Write On! 13 Best Multi-author Plugins for WordPress

Write On! 13 Best Multi-author Plugins for WordPress

Multi-author blogs are a great way to attract readers by offering an array of different viewpoints, topics, and voices. They can also become disorganized chaos if you don’t have a good system of maintaining posts, scheduling, author payments, and everything else that comes with running a multi-author blog on WordPress.

Luckily, with some helpful plugins and solid advice, your site can run a multi-author blog smoothly and efficiently.

I’ll be going over:

  • Why have a multi-author blog
  • How multi-author plugins can help
  • 13 Best Multi-Author Plugins
  • Tips for managing a multi-author blog

And plenty more!

If you haven’t started a multi-author blog and are considering it, or if you have one already established on WordPress and it needs some modifications, this post will show you what needs to be done, how to do it, and what it takes to keep it maintained.

Forminator, Dev Man, and Hummingbird all working on a multi-author site.
Forminator, Dev Man, and Hummingbird all working on a multi-author site. It should be super.

You’ll then have happy authors and happy readers that will return multi-ple times.

Why Have a Multi-author Blog?

If you’re not familiar with multi-author blogs, or if you are but never considered why to have one, this will help shed some light on them.

There are many reasons to have one. Need an example? You’re on one right now!

WPMU DEV puts great emphasis on our blog. It’s a platform for numerous authors, experts, and our whole team here.

We cover a wide scope of WordPress topics, ideas, news, reviews, lists, and tutorials that aim to be informational, useful, and entertaining for our visitors, members, and blog readers.

This blog has helped establish our brand and our voice.

As well as helping to establish your brand, a multi-author blog can provide you with regular updates, different viewpoints, and help you cover more topics.

Multi-author blogs can also bring your team together, as writers can learn from each other and work towards a common goal of delivering the best darn content possible.

It can also become a community for your readers with their comments, perspective, and insight.

Plus, multi-author blogs are a good segue to other things.

For example, as our team shares information about our plugins, hosting, support, and upcoming features, this collaborative effort leads to new customers for our membership and hosting, increased activity in our forums, ideas for improving our products and services with new features, and a whole lot more.

With a multi-author site, you can publish an ongoing stream of articles about your products and services, tutorials and announcements about their features and benefits, and in return, start generating income.

Excited yet? I thought so.

However, before launching your multi-author blog, there are…

A Few Things to Consider

As you can see, multi-author blogs have tons of benefits. But, they’re similar to owning — let’s say — a cute kitten. You love your new furry friend, but it requires a litter box, food, fuzzy toys, healthcare, and more. Multi-author blogs are similar (except for the spay or neutered part).

Cute kitten.
Running a multi-author site purr-fectly takes about as much care as having this guy.

With a multi-author blog, you may need to address challenges like:

  • More editing: Nobody wants to comb through bad grammar, typos, and awful sentence structure when reading a blog. So, if you have writers that aren’t editors, you may have to wrangle editing yourself or appoint someone to it (which, as you’ll see later, is highly recommended). It’s a bit more challenging than keeping just yourself edited. (Editor’s note: I agree!)
  • Payments: Depending on how your operations run, you may have to pay authors. Of course, if they deliver quality content, it’s well worth it (any author needs to be paid well). Financially though, make sure you’re prepared to do so if your situation calls for it.
  • Many voices: I mentioned that having many voices is beneficial, however, it can also be detrimental. If your audience only wants to hear from you, then having a multi-author site might not be a good thing. Also, you may have some writers that just don’t match the tone of your blog.
  • Lose a personal connection: This goes hand-in-hand with having many voices. You don’t want to lose a personal connection with your readers if the WordPress site is strictly about you. Be careful not to disconnect with your audience when you feature numerous authors.

It’s typically best to establish a multi-author blog right from the beginning. If you don’t, you can still create one. Just be sure to take measures of letting your audience know. You can do this by announcing that it’s coming, or slowly start including other authors.

As long as you’re transparent with your audience and they know what to expect, you should be fine.

Your blog will then be manageable and won’t stink (like a dirty litter box).

Why Use a Multi-author Plugin?

Plugins. They are the answer to all of life’s problems, right? Well, at least when it comes to WordPress.

Multi-author plugins make your blog run more smoothly, clearly, and keep it organized. Rather than, for example, creating an author list widget on your own, there is a plugin for that (I’ll be showing you soon).

