Leading from the Front as a Writer Manager!

This is the first part of an interesting series. Here, the writer manager finds something new!

One of our users, Melanie (not her real name!) had a chat with one of the support guys a couple of months back! 

“I do appreciate the support you provide. The plugin (PostX) works great for me. However, I had something in mind.” 

-Melanie

“What’s that?”

-The support guy

“You see, I have a team of writers who write for me. Google docs is great and all, but I sometimes don’t have the energy to format all the posts and submit them. Sometimes, I feel like I’m not a great content manager.”

-Melanie

“We do have something, but it’s in the planning stage.”

– reply from the support.

Fast forward a few months, the WPXPO team comes up with the Front End Post Submission (FEPS) Addon for WordPress. 

We’ll start from the top. Today’s discussion will focus on the specific duties of a content manager, and how the Front End Post Submission feature can help a manager out. 

What is a Writer Manager? 

A writer manager or content manager or web content manager, whatever you want to call it, manages writers. 

In some cases, a content manager will write blog posts, social media content, product descriptions, etc. – but not in a broad sense. Their key role is to manage the flow of writers, whether that’s freelance or in-house. 

In short, manage writers to ensure “user-first” content gets on the website. This includes almost every area of content marketing. Melanie, is one of such users. 

In general, users like Melanie have some experience of managing writers. They are typically not your entry-level writers or web copywriters. Their experience can be in a variety of areas like – strategic marketing, content management, project management etc. 

Generally, companies prefer a combination of these experience. 

The bottom line is this – if your company is trying to get a message to the customer base, the content marketing manager will likely be one of the responsible figures to get the message through to the users! 

And people like this require a solution. 

How can Front End Post Submission Help? 

The Front End Post Submission (FEPS) feature is designed to help managers handling content for their sites. 

There are a couple of reasons why it’s the perfect solution for single site owners and small businesses. Site owners who are looking to create news portals, magazine sites, or something similar, will benefit from the addon. 

The addon is essentially a set of well thought out features. 

The Ability to Handle Freelance Writers 

One of the jobs of a web content manager is to manage freelance writers. 

Now managers at large firms have access to advanced tools and personnel. But, for owners like Melanie, getting access to such tools can be a hassle. 

So they choose Google docs right? 

Google docs is great and all. But there are a couple of issues with it: 

1. The content format sometimes breaks when you copy it and past it on the WordPress editor
2. The images do not paste to the editor at times 
3. The manager will have to paste a custom asset manually (like snippets of code)
4. The content editor will need to manage a separate sheet for the content published, submitted, or put in draft, by freelance writers
5. Giving permission to the writers on your site directly can cause security problems

These are just a couple of issues on the surface. 

With the addon, Melanie, or other users like her, can easily manage freelance writers. The addon enables site admins to: 

Benefits for Blog Owners/Solo Content Managers: 

• Edit freelance content from the dashboard directly
• Write comments and suggestions – directly on the WordPress editor
• Enable the SEO plugin you use for your site for the freelancer

• Manage permissions for writers working on blog posts

The next question is, do the freelance writers get anything. It turns out they do!

Benefits for Freelance Writers 

Here are the benefits freelance writers get from the front end post submission addon: 

• Freelance writers can manage their writeups from a dashboard
• They get access to the WordPress editor – no need to write content and send it via google doc

• Use the Gutenberg blocks to create blog content

***In the next part of the series, we explain how the addon creates a bridge between freelance writers and the content manager!

Manage Guest Bloggers from the Front End 

Guest blogging is a win-win partnership. It benefits both the site owner and the guest blogger. 

Again relying on Google docs can be hassle (as mentioned in the previous section). It’s better if there was a system for guest writers to submit their posts directly to through the front end system. 

The WPXPO team had the following thought in mind: 

“If a guest writer can use Gutenberg blocks to submit a post, it takes load off the site manager. It’s already formatted, no need for extra work.”

All you have to do is set it up for your blog. Then writers get direct access to the WordPress editor, they can send their writeups directly to the admin, formatted and ready for publishing. 

This helps users like Melanie with a couple of things: 

1. No need to give access to guest users 
2. The post is already formatted, ready for publication

In short, it takes a lot of formatting work out of the equation. The editor or manager can check whether or not the content provides value, make minor adjustment and publish it to the site. 

Melanie had a question regarding this issue: 

“How do I set it up?” 

Well, we don’t just want to help Melanie. We want to help you as well. Here’s the part where Melanie decides and tries to create a Guest post section on her blog with FEPS.

Providing Feedback to the Writer

This is an interesting feature!

You see, if you have been managing writers using Google docs and sheets, you know the process of sharing feedback is easy. 

Ask anyone, they will admit that the process is easy! But, as mentioned earlier, there are some issues with the whole process of managing writers through Google docs.

The team tried to bring that same exact flavor to the FEPS feature – making the feature more manageable from the front end.  

But, there is a catch. 

In general, you will be able to provide feedback to the freelance writers working for you. Guest writers can only submit the post, you need to make the changes on your own. 

But…

You can add comments and suggestions to the posts of freelance writers. Once you add a comment or a suggestion, the writer can make changes accordingly. 

Now the question is: 

How these Features Help a Web Content Manager? 

The core features of the FEPS can help a manager in the following fields: 

Spend More Time on Skill Enhancements

The front end submission feature allows content managers to: 

1. Save time on content formatting 
2. Not rely on other tools for management

So, the manager can work on the following essential skillset: 

1. Build project management, writing, marketing, and other skills
2. Work on critical thinking to manage site originality
3. Work on CMS skills (how to work with the WordPress eco-system) 

Enable Better Communication  

Communication skills are one of the major building blocks of an effective writer manager. 

The Front End Post Submission (FEPS) feature can help with that. There is a feature within the addon that allows automated email communication. 

For example, if you completed adding comments and suggestions, you can enable the automated email notification feature to send notifications to the writer. Also, once the writer completes working on the content and submits it back, an email notification reaches the manager. 

This helps with a couple of things: 

1. The content manager can maintain proper communication with freelancers
2. He or she can free up time and focus on other marketing communications

What’s next? 

Melanie got to know the features, so did you. Also, you now know how the front end post submission addon can help lead from the front as a writer manager. 

Melanie had a few issues. For example, she wanted to know: 

“How do I set up the system for freelance writers?” 

That’s a discussion for the next chapter in this series. Stay tuned as we show Melanie :

1. How to set up front end submission for freelancers
2. Working with a Guest Posting Platform on her blog
3. How to offer feedback to freelance writers

And yes, if you do have any questions, sound off in the comments below. 

Written bySadik Ahmed

My casual writing career took its turn in the technical space 5 years back. Since then, I’ve been working in the WordPress industry (not limited to WordPress themes and plugins of course😉). My writing career spans 8 long years - mostly helping newcomers, professionals, and enthusiasts work on interesting WordPress themes, plugins, and other digital products.