Using the PublishPress Checklists plugin, you can define tasks that must be complete before content is published.
This is a guide to installing the PublishPress Checklists plugin.
These guides have useful background information as you're getting started:
Video Introduction to the PublishPress Checklist Plugin #
Installing PublishPress Checklists #
- Install the plugin from WordPress.org (Free version) or from your PublishPress account (Pro version).
- Click “Checklists” then “Settings” in your WordPress admin menu.
- Here you can select what content types you want to use with the Checklist.
Checklists will work with custom post types. This next image shows the screen we just saw above, but with an events calendar plugin also installed on the site.
Creating the Checklists #
Next, you can choose the requirements for your checklists.
- Go to “Checklists” then “Checklists” in you WordPress admin menu.
- Choose your post type. In the image below, you can choose “Post” or “Pages”. Other content types will show if you selected them in the “Settings” area.
For each content type, you can create a unique checklist:
Checklist Tasks #
Here are the default tasks:
- Numbers of characters in excerpt
- Number of categories
- Number of tags
- Number of characters in title
- Number of words in content
- Number of internal links in content
- Featured image
- Latin characters in permalink (contains the characters A to Z, 0 to 9, or
-and_) - Yoast SEO readability analysis pass (only shows if the Yoast SEO plugin is installed)
- Yoast SEO analysis pass (only shows if the Yoast SEO plugin is installed)
It is also possible to create your own checklist requirements.
Disabled, Recommended or Required? #
All the tasks are disabled by default. You can select only the requirements you need.
In the center column, you can choose a specific action for each requirement:
- Disabled
- Recommended: show only in the sidebar
- Recommended: show in the sidebar and before publishing
- Required
If you choose the “Required” option, it will be impossible to publish without completing the task. If you choose a “Recommended message”, a warning will show, but users can still publish.
Who can ignore the task? #
This column allows user roles who can skip certain tasks.
For example, you may want all your “Authors” to write a minimum number of words for each post. However, you may also want to allow “Administrators” to use their discretion and skip that requirement.
Using the Checklists #
When you create new content, you will see the Checklist in right sidebar, as in the image below:
When you click “Publish”, you will also see the checklist before you confirm you want to make the content public. If you see a warning sign, the post is not ready to publish.
