Most Vendor Spotlight problems involve vendor information, WordPress scheduling, featured images, or the site’s social-sharing configuration.
Use the following checks to identify the source of the problem.
A Spotlight Was Not Created #
If VendorHearth does not create a spotlight as expected, first verify:
- The vendor is associated with the correct event
- The vendor has the appropriate confirmed status
- The vendor record contains usable business information
- A spotlight for that vendor does not already exist
You can also use Create Test Spotlight to determine whether VendorHearth can successfully create a WordPress spotlight post.
The Vendor Information Is Incorrect #
VendorHearth creates spotlight content using information stored in the vendor’s records.
If the business name, description, or other information is incorrect, review the vendor’s information before recreating or editing the spotlight.
You can also edit the generated WordPress post directly when only a small correction is needed.
The Featured Image Is Missing #
VendorHearth can use the vendor’s logo as the featured image for a spotlight.
If the featured image is missing:
- Open the vendor’s profile.
- Confirm that a logo has been uploaded.
- Verify that the image is a supported format.
- Make sure the image is accessible in WordPress.
- Review or recreate the spotlight as appropriate.
VendorHearth supports vendor logos in JPG, PNG, and WebP formats, with a maximum upload size of 5 MB.
A Scheduled Spotlight Did Not Publish #
VendorHearth creates the scheduled WordPress post, but WordPress is responsible for publishing it at the scheduled time.
If scheduled spotlights remain unpublished, check:
- The scheduled date and time
- Your WordPress timezone
- WordPress scheduled tasks
- Site traffic and cron behavior
- Any WordPress cron restrictions imposed by your hosting environment
If multiple scheduled WordPress posts are affected, the problem is likely related to WordPress scheduling rather than VendorHearth.
Spotlights Are Scheduled at the Wrong Time #
Review the event’s spotlight scheduling settings.
VendorHearth’s default schedule uses approximately:
- 2 spotlights per day
- 10:00 AM
- 6:00 PM
- Beginning approximately 30 days before the event
If you changed these settings, verify that the current configuration matches your intended campaign.
Also confirm that the WordPress site’s timezone is correct.
An Event Is Not Available for Automatic Scheduling #
Check whether the event has an actual date.
Events marked TBA are excluded from date-based automatic spotlight scheduling because VendorHearth cannot calculate the promotional period without an event date.
Add the event date before generating the automatic schedule.
Duplicate Spotlights Appear #
Before manually creating another spotlight, check your existing WordPress posts and VendorHearth spotlight records.
VendorHearth preserves existing Draft, Scheduled, and Published spotlight posts when rebuilding the schedule where appropriate.
Manually creating additional posts for the same vendor can result in duplicate promotional content.
The Spotlight Published but Did Not Appear on Social Media #
If the spotlight successfully published on your website, VendorHearth has completed the WordPress publishing portion of the process.
Check your social-sharing integration.
If you use Jetpack, verify that:
- Jetpack is active
- Your social-sharing feature is enabled
- The correct social account is connected
- The connection has not expired
- The social network still supports the configured sharing method
VendorHearth does not directly publish to Facebook or Instagram.
Social Sharing Suddenly Stopped Working #
Third-party social connections may occasionally require reauthorization.
If social sharing previously worked but suddenly stops, check the social connection before changing VendorHearth settings.
Try publishing a normal WordPress test post.
If that post also fails to share, troubleshoot the WordPress social integration.
Create Test Spotlight Does Not Publish #
This is expected.
A Test Spotlight is intentionally created as a WordPress draft.
It is designed to test spotlight creation without accidentally publishing promotional content.
Rebuilding the Schedule Did Not Replace Existing Posts #
This may also be expected.
VendorHearth is designed to preserve existing Draft, Scheduled, and Published spotlight posts when rebuilding the schedule.
This helps protect content that has already been created or published.
Start With a Test Spotlight #
When you are unsure whether the problem is VendorHearth, WordPress, or your social integration, start with Create Test Spotlight.
If VendorHearth successfully creates the draft, the basic spotlight-generation process is working.
You can then narrow the problem down to:
- Vendor information
- WordPress scheduling
- Featured images
- Social sharing
- Site configuration
Before Contacting Support #
Gather the following information:
- Event involved
- Vendor involved
- Whether a test spotlight works
- Whether the WordPress post was created
- Current post status
- Scheduled publication date and time
- Whether normal WordPress scheduled posts work
- Whether normal WordPress posts successfully share to social media
- Any WordPress or VendorHearth error messages
This information can make the problem much easier to diagnose.
Next Step #
Continue to Event Operations to learn how VendorHearth helps manage booth assignments, event packets, vendor check-in, parking information, and QR-based event tools.
