Multi-Author blogs require a large amount of tools to manage them properly. They can be difficult and getting the most out of them means proper management of content progress. When you need to manage the content progress for your multi-author WordPress blog, you need the right strategy. Here's what you can do to better manage the progress of content from all of your authors.
Install and Use the Content Progress Plugin
The Content Progress plugin for WordPress will give you just what you need for better management of authors and their content. After installing the plugin, make sure you activate it. You will be able to access it within the Posts>>All Posts section of your dashboard.
You will notice a flag icon will show up on any posts not completed. Both the Flag and the Notes columns were added to this section of your blog from the Content Progress plugin. The Flag provides a status for the progress of the post and the notes section allows you to add notes for the author. You may notice some flag icons next to unfinished posts as soon as you install the plugin.
Editing the Flag Status
If you want to edit the status of the post, you can use the quick edit option. This will give you both the flag dropdown and the section for notes.
You can also make this adjustment in the regular edit post screen. Just click the edit link and you will find a "Content Progress" section in the right hand column of the screen.
Adjusting the Settings for the Plugin
You will have the ability to change a few of the settings for the Content Progress plugin. Just go to Settings>>Content Progress to access the settings page for the plugin.
Within this section, you can decide which post types to allow the plugin to work with. You will also be able to set your default status and choose the type of icon for each status. You can even add new status labels with a new icon and description.
If you want to change the icons that will show up in the Flag column, you can use any of the icons found below the settings. There are several to choose from and you just need to add the new URL to the right status label.
Maybe you want to set a status label for any post missing a featured image. This can easily be done by adding a new status label called "Featured Image Missing" and adding a description and URL. You can choose any of the icons already installed with the plugin or even create your own. If you create your own icon, you just need the URL to assign it to the new status label.
There's no limit to the number of custom status labels you can choose. This makes it easy if you have many different things you want to quickly communicate to your authors. Whether it's a simple as a missing image or as complex as a full rewrite, you can easily tell them with the right icon.
Now you know how to manage the progress of your content on a multi-author WordPress blog. Just add the Content Progress plugin and customize it to fit your needs.