From signup to a published article in under 10 minutes
A 5-step wizard, skippable but nudged, that gets you to the moment content actually feels real — an approved, published article — as fast as possible. Human-approve is the default at every step.
The first-run wizard
- 1
Connect a site
Enter your domain and pick a CMS type — WordPress today (a guided Application Password flow, tested with clear success/fail feedback), Ghost and Webflow next, or Headless API for zero external setup. Headless issues a publishable key immediately, so it's the fastest path to value if you don't have a CMS yet. You can also import your existing content from a sitemap crawl — it seeds internal linking and finds refresh candidates on day one.
- 2
Set your brand voice
A short form: audience, tone, point of view, and any banned phrases. Pick one of three presets (Practical expert, Friendly guide, Authoritative) to skip the blank page, then hit "Test voice" — it generates one sample paragraph instantly so you feel the tone before spending a single generation on it.
- 3
Pick topics
Paste 3–5 seed keywords, import a CSV, or let Draftwave auto-discover and cluster topics from real SERP research (the lowest-effort option, offered first). Either way, you see the clustered topic plan before generating anything, so you can tell the engine actually understands your niche.
- 4
Generate the first article
One click kicks off the full pipeline — research, brief, draft, edit, and the quality gate — with live progress and an expectation set up front (roughly 2–3 minutes). It lands in your review queue with the gate's scorecard and the exact cost attached.
- 5
Review & publish
Read the scorecard — the unique angle it added, the sources it cited, the AEO structure it used — tweak inline if you like, and approve. Approving publishes it (one click to your CMS) or makes it retrievable from the Content API for headless sites. From there: "Want this on autopilot? Set a schedule" — opt-in, rate-limited, and always reversible.
Activation checklist
A small, persistent, dismissible progress widget lives on your dashboard until every box is checked — never a dead-end empty screen.
- Connect a site
- Set brand voice
- Add topics
- Generate first article
- Approve & publish
- Set a schedule
Empty states guide, never dead-end
An empty review queue says "Generate your first article." No sites connected says "Connect your first site." Every screen with no data yet shows the single next action.
Nudges, not spam
A welcome email, a nudge if you haven't connected a site, a short walkthrough if you haven't approved an article, and a weekly digest of drafts waiting for review once you're up and running.
Onboarding FAQ
How long does onboarding actually take?
The target is under 10 minutes from signup to an approved, published article, and most of that is the ~2–3 minute generation step running in the background while you set up the next thing. Every step has clear success/failure feedback so you're never stuck guessing.
Can I see what Draftwave produces before connecting anything?
Yes — a demo/sandbox mode shows a pre-generated sample article and a populated review queue for a demo site before you connect a real one, so there's no cold-start wall. Real generation is gated behind connecting a site.
What happens if I don't finish onboarding in one session?
Nothing is lost — a persistent, dismissible activation checklist tracks where you left off, and lifecycle emails nudge you toward the fastest remaining step (typically the Headless API key, since it needs no external setup).
Is anything published automatically during onboarding?
No. Generation always produces a draft in pending_review; publishing is a separate, explicit action you take after reading the scorecard. Autopublish exists but is opt-in per site and offered only after your first manual approval.
See your first article in the review queue.
Start free — no credit card. Connect a site and generate today.