Editorial Workflow Manager

Editorial Workflow Manager is a WordPress editorial checklist and pre-publish workflow plugin built directly for the Gutenberg block editor.

Create reusable editorial checklist templates, automatically check common publishing requirements, assign different checklists to different post types, and give authors and editors a clear view of what still needs attention before publishing.

It is designed for content teams, editors, agencies, news sites, and multi-author WordPress websites that want a consistent publishing process without a complex workflow or project-management system.

Editorial Workflow Manager does not add anything to your site’s front end. Publishing remains advisory by default, with optional Block mode for administrators who require checklist completion.

It gives your team a focused WordPress pre-publish checklist with clear readiness feedback directly inside the editor.

Create a repeatable editorial checklist

Turn your publishing standards into reusable WordPress editorial checklists that appear where authors already write and edit content.

• Create reusable checklist templates.
• Mark items as Required or Optional.
• Add helper text to checklist items.
• Add optional reference links for additional guidance.
• Reorder checklist items.
• Duplicate existing templates to build new workflows faster.
• Assign different checklist templates to different post types.
• Track checklist completion separately for each post.
• Use Required items to determine publishing readiness.
• Keep Optional items as guidance without affecting readiness.

This makes it easier for every author and editor to follow the same pre-publish process instead of relying on memory, documents, or separate task lists.

Automate common pre-publish checks

Editorial Workflow Manager can combine manual checklist items with automatic content requirements.

Built-in automatic checks include:

• Featured image present.
• Excerpt present.
• Configurable minimum word count.
• Independently configurable maximum word count.
• Category or tag present.
• Independently configurable minimum and maximum category counts.
• Independently configurable minimum and maximum tag counts.
• Image alternative-text coverage for featured and content images.

Automatic requirements update from the current post content and participate in the same Ready / Incomplete status as manual required items.

Authors can immediately see which requirements are complete and which still need attention.

Existing checklist templates do not enable automatic requirements unless you choose to add them.

If a mapped post type does not support a particular requirement, that rule is ignored instead of being treated as failed.

See what is ready to publish

Editorial Workflow Manager provides publishing-readiness feedback throughout the WordPress admin.

• Editorial Checklist sidebar inside Gutenberg.
• Ready / Incomplete status based on required items.
• Required-item progress while editing.
• Post Status panel summary.
• Pre-publish guidance reflecting the Advisory or Block publication policy.
• Readiness column in post lists for mapped post types.
• Ready, Incomplete, and Not calculated post-list filters.
• Expandable details showing missing required items.
• Recalculate readiness for selected posts.
• Batched recalculation for all mapped posts.
• Editorial Readiness dashboard summary for managers.

The default Advisory policy shows a non-blocking pre-publish warning.

Administrators can choose Block per mapped post type to require completion before first publication or scheduling. The server checks saved requirements, and scheduled posts are checked again when due. Draft saving remains available; existing published and private posts remain editable.

A Gutenberg checklist where your team already works

The editorial checklist lives directly inside the WordPress block editor.

Authors do not need to switch between WordPress and a separate project-management tool just to verify publishing requirements.

Use the checklist while writing, reviewing, and preparing content for publication.

Editorial Workflow Manager is designed for Gutenberg / the WordPress block editor and does not provide its checklist interface in the Classic Editor.

Built for content teams and editorial workflows

Editorial Workflow Manager can be used for many WordPress publishing processes.

Blogs and content teams

Create a repeatable pre-publish checklist for SEO review, featured images, categories, links, formatting, fact-checking, and other publishing standards.

News and editorial sites

Use editorial checklists for source confirmation, fact-checking, accessibility review, legal review steps, and editor sign-off requirements.

Multi-author WordPress sites

Give contributors, authors, and editors a consistent process so important publishing steps are less likely to be missed.

Agencies

Create checklists for brand requirements, accessibility checks, content review, client review steps, and delivery standards.

Different content types

Assign different checklist templates to different supported post types so each type of content can have its own publishing requirements.

Start with ready-made checklist templates

New installations include starter templates that can be used as-is or customized:

• Blog SEO
• News Fact-Check
• Accessibility Review
• Client Approval

Edit, duplicate, reorder, and adapt the templates to match your own editorial process.

Quick setup for new sites

A Quickstart wizard helps administrators configure the plugin after installation.

Use it to:

1. Choose the post types where editorial checklists should appear.
2. Assign starter checklist templates.
3. Open the block editor.
4. Follow the one-time editor tour.
5. Start completing checklist requirements.

Quickstart and editor-tour dismissal preferences are stored per user, so one administrator can dismiss onboarding without affecting another user’s experience.

Extend automatic checks with custom rules

Developers can register site-specific automatic requirements using the plugin’s PHP registration API and optional JavaScript evaluator contract.

Custom rules can participate in the same system as the built-in requirements, including:

• Per-template enablement.
• Authoritative server-side evaluation.
• Optional live Gutenberg feedback.
• Readiness aggregation.
• Saved-result refresh.
• Readiness cache invalidation.

Developer documentation is included in docs/rule-registration-api.md, together with a standalone sample extension.

Key features

• WordPress editorial checklist inside Gutenberg.
• Reusable pre-publish checklist templates.
• Required and Optional checklist items.
• Automatic publishing requirements.
• Featured-image checking.
• Excerpt checking.
• Minimum word-count checking.
• Maximum word-count checking.
• Minimum unique internal-link checking without fetching linked pages.
• Category or tag checking.
• Minimum and maximum category-count checking.
• Minimum and maximum tag-count checking.
• Image alternative-text checking.
• Helper text and reference links.
• Template duplication.
• Local JSON template import/export with validation and preview.
• Different checklists for different post types.
• Per-post checklist progress.
• Ready / Incomplete publishing status.
• Advisory warnings and opt-in publication blocking per post type.
• Readiness status in WordPress post lists.
• Missing-requirement details.
• Readiness filters and recalculation tools.
• Editorial Readiness dashboard.
• Starter editorial checklist templates.
• Quickstart setup wizard.
• Gutenberg editor tour.
• Developer API for custom automatic requirements.
• Accessible keyboard and screen-reader workflows.
• Backward-compatible handling of legacy checklist data.

Lightweight by design

Editorial Workflow Manager focuses on one job: helping WordPress teams follow a consistent editorial checklist before publishing.

It does not:

• Add content to your site’s front end.
• Replace WordPress publishing with a separate workflow system.
• Require a complex workflow builder.
• Add role-based bypasses or post-level publication exceptions.

Use it when you want a practical Gutenberg pre-publish checklist and clear editorial readiness feedback without adding an enterprise workflow suite.

Getting started

1. Install and activate Editorial Workflow Manager.
2. Complete the Quickstart wizard.
3. Choose the post types where editorial checklists should appear.
4. Assign or customize checklist templates.
5. Open a post in the Gutenberg block editor.
6. Complete manual checklist items and automatic requirements.
7. Watch the Ready / Incomplete status update as requirements are completed.
8. Review site-wide readiness from post lists and the Editorial Readiness dashboard.

You can change post-type mappings later under Settings > Editorial Workflow and manage templates from Checklist Templates.