In general, using plugins can help to make running a multi-author blog easier. It can also prevent challenges by:

  • Making it clear who the author is (and feature the author in an attractive way too!)
  • Keeping design consistency
  • Allowing for more information regarding author bios, links, etc.
  • Improving organization (e.g. editorial calendar)
  • Keeping track of payments
  • Improving general areas of WordPress like security, opt-in forms, and social media

13 Multi-author Plugins

Now that we’ve covered some of the pros and cons of running a multi-author WordPress site, let’s take a look at 13 multi-author plugins that can really help you out in areas like functionality, design, communication, organization, payments, and more:

1. Simple Author Box

simple author box

Simple Author Box is a quick way to add an attractive author box that can include social links, the author’s gravatar, email, and more. You can easily customize almost every aspect of the box to include exactly what you want.

The plugin makes it easy to adjust everything about your bio box. All the different settings and features are really helpful to have.

simple author box example.
Example of an author box I created.

You can see in my example I created a custom avatar, included a bio, and mentioned my name.

One thing to consider about this plugin is that to allow guest authors and co-authors, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version.

Currently, the cost is $499 per year for an Agency account, $69 a year for a Trio account, and $29 per year for a Mono account. Beyond having an upgraded account for multi-authors, you’ll be able to change box positions, linking to websites, and more.

They include various features, as seen below:

Simple author box pricing.
Features with an upgraded account.

Click here for more information and details about an upgraded account.

For simplicity and a fair price, the Simple Author Box is a great way to display each author in a professional way.

Also, for additional information on author box plugins, be sure to read our article all about them.

2. Forminator

Forminator

Forminator is our very own four-eyed, 5-star rated(!), form-producing free plugin. With him, you can add user-submitted posts with ease.

Everything is created directly on the dashboard and you can have a user-submitted post form that can be created in a minute. You simply go to Forms, Create, and Create Post. You can add custom fields, style accordingly, set up notifications, and much more.

edit forminator form.
There are a ton of customization options.

The user can add a title, write the post, upload files, and add a category, making it not very limited in its capabilities.

Preview of form on Forminator.
What the user-submitted post will look like.

Once you have a form created, it provides you with a shortcode that you can copy and paste into any page or post.

Not to be biased, but Forminator is about as simple, easy, and efficient as it can get for having user-submitted posts on your website. And since he’s free to use, there’s no reason not to give him a shot and try him out for yourself.

3. Edit Flow

edit flow

Edit Flow is an amazing all-in-one work area for organizing your entire editorial team directly in WordPress. Once installed, you have access to a content calendar, editorial comments, budgets, user groups, and more.

It’s convenient how all the functions are displayed in one area directly in your WordPress admin. You can see all of the impressive features that can be edited and configured in this area, such as notifications, story budgets, user groups, and editorial comments.

A look at the Edit Flow dashboard and all of the options.
A look at the Edit Flow dashboard and all of the options.

The plugin is free to use and there are no upgrades needed to organize your multi-author blog.

Edit flow calendar
Example of the calendar area where I set up a post that is scheduled.

Beyond WordPress.org, they also have a website where you can learn more about all that Edit Flow can accomplish.

With a solid 4-star rating and over 10K active installations, it might be a fantastic fit for your organizational multi-author needs and worth checking out.

4. Co-Authors Plus

co-authors plus

Co-Authors Plus was created to assign multiple bylines to posts and pages. Co-authored posts will appear on a co-author archive page and also in their feed. You can create a guest author profile and also allow co-authors to edit unpublished posts.

The authors can be arranged by a simple drag-and-drop process. This allows you to feature the main author on top and a secondary author(s) below. They then appear in the post with their name and avatar.

co-authors plus example.
You can add multiple authors and co-authors to arrange accordingly.

It can be used for multisite, however, guest authors will exist on a site by site basis.

This very simple and free plugin is good for arranging the order of any authors that contribute to a post.

5. Post Status Notifier Lite

post status notifier lite
Post Status Notifier Lite is a system for getting notified when one of your contributors submits a new post for a revision or an editor publishes a new one. It also supports custom taxonomies, like categories and tags that other plugins are using.
An example of the area to create a new rule for posts.
An example of the area to create a new rule for posts.

There are rules you can set up that will send a notification when a new post gets submitted for review. You can also set up rules that send an email to the author of a post when it becomes published.

This plugin is free to use, however, the PRO version comes with advanced features like custom notification rules, individual email texts, and HTML emails. The price range is $26 to $115, depending on what type of license you’d like to purchase.

It’s an option to keep tabs on any changes, publications, and workflow with posts.

6. Post Pay Counter Stats

Post pay counter.

Post Pay Counter Stats is a way to simply calculate and handle authors’ pay by displaying payment, comments, the date, and more in one area. It’s specifically made for multi-author blogs.

You can set up the payment criteria and let the plugin post-payment to your authors. It’s awesome for implementing a revenue-sharing system and paid model for your website.

