Most people aren’t aware that WordPress has a built-in post scheduler. A post scheduler lets you publish your content at a later time.
It’s a handy feature as it allows you to plan and schedule your content well in advance, but it’s a bit hidden, which is why not everybody knows it exists.
Why schedule posts?
Post scheduling is helpful and smart because it allows you to publish your content at peak traffic hours and leverage existing traffic for maximum exposure.
It’s especially beneficial if you’re writing for readers in a different timezone, so you don’t have to get up during the night to publish your post. No one wants to press a button at 3 a.m.
Going on a hard-earned vacation is not an issue either as you can schedule your blog posts and enjoy time off without worrying about writing and publishing.
Scheduling posts is quite easy, if you know where to look.
Classic WordPress Editor
If you’re using the Classic editor, once you’re finished writing your content – look under the Publish tab on the right-hand side of the screen:
Click the Edit link next to Publish immediately, and you’ll see a date and time box that allows you to schedule the time of your post:
Once you select a date and time, WordPress will switch the Publish button into a Schedule button to let you know you’re scheduling your post:
Gutenberg WordPress Editor
The same goes for the Gutenberg editor. Look under the Status & Visibility section in the Document tab:
You can use the same tool to backdate your blog posts and select the date in the past if needed. To unschedule the post, edit it and change its status from Scheduled to Draft.
While the default scheduling functionality is enough for some people, you can expand and enhance this feature using third-party plugins. Here are some of our favorite WordPress scheduling plugins.
Plugins
Editorial Calendar
Editorial Calendar is an excellent plugin that allows you to visually plan your content ahead of time via a calendar that shows an overview of your blog and when each post is scheduled to be published. It supports drag and drop so you can rearrange your posts or edit them directly in the calendar. You can manage drafts via a custom drafts drawer and quickly revise the post title, content and time.
Demo (username/password: test)
Schedule Posts Calendar
This plugin allows you to customize how the scheduling function in WordPress looks. If you’re using the Classic editor, it has no built-in calendar, so it’s quite handy to see the monthly view instead of simply selecting the date and time via option boxes. The plugin has multiple options to display the calendar and time so you can adjust it to your liking.
WP Scheduled Posts
WP Scheduled Posts is hands down the best scheduling plugin for WordPress. It’s a complete solution that allows you to plan your content using an editorial calendar, auto-schedule your posts (premium version), and automatically share them on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. It has drag and drop support for easier management and provides a dashboard widget so you can see your schedule right from your WordPress dashboard.
Auto Post Scheduler
Auto Post Scheduler is perfect if you want to publish content at regular intervals, as it will automatically post your content for you. In addition to new posts, it can also recycle your old posts to keep your blog busy and active. This plugin is best for very busy websites that post a lot of content daily as you can set preferred posting intervals, and it will automatically publish the posts every day at your set time. Auto Post Scheduler is compatible with the auto blogging plugin so you can combine the two for the best results.
SOUP
This plugin is an excellent addition to the scheduling post plugins we previously mentioned. It allows you to place a widget in a sidebar of your website and let your readers know when they should come back for the next article/post. More importantly, you can include a newsletter link and entice your readers to engage with your content even further.
You need to plan your content carefully and use a schedule to track the publishing dates. Keep your readers entertained and engaged via the plugins outlined in this article and provide fresh content at regular intervals to grow your blog’s traffic even further.
