David Artiss

If you’re upgrading from a previous release of Draft List (i.e. pre version 2.5) please check out the FAQ – a number of changes have been made in this release that you need to be aware of
Draft List allows you to both manage your draft and scheduled posts more easily but also to promote them by showing them on your site via shortcode or widget – use it to show your visitors what’s “coming soon” or as a great SEO tool.
How easy is it display a list of draft posts? Here’s an example of how you could use it in a post or page…
<pre><code>[drafts limit=5 type=post order=ma scheduled=no template='{{ul}}{{draft}} {{icon}}']
</code></pre>
This would display a list of up to 5 draft posts in ascending modified date sequence, with an icon displayed to the right of each if the draft is scheduled.
Key features include…
<ul>
<li>Both widgets and shortcodes are available for you to show off your up-coming content</li>
<li>Output is highly configurable – create your own look by using a template, identify scheduled posts with an icon, sequence the results in various ways and even narrow down the results to a specific timeframe</li>
<li>Click on any of the drafts posts listed to edit them</li>
<li>A meta box in the editor screen allows you to omit individual posts from any list outputs</li>
<li>Tested up to PHP 8.2</li>
<li>Fully complies with WordPress coding standards</li>
<li>Compliant with the stronger <a href="https://wpvip.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress VIP</a> coding standards, as well as compatibility with their platform</li>
<li>Community plugin – visit the <a href="https://github.com/dartiss/draft-list" title="Github" rel="nofollow ugc">Github page</a> to get involved with the latest code development, request enhancements and report issues</li>
</ul>
Iconography is courtesy of the very talented <a href="https://www.fiverr.com/jankirathore" rel="nofollow ugc">Janki Rathod</a>.
<h3>Shortcode Parameters</h3>
The following shortcode parameters are valid…
<ul>
<li>cache= : How long to cache the output for, in hours. Defaults to half an hour. Set to <code>No</code> to not cache at all. Whenever you save a post any cache will be cleared to ensure that any lists are updated.</li>
<li>date= : The format of any dates output. This uses the PHP date formatting system – <a href="http://uk3.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php" title="date" rel="nofollow ugc">read here</a> for the formatting codes. Defaults to <code>F j, Y, g:i a</code>.</li>
<li>folder= : The scheduled icon will be, by default, the one in the plugin folder named <code>scheduled.png</code>. However, use this parameter to specify a folder within your theme that you’d prefer the icon to be fetched from.</li>
<li>limit= : The maximum number of draft items to display. The default is 0, which is unlimited.</li>
<li>order= : This is the sequence that you’d like to order the results in. It consists of 2 codes – the first is either <code>t</code>, <code>m</code> or <code>c</code> to represent the title, modified date or created date and the second is <code>a</code> or <code>d</code> for ascending or descending. Therefore <code>order=td</code> will display the results in descending title sequence. The default is descending modified date.</li>
<li>pending= : True or false, where to include pending posts in the result. By default, pending posts will not be included.</li>
<li>scheduled= : True or false, where to include scheduled posts in the result. By default, scheduled posts will be included.</li>
<li>template= : This is the template which formats the output. See the section below on * *Templates** for further information.</li>
<li>type= : This allows you to limit the results to either <code>post</code> or <code>page</code>. The default is both.</li>
<li>words= : The minimum number of words that must be present in the draft for it to be included. Defaults to 0.</li>
</ul>
To restrict the posts to a particular timeframe you can use the following 2 parameters. You simply state, in words, how long ago the posts must be dated for e.g. “2 days”, “3 months”, etc.
<ul>
<li>created= : his reflects how long ago the post/page must have been created for it to be listed. For example <code>6 months</code> would only list drafts that were created in the last 6 months.</li>
<li>modified= : This reflects how long ago the post/page must have been modified last for it to be listed. For example <code>6 months</code> would only list drafts that have been modified in the last 6 months.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Templates</h3>
The template parameter allows you to format the output by allowing you to specify how each line of output will display. A number of tags can be added, and you can mix these with HTML. The available tags are as follows…
<ul>
<li>{{ul}} – Specifies this is an un-ordered list (i.e. bullet point output). This MUST be specified at the beginning of the template if it is to be used.</li>
<li>{{ol}} – Specifies this is an ordered list (i.e. number output). This MUST be specified at the beginning of the template if it is to be used.</li>
<li>{{icon}} – This is the icon that indicates a scheduled post.</li>
<li>{{draft}} – This is the post detail and is the only REQUIRED tag.</li>
<li>{{author}} – This is the name of the post author.</li>
<li>{{author+link}} – This is the name of the post author with, where available, a link to their URL.</li>
<li>{{words}} – The number of words in the draft post.</li>
<li>{{chars}} – The number of characters (exc. spaces) in the post.</li>
<li>{{chars+space}} – The number of characters (inc. spaces) in the post.</li>
<li>{{created}} – The date/time the post was created.</li>
<li>{{modified}} – The date/time the post was last modified.</li>
<li>{{category}} – Shows the first category assigned to the post.</li>
<li>{{categories}} – Shows all categories assigned to the post, comma separated.</li>
</ul>
If {{ul}} or {{ol}} are specified then all the appropriate list tags will be added to the output. If neither are used then it’s assumed that line output will be controlled by yourself.
<h3>Omitting Posts/Pages from Results</h3>
If you wish to omit a page or post from the list then you can do this in 3 ways…
<ol>
<li>By giving the post a title beginning with an exclamation mark. You can then remove this before publishing the post.</li>
<li>The post and page editor has a meta box, where you can select to hide the page/post.</li>
<li>You can add a custom field to a page/post with a name of ‘draft_hide’ and a value of ‘Yes’</li>
</ol>
<h3>Edit Link</h3>
If the current user can edit the draft item being listed then it will be linked to the appropriate edit page. The user then simply needs to click on the draft item to edit it.
There are separate permissions for post and page editing, so an editor with just one permission may find that they can only edit some of the draft items.
Drafts that don’t have a title will not be shown on the list UNLESS the current user has edit privileges for the draft – in this case a title of [No Title] will be shown.
<h3>Using a Widget</h3>
Sidebar widgets can be easily added. In Administration simply click on the <code>Widgets</code> option under the <code>Appearance</code> menu. <code>Draft Posts</code> will be one of the listed widgets. Drag it to the appropriate sidebar on the right hand side and then choose your options.
Save the result and that’s it! You can use unlimited widgets, so you can add different lists to different sidebars.