This plugin has a pay per post, word, visit, image, and comment feature. Also, there are sortable stats, personalized user settings, and customizable permissions to prevent your users from seeing stats.

post payment settings.
Example of some counting and personalized settings.

They do have a PRO version that includes analytics visits payment, Adsense revenues sharing, payments management, and PayPal payments. The basic package starts at around $38 per year to around $93 (prices are in Euros and subject to change).

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If you have a payroll or are profiting off of your blog, this plugin may do the trick to help keep your payments in check.

7. Author Avatars List/Block

author avatars list/block.

Author Avatars List/Block makes it a cinch to display lists of user avatars that are grouped by user roles. You can also insert single avatars for blog users or any email address into a post or page.

It can be inserted into your sidebar via widget or into posts and pages with shortcodes.

Setting up the author's avatar as a widget.
Setting up the author’s avatar as a widget.

The customization options are easy to adjust. It’s a simplistic plugin, but great for displaying avatars on a WordPress multi-author site.

author avatars live example.
A view of my avatar (yes, I’m lounging at the pool).

If you have multiple authors, it’s an attractive way to feature them and put a face directly out there with the name.

For additional ways to show all of your authors together, check out our article on the topic.

8. PublishPress Revisions

PublishPress Revisions

PublishPress Revisions lets your users submit change requests for published posts, which is great for any multi-author site. Any user you have can update posts using the WordPress editor, but any changes they make will not be published automatically. Instead, they’re kept as “pending revision” that any editor can approve or reject.

Once you have PublishPress activated, all published posts will give you the option to Save Revision.

Where the Save Revision button is on a blog post.
Where the Save Revision button is on a blog post.

It will then be added to a queue, where it can easily be accessed.

The revisions queue in PublishPress.
The revisions queue in PublishPress.

It has impressive features, such as email notifications for revisions, revision permissions, frontend moderation of revisions, scheduled revisions, and more.

You will need to upgrade to a PRO version from $59 to $199 per year, to use it for multi-author. The upgrade also includes additional features, such as advanced custom fields, WooCommerce compatibility, Yoast SEO compatibility, and support.

They have their own dedicated website devoted to PublishPress that will help answer any question you may have. For example, you can find out how to create revisions or compare revisions.

This is an efficient plugin to help organize workflow, editing, and — of course — keep tabs on revisions.

9. User Submitted Posts

User submitted posts

User Submitted Posts is a plugin for user-generation. It enables visitors to submit posts from the frontend of your WordPress site.

It’s an extremely easy to use plugin. You simply add a shortcode to any post, page, or widget, and then that will let your visitors submit posts and upload images.

The shortcode that’s used.

It includes a fast & secure post submission form, tags to display submitted post content, and automatically displays all submitted content on the frontend.

You can edit the form as much as you’d like. Then, have it displayed accordingly.

Form example.
Example of the form I created.

They also have a PRO version that lets you develop auto-display images, registration forms, and allows users to upload videos. Prices start at $45 to $550, depending on use and how many sites you have.

If you’re looking for something basic without all of the features that Forminator has (e.g. contact forms, quizzes, etc.), then this plugin will do the trick.

10. WP User Frontend

WP User Frontend

WP User Frontend is a frontend builder plugin that includes a frontend dashboard, frontend editor & publishing, and frontend uploader for user profiles, post submissions, and memberships.

It functions similarly to Forminator, however, you’ll need to upgrade for exclusive content (e.g. more custom fields, Captcha support, etc.), whereas with Forminator no upgrade is necessary.

Users can easily make new posts and edit their profiles all from the site frontend, which prevents them from any need to enter the backend admin panel to perform any action.

These actions are done by the editor, or admin, creating a drag and drop form that, when published, is available on the frontend.

A custom form I created allowing users to create a post.
A custom form I created allowing users to create a post.

Once the form is created, it’s compiled into an easy to access list in the WordPress admin. The shortcode for the form is available and can be used in any post, page, or widget.

The forms area.
The forms area.

You can also enable guests to post from your site frontend without registering, enable certain user roles, submit and update anything from the frontend, and more.

They also offer a PRO version that starts at $49 to $159 per year that has features such as private messaging, Paid Membership Pro, reports, and live chat support.

This well-developed plugin is a great attribute for any multi-author WordPress site.

11. Pre-Publish Checklist

pre-publish checklist.

Pre-Publish Checklist is a simple way to ensure your page or post is ready to go live. It lets you create a checklist that you wish to maintain for every post type on your WordPress site.

This plugin is especially perfect for multi-author so that your authors can check-off everything for their posts — and any editor can, too.

 

Pre-publish checklist settings.
Pre-publish checklist settings.

The key features are managed checklists for your pages & posts, personalized checklists, and an overview of the progress of posts and pages.

