Do you schedule your blog posts in advance?
I try to. I currently use Google Calendar to schedule my post dates. I have created a calendar that is specifcally for my blog. I have differentiated it from my other calendars with a specific color. When I come up with blog post idea I make note of it in Evernote and plug it into the next open date on my calendar.
Things of course don not always go as planned and that is one thing that I like about Google Calendar. I can just drag and drop items form one day to the next if plans change. I also have Google Calendar synced to my Droid X which allows me to keep up with post dates while on the go.
The things about being a blogger is that you are always learning new things and you can find new great little gems all the time. That is what happened last week that is changing the way that I schedule my blog posts!
Last week I was introduced to another way to schedule my blog posts by fellow Tentblogger Herb from GeekRev. The name of the WordPress plug-in is Editorial Calendar, and it puts a calendar into your WordPress admin area that is very similar to the Google Calendar that I currently use.
The following is a few the things that I like:
- It lets me see a calendar inside my WordPress admin area without having to switch back and forth between WordPress and Google Calendar.
- You have the ability to drag posts to move them around form day to day.
- You can select and add post for certain days right from the calendar.
- You can select previous posts form the calendar and edit them.
Things that I would like to see:
- The ability to sync with outside calendars such as Google Cal or iCal. This would allow me to see what posts that I have scheduled while I am away from a desktop or laptop computer. I would be able to pull out my cell phone or iPad and see what is scheduled for certain days.
That is it. I think that app is great, and I will continue to use it.
Here is a video of the plugin in action:
The WordPress Editorial Calendar Screen Cast from Zack Grossbart on Vimeo.
How do you schedule posts? Click here to comment.
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glad you like it – an I could go along with the things you’d like to see it improved with…
one thing that is not readily apparent is the “screen options” slide out menu that gives some additional display options, like showing the author, status, and time of day… as well as how many weeks to display at a time…
I absolutely love it – in fact, I do not even look at the tradition posts table anymore… I mange the posts almost completely from the calendar.
oops! mange = manage
Yea, those things would be nice. I too have stopped looking at the traditional table.
Thanks again for telling me about this plugin.
Thanks for the comments.
Thanks for the awesome post Adam. We always love to hear about people using the Editorial Calendar. We’ve heard the request to integrate with Google Calendar or iCal before. There are a few technical issues that make it difficult to implement.
Instead of integration with another calendar we’re looking into making the Editorial Calendar much more mobile friendly. The same calendar you use in WordPress could be smart about displaying in a mobile friendly way on your phone. We’re trying to see if there is enough interest to make this worthwhile.
What do you think?
Thanks,
Zack
Zack,
A mobile friendly version would be great. Something to be able to access on the go without having to login to the browser on a cell phone!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment.