How to Enable Post Expiration Dates in WordPress

Once your WordPress website has been around for a while, chances are youll have a sizable library of content. However, not every piece needs to stay up indefinitely. Temporary promotions, for example, should come down once they run their course, to avoid confusing visitors. Thats why enabling post expiration dates in WordPress can be a smart move.Post expiration dates make it so you dont have to remove content by hand once its outdated. You just set a date, and the plugin does the work for you. Its an easy way to ensure that your content remains evergreen.In this article, were going to talk about why you may want to include temporary content on your website. Then well teach you how to enable post expiration dates in WordPress, and talk about what to do afterward. Lets get to it! Yesterdays news.  For example, consider things like your favorite TV series. Although talking about the possible developments that might show up is cool, the discussion loses its value the second that the n ew episode airs. At this point, nobody cares about what you thought was going to happen. This is just an example, but its easy to imagine similar scenarios in different areas or niches.Seasonal articles.  Pieces about the best Christmas-based somethings or the most popular products in 2015 run their course quickly. Once some time has passed, they become less relevant and are simply cluttering up your site.Naturally, these arent the only types of content you should consider removing from your website at a set point. What pages and posts fall under this category depends on the focus and goals of your WordPress site, and youll need to review your content periodically to determine if some of it should go.Not all WordPress content is meant to stay up forever.As you probably know, WordPress makes it easy to remove posts from your site. All it takes is a couple of clicks. However, that can add up to a lot of lost time, depending on how large your library is and how many posts you need to get rid of. The best course of action is to find a way to implement post expiration dates in WordPress, so the platform will remove that content automatically.How to enable post expiration dates in WordPress (using the Post Expirator plugin)The easiest way to automate post expiration in WordPress is by using a plugin. In this case, weve chosen  Post Expirator for its ease of use. Plus, this particular tool also works for pages and custom post types, making it a one-size-fits-all solution.  Go ahead and install the plugin now, then move on to the first step.âš  Ã¯ ¸  Important! This plugin hasnt been updated in a while. Although it works just fine right now, be careful using it with a modern version of WordPress in the future. Post Expirator Author(s): Aaron AxelsenCurrent Version: 2.4.0.1Last Updated: July 23, 2019post-expirator.2.4.0.1.zip 86%Ratings 456,960Downloads WP 4.0+Requires Step #1: Configure Post Expirators notification settingsPost Expirator will do its j ob without a lot of customization or tweaking required. However, theres one setting in particular that youll likely want to configure, to make your job easier. To get started, navigate to the  Settings → Post Expirator  screen from your WordPress dashboard, and look for the section called  Expiration Email Notification:In this section, you can enable notifications that will be sent whenever one of your posts or pages expires. You have the option of emailing every administrator, or entering a specific address that should receive the messages. In our experience, its always a smart idea to turn these notifications on. That way, youll know when the content is gone  and  have the option of restoring it if youve changed your mind.Once youve chosen how you want to receive notifications, you can move on to the next step.Step #2: Enable post expiration dates for your contentAfter enabling the plugin, youll find a new widget next to the WordPress editor on all your posts and pages. As youll notice, post expiration dates arent enabled by default, since that would affect all of your content.If you want a particular piece of content to expire, the first thing you have to do is tick that option and then choose an expiration date. You can set the date down to the minute,  and  choose what happens when it occurs. For example, you can tell the plugin to delete the content outright:Alternately, you can simply set the post to private, if you want to keep your options open for later. Post Expirator also enables you to stick and unstick posts, or return them to draft format. Youre free to use any option you want, but we recommend sending posts to the trash to keep your library uncluttered. If you enabled email notifications earlier, youll have more than enough time to restore the content from your deleted articles before its gone forever.Moving forward, you simply need to configure these options for any content you want to expire. Plus, you can also sort throu gh your library and set expiration dates for any existing content you want to be temporary.What to do once your WordPress content expiresEnabling post expiration dates in WordPress is simple, but you still have a potential problem to deal with after the content has been removed. Some of your visitors may have bookmarked those pages to return at a later date. If they use those bookmark links now, theyll encounter an error.Fortunately, weve written extensively about how to deal with 404 errors in the past. The easiest way to handle this issue is by using the Redirection plugin to send visitors back to your home page, or any other part of your site you want. Redirection Author(s): John GodleyCurrent Version: 4.4.2Last Updated: September 29, 2019redirection.4.4.2.zip 86%Ratings 19,796,876Downloads WP 4.8+Requires Alternatively, you can create a custom 404 page that explains why nothing is available at that link. This option involves a bit more work, but can be better in the long term since users will be informed about why they cant find the posts theyre looking for. Plus, creating custom 404 pages can be handled using plugins such as 404page: 404page your smart custom 404 error page Author(s): Peter RaschendorferCurrent Version: 11.0.4Last Updated: October 6, 2019404page.11.0.4.zip 98%Ratings 875,900Downloads WP 4.0+Requires This particular plugin has been tested extensively with our own Neve theme, and is simple to get started with. Plus, your visitors will appreciate the extra effort youve taken to ensure they arent confused by the missing content.ConclusionIt can seem like a bad idea to take down any of your sites articles, but its actually a great way to keep your library lean and evergreen. Plus, it makes sense for certain types of posts to remain up only for a while, such as discount offers and time-sensitive articles. Post Expirator plugin:Configure the plugins notification settings.Add expiration dates to the content you want to be removed automatically.Do you have any questions about how to enable post expiration dates in WordPress? Ask away in the comments section below!Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips.