diff --git a/backend/app/admin_ui.py b/backend/app/admin_ui.py
index 8d8e879..fba1b91 100644
--- a/backend/app/admin_ui.py
+++ b/backend/app/admin_ui.py
@@ -156,6 +156,19 @@ def _build_image_entries(article: dict, extraction: dict, meta: dict) -> list[di
     return entries
 
 
+def _publish_readiness(article: dict, meta: dict) -> tuple[bool, list[str]]:
+    reasons: list[str] = []
+    if article.get("status") not in {"approved", "published"}:
+        reasons.append("Status ist nicht 'approved'")
+    if int(article.get("legal_checked", 0)) != 1:
+        reasons.append("Rechtsfreigabe fehlt")
+    image_review = meta.get("image_review") if isinstance(meta.get("image_review"), dict) else {}
+    selected_image = image_review.get("selected_url") if isinstance(image_review.get("selected_url"), str) else None
+    if not selected_image:
+        reasons.append("Hauptbild nicht ausgewählt")
+    return len(reasons) == 0, reasons
+
+
 def _legal_checklist(article: dict, feed: dict | None) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
     meta = article.get("meta", {})
     extraction = meta.get("extraction") if isinstance(meta.get("extraction"), dict) else {}
@@ -287,6 +300,9 @@ def admin_dashboard(request: Request):
         extraction = meta.get("extraction") if isinstance(meta.get("extraction"), dict) else {}
         images = _read_article_images(article, extraction)
         article["meta"] = meta
+        ready, reasons = _publish_readiness(article, meta)
+        article["publish_ready"] = ready
+        article["publish_blockers"] = reasons
         article["extracted_images"] = images
         article["image_entries"] = _build_image_entries(article, extraction, meta)
         image_review = meta.get("image_review") if isinstance(meta.get("image_review"), dict) else {}
@@ -339,6 +355,9 @@ def admin_article_detail(request: Request, article_id: int):
     if not article.get("press_contact") and isinstance(extraction.get("press_contact"), str):
         article["press_contact"] = extraction.get("press_contact")
     article["extraction"] = extraction
+    publish_ready, publish_blockers = _publish_readiness(article, meta)
+    article["publish_ready"] = publish_ready
+    article["publish_blockers"] = publish_blockers
     article["image_selection"] = extraction.get("image_selection") if isinstance(extraction.get("image_selection"), dict) else {}
     article["image_entries"] = _build_image_entries(article, extraction, meta)
     image_review = meta.get("image_review") if isinstance(meta.get("image_review"), dict) else {}
diff --git a/backend/app/config.py b/backend/app/config.py
index e194bcc..fc52ec3 100644
--- a/backend/app/config.py
+++ b/backend/app/config.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ from functools import lru_cache
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from dotenv import load_dotenv
+from pydantic import AliasChoices, Field
 from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
 
 
@@ -25,9 +26,9 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
 
     app_db_path: str = "backend/data/rss_news.db"
 
-    wordpress_base_url: str | None = None
-    wordpress_username: str | None = None
-    wordpress_app_password: str | None = None
+    wordpress_base_url: str | None = Field(default=None, validation_alias=AliasChoices("WORDPRESS_BASE_URL", "WP_BASE_URL"))
+    wordpress_username: str | None = Field(default=None, validation_alias=AliasChoices("WORDPRESS_USERNAME", "WP_USERNAME"))
+    wordpress_app_password: str | None = Field(default=None, validation_alias=AliasChoices("WORDPRESS_APP_PASSWORD", "WP_PASSWORD"))
     wordpress_default_status: str = "draft"
 
 
diff --git a/backend/templates/admin_article_detail.html b/backend/templates/admin_article_detail.html
index a5943ef..6f06d36 100644
--- a/backend/templates/admin_article_detail.html
+++ b/backend/templates/admin_article_detail.html
@@ -203,10 +203,21 @@
 
     <section class="card">
       <h2>WordPress Publish Queue</h2>
-      <p class="subtle">Voraussetzungen: Status `approved`, Rechtsfreigabe aktiv, Hauptbild gesetzt.</p>
+      {% if article.publish_ready %}
+      <p><span class="badge ok">Publish bereit</span></p>
+      {% else %}
+      <p><span class="badge bad">Publish blockiert</span></p>
+      {% if article.publish_blockers %}
+      <ul>
+        {% for reason in article.publish_blockers %}
+        <li class="subtle">{{ reason }}</li>
+        {% endfor %}
+      </ul>
+      {% endif %}
+      {% endif %}
       <form method="post" action="/admin/articles/{{ article.id }}/publish-enqueue" class="row">
         <input name="max_attempts" value="3" />
-        <button type="submit">In Queue einreihen</button>
+        <button type="submit" {% if not article.publish_ready %}disabled{% endif %}>In Queue einreihen</button>
       </form>
     </section>
   </main>
diff --git a/backend/templates/admin_dashboard.html b/backend/templates/admin_dashboard.html
index d47628f..fe811a5 100644
--- a/backend/templates/admin_dashboard.html
+++ b/backend/templates/admin_dashboard.html
@@ -163,6 +163,10 @@
             <td><span class="badge">{{ a.status }}</span></td>
             <td>
               <div class="subtle">Legal: {{ "OK" if a.legal_checked else "offen" }}</div>
+              <div class="subtle">Publish: {{ "bereit" if a.publish_ready else "blockiert" }}</div>
+              {% if not a.publish_ready and a.publish_blockers %}
+              <div class="subtle">{{ a.publish_blockers|join(", ") }}</div>
+              {% endif %}
               {% if a.selected_image_url %}
               <div class="subtle">Hauptbild gesetzt</div>
               <a href="{{ a.selected_image_url }}" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="{{ a.selected_image_proxy_url }}" data-fallback-src="{{ a.selected_image_url }}" alt="Hauptbild" class="thumb" loading="lazy" onerror="if(!this.dataset.fallbackUsed){this.dataset.fallbackUsed='1';this.src=this.dataset.fallbackSrc;}else{this.classList.add('img-failed');}" /></a>