API key

kristinaheinen, you would add the new API key in the plugin section of your Admin area. I’m trying to activate Akismet, and i see a “tab” for Akismet Configuration.

Hi HandySolo, I think the site’s instructions are not quite comprehensive enough. And your comment didn’t clarify anything for me personally – here’s why:

I installed the software on my own hosting account, and in the process I made a WordPress support login.

I know that WordPress.COM is “not my blog”. I also know that I don’t have a WordPress.com “account” because (as I see it, maybe wrongly) I don’t *want* a blog on WordPress; it seems odd that i would need to create an account i don’t plan to use in order to get an API Key for use on my site.

But the instructions at: https://wordpress.com/api-keys/
do say I can “leverage the power of WP.com while still hosting your blog elsewhere” — so perhaps I must have an account after all. But wait… why would that be? I’m not hosting on WordPress.COM… and will I need a new account for every blog i install elsewhere?? Hmm, unclear.

So logically I then think maybe I can get an API Key for MY blog via my Support identity, which is more universal. But no; there’s no mention of the API Key in my profile.

Which leads me to this forum to see what other users did *before* I create an unwanted .COM account.

See the issue? Where is it explained that a Support account is insufficient to get an API Key, or what to do about one API Key handling several installations?

This said, i’m creating an account now ??

…
Okay, I’m back – i see now that wordpress.com offers an option to just create a *username* (not a blog) for seemingly just this purpose of getting the API Key. Nice…. everything was thought of.

Now the instructions could be updated a tiny bit!

Hope this post helps someone.

Thanks for this post paulgweb. I’ve been messing with this off and on all day trying to get this for YouTube as well. I finally got to your post.

As for using it for more than one blog, I just plugged the same API key into two of my blogs and it accepted it. Don’t know if it will screw things up later but there was no “this key is already in use” type of message.

BTW, when I went to WP.com it already had my name and pw in the slots. But it would not accept them. I tried every user name and pw for every blog in every combination and it never recognized any of them. I finally gave up and just registered as a new user. What a mess.

Anyway, thanks again.

Error from last API Key attempt:
Your blog was unable to connect to WordPress.com. Please ask your host for help. (transport error – could not open socket: 0 Success)

Any suggestions?

That error just means that it couldn’t contact the stats server. Does it continue to happen for you?

Trent