4 Free WordPress Calendar Plugins That’ll Help your Blog Stay Super Organized
Are you struggling to keep your blog up to date? Do you have a list of great ideas for blog topics, but are unsure when you should publish each one? If you’re on WordPress, a calendar plugin can help you create a content calendar!
Simply put, a content calendar is just a method of assigning specific dates to certain blog topics, and scheduling the content of your posts. No matter how often you hit publish, you can have a plan for your blog that’ll keep your eye on the big picture.
Your content calendar gives you a visual overview of your blog. By looking at your calendar, you’ll be able to get ahead on your blog posts, schedule series more effectively, and assign due dates to your guest bloggers with ease.
While you can definitely go old-school with your content calendar by writing on a physical calendar or planner, there are also WordPress plugins designed to help you. Here are five of the best free WordPress calendar plugins that’ll help you get your content calendar out of your head and onto your computer:
1. The Events Calendar
More than just a content calendar, The Events Calendar allows you to organize meetings, keep track of your deadlines, and even invite others to participate in events you create. While it might be more than you need for a small blog, it’s an easy-to-use calendar that’s ready to go on your WordPress site.
You can view your calendar by day, list, or month, which will allow you to adjust your workflow based on what’s coming up. You can also add extensive details to each event, so you could throw your outline in there to help you stay on track when it comes time to actually write each post.
You’ll also have the ability to export the events to your Google Calendar or iCal so you’ll have access to your content schedule without having to log into your website.
2. Editorial Calendar
Editorial Calendar is a great basic option for anyone with a blog. However, it works best for those who write drafts in advance and schedule their posts out a bit. In Editorial Calendar, you can easily keep track of all of these drafts and rearrange them with the drag-and-drop calendar view. This overview will help you to see if your content is scheduled for publication in an order that makes sense and at the best frequency for your audience.
If you need to edit a draft before it goes live, you can access it quickly right from the calendar. That’ll keep you from searching through all of your drafts to find the one you need.
When it’s time to add a new post, you can simply hover the date you want it to publish on and click to add a new post. Then you’ll have access to the quick edit feature, which allows you to add your post title and content, and schedule it for publication.
3. Oasis Workflow
In the free, lite version of Oasis Flow, you’ll be able to keep track of all of your post ideas and where they are in your workflow. Whether you’re working with a team or running your blog solo, this WordPress calendar plugin will keep your content organized.
You can create your ideal workflow through a drag and drop feature. If you want to review your posts twice before you hit publish, you can assign that in your workflow. After each step, you can sign off on it. Email notifications ensure a post isn’t forgotten in draft status somewhere on your website.
The best part is that there’s a process history, so you can always go back and see what your original draft said. This makes it especially useful if you’re working with a team and want to keep track of who is making changes, or if you accidentally delete a whole section in the editing process.
Note: this plugin has not been tested with the most recent version of WordPress, so be sure to test its functionality in a staging environment first.
4. EditFlow
EditFlow is a great option if you’re working with a team to create content for your blog. You can create custom post statuses to help you keep track of your editorial process in a way that makes sense to you.
You can assign a post, provide some details, and then add private comments for your writer when you get it back. The email notification option helps keep everyone in the loop when a comment is added or a post needs more work.
The drag-and-drop calendar makes it easy to rearrange unpublished content, so you can easily ensure everything is scheduled for the best possible time. You can filter the calendar view to show posts by a particular user, by post status, by categories, or by post type. These filters ensure you can always find what you’re looking for when you need it. EditFlow also contains a story budget section, which is essential if you’re keeping track of expenses for each post.
Note: this plugin has not been tested with the most recent version of WordPress, so be sure to test its functionality in a staging environment first.
How do you manage your content calendar? Do you have a hard copy of your content plan, use one of these free plugins, or use a different system?
No matter how you prefer to set up your calendar, these plugins can help you stay organized. And to ensure every plugin on your site functions perfectly and loads lightning fast, turn to WP Engine for your WordPress hosting needs!
