop apps. Collaborator accounts can't create the app.
  • Your store's .myshopify.com address. Step 1 shows where to find it.
  • At least one blog in your store. Most stores already have one called News.
Your store stays untouched
The app you create can only read and write blog content. Your theme, products, orders and customers stay out of its reach, and you can uninstall the app from Shopify whenever you like.

Part 1 · In Shopify

Create a small private app that allows Rank Tim to post to your blog. It takes a few clicks and no code.

1

Find your .myshopify.com address

  1. In your Shopify admin, open Settings → Domains.
  2. Find the address ending in .myshopify.com (for example morrow-coffee.myshopify.com). Shopify creates it with your store and it never changes, even if you use your own domain.
  3. Copy it for Part 2. You can paste the full address or just the part before .myshopify.com.
2

Create an app in the Shopify Dev Dashboard

  1. Open the Shopify Dev Dashboard and sign in with the account you use for your store.
  2. Click Create app, then choose Start from Dev Dashboard.
  3. Give it a name you'll recognise, such as "Rank Tim Publisher", and click Create.
Open the Dev Dashboard
3

Give the app blog access and release it

  1. On the app's version form, find Access scopes and click Select scopes. If you don't see the form, open Versions and create a new version.
  2. Search for "content" and tick read_content and write_content. Leave everything else as it is, including the pre-filled App URL.
  3. Click Release and confirm. Releasing only prepares the app; nothing changes on your store yet.
4

Install the app on your store

  1. Still in the Dev Dashboard, open your app from the Apps list.
  2. On the Overview page, click Install app in the Installs card.
  3. Choose your store and confirm. If your store isn't in the list, see Troubleshooting below.
5

Copy the client credentials

  1. Shopify often leaves you in your store admin after installing. Go back to the Dev Dashboard and open your app.
  2. Click Settings in the app's left menu.
  3. Under Client credentials, copy the Client ID and the Client secret (reveal it first). The secret starts with shpss_.

Part 2 · In Rank Tim

Run the four-step connection wizard. It checks everything with Shopify before anything is saved.

6

Wizard step 1: Store

  1. In Rank Tim, open Settings → Connections → Integrations and click Configure now on the Shopify card.
  2. Name the connection, for example "Main store".
  3. Paste your store address from step 1. If you paste the full address, the wizard removes .myshopify.com for you.
Open Integrations
7

Wizard step 2: Access

  1. Paste the Client ID and the Client secret from step 5.
  2. Click Verify & continue. Rank Tim checks the credentials with Shopify and loads your blogs.
  3. If Shopify refuses, the wizard shows the reason under the fields. The Troubleshooting table explains each message.
8

Wizard step 3: Blog

  1. Pick the blog new articles should go to.
  2. No blogs listed? Create one in Shopify under Content → Blog posts → Manage blogs → Add blog, then go back one step and verify again.
9

Wizard step 4: Publishing

  1. Enter the author name readers will see on each article.
  2. Choose Publish Immediately to put articles live on your storefront, or Save as Draft to review each one in Shopify first.
  3. Click Connect. The Shopify card now shows Connected.

What happens after you connect

Every 30 minutes, Rank Tim checks your Content Plan. Articles that are ready and whose scheduled date has arrived are sent to your Shopify blog automatically.

  • No duplicates: if the blog already has an article with the same URL handle, Rank Tim links to it instead of posting it again.
  • Automatic retries: temporary Shopify errors are retried several times before an article is marked as failed.
  • Your theme sets the look: Rank Tim sends semantic HTML and your Shopify theme styles it, so articles match the rest of your store.

Check that it works

  • In your Shopify admin, open Content → Blog posts. Articles from Rank Tim appear there with the author you chose.
  • Using drafts? Those articles are marked Hidden. Review one and set it to Visible when you're happy with it.
  • Is your store still behind a password page? The article is published, but visitors only see Shopify's password page until you launch the store.
  • Articles are sent within 30 minutes of being ready on their scheduled date, so you don't have to wait until the next day.
Change your settings later
Click Manage on the Shopify card to reopen the wizard. You can jump straight to any step, for example to switch between live and draft, without entering your credentials again. To move to another blog, enter your Client secret again on the Access step so the wizard can reload your blogs.

Troubleshooting

If you see…Do this
Invalid Shopify Client ID or API secret key.Copy both values again from the app's Settings in the Dev Dashboard, without extra spaces or missing characters.
Could not exchange Shopify Client ID and API secret key for an access token…The app isn't installed on this store yet. Finish step 4, then click Verify & continue again.
…the generated token is missing content access.Add read_content and write_content (step 3), release a new version and update the app on your store.
Client ID is required when using a Shopify API secret key (shpss_).Paste the Client ID as well. Only an older Admin API token (shpat_) works without it.
This store has no blogs yet.Create a blog under Content → Blog posts → Manage blogs → Add blog, then verify again.
Your store isn't in the install list (step 4).The app and the store must belong to the same Shopify organization. Ask the store owner to create and install the app from their account.

Questions

Stuck on a step?

Send us your .myshopify.com address and a screenshot of the step you're on, and we'll help you finish the connection.

Contact support
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