How To Automatically Take Your Recent Blog Posts And Create A Newsletter

In today's fast-paced digital publishing environment, automation has become essential for streamlining workflows and ensuring consistency. A recent case study demonstrates how a well-designed automation system can transform manual, error-prone tasks into reliable, consistent processes.

The Publishing Challenge

A publishing company faced a daily challenge: at 5pm, they needed to compile all articles published within the past 24 hours and prepare an email for the editorial team. Previously, this process involved manually copying titles, links, and content into an email and scheduling it for delivery.

This manual approach led to frequent inconsistencies and errors. Sometimes the wrong title would be used, links would be incorrect, or descriptions would be inaccurate – resulting in an unprofessional product being sent to clients.

The Automation Solution

To solve this problem, a custom automation workflow was developed that:

• Automatically collects all articles published in the last 24 hours
• Compiles them with proper formatting and hyperlinks
• Delivers a ready-to-send email to the team at exactly 5pm daily

This automation eliminated human error and ensured consistency in the daily newsletter process. The system directly interfaces with WordPress to extract the latest content, properly format it, and deliver it as a complete package.

Building Resilience Through Error Handling

One of the key learnings from this project was the importance of robust error reporting. Initially, when the system encountered issues, there was no notification mechanism in place. This was later improved by implementing:

• Automatic Slack notifications when errors occur
• Email alerts to the technical team
• Multiple retry attempts before requiring human intervention

This proactive approach to error handling ensured that problems could be identified and addressed quickly rather than discovering them after the fact.

The Importance of Backup Systems

Another crucial lesson was the need for redundant data sources. The system was designed with two distinct flows:

1. Primary Flow: Direct integration with WordPress to collect and process articles
2. Backup Flow: RSS feed collection as a fallback method

When the primary system fails after multiple retry attempts, human operators can manually trigger the backup flow to ensure the newsletter still goes out on time. This redundancy has proven essential for maintaining consistent service.

Human-in-the-Loop Automation

While the goal was to create a fully automated system, the reality of working with complex publishing platforms like WordPress necessitated a human-in-the-loop approach. The system was designed to:

• Run autonomously under normal circumstances
• Attempt self-recovery through multiple retry attempts
• Alert human operators when intervention is needed
• Provide a simple fallback mechanism that can be manually triggered

This balanced approach has resulted in nearly 12 months of consistent, reliable operation for the client.

Best Practices for Building Reliable Automation

Based on this case study, several best practices emerge for developing automation systems:

1. Plan for failures: Always include error reporting and notification systems
2. Build redundancy: Create alternative pathways to accomplish critical tasks
3. Monitor performance: Implement systems to track successful and failed operations
4. Test thoroughly: Validate automation under various conditions, including edge cases
5. Allow for human intervention: Design systems that can be manually overridden when necessary

By following these principles, automation systems can deliver consistent, reliable results even when working with sometimes unpredictable platforms like WordPress.

The Impact of Automation

For the publishing client, this automation solution transformed a daily manual task prone to errors into a reliable, consistent process. The editorial team now receives perfectly formatted newsletters containing all the latest content without the risk of human error in the compilation process.

Perhaps most importantly, the robust error handling and monitoring systems ensure that even when problems occur, they're quickly identified and resolved, maintaining the consistent service that clients expect.

This case study demonstrates how thoughtful automation design that accounts for real-world challenges can deliver significant value while maintaining reliability through intelligent error handling and redundant systems.