How to schedule a WordPress blog post to publish later

15th March 2019

White Label WordPress Care Plans UK How to schedule a WordPress blog post to publish later

Did you know that you could schedule all or some of your WordPress posts at a scheduled time? The useful feature is among the hidden, which is the key reason most beginners have rarely scheduled a post.

By scheduling WordPress posts, you will never worry about the publication of an article at any specific date. You no longer have to publish immediately, you can complete writing and then schedule it to be visible to the visitors when you want to publish – on any date and time that you choose. But how is that possible? Here is how to schedule a post on WordPress.

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How to schedule blog posts on WordPress

Scheduling posts is very easy after you have understood it. After you have written a good blog post, check below the “Document” tab on the right column of your edit screen. Proceed and click on the “Status and Visibility” to display other options. Click on the “Publish Immediately” link, situated near the publish option. That will show the date and time picker.

You have the option of selecting the date and the time you would want your blog visitors to see the post. The tool allows you to select a past date or a future date, which means that you can opt for a date that matches your needs. Most people choose a past date as a way of backdating their posts in WordPress.

After selecting a future date, the publish button situated at the top changes into “Schedule” immediately. Click the schedule button so that WordPress can schedule the post. WordPress publishes a scheduled post automatically on the actual date and time you choose.

Schedule Post WordPress

Scheduled posts in WordPress in the Classic Editor

If you are among the individuals who use the WordPress classic editor, you will have to use the WordPress block editor, also known as the Gutenberg Editor. The editor is fast, intuitive, modern and it will help you make better content within a short time. However, if you prefer the old classic editor, check below the WordPress “Publish” meta box. On the right column of your edit screen, you will find the “Edit Link” near the “Publish immediately” option. Click on it.

The popup tab will show you the options for time and date. Enter your preferable date and time and then click on the “Ok” button. The blue “Publish” button will change into a new “Schedule” button. Click schedule to save the changes and schedule your post for later publishing. Posts in WordPress will be published on any date and time you choose so you should be keen when doing the selection.

Bulk schedule posts in WordPress

One thing that you will realise after you start using the WordPress scheduling feature is that opening up the website and scheduling each blog post at a time is time-consuming.

You expect that same case with social media where you will spend much of your time working on a single Facebook post, a Twitter post or any other post. You will have to perfect your focus so that you can get new ideas to post, which can take more time.

With that in mind, you should set aside a few days and schedule all your posts for the coming days. A good percentage of bloggers schedule their posts for a whole week, while others schedule them for a whole month. That way, they are able to focus on one thing at a time. To schedule your WP posts in bulk, you just need to follow these steps.

  • Install the Auto Post Scheduler Plugin

After logging into your WordPress account, open the Plugins tab. On the left of this tab, search for plugins and then search for Auto Posts Scheduler. Install the plugin in your website and click on the “Activate button. After the plugin is installed and activated. Go to the settings of the plugin

  • Choose the post schedule time, dates and delays

This is the first stage where you can pre-select all the options for the scheduling of your WordPress posts. You can set a schedule delay, set regular schedule times or limit to certain days. You can also choose which type of post is eligible for scheduling and much more. What’s great about this plugin is you can also recycle your posts if you so wish. Although from an SEO perspective you probably don’t want to post duplicate blog posts on your site!

Auto Post Scheduler
Auto Post Scheduler

Conclusion

By scheduling your WordPress posts, you will manage to keep your content flowing including when you are out on vacation, prepare posts in advance for the special promotions and occasions and target the worldwide audiences by posting according to the peak activity times.

Moreover, you will manage to keep everything neat, particularly if you prefer to run several websites and remain in control of your content.

Gavin Pedley

Gavin Pedley

Gavin is the guy behind the award-winning ThriveWP. He has over 18 years of experience creating, developing, hosting and managing WordPress websites.

Gavin regularly shares his expertise via the ThriveWP blog and Youtube channel, where he creates informative and helpful WordPress tutorial videos.

Connect with Gavin on FacebookLinkedin or Twitter.

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