{"id":356562,"date":"2026-08-27T04:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/wst-future-preview\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T04:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T04:26:23","slug":"wst-date-simulator","status":"publish","type":"plugin","link":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wst-date-simulator\/","author":23550007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"version":"1.0.0","stable_tag":"1.0.0","tested":"7.1","requires":"7.0","requires_php":"8.2","requires_plugins":null,"header_name":"WST Date Simulator","header_author":"webtatsu","header_description":"See scheduled posts appear on your homepage, archives, and search results before they go live \u2014 not just the single post itself.","assets_banners_color":"","last_updated":"2026-08-27 04:26:23","external_support_url":"","external_repository_url":"","donate_link":"","header_plugin_uri":"","header_author_uri":"","rating":0,"author_block_rating":0,"active_installs":0,"downloads":54,"num_ratings":0,"support_threads":0,"support_threads_resolved":0,"author_block_count":0,"sections":["description","installation","faq","changelog"],"tags":{"1.0.0":{"tag":"1.0.0","author":"webtatsu","date":"2026-08-27 04:26:23","revision":3668041}},"upgrade_notice":{"1.0.0":"<p>Initial release.<\/p>"},"ratings":[],"assets_icons":[],"assets_banners":[],"assets_blueprints":{},"all_blocks":[],"tagged_versions":["1.0.0"],"block_files":[],"assets_screenshots":{"screenshot-1.png":{"filename":"screenshot-1.png","revision":3668038,"resolution":"1","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1440,"height":858},"screenshot-2.png":{"filename":"screenshot-2.png","revision":3668038,"resolution":"2","location":"assets","locale":"","width":1440,"height":858}},"screenshots":{"1":"Settings screen (base date\/time, preview permission, target post types)","2":"The front-end banner shown while the preview is active"}},"plugin_section":[],"plugin_tags":[529,96456,4928,2475,25064],"plugin_category":[],"plugin_contributors":[277760],"plugin_business_model":[],"class_list":["post-356562","plugin","type-plugin","status-publish","hentry","plugin_tags-content","plugin_tags-editorial-workflow","plugin_tags-future-posts","plugin_tags-preview","plugin_tags-scheduled-posts","plugin_contributors-webtatsu","plugin_committers-webtatsu"],"banners":[],"icons":{"svg":false,"icon":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/plugins\/geopattern-icon\/wst-date-simulator.svg","icon_2x":false,"generated":true},"screenshots":[{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/wst-date-simulator\/assets\/screenshot-1.png?rev=3668038","caption":"Settings screen (base date\/time, preview permission, target post types)"},{"src":"https:\/\/ps.w.org\/wst-date-simulator\/assets\/screenshot-2.png?rev=3668038","caption":"The front-end banner shown while the preview is active"}],"raw_content":"<!--section=description-->\n<p>WordPress already lets you preview a single scheduled post through the editor's Preview button. But that only shows the post on its own \u2014 it doesn't tell you how your homepage, category archives, search results, or \"Recent Posts\" widgets will look once the post actually goes live.<\/p>\n\n<p>WST Date Simulator fills that gap. Set a base date and time, and scheduled posts up to that point are shown as published \u2014 anywhere your theme normally lists them \u2014 to logged-in users with a chosen permission level. No more guessing what the page will look like until after it's published.<\/p>\n\n<h4>Key features<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Set a base date and time; scheduled posts up to that point are shown as published<\/li>\n<li>Choose who can view the preview: Administrators only, Editors and above, or Authors and above<\/li>\n<li>Choose which post types the preview applies to (posts, pages, and custom post types are all supported)<\/li>\n<li>Automatically disables page caching while previewing, so cached scheduled content is never served to regular visitors<\/li>\n<li>Shows a banner in both wp-admin and the front end while the preview is active<\/li>\n<li>REST API requests are excluded, to avoid unintentional exposure through headless setups<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4>About permissions<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Viewing the preview and changing the plugin's settings each use a separate permission check<\/li>\n<li>Changing the settings always requires an Administrator (manage_options)<\/li>\n<li>Who can view the preview is configurable from the settings screen: Administrators only, Editors and above, or Authors and above<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<!--section=installation-->\n<ol>\n<li>Upload the plugin files to <code>\/wp-content\/plugins\/wst-date-simulator<\/code>, or install the plugin through the \"Plugins &gt; Add New\" screen in WordPress.<\/li>\n<li>Activate the plugin through the \"Plugins\" screen.<\/li>\n<li>Go to the \"Date Simulator\" menu in wp-admin to set the base date\/time, preview permission, and target post types.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<!--section=faq-->\n<dl>\n<dt id=\"how%20is%20this%20different%20from%20the%20wordpress%20core%20preview%20button%3F\"><h3>How is this different from the WordPress core Preview button?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>The core Preview button only shows a single scheduled post on its own page. WST Date Simulator shows scheduled posts everywhere your theme normally lists them \u2014 homepage, archives, search results, widgets \u2014 not just the post itself.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"can%20anyone%20see%20the%20preview%3F\"><h3>Can anyone see the preview?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. Only logged-in users who have the permission level chosen in the settings (Editors and above, by default) can see it.<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20this%20change%20the%20actual%20post%20data%3F\"><h3>Does this change the actual post data?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>No. The post status in the database is never modified. It is only treated as \"published\" in memory while it's being displayed; the real status stays <code>future<\/code> (WordPress's internal name for \"scheduled\").<\/p><\/dd>\n<dt id=\"does%20it%20work%20with%20pages%20and%20custom%20post%20types%3F\"><h3>Does it work with pages and custom post types?<\/h3><\/dt>\n<dd><p>Yes. The \"Target post types\" setting lets you choose which post types the preview applies to, individually.<\/p><\/dd>\n\n<\/dl>\n\n<!--section=changelog-->\n<h4>1.0.0<\/h4>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Initial release<\/li>\n<\/ul>","raw_excerpt":"See scheduled posts appear on your homepage, archives, and search results before they go live \u2014 not just the single post itself.","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin\/356562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plugin"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356562"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/webtatsu"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plugin_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_section?post=356562"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_tags?post=356562"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_category?post=356562"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_contributors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_contributors?post=356562"},{"taxonomy":"plugin_business_model","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cn.wordpress.org\/plugins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plugin_business_model?post=356562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}