WordPress is a natural fit for multi-author websites. Its ability to assign User Roles and Capabilities makes it easy to gather content from any number of authors – no matter where they’re located.
Depending on your specific needs, you may want to implement some extra features such as managing editorial flow, improving content organization, or adding some bling to author profiles.
Here are ten free plugins you can use to bring out the best in your multi-author site:
With PublishPress Authors, you gain quite a bit of control over how authors are presented on your website. First, you can assign an unlimited number of authors to a piece of content – perfect for collaborative efforts.
Then there’s the ability to add guest authors that do not need an account on your website. This saves you the hassle of creating a login for one-off posts. Last but not least, authors will be displayed in an attractive box at the bottom of your content.
Simple Author Box provides an attractive way to showcase your author bios. It’s responsive and can be customized to match your site’s design. The plugin also encourages further connections by displaying social media icons.
Author boxes can be added via the included custom block or shortcode.
Are you managing a busy blog? You’ll appreciate the tools included with SchedulePress. It allows for easy administration of common publishing tasks.
You’ll be able to schedule posts in bulk, manage multiple authors (and send them email alerts), and even share content on social media. A handy dashboard widget lets you start working as soon as you log in.
WP Project Manager is there to help you keep track of tasks and collaborate with team members. Create to-do lists, assign items to users, and set task milestones – all from within WordPress.
Also included is a messaging system that allows users to attach files. Email and push notifications will make sure everyone is on the same page.
Looking to allow anyone (or almost anyone) to post content to your site? User Submitted posts will allow folks to post content via a form on the front end. Just add a Shortcode to a page, post, or widget, and the form will appear in the appropriate place.
There are controls for allowing only logged-in users to add content, and you can set whether submitted content is automatically published or placed in draft status. There are many available options, including the ability to use the TinyMCE editor (the same one used inside the Classic Editor).
Edit Author Slug will give you some control over one of the more annoying aspects of a multi-author site. By default, WordPress will create a Permalink for each author like this: http://www.yoursite.com/author/username/.
The plugin will allow you to change that Permalink to something of your choosing, such as http://www.yoursite.com/staff/john-doe/. You can even change Permalinks based on the user’s role. It’s a little thing but handy nonetheless.
Meks Smart Author Widget can automatically detect the author of a post and display their profile in a WordPress widget. Alternately, the widget can be shown only on specific single posts or archive templates.
Options include the ability to size the author’s avatar to your custom specifications and replace the widget’s name with the name of the current author being displayed.
Editorial Calendar is one of the more popular plugins in its category – and for a good reason. It brings some sanity to scheduling upcoming posts by displaying everything in a handy calendar format.
Everything is drag-and-drop, so you can switch posts around, edit them, and more – all from one screen.
A common issue with multi-author sites is that site-runners have to log in to WordPress and check to see if authors have added any new drafts.
Post Status Notifications improves the situation by sending out email notifications to administrators when a new draft post has been added. Authors can also be notified when their post is published.
Display a listing of authors in a page, post, or widget with Authors Avatars List. The plugin comes with both a Gutenberg block and a shortcode that allows you to easily add the list wherever you like.
There are also options for showing or hiding specific users or groups, displaying individual users (with or without names and bios), and the ability to paginate your author list.
Multiply Your Efficiency (and Fun)
There are many ways to enhance your workflow and better display and organize your site’s authors. With the plugins above, the somewhat clunky process of managing content from multiple writers can be streamlined.
Plus, your sites’ authors and visitors will benefit from tools that improve author profiles. Running a multi-author WordPress website just got a bit easier.
