Chambers Software Sync for Dev.to

A WordPress plugin that automatically cross-posts your content to Dev.to whenever you publish or update a post — with canonical URL support, tag mapping, per-post controls, and edit sync.

Not affiliated with Dev.to. This is an independent project by Chambers Software. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by DEV Community, Forem, or dev.to. "Dev.to" and "DEV" are used only to identify the third-party service this plugin connects to.

Features

• Instant publish — fires on publish_post; no cron delay
• Edit sync — updates the Dev.to article when you edit a published WP post
• Canonical URL — always sets canonical_url back to your WordPress permalink (zero SEO impact)
• Tag mapping — map WP categories/tags to Dev.to tags (max 4, auto-normalised)
• Per-post cross-post toggle — opt individual posts in or out, overriding the global default
• Manual sync — "Sync Now" button in the metabox for already-published posts
• Draft mode — optionally send posts as Dev.to drafts for review before going live
• Post type filter — choose which post types to sync
• Category exclusions — block entire categories from syncing
• Sync log — last 20 sync events stored per post, visible in the metabox
• API key validation — "Test Connection" button on the settings page
• Organization publishing — publish under a Dev.to Organization, set globally or overridden per post
• Per-post title/cover image overrides — use a different title or cover image on Dev.to than on WordPress
• GFM table conversion — <table> markup converts to GitHub-Flavored Markdown pipe tables
• Unpublish on Trash (opt-in) — trashing a synced post can set its Dev.to article back to a draft
• Delete Data on Uninstall (opt-in) — off by default; deleting the plugin normally leaves your settings and sync history intact

Installation

1. Upload the chambers-software-sync-dev-to folder to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate the plugin via Plugins → Installed Plugins
3. Go to Settings → Sync for Dev.to
4. Enter your Dev.to API key (get it from dev.to/settings/extensions)
5. Click Test Connection to verify, then Save Settings

Getting Your Dev.to API Key

1. Log in to Dev.to
2. Go to Settings → Extensions
3. Scroll to DEV API Keys
4. Enter a description (e.g. "WordPress") and click Generate API Key
5. Copy the key — it's only shown once

Configuration

Settings Page (Settings → Sync for Dev.to)

Per-Post Controls (Editor Sidebar)

• Cross-post this to Dev.to — opt-in toggle for this specific post. Defaults to the global Auto-Publish setting until you explicitly check or uncheck it for that post; once saved, your choice sticks regardless of the global setting. Disabled (and forced off) whenever no API key is configured.
• Sync Now — manually trigger a sync for an already-published post
• View on Dev.to — direct link to the article once synced
• Sync Log — collapsible log of recent sync events for that post
• Dev.to overrides (optional) — collapsible section with three per-post overrides, each falling back to its WordPress equivalent (or the global setting) when left blank:
  • Dev.to title — a different title than the WordPress post title
  • Cover image URL — a different cover image than the WordPress featured image
  • Organization ID — overrides the global default Organization ID for this post only

How Content is Converted

WordPress stores post content as HTML (or block markup). The plugin:

1. Runs the content through apply_filters('the_content', ...) to expand blocks and shortcodes
2. Converts the resulting HTML to Markdown using a built-in converter

The converter handles: headings, bold/italic, links, images, code blocks, inline code, blockquotes, ordered/unordered lists, horizontal rules, and paragraphs.

For complex content (custom blocks, shortcodes that render to unusual HTML), review the Dev.to draft before publishing.

Tag Handling

• WordPress tags and categories are both considered as sources
• Tag names are normalised to lowercase alphanumeric (Dev.to requirement)
• Use the Tag Mappings table to override the normalised name with a specific Dev.to tag
• Maximum 4 tags per Dev.to article (Dev.to platform limit)

Sync Behaviour

The Dev.to article ID is stored in post meta (_devto_article_id) so updates go to the correct article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will this affect my SEO? No. The canonical_url is always set to your WordPress post URL, so search engines treat your WordPress site as the original source.

What if I want to review on Dev.to before going live? Set Default Publish Status to Draft in settings. Posts will appear in your Dev.to drafts for manual review.

Can I prevent a single post from syncing? Yes — uncheck Cross-post this to Dev.to in the editor sidebar before publishing. Conversely, you can check it on a specific post to cross-post it even when the global Auto-Publish setting is off.

Does it sync pages? Only if you add page to the Allowed Post Types list in settings.

What happens if the API call fails? The error is logged to the per-post sync log (visible in the metabox). The post publishes normally on WordPress regardless.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.8+
• PHP 7.4+
• A Dev.to account with an API key

Releases

This project uses semantic versioning with automated releases. Commit messages must start with a semantic version tag:

• [Patch] — bug fixes, minor improvements
• [Minor] — new features, backwards compatible
• [Major] — breaking changes
• [BREAKING] — explicit breaking change marker

Example:

[Patch] Fix featured image sync issue
[Minor] Add organization publishing support
[Major] Rewrite sync engine

When tests pass on main, the release workflow automatically:

1. Analyzes commit messages
2. Bumps the version number
3. Updates the plugin header
4. Creates a git tag (v1.0.1, etc.)
5. Publishes a GitHub release with the plugin zip

External Services

This plugin connects to the Dev.to API (DEV Community, operated by Forem) at https://dev.to/api/. That connection is the plugin's core purpose: it is how your WordPress content is published to and kept in sync with your Dev.to account.

No data leaves your site until you enter a Dev.to API key. With no key configured, the plugin makes no external requests at all.

No visitor data, site analytics, or personal information about your site's users is ever transmitted.

Using this plugin means using Dev.to under DEV Community's own terms:

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

License

GPL-2.0+