Writing an article
Write an article step by step in the Writer: what each pipeline phase does, how long it takes, the toolbar and the right panel.
The Writer tab shows one article: the text on the left, its research and settings on the right. Open it from the Library (click a title), from a keyword's "AI content ideas", or from an article in Planning › Calendar. With no article open, it says "No Article Selected" and offers "View Content History" or "Generate New Article" (which takes you to Keywords).
Write an article step by step
Pick a keyword
In Keywords, target a keyword (it becomes an idea in the calendar) or press Generate on one of its AI content ideas. Ideas also come from AI Visibility › Content ideas and from content plans.Open the idea
Rankfender first analyzes the articles that rank for the keyword. The card shows "Fetching SERP data", "Extracting competitor content", "Generating intelligence (AI)", "Validating outline quality" and "Intelligence ready". Meanwhile the button reads "Analyzing Competitors...".Check the plan
The card says "Ready to Generate". In the right panel, review the proposed structure, the article type and, for reviews, comparisons and listicles, "Products to Compare (Optional)".Press Generate
Follow the "Pipeline Trace". You can leave the page; a notification tells you when the article is ready.Review and publish
Read the article, edit it, Save, run Proofread if your plan has it, then Publish or copy it.
What happens in each phase
| Stage in the app | What Rankfender does |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waits for a free writing slot. |
| Loading brand context | Loads your Brand Book, product facts, Content Settings and your existing articles, to check whether another article already targets the keyword. |
| Analyzing top articles | Reads the pages that rank for the keyword. With research on, it also fetches their text and your own pages; Deep research adds competitor pricing pages and checks source links. |
| Building research dossier | Puts brand identity, audience, pricing, evidence facts, competitors and your AI visibility data in one file (the "RCGE Dossier" panel). |
| Generating structure | Writes the outline: headings, FAQ questions and the answer each section opens with. |
| Generating article content | Claude writes the sections in parallel, each from the evidence passages picked for it, then the FAQ and the conclusion. |
| Optimizing quality | Assembles the article: H1, truth layer, length within 15 % of the target, meta title and description, key takeaways and the Sources list. An editor pass then reads the whole draft and removes repetition and contradictions, without adding numbers. |
| Running quality checks | Scores the article and decides if it needs review. |
| Saving article | Builds the schema graph and saves the article as a Draft. |
| Generating featured image | Creates the cover image, then inline images if they are on. |
The truth layer removes invented people and quotes, first-person test claims, placeholder links and statistics without a source page, unless your Brand Book or "Your real experience" supplies them. The checks are listed in Quality review and the publish gate.
Important
When no live search results are available, the outline is built from AI topic knowledge and the app says so. Such an article is never published automatically; read it before publishing.
How long it takes
- Writing typically takes 2-3 minutes once you press Generate. The first analysis of a new keyword adds its own wait.
- After 7 minutes the card shows "Generation Taking Longer Than Expected" and a "Cancel Stuck Generation" button.
- An analysis with no progress for 3 minutes shows "Analysis is not responding": close it and run it again.
- If writing fails, the card shows "Generation Failed" with "Regenerate Article", and the article goes back to Idea so you can retry.
Toolbar
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Generate / Regenerate | Writes the article, or writes it again from scratch. |
| Preview / Edit | Edit shows a formatting bar: H1, H2, H3, paragraph, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, lists, link, unlink, quote, clear formatting, undo and redo. |
| Save | Saves your edits (Edit mode). |
| Proofread Professional and up | Checks the article and offers fixes. See the quality page. |
| Share, Download | Share link, copy, Word and Markdown. See Share, copy and download. |
| Publish to … | Sends the article to WordPress or your webhook. Needs a featured image. See Publishing and autopilot. |
| Re-analyze Top Articles | Runs the analysis of the ranking pages again. |
The right panel
- RCGE Dossier: what the writer was given (brand identity, audience, pricing, evidence facts, competitors, AI visibility, live research), with warnings and a rebuild button.
- Research: AI Insights, Winning Patterns, Opportunities to Outrank, the Proposed Structure and the Article Type.
- Title, with alternative titles to pick from, the Target Keyword and Secondary Keywords.
- Integrations: the WordPress category, or a link to connect a site.
- Status: Draft or Published change the status in Rankfender only and send nothing. Schedule is not available here yet ("Schedule modal coming soon"); schedule from the Library or the calendar.
- Slug and Meta Description.
Rewrite a passage
Select text in the article to open the selection assistant Professional and up. It can regenerate the passage, regenerate it with your instructions, proofread it (with "Evidence strength" and sources) or copy it.
Tips for better articles
- Fill in the Brand Book: products, prices and facts there are the only brand claims the writer may make.
- Add "Your real experience" in Content Settings if you want first-person examples; without it, articles never claim first-hand tests.
- For reviews, comparisons and listicles, list the real products to compare.
- Read the first articles closely and adjust tone, reading level and global instructions in Settings.