You may see an alert in your dashboard or site status screen that your API / Rest API status is unavailable. This article will explain what that means and how to fix this issue
Just what is the Rest API?
The WordPress REST API provides an interface for applications to interact with your WordPress site by sending and receiving data as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) objects. It is the foundation of many features in WordPress such as the Block Editor.
OptimizePress relies on the Rest API to be functioning normally in order for optin and checkout forms to work properly.
What can I do to make sure the Rest API is running properly?
If you are using Security plugins or other plugins that have controls for disabling the Rest API, you’ll want to check the settings in those plugins to ensure that the Rest API is not being blocked.
The following plugins may have optional settings enabled that are blocking the Rest API if you are seeing that error on your optin forms or similar errors on checkout forms.
- iThemes Security Plugin
- WordFence
- WebARX
- Perfmatters
There are likely other plugins or security/CDN services (such as Cloudflare and Sucurri) which may also be able to block the Rest API.
We know there are some security concerns with having the Rest API open, but some plugins that integrate with 3rd party services such as OptimizePress, contact form plugins, cart plugins (such as WooCommerce and OptimizeCheckouts), would require the Rest API to not be restricted as much.
We would suggest working with your web host, 3rd party security or CDN, Caching plugin, or Security plugin to check for any settings that could be breaking the Rest API and ensure that those are activated so your forms will work properly. Most likely if you are having this issue there are probably other services or plugins on your site that may not be working properly.
If you have any questions about this or need further help please reach out to our team for assistance and we’ll do our best to guide you further.
Rest API Working but Shows Issue on Site Status
In most cases the Rest API probably is working fine. If you can edit pages with the default WordPress editor, or even the OptimizePress editor, then the Rest API is working fine and you may just be getting what is called a “False Positive” caused by the test itself being blocked.
If you want to really test the Rest API, you can also type in your full site URL, and add this at the end while you are logged out or in a incognito window:
/?rest_route=/
If you see something like this, then it works fine and you can ignore the error in the site status.
If the Rest API really was not working then you would have some very major issues with your site, as WordPress requires it in order to function properly.