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WhatsApp

Connect WhatsApp and every post you publish sends a notification to the phone number of your choice. Best for pinging yourself or a small team when content goes live — a lightweight heads-up, not a broadcast channel.

WhatsApp uses Meta’s WhatsApp Cloud API, so the one-time setup happens in Meta’s developer tools rather than the WhatsApp app itself. Once you have the credentials, the Structura side is quick.

What gets posted

A single WhatsApp text message per publish:

  • A bold label — “New post published”, or “Draft needs review” when a draft is awaiting review.
  • Post title.
  • Link to the article (the edit link for drafts).

It’s a text-only message — no image attachment.

What you need

Three pieces of information, all from Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform:

  • A Phone number ID — a numeric identifier from your app’s API Setup page (not the phone number itself).
  • An Access token — from Meta for Developers. A permanent token is strongly recommended; temporary tokens expire (see below).
  • A Recipient phone — the number that receives notifications, in E.164 format (e.g., +14155238886).

Set up WhatsApp Cloud API access

Do this once, in Meta’s tools:

  1. Go to developers.facebook.com, create (or open) an app, and add the WhatsApp product to it.
  2. On the WhatsApp API Setup page, note the Phone number ID for your sending number.
  3. Generate an access token. The temporary token shown on that page works for testing but expires in 24 hours — for a connection that keeps working, create a System User in Meta Business Settings and generate a permanent token with WhatsApp messaging permissions.
  4. Add your recipient number as a verified test/allowed recipient if your app is still in development mode.

Connect

  1. In wp-admin, go to Structura → Channels.
  2. Click the WhatsApp card. The install panel opens.
  3. Fill in the three fields:
    • Phone number ID
    • Access token
    • Recipient phone (E.164, e.g., +14155238886)
  4. Click Connect. Structura validates the format of each field and stores them encrypted. The connection shows Connected immediately — the first real WhatsApp message is sent on your next publish, not on connect.

The 24-hour window

This is the most common reason WhatsApp notifications stop arriving. Meta only allows free-form text messages within a 24-hour conversation window — the window opens when the recipient messages your business number, and closes 24 hours after their last message.

Structura sends free-form text (not pre-approved template messages), so:

  • Keep the window open by having the recipient message the business number occasionally, or
  • Expect that notifications sent more than 24 hours after the recipient’s last message will be rejected by Meta.

For always-on delivery regardless of the window you’d need approved template messages, which Structura doesn’t send today.

What can go wrong

  • http_401 / http_403 on send. The access token is wrong or expired. Temporary tokens last 24 hours; regenerate a permanent token and Reconnect.
  • Message rejected / “outside 24-hour window”. The recipient hasn’t messaged the business number in the last 24 hours. Have them send any message to reopen the window. See above.
  • chat/recipient errors. The recipient number is wrong, not in E.164 format, or (in development mode) not on the app’s allowed- recipients list.
  • http_429 or 5xx. Transient — Meta is rate-limiting or having trouble. Structura retries these automatically.

See A channel shows “failed” for the full playbook.

Rotating the token or moving numbers

  • New token: generate a fresh permanent token in Meta Business Settings, then click Reconnect on the WhatsApp install panel and paste it in.
  • New recipient: open the install panel and update the Recipient phone. You can keep the same Phone number ID and token.
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