Turn WordPress Into a Complete CMS For Newsrooms and Multi-User Blogs With Edit Flow

I’d like to introduce you to one of the best tools available for managing editorial workflow within WordPress. If you have ever tried to use Wordpress through an edited and tiered composition process, then you already know the limitations and bulkiness one must endure in attempting to collaborate. Sure, the “draft” feature lets you save a work in progress or schedule its publishing but it’s hardly a complex set of tools for the modern day Wordpress Editorial Desk.

Enter the Edit Flow Project! This group of developers has created a customizable plugin that allows multiple users to comment, make recommendations, brainstorm together, leave editorial comments and much more.One of the main purposes of the Edit Flow plugin is to empower newsrooms, blog networks and multi-user blogs to manage more of their editorial workflow from within the WordPress admin.

As you know, the default WordPress admin doesn’t naturally lend itself to works in progress and collaboration. The only distinctions available on a post in process are “draft” or “pending review.” Edit Flow expands the scope of your collaborative pieces with additional post statuses: assigned, pitched, and waiting for feedback.

One of the coolest features of the latest Version 0.2 is the Quick Pitch dashboard widget for tossing around story ideas and adopting the “pitch” status for a post.

With Edit Flow plugin, you can easily work collaboratively on several projects in different stages of completion, as well as hash out new ideas in a group setting on the go. This can save a virtual newsroom lots of time from concept to post; it also eases the transition from print to online media.

The best thing about Edit Flow is that it is still actively in development, which means more tasty features to come! Some of the new functions being considered include:

• More granular email notifications, including the ability to have a notification go to a predefined group of people
• User groups with functionality to define specific groups of users within WordPress. For instance, a user could be included in a writer’s group and have the ability to pitch new assignments or be included in a copy editor’s group and have the ability to mark pieces as “copy edited.”
• Visualization of the editorial workflow data within WordPress, let it be through a calendar view, an activity stream, or other.
• The ability to define newsroom-specific metadata for each post.
• Functionality to allow custom definition of a required set of actions for each piece. These could be “copy-edit,” “fact-check,” etc.

If you’re struggling to manage a multi-user blog or collaborative team with your current dashboard capabilities, let Edit Flow harness the power of WordPress publishing for you. If you’ve used this plugin before, feel free to give it a little mini-review in the comments and let us know your thoughts.

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