Scheduling
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Scheduling lets members pick a future date and time for a post instead of publishing it straight away. WordPress publishes the post at that time. Members also get a Calendar tab that shows their published, scheduled and draft posts on a month or week grid, where they can reschedule a post by dragging it to another day.
Use it when members plan content ahead, or when you want posts to go live at set times. The module is off by default.
Turn it on
Section titled “Turn it on”- Go to WB Plugins > Member Blog > Manage Modules.
- Switch on Post Scheduling. The switch saves as you flip it.
- Open the Scheduling tab that now appears in the Member Blog settings sidebar.
- Review the settings below and click Save Settings.
Turning the module off removes the Schedule for later option from the post form, the Calendar tab, and the scheduling shortcodes and blocks. Posts that are already scheduled still publish at their time, because WordPress itself publishes them.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”Found on WB Plugins > Member Blog > Scheduling.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Who can use it | Everyone who can write posts, or Only these roles. Checked on every schedule, reschedule and unschedule, not only when showing the option. | Everyone |
| Default Publish Time | The time pre-filled in the date picker. | 09:00 |
| Minimum Schedule Time | How many hours ahead a post must be scheduled. 0 means no minimum. | 1 hour |
| Maximum Schedule Window | How many days ahead a post can be scheduled. 0 means no limit. | 0 (no limit) |
| Maximum Scheduled Posts per User | How many posts one member can have waiting to publish at once. 0 means no limit. Administrators and editors are exempt. | 0 (no limit) |
| Send Email Notification | Emails the author when their scheduled post goes live. When on, members also see an Email me when published checkbox and can opt out per post. | On |
Everyone means every role. On a new site, and until you choose Only these roles, scheduling is open to everyone who can write posts, including custom roles such as those added by a membership plugin.
Times are in site time
Section titled “Times are in site time”Every date and time a member picks or sees is in your site’s timezone, as set in Settings > General > Timezone, not the member’s own. The post form, the Calendar and the Scheduling tab all show the timezone name and UTC offset, for example “Times are in site time (Europe/London, UTC+1)”. Set your site timezone before members start scheduling.
How scheduling works with other rules
Section titled “How scheduling works with other rules”- Moderation. If posts need review before they go live, a scheduled post goes to the review queue first, keeping its date. When a reviewer approves it, it publishes at the date the member picked. If the date has already passed by then, it publishes on approval.
- Moderation switched on later. If you turn on review after a member scheduled a post directly, the post is held for review at its publish time instead of going live unseen.
- Word limits. A post under the minimum word count is returned to draft at its publish time instead of going live. The author can fix it and schedule it again.
- Posting limits and credits. At publish time the author’s posting limits and credits are checked again. If they no longer allow the post, it is returned to draft and the author is emailed the reason and what to do next.
- Failed scheduling. If a member ticks Schedule for later but the date is missing, too soon, too far ahead, or over the per-member limit, the post is saved as a draft (never published early) and the member is told why.
The Scheduling tab
Section titled “The Scheduling tab”Besides the settings, the tab shows:
- Scheduled Posts - the next 20 scheduled posts on the site with title, author, scheduled time (in site time) and Edit and Preview links, plus a link to View all scheduled posts.
- Stuck / Overdue Posts - a warning listing scheduled posts whose time has passed without publishing, usually a sign that WP-Cron is not running on the site, with a link to Review in Posts.
Pages in this section
Section titled “Pages in this section”- Schedule a Post - for members writing a post.
- The Calendar and Your Scheduled Posts - reschedule, unschedule, and the calendar and list shortcodes.