How to create an editorial calendar with Trello

Since the creation of my editorial calendar, I noticed several positive changes on my blog. Since then, I cannot wait to write; my articles are published more regularly, I have more visitors, etc. Do you want these changes in your blogging life too? If so, keep reading this article and apply my tips to know how to create an editorial calendar with Trello.

From the very beginning of my blog, I have been using Trello to plan my next publications, note my ideas for future articles and follow the progress of my blog posts. By cons, I did not use this excellent tool to its full potential. While I was researching how to create a better calendar, I found an article, Boho Berry. Her ticket has completely changed my blogger life. Since then, I have made some changes to her method, so I decided to write about it!

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Why Trello?

I love working with Trello because it is very easy to use. Someone who does not know the website can quickly understand how it works. It also has a nice GUI for the user. I also love to view and edit my calendar on my cell phone through the mobile application.

If you are a team collaborating on writing articles, Trello is perfect for you as it allows to work in teams and assign tasks to a member.

Create your editorial calendar

To begin, create an account on Trello! Then, you can duplicate the public board I created for you. This can be your “template” for your calendar! To do this, click on “View” menu, select “More” and “Copy table.” You will have your table you can edit as you like.

To enable the Calendar view, open the left menu, then select “Power-Ups.” You will then be able to activate the free calendar.

Even if you have never used Trello and do not know this tool, continue reading the article. I explain in detail each step.

Now, I’ll show you how I created my own so that you can be able to make your changes at the same time you read the article.

My editorial calendar

Here is what my planning looks like! I reorganized the lists, added a color code, put a lot of checklists, due dates … all the necessary elements for a good calendar!

Lists

The lists I created fit my writing process: from a writing of the draft to the publication of an article. You may need different lists so that they correspond to your process.

• Ideas for the Next Articles 
  Before, I had a huge list of ideas that never ended. The list became so big that it became discouraging. In fact, I needed to create an entire board of ideas for future articles. This list contains many technologies that I do not know and wants to learn. As soon as I do not know something, I add it to this list to perhaps one day inform myself about it …

• Drafts
  This list contains the articles that I started writing, but I haven’t finished yet.

• In Revision
  This list looks a bit like “Drafts” unless it contains complete articles which I have yet to touch up a bit before it is ready to be published. This may be to improve SEO, correcting the article with Antidote, translate it into English or add images. The next section on the checklists will help you understand the steps that must be completed during the revision of the article.

• Ready to Be Published / Schedule 
  This list is my favorite! The more it is filled, the happier I am! All articles that are here are ready, and it remains only to publish them. Only the articles of the current month are scheduled to be automatically published on a set date. With some time, I realized that automatic schedule publication of articles three months in advance is not a good idea. Meanwhile, a lot of things can change, such as receiving a sponsored post that needs to be published before another article. So I put on this list the items that are completed without planning on a fixed date. I plan my blog posts for the month to come the first of each month.

• Weekly and Monthly Articles 
  This list contains all my weekly articles. Right now, I published an article “Weekly Update” every Friday. It also contains all my newsletters so that they are visible in Calendar view on Trello.

• Resources 
  These are two cards that contain checklists that I use!

Cards

Each card corresponds to an article. We’ll assign labels and checklists to the cards. Then, each card can be moved in the appropriate list according to its advancement in our writing process.

Labels

I use labels on Trello as a color code. I attribute labels to my cards depending on their subject to be able to handle the moment I publish articles on the same subject. For example, I post articles on WordPress every Monday, on Wednesday it’s about blogging, etc.

Scheduled: The article is scheduled for a specific date on WordPress. I use a color for it, because of that way, in the calendar view, it is easy to see what cards I cannot move because these items are already planned.

Newsletter: The card that has this label is sending a newsletter.

The other labels are pretty obvious 😉

Checklists

The checklists contain all the steps leading to the publication of an article and its promotion. I also use the lists as reminders for certain steps that I regularly forget, such as adding a tag “Read More” to my articles.

The checklists can be copied from one card to another, which is why I use a card called “Resource.” I always copy checklists from my resource. To do this, click on the map where you want to import a checklist. Click “Checklist” and in the pop-up, select the checklist card resource in the drop-down menu “Copy items to …”.

Checklist for Revision

This list is the longest and most interesting! Cards that are in the “Review” list have this checklist. Before the card goes to the list “Scheduled,” all boxes must be checked.

Checklist for Scheduled Articles

Articles that are ready to have planned this checklist. Cards that are in the “Ready to be published” list, therefore, have this checklist. All tasks must be checked before the article is published.

Checklist for After the Publication of the Article

Once the article is published, I add this checklist to the card and then I have to do all these tasks! I use TailWind to do some automation on my Pinterest account, but I still have to schedule my new posts to be pinned once they are published. I do it by hand along with these other tasks you can see on the screenshot.

Checklist for Long-term Promotion of the Article

I attribute this one to all my blog posts as soon as they are ready to be published or when they are online. With Hootsuite, it is very easy to plan the publication of a tweet or a Facebook status in 6 months or 1 year. I do not even have to think about it in 1 year, the promotional tweet after one year of the article will be published automatically.

Checklist for a Newsletter

Checklist of tasks I have to do to send a newsletter to my subscribers. Besides, you should sign up for my newsletter!

The checklists are very useful especially when some people show their interest in one of my articles while I’m still writing it. With Trello, I can add the name of the user on a separate checklist. That way, I can warn the person concerned once the article is published!

Not convinced?

There are several other tools to create an editorial calendar. For many, it is easier to use a paper calendar or an Excel sheet.

I mentioned a few suggestions to plan your articles with other tools in my previous article.

In conclusion

My new schedule works perfectly for me. It helps me plan my next blog posts and stay organized at all times. This Trello board has a huge impact on my life as a blogger, and I’m sure it will help me to continue the great project that is this blog and make it successful.

Did you find this article interesting? Will you use Trello to create your editorial calendar? Give me your impressions!