Scheduling posts in WordPress is a smart way to optimize your content management strategy. However, WordPress’ native post scheduling features don’t provide a way to see an overview of your post lineup or handle missed publication dates.
The good news is that there’s a plugin that can bridge these gaps and others. With WP Scheduled Posts, you’ll have a bird’s eye view of your posting schedule via the Editorial Calendar and Dashboard Widget. You can also take advantage of the Auto Scheduler and Missed Schedule Handler.
In this post, we’ll explain why you may want to schedule your posts in WordPress. Then we’ll show you how to create a top-notch content management strategy with WP Scheduled Posts. Let’s go!
Why You Might Want to Schedule Posts In WordPress
Having a predictable posting schedule is a blogging best practice. Not only does this keep you on top of creating new content. It also provides your readers with a predictable routine, so they know when to expect new posts.
Plus, scheduling posts can help you manage your workload. By setting content to publish automatically at a certain date and time, you can write whenever it’s convenient and still get posts up on your site at the perfect time. You won’t even have to open your laptop again.
Finally, one of the best things about scheduling posts is that it enables you to take time away from your blog. Creating content ahead of time and then scheduling it for publication will keep your blog active even if you’re away for vacation or to take care of other responsibilities.
How to Manage Your Content With WP Scheduled Posts (4 Key Features)
WordPress includes post scheduling functionality out of the box. However, this feature is fairly basic and lacking in several areas. WP Scheduled Posts provides much more useful features, including the four below:
1. Get Organized With the Schedule Calendar
For starters, WP Scheduled Posts adds a handy editorial calendar to your WordPress dashboard:
You can access it by navigating to Scheduled Posts > Schedule Calendar in your dashboard. Any scheduled posts will appear on their publication date, and you can see your unscheduled drafts in the sidebar as well.
This calendar not only gives you a comprehensive overview of your editorial schedule. You can also:
- Schedule or reschedule drafts: The Schedule Calendar includes a drag-and-drop interface for assigning both scheduled and unscheduled drafts to publication dates.
- Create a new post: Each date box includes a New Post button for adding a fresh draft without leaving the calendar.
- Manage your authors: If you run a multi-author blog, you can easily see whose posts are due when from the calendar.
Seeing the big picture can help you stay on top of your plan and tackle any issues before they get out of hand. Having the ability to manage posts, publication dates, and authors in one place streamlines your editorial management duties.
2. Keep an Eye On Your Schedule With the Dashboard Widget
In addition to managing your schedule from the calendar, you can see upcoming publications in the Scheduled Posts widget on your admin dashboard:
If you like to give your posts a final read-through before they go live, this handy little widget can serve as a last-minute reminder. You’ll also know exactly which posts are up for publication on any given day. The moment you log in to your admin account, you’ll have your finger on the pulse of your blog.
3. Increase Efficiency With the Auto Scheduler
You can access all the features we’ve discussed so far with the free version of WP Scheduled Posts. However, the premium plugin offers even more in the way of convenience – and individual licenses are just $39.
For example, you can use the Auto Scheduler to create rules regarding when and how many posts you’d like to publish each day of the week:
This way, you won’t even have to do the work of manually scheduling your posts. The Auto Scheduler will add them to your editorial calendar automatically for fast and consistent post scheduling.
4. Avoid Errors With the Missed Schedule Handler
One of the biggest problems with scheduling posts in WordPress is that sometimes things don’t go as planned. If one of your scheduled posts fails to go live, not only will your content strategy be thrown off. Your readers will be missing out on new content, too.
You can’t address this issue or prevent missed schedules without a plugin. WP Scheduled Posts’ Missed Schedule Handler, for example, can take care of any posts that don’t go up on time:
This backup system catches missed posts and publishes them automatically, getting your site back on track as quickly as possible.
Conclusion
Scheduling posts in WordPress can help with a number of tricky aspects of running a blog. From helping you maintain a predictable posting routine to managing your workload to giving you some much-needed time off, scheduled posts can be lifesavers.
The WP Scheduled Posts plugin can help you craft a stellar content management strategy with four key features:
- Get organized with the Schedule Calendar.
- Keep an eye on your schedule with the Dashboard Widget.
- Increase efficiency with the Auto Scheduler.
- Avoid errors with the Missed Schedule Handler.
Do you have any questions about scheduling posts in WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!
Get your blog's content in order by installing WP Schedule Posts.
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