Automating WordPress with n8n Self-Hosted: From Post to Multilingual VoiceOver

After an initial experience on Make.com, I decided to bring my automation system into self-hosting with n8n.
This gives me more control, flexibility and especially the ability to scale without depending on external platforms.

The result is a workflow that transforms content published on WordPress into audio files (Italian and English) and automatically adds them to dedicated pages on the site.

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? Objective of the Workflow

The idea was simple: every new post on WordPress should be:

1. Archived in an organized manner,
2. Converted to audio (Italian and EN[English]),
3. Automatically published in a section of the site.

All without manual steps.

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? How It Works

1. Data Collection and Tracking

Every day, at a predefined time, n8n reads a Google Sheets document that serves as “the to-do list”.
Here I keep track of posts with their main fields (title, content, date, ID, link).
If a post hasn’t been processed yet, the flow selects it for processing.

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2. Text Cleaning and Preparation

Before generating the audio, the text is normalized:

• removal of special characters, symbols or pieces of code that could disrupt speech synthesis,
• automatic translation into English to have two parallel versions,
• further cleaning to ensure the result is readable and fluid.

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3. Audio File Generation

Once the text is ready, it’s sent to a Google Cloud TTS (Text-to-Speech) service.
The workflow produces two .wav files:

• one in Italian,
• one in English.

This way each article has its “audible” version in both languages.

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4. Update on WordPress

After the generation is complete, n8n automatically updates two pages of the site:

• one that collects Italian voiceovers,
• one for those in English.

A block with title, date, link to the original article and a player ready for listening is added.

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5. Closing the Loop

Finally, the workflow updates Google Sheets marking the post as “done”.
This way I avoid processing the same content twice and always have control over the status of the work.

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✅ Results and Benefits

With this system:

• every article published on WordPress becomes an automatically formatted resource (text + audio),
• I can offer a more accessible and modern experience to readers,
• I have a clear and verifiable tracking of the process.

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Workflow in Detail:

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? Skills Applied

• Process Automation with n8n (triggers, conditions, updates to external APIs),
• Cloud Integration with Google Sheets and Google Cloud TTS,
• Multilingual Management (translation + synthesis),
• Flow Optimization to ensure each step is secure and repeatable.

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? Conclusion

This workflow represents an evolution compared to my previous implementation on Make.com.
Thanks to n8n in self-hosting, I have gained more control, security, and the possibility to extend the project in the future, for example with:

• new languages,
• reverse transcriptions from audio files,
• automatic usage reports.