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This guide is for WordPress sites without WooCommerce. If WooCommerce is installed and active on your site, follow Connect WooCommerce instead.
Use the Retainful plugin to connect a regular WordPress site — a blog, business site, or landing page — to Retainful. Once connected, you can show Retainful signup forms and popups on your site, grow your list, and email your subscribers with campaigns and automations.

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Requirements

  • WordPress 6.5 or later.
  • PHP 7.4 or later.
  • The Retainful plugin installed and activated.
  • An administrator account on your WordPress site.
  • Your site must be publicly reachable on the internet (local sites like localhost can’t connect).

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What works on a WordPress site

Cart, order, and product features need WooCommerce. If you add WooCommerce to your site later, connect it through Connect WooCommerce.

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Install and connect

1

Install the plugin

In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for Retainful, then click Install Now and Activate.
Retainful plugin in the WordPress plugin directory

Install the Retainful plugin from Plugins → Add New

2

Copy your token from Retainful

In Retainful, go to Integrations and open WordPress. Click Copy next to the Token field.
WordPress integration page in Retainful showing the Token field and Copy button

Copy the token from Integrations → WordPress

The token expires shortly after it’s shown. If connecting fails, come back to this page and copy a fresh token.
3

Open the WordPress settings in the plugin

In your WordPress admin, click Retainful in the left menu. Under Integrations, find the WordPress card and click View Settings.
Retainful plugin page in WordPress admin showing the WordPress integration card

Open the WordPress card in the Retainful plugin

4

Paste the token and connect

Paste the token into the API Key field and click Connect.
WordPress Settings screen in the Retainful plugin with the API Key field and Connect button

Paste the token and click Connect

The plugin shows Connected — Your site is connected to Retainful. In Retainful, Integrations → WordPress shows your site under Connected Site with a Connected badge.
Connected Site card in Retainful showing the connected WordPress site URL

Your site is connected

You don’t need to enter your site URL in Retainful — the plugin sends it automatically when you connect.

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Show signup forms on your site

Once your site is connected, forms and popups you publish in Retainful appear on your site automatically — no code or theme editing needed. See Create a form to build your first one.
If you use a caching plugin (like WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache) and a new popup isn’t showing, clear your site cache and check again.

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Send WPForms submissions to Retainful

If you use WPForms, you can add form submissions straight to a Retainful list.
1

Enable the WPForms integration

In your WordPress admin, go to Retainful, find the WPForms card under Integrations, and click View Settings. Enter your API key, turn on Enable Integration, and click Save Changes.
WPForms integration settings in the Retainful plugin

Enable the WPForms integration in the Retainful plugin

2

Connect a form to a list

Open a form in the WPForms builder, go to Marketing → Retainful, choose the Retainful list, and map your form fields (email is required).
WPForms builder with Retainful selected as the marketing provider

Map WPForms fields to a Retainful list

The WPForms card only appears when WPForms (Lite or Pro) is active on your site.

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One platform per organization

A Retainful organization can connect only one platform — Shopify, WooCommerce, or WordPress. If your organization already uses another platform, the WordPress page shows Platform Integration Conflict. To connect a WordPress site, create a new organization and connect it there. Each organization connects one WordPress site. Connecting a different site replaces the previous one.

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Troubleshooting

The token expires shortly after it’s shown. Go back to Integrations → WordPress in Retainful, copy a fresh token, and click Connect in the plugin again right away.
Your server needs to reach Retainful over the internet. Check that your host or a security plugin isn’t blocking outgoing requests, then try again with a fresh token.
Firewalls like Cloudflare Bot Fight Mode, Wordfence, or other security plugins can block Retainful’s requests to your site’s REST API (/wp-json/). Temporarily disable the rule (or add an exception) while connecting, then re-enable it.
The WordPress card only appears when WooCommerce is not active. If WooCommerce is active, you’ll see a WooCommerce card instead — follow Connect WooCommerce.
Confirm the plugin shows Connected, the form is published in Retainful, and your site cache is cleared. Also check the form’s display rules.
Retainful can only connect to a site that’s publicly reachable. Use a live or publicly accessible staging URL.

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Disconnecting

To disconnect your WordPress site from Retainful, email support@retainful.com with your organization name and site URL. Your existing contacts and data stay in Retainful.