One of the nicest features about WordPress is its easy-to-use dashboard. For many first time users, the intimidation of web publishing is quickly diminished once they see how similar things look to the typical text editor.
For example, if one remains inside the Visual Editor, toolbar icons are similar to the ones found inside Microsoft Word.
To align text, images, or videos, one simply selects what needs to be edited, clicks on the center icon, and voilà! … the changes are applied.
However, other aspects of the dashboard’s functionality are either found through additional study or by happenstance as one rummages around.
A professional is defined as someone who can perform consistently at peak efficiency. Although most chiropractors don’t aspire to be professional bloggers, knowing some of the “insider secrets” can pay big dividends in terms of time. And, as the old saying goes, time is money!
So today, I thought I’d walk you through a rather basic but often times overlooked feature associated with the WordPress dashboard — the ability to schedule posts for a later date and time.
Here are the steps:
Step One: Click on the Edit Link next to Publish immediately
Step Two: Select the Month, Day, Year, and Time
Step Three: Click on OK
Step Four: Click on Publish
Don’t worry … the last step won’t publish the post immediately but will instead queue your blog post to be scheduled for the month, day, year, and time you predesignated in the earlier steps.
By following the above approach juxtaposed with an editorial calendar, you and your chiropractic assistant can start scheduling blog posts well into the future. Once scheduled, you can move forward with your day since WordPress will automatically publish them based off of your settings.
Question: Do you use the schedule feature built into WordPress? If so, how far in advance to you schedule your posts?
Let us know in the {comments} section below.
About Dr. Patrick MacNamara
Great post for those just starting out with using WordPress, Dr. MacNamara. I’ve always used the scheduling feature with the exception of my base content that I posted all on the day I launched my blog. I simply make it a habit to take about an hour and write a post early almost every Sunday morning and now have posts scheduled until July of 2011 and of course this week I’ll be adding to that.
That’s a great habit to have, Dr. Heins! And, obviously it is paying off for you. Keep up the great work and enjoy your family over the Thanksgiving holiday.
I like to look at it like a freight train it takes a lot of effort and quite awhile to get moving but once you get it’s momentum going it’s a powerful force that won’t stop.
I hear a lot from our colleagues that “they don’t have the time” or “they don’t know what to write about” or “I’m not a very good writer” which are all just a bunch of excuses. If they would just make it a habit of taking just one hour a week to write something, with some time and practice, they’d be exactly where I’m at. Which is, now having a solid on-line presence of valuable helpful content that ranks high in search engines, which serves to establish me as an expert in my niche market and separates me from most other Chiropractors and all the other Health Care Professionals in and around my practice’s locality. All from being committed to making it a habit and of course learning the how to from you, Dr. MacNamara.
I agree Doc,
It does take a lot of effort to get this train moving. But once it gets the momentum it is almost impossible to stop. Keep on adding fuel to your train by consistent posting.
This is a great feature with WordPress. Sometimes I feel like writing alot and sometimes I just can’t push myself writing. Having this feature allowed me to consistently publish three times a week. This is a great safety feature for rainy days and it also helps your post to to be publishes while you are asleep. Great post, doc!
Sometimes the most simple features within WordPress get overlooked. And, I’m amazed at how many chiropractors don’t know about it. Furthermore, one of the reasons for writing this post was to have a quick reference for chiropractors on how this is done.
Obviously, you didn’t need the instruction but your input to the conversation is invaluable. Thanks again for joining in on the conversation!
Yes I use it and it is used in conjunction with a blog calender that has scheduled categories throughout the year. For instance one week out of certain months might be slated for product marketing while the next week might have a tutorial, a review and a fluff blog. The fluff blogs are my favorites. I do this so that when I have an idea regarding a certain topic and can see where it fits into my schedule, write it up and set the date.
Fluff blog, huh? Should I incorporate this into Next Generation Chiropractor?
By the way, both you and Dr. Beck are doing an exceptional job . I appreciate the amount of effort, enthusiasm, and excellence you two bring to the chiropractic profession. Keep it up!!