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Post Reminder

Overview

School websites need fresh content, but it is easy to publish something and forget about it. Post Reminder lets you set a reminder directly from a post or page's editor: choose how long to wait — from one hour to one year — and who should get the email. When the time is up, that person is sent a reminder email about that content.

This suits policy pages that need an annual review, news items with time-limited relevance, or any page someone has promised to "come back to this later." Administrators can see — and cancel — your site's reminders from one central list.

Post Reminder is always available — there is no switch for it on the Smart Plugins page. Anyone who can edit a post or page can set a reminder on it.


Getting set up

Step 1: Open a post or page you want to be reminded about

Post Reminder only appears on posts and pages — not on notices or other content types. Edit the content, and find the Post Reminder box in the sidebar.

Step 2: Choose when, and who

Under Select the reminder period:, choose how long to wait. Under Enter the reminder email address:, enter the email address that should receive the nudge.

The Post Reminder box at the top of the editor sidebar: a "Select the reminder period:" dropdown showing "Select a reminder period", and an empty "Enter the reminder email address:" box

Step 3: Save the post

Select Update (or Publish, Save Draft — any save does it). The reminder is created when the post is saved, and the countdown starts from that moment.


Settings

Where to find it: the Post Reminder box in the sidebar when editing a post or page, for setting a reminder; Smart Plugins → Post Reminder for the list of everything you have set.

Setting What it does Default
Select the reminder period How long after you save the post before the reminder is due: 1 Hour, 1 Day, 1 Week, 1 Month (30 days) or 1 Year (365 days) None selected — no reminder is set
Enter the reminder email address Who the reminder email is sent to Empty

Viewing and cancelling reminders

Smart Plugins → Post Reminder opens the Post Reminders: list. Only administrators can open it. It shows each reminder stored for your site, latest due date first: the Type (Post or Page), the Post Title, the Reminder Time it is due (UK time), the Reminder Email, and a Delete button. Delete removes the reminder straight away, without asking you to confirm.

The Post Reminders: list with columns Type, Post Title, Reminder Time, Reminder Email and Actions, and one row: Page, "Staff Notice Example", 2026-09-23 15:04:23, admin@exampleprimary.sch.uk, and a Delete button

This is the only place to see whether a piece of content already has a reminder — the Post Reminder box in the editor does not show it, even if one is already set. Editors who are not administrators cannot open this list, so ask an administrator to check or delete a reminder.


Troubleshooting

The Post Reminder box does not show what I set last time

This is expected. The box always opens with the reminder period unselected and the email address blank, whether or not a reminder already exists for that content — it is a form for setting a new reminder, not a display of the current one. Check Smart Plugins → Post Reminder to see what is actually set.

I meant to change a reminder, but now there are two

Filling in the Post Reminder box and updating the post always creates a new reminder — it does not replace or update an existing one for that content. If you need to change a reminder, delete the old one from Smart Plugins → Post Reminder first, then set the new one.

Nothing happened when I saved

Both the reminder period and the reminder email address need to be filled in, and the email needs to be a valid address — if either is left blank, or the address is not valid, no reminder is created and nothing is shown to say so.

The reminder email was not received

  1. Check Smart Plugins → Post Reminder to confirm the reminder exists, with the correct date and email address.
  2. Check the email address is spelled correctly.
  3. Check the recipient's spam folder.
  4. Contact Realsmart support if reminders consistently fail to arrive.

The Post Reminder box is not visible

It only appears when editing a post or page. Check you are not editing a notice or another content type. If the box has been hidden, open Screen Options at the top of the editor and tick Post Reminder. If it has been collapsed, select its heading to open it again.