Plugin Review: Editorial Calendar

After blogging for some time, it became evident to me that I needed an editorial calendar.  I used to use a spreadsheet for this, and I have seen many other people handle their posting schedule in a similar way.

But I really was looking for something that was more effective, and something that would work well within WordPress.  Up until now, I just had not found the right solution.

Enter Editorial Calendar from Stresslimit

Here is what Stresslimit says about their Editorial Calendar plugin:

After years of hacking together editorial calendars for our clients using Excel spreadsheets and Google Docs, we decided that the blogosphere needed a better editorial calendar management tool. WordPress lets you create and edit your posts, but does not have the simple and powerful “bird’s eye view” of your content that allows you to control your long-term strategy.

That description sounded exactly like what I was searching for.

My Thoughts

Finding this plugin got me somewhat excited because it looked to be what I was searching for.  But after trying out other plugins, I will say I was a little skeptical as to whether it would really perform as described.

However, immediately after installing it, I found the plugin work quite well.  I was impressed.  It has an intuitive interface and had stable performance.  It also worked well on my mobile devices.

I particularly like the drag-and-drop interface they have provided.  You can easily schedule posts directly from the calendar page.  Changing the schedule is as easy as dragging a post to a new day (or changing the time).

All things considered, this is a very well executed plugin and I expect I will be using it consistently.  Honestly, after only a couple of weeks using the plugin, I’m not sure how I was able to function without it.

What Others Are Saying

Here is what Chris Brogan had to say about Editorial Calendar:

It works exceptionally well at a very simple, but useful task. It helps you plan out your content with a very useful drag and drop interface. I checked it out a day or two ago and am already using the heck out of it.

Copyblogger says:

No plugin alone can make you a brilliant strategist. But the WordPress Editorial Calendar is a tool that will encourage more strategic habits, thinking, and behavior.

Where To Get It

The plugin is available free in the WordPress Plugin Repository.