Frequently asked questions
Straight answers, including the ones that admit a limitation. More detail lives in the docs.
Is there an official Workable WordPress plugin?
Workable itself offers only a small WordPress download that wraps its JavaScript job widget so you can paste it into a single post or page. It creates no job pages, no URL per job, no JobPosting structured data and no on-site application form.
Workable Jobs for WordPress is an independent plugin for Workable, built on the Workable API. It imports your jobs as real pages on your own domain, with their own URLs, Google for Jobs markup and, with an API token, on-site applications. It is made by w4dev, not by Workable.
Do I need an API token?
Only for on-site application forms. Listing your jobs, the job pages, filters, search markup and sitemap all work with your account subdomain alone. Without a token, the apply button takes candidates to Workable's hosted application form.
Which Workable plans does it work with?
All of them. The plugin reads your public job list, which every Workable account has. API tokens for on-site applications are also available on every plan.
Does it slow my site down?
No. Jobs are copied into WordPress on a schedule, and your pages read them from your own database. A visitor viewing a job list or job page does not trigger a call to Workable. The one exception is the on-site application form, whose questions are fetched from Workable and then cached for an hour.
Can I change how it looks?
Yes. Every piece of markup is a template you can copy into your theme and edit, and every element carries a wkjb- CSS class. Colours, spacing and corner radius are CSS custom properties you can override in one rule.
What about GDPR?
You can turn on a consent checkbox with your own wording, and applicants must tick it before they can submit. The application goes straight to Workable. The plugin does not keep a copy of it. The optional application log records only the job, the result, the Workable candidate id and a shortened IP address.
What happens when a job closes in Workable?
The next sync moves its page to the WordPress trash. If the job is reopened, its page comes back at the same URL.
Can I connect more than one Workable account?
Not in 1.0. One site connects to one Workable account.
Is this made by Workable?
No. It is an independent plugin from w4dev.
Do applicants need a Workable account?
No.
Does it show salaries?
Not automatically. Workable's public job feed does not include salary. You can add a salary to a job's structured data with the wkjb_job_schema filter; see Templates and styling.
Can I edit a job in WordPress?
Edit jobs in Workable. A change made in WordPress is overwritten the next time that job changes in Workable.
How often do jobs update?
Every 30 minutes by default. Change it under Workable Jobs → Settings → Import interval, from 15 minutes to once a day (1440 minutes). To update straight away, use Import jobs now at the bottom of the Settings screen.
I saved my subdomain and nothing was imported.
Look at Workable Jobs → Settings. A subdomain that Workable does not recognise is refused when you save it, with a message under the field. If it was accepted but the import failed later, the Tools panel at the bottom shows Last import failed with the reason.
A new job is not showing yet.
Click Import jobs now. If it still does not appear, check that the job is published in Workable and visible on your Workable careers page. The plugin imports exactly what that page lists.
A job's page shows "Page not found".
The job was probably closed or unpublished in Workable, so the last import moved it to the trash. If you reopen it in Workable, the next import restores the page at the same address.
The import did not remove anything even though Workable was down.
That is on purpose. When Workable cannot be reached or answers with an error, the import changes nothing, so an outage cannot empty your careers page.
Imports seem to run late.
Imports run on WP-Cron, which runs when someone visits the site. On a low-traffic site, set up a real cron job that calls wp-cron.php, as your host's documentation describes.
One job has several locations.
Workable lists a multi-city job once per city. The plugin merges these into one job page with all its locations. It appears under each of those locations in the location filter.
All job pages show "Page not found".
Go to Settings → Permalinks in wp-admin and click Save Changes without changing anything. This refreshes WordPress's address rules. The plugin does this itself when it is activated and when you change the jobs page slug, but another plugin can undo it.
Where is the sitemap?
Job pages are part of the WordPress sitemap at /wp-sitemap-posts-wkjb_job-1.xml, which is linked from /wp-sitemap.xml. If an SEO plugin replaces the WordPress sitemap, make sure its sitemap includes the Jobs post type.
Will my SEO plugin and this plugin both print tags?
No. When Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO, SEOPress or Slim SEO is active, the plugin leaves the description, canonical and social sharing tags to it. The JobPosting structured data is printed either way. If your SEO plugin also adds job posting markup, turn one of them off.
How do I check the structured data?
Paste a job page's address into Google's Rich Results Test and look for a Job posting result.
The job page shows "Apply on Workable" even though I saved a token.
Check these in order:
- Applications is not set to Send applicants to Workable.
- An admin notice says Workable rejected the token. Generate a new token with the
r_jobsandw_candidatesscopes and save it. - The job's form was cached before you saved the token. Use Clear cache under Workable Jobs → Settings → Tools.
Applicants see "Applications are temporarily unavailable".
The plugin could not load the job's application form from Workable when the applicant submitted. Check Workable Jobs → Submissions for the reason, and the token as above.
An application failed. Where do I see why?
Workable Jobs → Submissions lists every attempt with its result and message, when Log submissions is on.
Applicants on a cached page get an error when they submit.
They should not. The application form does not depend on a session token for visitors, so a page served from a cache plugin or CDN for days still submits normally. Only logged-in users carry a token, and they are asked to reload if it has expired.
Can I use my own form plugin instead?
The built-in form is what sends candidates to Workable. A form built with another plugin would need its own Workable integration.
Where does applicant data go?
Straight to Workable. The plugin keeps no copy of the application. Uploaded files sit on your server only while they are being sent, then they are deleted. The optional Submissions log records the job, the result, the Workable candidate id and a shortened IP address.
How do I add a consent checkbox?
Turn on Consent checkbox under Workable Jobs → Settings → Privacy and write your wording in Consent text. You can include a link to your privacy policy. Applicants must tick it before they can submit.
Where do I enter my license key?
Workable Jobs → License.
What happens when my license expires?
The plugin keeps working. Renew to keep getting updates and support.
What is removed when I delete the plugin?
Deleting the plugin from the Plugins screen removes its settings, cached Workable responses, the Submissions log and the scheduled import. Imported job posts are kept so links to them keep working; delete them from Workable Jobs → Imported jobs first if you want them gone, or add define( 'WKJB_UNINSTALL_DELETE_JOBS', true ); to wp-config.php before deleting the plugin to remove them as well. Deactivating removes nothing.