How To Schedule Posts For Later 09/08/09
It is important to make sure that your blog doesn’t get stale. You want people to come back and see that you are keeping up with it. Sometimes, however, you are going to be away from your computer for long periods of time or you have some pressing matters that are going to make it impossible to keep up with your blog. If you know about these circumstances in advance, there is a way to make sure that it looks like you are keeping up with your blog without you having to log in and keep posting.
You can actually schedule posts for later. A lot of times, when I know I am going on vacation or something, I will write several blog posts and then que them up to post over the next several days. This allows me to be “hands off” on my blog while making it appear that I am constantly updating.
Here’s how you do it:
Login to your WordPress dashboard, click on “Posts”, and then click on “Add New”. Then go ahead and write one of your posts like you would anyway. Now, under the “Publish” area on the right hand side of your screen, there is an area that says “Publish: immediately”. Click on the link that says “Edit”.
Now you can change the date and time that you want this post to update.
That’s it. That is all there is to it. You can do this as many times as you want to schedule up as many days as you want.
It is something that is really quick and simple, yet a lot of people ask me how to do this. So there you go. That’s how it is done.
Do you have any burning WordPress questions? I can probably help you out with any questions that you have or anything that you’ve been trying to figure out how to do. I want to get back in to doing a couple of blog posts a week. Post your WordPress questions and what you would like to learn and I will make more tutorials on how to do them. But first, don’t forget to check out my free WordPress video tutorials at The WordPress Classroom.
Ask your questions in the comments below and I will help you out if I know the answer!
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20 Responses to this article
Hey Matt,
That’s a great tip.
I have been told that when starting a new blog you should edit the post date to an earlier time so it doesn’t look that new to the search engines but for some reason never thought about using it to schedule them for a later date.
Thanks for that,
James Howard
.-= James Howard?s last blog ..Twitter Traffic ? Is It Really Affective? =-.
I usually do this in my holiday because i will far away from internet.
.-= LetUpdate?s last blog ..Mobile Blogging =-.
Hey Matt,
This is one of the features of WordPress that although I knew about it, I haven’t yet used it to my advantage. I’ve often typed up a post a 1-2am then posted it right away, forgetting that I could schedule it to be posted at a more suitable time of say 1pm. I’ll have to try and remember next time.
Great post, very well explained and a feature that deserves bringing to everyone’s attention, because I’m sure it is often missed by people who are new to WordPress.
Also thanks for your comment on my ’25 things’ post, I look forward to reading yours.
Keep on blogging,
Paul.
.-= Paul Lear?s last blog ..25 Things You Should Know About Paul Lear =-.
Hey Matt,
Hope your well!
Why is it some of the most simplest methods are not the most obvious. I love this Matt, after beating myself up on what to post, and keeping my Blog fresh I find myself at times frantically writing a post at the last minute to get it online, I can now plan my weeks posts in advance (I’m told I should be posting at least 3 times a week!) so now I can do that, it’s going to save me time.
Thanks Matt.
Sean
Hey Matt,
A great tip!
It’s one of those things that I have seen, but it’s not really registered in my little brain
I will put this to good use, as I am just getting a plan together for my next few posts!
Talk soon,
Paul
.-= Paul Wilson?s last blog ..25 things you should (or maybe not) know about me? =-.
Hey Matt,
How are things?
I came across this the other day and thought that would be very handy during those times when you are feeling creative and are able to knock out a few articles in succession.
Great tip.
To Your Success,
Rob
.-= Rob Willis?s last blog ..25 Things You May Not Know About Me =-.
Hey Matt!
That certainly comes in handy I will have to try that. There are times that I just haven’t had time to post things, but I really don’t want my blog to go stale. That is a good way to let people know you are still there.
Thanks for the tip
Jim
.-= Jim Hardin?s last blog ..How to use Meta Tags =-.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for the tip. I learned about that feature recently, but haven’t tried it yet. I’ve been having trouble getting regular posts out during the week. With this tool I could write up several posts over the weekend when my mind is clear and then schedule them to post through out the week. I hadn’t thought about doing that before until now.
I’ll check back when I think of something I need to learn. I’m so new to WordPress that I’m not sure what the possibilities are.
Take Care, Heidi
.-= Heidi Passey?s last blog ..K.O.T.O.B.O.T ? huh? =-.
Hi Matt,
Great post. When I try to use my publish immediately button it’s always ubstructed by the space where you type your post.
I’m not sure how to clear that so I can have a plain view of the publish buttons.
Jeanette
I believe that has something to do with your computer’s resolution settings. If you are on a PC and you go to your desktop, you should be able to right-click, go to the settings, and choose a higher resolution. I think this might solve your problem.
Matt
Hey Matt,
I didn’t know you could do this – thanks for the tip.
If I ever get a holiday anytime in the next 10 years, I’ll scedule some posts, just like you’ve described here – thanks my friend.
Talk soon,
Andrew.
.-= Andrew Vaughan?s last blog ..The Gazzman Challenge ? 25 Things about Me. =-.
Matt,
Great tip. Used it once or twice myself too.
Also, the other thing you can do is change the order of some of your blog posts if you nest the dates properly.
Take care.. and thanks for the reminder.
Cheers,
Rob
.-= Rob Canyon?s last blog ..How I Made $3758 In 21 Days Online? With My ?Double Click Blueprint? Strategy. =-.
Cool. Thanks for the tip Rob! I used to do this to back-date posts as well. When I first started this blog, I used to post once per day. If I ever fell a little behind, I would catch up and then back-date the posts so that it looked like I never missed a day. It’s sneaky but I didn’t want anyone to think I was slacking off.
Matt
Hi Matt… First time visitor. I think I found your site from a comment over at Jared’s site… TheMoneyCult.com.
You have a lot of really good content here. As far a scheduling posts for later, I live by this. It really makes life much easier when you can have a few posts sitting on your server just waiting to be published automatically. That way you don’t have to stress each day wondering if you have something to post.
Also… great job with the images making it easy for people to understand how to set the Post Schedule. I need to start using images more to explain how things work.
.-= Doug Dillard?s last blog ..Making Money Online Subscription Contest ? Win Professionally Designed Logos or a Character Mascot =-.
Hi Matt,
Another great tip. Just thought I’d drop you a line to say how much I’m enjoying WordPress Classroom Pro.
I’ve even written an Ezine article to promote it.
Looking forward to your next tip.
Keep in touch,
John
.-= John Tanner?s last blog ..Can I Get A Website To Page 1 on Google? Video Diary Day 2 =-.
Hi Matt
Another good tip from you. I didn’t know that option was in wordpress. Thanks for your comments on my last blog. I just sent my video to YouTube for my ebook so my blog will come out tomorrow.
Thanks
Roger
Go out and make it a successful day!
Matt, good advice took me a while to figure this out. Ended up my issue was my time zone was wrong so it would post about 3 hours later then expected. So if anyone is not seeing it right away you might want to check you time zone.
I do have a word press question for you what the best practice or advice for ping list. I have seen so many diffent oppions on this I sure you should be doing more then the default one that is provide with wordpress.
.-= Jared P Little?s last blog ..What?s Your Blog Strategy Part 2 =-.
Hi Matt
Great advice as always will use this in the future.
Keep in touch
Graeme
Hi Matt,
I have to say that I didn’t know you could do that! Your tips are always so useful and timely! Thanks. -Norene
.-= Norene?s last blog ..Goal Setting and Re-Setting =-.
I used to schedule post. But publish directly now. Try to get more traffic.
.-= Jayce?s last blog ..Free movie ticket from Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) =-.