WordPress plugin

The useClick.io plugin connects your WordPress site to your useClick account. Once connected you can create short links from the post editor, see each post's clicks in the posts list, manage links from WordPress, and turn on cookie-free website analytics for the site. It works on every plan, including Free.

Setup takes about a minute: install the plugin, click Connect with useClick.io, sign in (or create a free account) and confirm. No key to copy.

Install the plugin

1. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
2. Search for useClick.io, click Install Now, then Activate. If you downloaded the plugin as a zip file, click Upload Plugin at the top instead and choose the file.
3. A new UseClick.io menu appears in the WordPress admin sidebar.

You need to be an administrator in WordPress to install and connect the plugin. It needs WordPress 6.5 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer.

Connect with useClick.io

1. After activating the plugin, click Connect with useClick.io. It is in the notice at the top of the WordPress Dashboard and Plugins screens, and on UseClick.io > Settings.
2. useclick.io opens. Sign in. No account yet? Click Create a free account in WordPress instead (or Sign up on the sign-in page): it only needs an email address. After you confirm your email, you come back to the next step.
3. useclick.io asks Connect your-site.com? Click Connect.
4. You are back in WordPress, on UseClick.io > Settings, with Connected to UseClick.io and your plan.

Behind the scenes this creates an API key named WordPress: your-site.com in your account and hands it to your site directly, never through the browser. You can see or revoke it under Account > API keys.

Get your API key

Prefer to connect by hand, or does your site block the redirect? Create a key yourself and paste it in.

The API key is what connects WordPress to your useClick account. You create it once in the useClick dashboard.

1. Sign in at useclick.io. No account yet? Create a free one: it only needs an email address.
2. Open Account > API keys in the dashboard. You can also get there from the account menu: MCP & API keys.
3. Click + Create API key.
4. Under Key name, enter something that tells you where the key is used, for example WordPress: example.com. Then click Create key.
5. Under Your new API key, click the copy button. The key starts with uc_live_.
6. Click I've saved my key.

Use a separate key for each WordPress site. Then you can revoke one site's key without affecting the others.

Paste the key in WordPress

1. In WordPress, go to UseClick.io > Settings.
2. Open Or paste an API key, then paste the key into the API key field.
3. Optional: click Test key to check it without saving.
4. Click Connect.

The plugin checks the key with useClick before saving it. When it works, the Settings screen shows Connected to UseClick.io on the ... plan, with your plan's links, tracked clicks per month, websites for analytics and API rate limit. Anywhere in the plugin, features your plan does not include are marked with the plan that unlocks them.

Keep the key out of the database (optional)

On sites where several people have admin access, or where the database is copied between servers, you can put the key in wp-config.php instead. Add this line above /* That's all, stop editing! */:

define( 'USECLICK_API_KEY', 'uc_live_YOUR_KEY' );

The Settings screen then shows Set in wp-config.php, and the key can only be changed in that file.

What you can do once connected

• Short link for a post: open a published post or page in the block editor. The Short link panel in the sidebar creates its short link with one click and shows its clicks. The classic editor shows the same as a box below the content.
• Clicks in the posts list: Posts and Pages get a Short link column with each link and its total clicks.
• Create and manage links: UseClick.io > Create link and Short links, with your branded domains, campaigns, UTM parameters and country targets (Starter and above).
• Website analytics: starts by itself when you connect. The plugin reads your site's domain from Settings > General > Site Address, adds it to your useClick account (or uses the website you already have for that domain) and switches the cookie-free tracker on. Your reports (visitors, pages, sources, countries, devices, AI bots) appear right in WordPress under UseClick.io > Website analytics, with the tracking settings below them. A local or staging address such as localhost cannot be tracked: connect from the live site. Free includes one website as a 14-day trial; see Website analytics.
• AI bot visits: optionally report visits by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and other crawlers, which never run JavaScript. See Bot traffic.

Change or remove the key

• New key: on UseClick.io > Settings, open Use a different API key, paste the new key and click Save new key. Then revoke the old key in useClick.
• Disconnect: click Disconnect on UseClick.io > Settings to remove the key from WordPress, then revoke it under Account > API keys in useClick. Your links keep working: they live in your useClick account, not in WordPress.

Troubleshooting

"The connection could not be confirmed"

The connect step took more than an hour, or you finished it in a different browser than the one you started in. Click Connect with useClick.io again.

"This connect link has expired or was already used"

Each connect link works once, for 10 minutes after you click Connect on useclick.io. Start again from WordPress.

"UseClick.io did not accept the API key"

• Copy the key again and check that nothing is missing at the start (uc_live_) or the end, and that there are no spaces.
• The key may be Disabled or revoked. Check its status under Account > API keys, or create a new key.

"Could not reach UseClick.io"

Your server could not connect to useclick.io. This is usually a firewall or security plugin that blocks outgoing requests. Allow outgoing HTTPS requests to useclick.io, or ask your host.

"Rate limit reached"

Each key has a per-minute limit from your plan (100 requests per minute on Free). Wait a minute. If you upgraded, create a new key to get the higher limit; see API keys.

A feature is marked with a plan name

Your plan does not include it. See Plans and limits for what each plan includes.

Related guides

• API keys: create, disable and revoke keys
• Website analytics
• Bot traffic
• Plans and limits