How Can I Automate My Blog Posting?

Written by George Manty · July 4, 2007

Andrea asked me a couple of questions in the comments of an earlier post. I answered some of her questions, but I decided to answer her second question in this post. Andrea’s second question was:

“... if you use wordpress, how do you set your blogs to go out on time…”

Here are five easy steps to set your posts to appear at a future time on your wordpress blog…

Step 1:
Write your post, but DO NOT PUBLISH IT.

Step 2:
Scroll down and look for the “Post Timestamp” navigation bar on the right side of your wordpress dashboard. It will look something like this:

post timestamp before

Step 3:
Check the box to the left of the words “Edit timestamp”.

Step 4:
Change the date and time you want the post to be published on (the date you want it to appear on your blog). The time is in military hours and is based on the time where your web host resides. If you wanted to change the date and time to July 4th, 2007 at 7:00am, then the wordpress timestamp screen would look like this:

post timestamp delay

Step 5:
Click on publish to publish the post.

That’s all there is to it. Now, your post will publish on the day and time that you chose. In the example above, it would publish July 4th at 7:00am.

You may wonder where your post went to when you changed the timestamp. Well, when you set the post time and/or date to the future, your post won’t show up on your blog until that date/time. You can however see it by going to Manage – Posts, and looking for it on your list of posts.

Filed Under Blogging, Blogging Tips, Make Money Online, WordPress

Comments

8 Responses to “How Can I Automate My Blog Posting?”

Andrea on July 5th, 2007 2:35 am

George,

Thanks! It’s nice of you to show people that some questions can be answered simply and done easily! I use to run to outsource everything, but now I find that when I ask, I learn something and save a few $$$!

My problem is having the time to write the posts in the first place.. being far ahead enough to have reserves is a goal :).

Hope you had an awesome anniversary!

Andrea
cooliojones on July 5th, 2007 3:33 am

This is especially useful during holiday and vacation seasons, as your reader don’t have to suffer or go elsewhere for content. I use it when I feel the urge to write but don’t want to post everything immediately. Good tip.
George Manty on July 5th, 2007 7:09 am

Andrea,

You are welcome. Keep the questions coming. I have found that answering questions makes for excellent posts.

We did have an awesome anniversary.

Thanks,
George
George Manty on July 5th, 2007 7:10 am

cooljones,

Thanks. I like to use it when I go on vacation, or when I want to be sure that a post is published at a certain time.
Adam Thompson on July 5th, 2007 6:09 pm

This technique is also great if you want to post at the exact same time every day or week so your subscribers know when to expect an update.

~Adam
Explode The Net!
George Manty on July 5th, 2007 6:12 pm

Thanks Adam for your suggestion. I agree.
Gaje Master on July 13th, 2007 2:45 pm

This is kind of cool. I didn’t know that you could do this and I am glad that you wrote a post on it.
xztheericzx on November 10th, 2007 1:47 am

i’m eric. joining a couple boards and looking
forward to participating. hehe unless i get
too distracted!

eric