The checklist shows up within a metabox on the post or page edit page.

If all of the items on the checklist are not completed, you can create a message that will be displayed when they hit the publish button.

Prepublish notification.
Uh-oh. Looks like not everything was checked off the list.

If you’re looking for quality control with your post, this is a perfect plugin to ensure all the boxes are ticked and any author’s post is ready to be published.

12. Editorial Calendar

Editorial calendar.

Editorial Calendar is a way to keep track of drafts, scheduled posts, and published articles for your multi-author site. You can easily drag and drop to move posts around, edit posts by clicking on them on the calendar, and manage your entire WordPress blog.

It’s simple to get to the calendar by clicking on Posts and then Calendar in the WordPress admin.

The main features are:

  • Capability to see all of your posts and when they’ll be posted
  • Drag and drop changes to post dates
  • Able to manage drafts with their drafts drawer
  • Check the status of posts
  • Multi-author friendly
An example I set up for a pending post and scheduled post.
An example I set up for a pending post and scheduled post.

It’s a very impressive free and easy to use plugin that really makes keeping tabs on posts simple and accessible. It’s one of those plugins that will make you wonder how you’ve lived without it if you have a multi-author website.

13. User Blocker

User Blocker.

User Blocker provides the ability for admin to block or unblock user accounts in a quick and effortless way. You can specify if a user is blocked for a certain amount of time or permanently. Then, when that blocked user tries to log in, they’ll be welcomed with a friendly error message on the login screen.

You can always unblock accounts at any time. Admin always has access to view blocked accounts and can edit.

Where blocked users are located in the WordPress admin.
Where blocked users are located in the WordPress admin.

It’s a free plugin that combats spam and also will remove a user from a specific role on a multi-author site.

5 Tips for Managing a Multi-author WordPress Site

We now have a nice foundation for a multi-author site, with reasons to have one, plugins to enhance it, and more. So, you launch your very own multi-author site. Yippee! Now what?

Beyond plugins, here are some tips to keeping it managed well and running like a well-oiled multi-author machine:

1. Create a Contributors Guidelines Page: You should be open to being pitched by amazing writers. Any opportunity for talent that can help your blog shouldn’t be dismissed. If you create a good writer’s guideline, it will help the process by guiding the writers in the right direction on what to pitch, how to do it, and how to submit.

2. Work Ahead: It’s a good idea to stay ahead of the game. That’s especially true when you have posts that need to be published regularly. The further you work ahead the better. That way if something comes up (e.g. one of your writer’s falls ill), you’ll be prepared with the material.

Plus, you want to have ample time to give feedback, gather illustrations/visuals, and revisions.

In general, nobody is a huge fan of last-minute edits and details right before publication, so working ahead can alleviate a lot of that stress (and headache).

3. Assign an Editor: Depending on the size of your blog and the number of posts being published, one editor might be all you need. However, as it grows, you may need several more. Either way, it’s essential to have a go-to editor to make the final call on edits, revisions, and ensure the quality of the posts are up to par.

Without an editor, a lot can slip through the cracks. Sometimes it takes a second pair of eyes for typos, grammar, suggestions, and more. (Editor’s note: I agree!)

4. Have a Database for Writers: A writer database helps keep track of writers who have contacted you about contributing, current writers, and what they’ve written, contact information, and assignments.

You don’t need to have anything fancy in regards to this. A spreadsheet or whatever method works best for you will do the trick.

5. Communicate Well: Communication is key when it comes to having (and maintaining) good content on a multi-author blog. The better the communication, the better the blog.

It’s essential that all the writers are on the same page.

Also, be professional. Nobody wants to have a jerk at the helm of a multi-site blog, so communicate friendly, professionally, and just be cool. Don’t be the person that nobody wants to communicate with due to a poor attitude.

That’s a Writer’s Wrap

With different viewpoints, topics, ideas, and features, a multi-author blog can be a great contribution to the WordPress community. Hey, we have ours here at WPMU DEV — and you can, too!

It can also be a great way to bring in income, create a fanbase, get users excited about your brand, and so much more.

With the help of plugins, knowledge, and a handful of good writers, there’s always room in the WordPress world for emerging multi-author blogs to break-through and become an essential read for thousands (or millions) of readers.

And hopefully, now you know how to do it write.

 

Do you have a multi-author site or are you thinking of opening one up? Like a good blog, write a compelling comment in the comments area and let us know!

N. Fakes Nathanael Fakes is a blog writer and cartoonist at WPMU DEV. He’s worked with WordPress for over a decade. Beyond WordPress, he’s a published author, syndicated cartoonist, and donut enthusiast. Connect with Nate on Instagram and learn more about his work on his comics website.