Description
Editor Writing Goals is a lightweight editor-only plugin for writers, bloggers, editors, and content teams who want simple writing feedback while drafting posts and pages.
The plugin adds one focused panel to the block editor sidebar. It does not add frontend output, shortcodes, tracking, AI features, or external service calls.
Use it to track word count, character count, estimated reading time, title and excerpt length, and simple readability signals without leaving the editor.
Features
- Live word count.
- Live character count.
- Estimated reading time.
- Paragraph count.
- Heading count.
- Per-post word and character goals.
- Global default goals.
- Title length check.
- Excerpt length check.
- Basic readability insights.
Length Checks
The title length check marks 50 to 60 characters as good.
The excerpt length check marks 120 to 160 characters as good.
These checks are simple writing aids. They do not replace a full SEO plugin and do not change your content.
Readability
The readability section shows average sentence length and counts paragraphs with 120 or more words.
Privacy
Editor Writing Goals does not collect analytics, does not track users, does not call external APIs, and does not send writing data outside your WordPress site.
Per-post goals are saved as protected post meta. Global defaults are saved in WordPress options.
Screenshots
Writing Goals panel in the block editor sidebar showing live metrics, per-post goals, length checks, and readability insights. 
Settings page for configuring default writing goals, reading speed, and editor check toggles.
Installation
- Upload the
editor-writing-goalsfolder to/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
- Go to Settings > Editor Writing Goals to set default goals and feature toggles.
- Open a post or page in the block editor and use the Writing Goals panel in the document sidebar.
FAQ
-
Does this plugin add anything to the frontend?
-
No. Version 1.0 is editor-only.
-
Does this plugin modify my post content?
-
No. It reads the current editor content to calculate metrics, but it does not rewrite or insert content.
-
Can each post have its own goal?
-
Yes. Each post can store its own word and character targets. If a post target is empty, the global default is used.
-
Does it work with the Classic Editor or Elementor?
-
No. Version 1.0 is focused on the WordPress block editor.
-
Does it use AI or an external API?
-
No. All calculations run locally in the editor.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Editor Writing Goals” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Editor Writing Goals” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release.
- Added editor sidebar metrics, goals, length checks, and readability insights.
- Added Settings API page for defaults and feature toggles.
