How to schedule a post in WordPress

What is scheduling?

Scheduling means setting a date and time in the future. WordPress keeps your post hidden until then. At the chosen time it goes live without you. It is like setting an alarm clock for your post.

Why use it?

• You can write many posts in one go and spread them over several days.
• You can post when most visitors are online.
• You can publish while you are on holiday.

Check your time zone first

WordPress uses the time zone in its settings. If it is wrong, your post will go live at the wrong hour.

1. In the dashboard, click Settings, then General.
2. Find Timezone.
3. Pick your city or region from the list.
4. Click Save Changes.

Steps to schedule a post

1. Click Posts, then Add New. Or open an existing draft.
2. Write your title and content.
3. Look at the right-hand panel. Under the Post tab, find the line that says Publish with Immediately next to it.
4. Click Immediately. A small calendar opens.
5. Pick the date and type the time.
6. Click outside the calendar to close it. The button at the top changes from Publish to Schedule.
7. Click Schedule.
8. Click Schedule once more to confirm.

Your post now has the status Scheduled.

See or change your scheduled posts

1. Click Posts, then All Posts.
2. Click the Scheduled link above the list.
3. Click a title to open the post.
4. Change the date in the same place as before and click Update.

To cancel, change the date back to Immediately or click Switch to draft.

If a post is missed

WordPress checks for scheduled posts when someone visits the site. On a quiet site, a post may go live a little late. You may see the label Missed schedule. If that happens often, ask Hostvento support whether your site's scheduled tasks, called cron jobs, run well.

Quick recap

• Scheduling publishes a post later, by itself.
• Set the right time zone in Settings, General.
• Click Immediately, pick a date and time, then click Schedule.
• Find scheduled posts under the Scheduled link.