Draft List

WordPress plugin to manage and promote your unpublished content.

Dave Clements

Like this plugin? Consider <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/soup-show-off-upcoming-posts" title="Review SOUP" rel="ugc">leaving a quick review</a> or writing about how you’ve used it on your site – <a href="https://www.theukedge.com/contact/?utm_source=wordpress.org&utm_medium=plugin&utm_campaign=contact" title="Contact Dave" rel="nofollow ugc">send me a link</a> to that write up if you do.
This plugin is maintained on <a href="https://github.com/theukedge/soup-show-off-upcoming-posts" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a>, so feel free to use the repository for reporting issues, submitting feature requests and submitting pull requests.
SOUP creates a widget in your sidebar which allows you to display your upcoming posts (scheduled, drafts, or both) to your readers. The idea is to entice your readers to come back and read the article once it gets published, or better yet, subscribe to your RSS feed and/or newsletter.
Here are the configurable options for the widget:
<ul>
<li>Title of sidebar widget</li>
<li>Number of upcoming posts to display (always in ascending order – newest first)</li>
<li>Choose whether to show date of upcoming post</li>
<li>Display order of the posts (next post first or random order)</li>
<li>Message to display for when there are no scheduled posts or drafts</li>
<li>Show/hide newsletter link</li>
<li>Include link to sign up to newsletter</li>
</ul>
I’ve got plans to continue developing and updating this plugin. If you have any suggestions on revisions that you’d like to see made, please <a href="https://www.theukedge.com/contact/?utm_source=wordpress.org&utm_medium=plugin&utm_campaign=contact" title="Contact Dave" rel="nofollow ugc">get in touch</a> or <a href="http://www.twitter.com/daclements" title="Dave on Twitter" rel="nofollow ugc">find me on Twitter</a>.
I also run <a href="https://www.doitwithwp.com/?utm_source=wordpress.org&utm_medium=plugin&utm_campaign=my-other-sites" title="WordPress Tutorials" rel="nofollow ugc">Do It With WordPress</a>, which has an array of tutorials for managing, modifying and maintaining your WordPress sites, as well as <a href="https://www.thewpbutler.com/?utm_source=wordpress.org&utm_medium=plugin&utm_campaign=wordpress-services" title="WordPress Maintenance Services" rel="nofollow ugc">The WP Butler</a>, a service for keeping your site maintained, backed up, updated and secure.

SOUP – Show off Upcoming Posts

Displays your upcoming posts in a sidebar widget to tease your readers

Draft List vs SOUP – Show off Upcoming Posts