Current Workflow Update: Expanding WebWorkbench Ideas into Practical Tools
From Substack discovery to AI-assisted WordPress development
My current focus has been building a stronger connection between my Substack and the WebWorkbench website. The Substack has become the place where I document goals, ideas, experiments and workflows behind the projects I am working on.
To help Google discover and understand this content, I have started creating a dedicated page on my website using a listicle-style format. This acts almost like a curated index or sitemap of my Substack articles, providing a central place where visitors and search engines can discover the posts. As Substack does not currently provide a sitemap for this publication, this is an experiment to see whether creating a structured archive on my own domain helps improve discovery and indexing.
A thought that has crossed my mind during this process is whether Substack provides a sitemap.xml under certain conditions. Is the availability of a sitemap linked to the age of a Substack publication, the number of subscribers, views, or some other factor? It may simply be a feature difference between publications, or it could be influenced by how Substack manages discovery and indexing at scale. At this stage, it is just an observation and something I am curious about exploring furthe
The aim is not just SEO, but also creating a permanent home for the ideas and thinking behind WebWorkbench. The technical builds, plugins and systems live on the website, while the Substack documents the reasoning, goals and workflow behind them.
Evolving the WordPress FAQ Project into AI Assistance
Another project that has grown beyond its original idea is a WordPress plugin I started building around visitor questions and FAQ management.
The initial concept was to extend my existing FAQ plugin by adding an option for visitors to ask questions that are not already covered in the FAQ content. This would allow website visitors to submit questions when they cannot find the information they need.
However, while developing this idea, it became clear that this functionality was moving in a different direction. Adding AI assistance would make it a separate product rather than just another feature inside the existing FAQ plugin.
The idea is now evolving into two separate plugins:
1. AI Assistant Plugin
This plugin would use AI services such as Gemini, using free credits where possible or paid API usage if required, to create an intelligent assistant that can work with the content already available on a WordPress website.
A key part of the approach is not relying on AI for every visitor question. The plugin will initially use local PHP-based matching to identify possible answers from existing website content where possible. This helps reduce unnecessary AI requests and makes better use of available free or paid AI credits.
In the early stages, AI usage may be higher while the system learns from visitor interactions. Over time, as common questions and responses are identified, more answers can be handled locally, creating a more efficient hybrid system where local processing handles known queries and AI is used for more complex or unknown questions.
The assistant could help visitors find information, answer questions and interact with website content in a more natural way.
There are still some design challenges to solve, especially around how the assistant should appear on a website. A permanent button or panel at the bottom of the screen sounds simple, but mobile browsers such as iPhone Safari introduce challenges because of changing screen heights and available space.
The display method and user experience are still being explored.
2. Simplified FAQ Question Collection Plugin
The existing FAQ plugin can now become a simpler and more focused tool.
Instead of trying to become an AI system, it can concentrate on one useful function: allowing visitors to ask questions that are not currently answered.
When a visitor submits a question:
The website owner or staff receive an email notification.
The question is stored inside WordPress.
The owner can review questions later.
Useful questions can be added to the FAQ section.
This could uncover questions that website owners have never considered before. Often, the best FAQ questions come directly from real visitors rather than being created internally.
Current Direction
The overall direction is becoming clearer: separate tools that each do one job well.
The FAQ plugin focuses on collecting real visitor questions and improving website information.
The AI Assistant plugin focuses on helping visitors interact with existing website content in a more intelligent way.
The WebWorkbench Journal and Substack continue to document the ideas, experiments and workflows behind these developments.