Building the Ultimate Content Creator’s Oasis in WordPress
Creating a Harmonious Workspace
I love to write. I’ve had so many blogs over the years going back to the 2000s. I’ve had ‘blogs’ and I’ve also just written a lot of pages, sales pages, articles on sites built on WordPress. Currently I write content for my Web Design Agencies website, I have a personal blog at MattLevenhagen.com and I’ve just kicked off writing content for UnifiedPlugins.com with this blog post! 😀
When we create content, it’s so critical to have an interface and tools at our disposal to remove distractions and make the experience as pleasant and efficient as possible.
In the vast digital landscape of content creation, WordPress stands tall as a beacon of flexibility and user-friendliness. Yet, even the most robust platforms can benefit from a touch of personalization to cater to the diverse needs of bloggers, authors, and content managers. So, how do we transform a standard WordPress site into a serene oasis of productivity for content creators?
Utilize SEO Plugins
Having the right SEO tools in hand can significantly streamline the content creation process. By incorporating SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math, content creators can optimize their posts in real-time, ensuring that they’re not only reader-friendly but also search engine-friendly.
These tools integrate seamlessly with the WordPress editor, offering suggestions for improved readability, keyword density, and meta tags—all of which can be adjusted on the fly.
Role Management
WordPress’s role management system is a boon for content-focused websites. With custom user roles, you can strip away the unnecessary clutter that a content creator might never need, reducing distractions and focusing on their tools of the trade.
This targeted approach simplifies the dashboard, making daily tasks more intuitive and less daunting. A content creator doesn’t need to wade through developer tools or e-commerce settings to get to their editorial calendar.
Drag-and-Drop Builders
For those who aren’t code-savvy, drag-and-drop builders are a revelation. They democratize the design process, allowing anyone with a vision to build beautiful, functional layouts.
With the advent of WordPress’s Gutenberg block editor and block themes, this process has become more integrated into the core WordPress experience. It offers a level of design flexibility and ease of use that was once only available through third-party builders.
WordPress comes with an array of core blocks to help create layouts and content. But there’s also a wide range of Block Plugins that can extend that including our own Unified Blocks plugin.
Don’t Hide Admin Bars
While the intent behind hiding the admin bar might be to provide a cleaner interface, it can often hinder more than it helps, especially for content teams. A more nuanced approach is to use the Unified Toolkit to replace the default admin bar with a Minimalist Bar. It retains essential functionality, such as quick access to the dashboard and the editor, without the bulk of the full admin bar. It’s a compromise that respects both the designer’s vision for a clean interface and a content creator’s need for convenience.
Easy to Duplicate Posts
Efficiency in content creation often means building on what already exists. Unified Toolkit includes a feature that simplifies the process of duplicating posts. This can be invaluable for content teams who need to create a series of similar articles or when a successful post format becomes a template for future content.
We actually use this feature a lot on my podcast site, TheBuilders.fm. Every week I release a new episode and instead of starting from scratch, we just duplicate the last post. It contains all the layouts and blocks we need. Then we just replace the content with the new content. Done.
Using this method, it keeps the content consistent and makes my content person’s job (I get help in this case from my virtual assistant) much easier!
In Summary
These are just a handful of ways to enhance the content creation experience within WordPress. By leveraging SEO plugins, fine-tuning user roles, embracing drag-and-drop page builders, offering simplified admin bar options with tools like Unified Toolkit, and making it easy to duplicate posts, you can significantly reduce the friction in your content team’s workflow.
It’s about creating a space where creativity is nurtured, and productivity is seamless—a space where content creators can excel without needless complexity standing in their way.