Generating Content
Once you have a project and a keyword matrix, you can start generating articles. iContentForge offers two primary methods for content creation: single manual generation and bulk automation. This guide explains the difference, walks you through the article status lifecycle, and shows you how to handle errors.
Single vs. Bulk Generation
Choosing the right generation method depends on your content strategy and immediate needs.
Single Article Generation
This method is ideal for creating one article at a time, perfect for testing, quick updates, or when you need to review content before scaling.
- Navigate to your project's Keyword Matrix.
- Find the keyword you want to target and click the "Generate" button in its row.
- The article will enter the generation queue. You can monitor its progress in the Articles tab.
The Generate button next to a keyword in the matrix
Use single generation to test your project's content quality and tone before running a bulk operation. It's also useful for creating cornerstone content that requires manual review.
Bulk Article Automation
Bulk automation is the core scaling feature of iContentForge, designed to generate dozens or hundreds of articles based on your keyword matrix automatically.
- In your project, go to the Keyword Matrix.
- Select the keywords you wish to generate content for using the checkboxes.
- Click the "Bulk Generate" button at the top of the table.
- A modal will appear. Here you can:
- Select all matching keywords.
- Choose the target word count.
- Set the publication status (e.g., send directly to "Draft" in your CMS).
- Enable Drip Feed to space out publishing.
The Bulk Generate modal with options for word count and status
Bulk generation respects your plan's quota. The Agency plan is required for true unlimited, multi-project automation. The Pro plan offers extended quotas suitable for scaling single projects.
| Feature | Single Generation | Bulk Automation |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Testing, one-off articles, manual review | Scaling content production, site launches, filling content silos |
| Speed | Immediate queue placement | Processed in batches via the queue |
| Control | High per-article control | Set global rules (word count, status) for the batch |
| Use with Drip Feed | Yes, if scheduled | Yes, highly recommended to avoid publishing all at once |
Article Status Lifecycle
Every article in iContentForge progresses through a clear status lifecycle. Understanding these states helps you track content from creation to publication.
draft: The initial state. The article is created in iContentForge but generation has not started. This is often set when you manually queue articles for later.scheduled: The article is in line for generation, waiting for its turn in the processing queue.queued: The article has been picked up and is next in line to be processed by the AI generation engine.generating: The AI is actively writing the article content. This state is typically brief.ready: Generation is complete and successful. The article is now available in iContentForge. If a CMS is connected and the target status is "Draft" or "Publish," it will be pushed to the next stage.published: The article has been successfully pushed and published to your connected CMS (e.g., WordPress, Ghost). This is the final success state.error: Something went wrong. The article failed during generation or while pushing to your CMS. Requires investigation.
Dashboard view showing articles with different statuses like Ready, Generating, and Error
The flow is generally linear: draft → scheduled → queued → generating → ready → published.
Handling error Status
An error status indicates a failure. Here’s how to diagnose and resolve common issues.
- Identify the Error: Click on the article with the
errorstatus. The detail view or a tooltip will often contain an error message. - Common Causes & Fixes:
| Error Likely Cause | Solution |
|---|---|
| AI Generation Failed (e.g., context length, content policy) | Review the keyword/title for complexity. Try generating the article again as a single operation. |
| CMS Connection Failed (e.g., invalid API keys, unreachable site) | Go to Project Settings > CMS Connector and re-test your connection. Verify API credentials and site URL. |
| CMS-Specific Error (e.g., duplicate slug, missing category) | Check the error message. Ensure required fields (like author ID or category) are correctly set in your CMS connector configuration. |
| Quota Exceeded | Upgrade your plan or wait for your monthly quota to reset. |
- Retry or Reset: After applying a fix, you can usually click a "Retry" or "Regenerate" button on the article. If not, change the article status back to
draftto re-enter the queue.
If multiple articles fail during a bulk generation, pause the operation. Fix the root cause (often a CMS connection or quota issue) before retrying, to avoid wasting your generation quota.
Next Steps
- Learn how to automatically publish your ready articles by Connecting a CMS.
- Control the pace of your content rollout using the Drip Feed feature.
- Organize your generated content with the visual Silo Radar.