Description
Notewake builds on the Notes already in your block editor: nothing new to learn, and every note stays in WordPress. It adds what Notes do not have: one inbox of every open note across the site, a daily email digest, Notes on your own custom post types and an export to a spreadsheet, free and unlimited.
Since WordPress 6.9, your team can select a block in the editor and leave a note on it, like a comment in a shared document. These block notes live inside their own post, though, so nobody sees what is waiting across the whole site. Notewake puts every note in one place, tells each person once a day what waits for them, and lets them answer without opening every post.
An inbox for all your editor notes
The Notewake inbox lists the notes on every post, page and custom post type you may edit, newest first: the open notes, the resolved ones, or all of them. Each row shows the note’s words, the block it was left on, the post, who wrote it, how long ago, its replies, and a link that opens the post in the editor. The Notewake menu shows how many open notes wait for you.
Find unresolved notes
Choose the kind of content, the person who wrote the note, or how old it is (older than 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days) to find the unresolved notes nobody has answered. Show only the notes on your own posts, or only the notes that mention you (WordPress 7.1 and newer), and search the words of every note.
Resolve notes and reply from the inbox
Resolve a note, reopen it or reply to it right in the inbox. Notewake makes the same change the block editor makes, so the note looks resolved in the editor too. If someone changed the note while you were reading, Notewake says so and changes nothing.
A daily notes digest by email
Once a day, at the hour you pick, each person who may edit posts with open notes gets one email that lists them: the notes that mention them first (WordPress 7.1 and newer), then the notes that are new since their last digest, then the rest still open, each with a link to the post in the editor. Nobody gets an empty email. The digest is off until you turn it on, and each person can turn theirs off in their profile: the link at the foot of every digest opens that setting. It goes out through your site’s own mailer.
Notes on custom post types
Posts and pages have Notes in WordPress. Tick any other kind of content that uses the block editor, your own custom post types included, and your team can leave notes there too. Untick it and Notewake takes away only what it added. A kind of content that uses the classic editor is shown greyed out, because Notes need the block editor.
Export notes to CSV
Download the notes the inbox shows, every page of them, as a CSV file any spreadsheet opens: each note with its replies, the post, who wrote it and when, open or resolved, and a link to the editor. A cell that starts like a spreadsheet formula is made safe.
Your open notes on the dashboard
A “Your open notes” card on the dashboard shows the newest open notes on posts you may edit, with a link to the inbox. Each person can hide it, and bring it back in their profile.
WordPress’s own note emails, your choice
WordPress itself emails a post’s author when someone leaves a note on it, and since WordPress 7.1 it also emails each person a note mentions. Notewake’s settings show what WordPress sends and let you switch those emails off or on. Nothing changes until you press Save.
Set up on one card
The first time you open Notewake, one card asks where your team can leave notes, whether to send the daily digest and at what hour, and whether WordPress keeps sending its own note emails. Press Save and start, or Skip, and change any choice later in Settings.
Each person sees the notes on the posts they may edit
Every note in the inbox, the digest, the dashboard card and the export is checked, one by one, against the post it is on: a person sees a note only if they may edit that post. An author sees the notes on their own posts; an editor sees every post’s. WordPress’s Export and Erase Personal Data tools include each person’s notes.
How Notewake is different
- It reads the Notes your block editor already keeps, so your team changes nothing and learns nothing new.
- It stores nothing of its own about a note: remove Notewake and every note is still in WordPress.
- The inbox, the digest, Notes on more post types and the export are free, with no limit and no account.
Notewake does not connect to any external service: everything it does happens on your site, and its e-mails go through your site’s own mailer.
Screenshots
Installation
- In WordPress, go to Plugins and add a new plugin: search for Notewake, then press Install Now and Activate.
- Open Notewake in the admin menu, make your choices on the first card, and press Save and start.
- Leave a note on a block in the editor: it shows up in the Notewake inbox.
FAQ
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Which WordPress version do I need?
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6.9 or newer. Mentions in notes need 7.1.
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Does it work with the classic editor?
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Notes are part of the block editor, so Notewake lists the notes left there. A kind of content that uses the classic editor has no Notes, and Notewake’s settings show it greyed out. If the Classic Editor plugin has switched the block editor off for everyone, Notewake’s screen says so: let people use the block editor in Settings › Writing, and the notes show up again.
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Who can see a note in the inbox?
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Only the people who may edit the post the note is on. Notewake checks it for every note, in the inbox, the digest, the dashboard card and the export.
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Can I resolve or reply to a note from the inbox?
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Yes. Resolve a note, reopen it or reply to it right in the inbox, and it looks in the editor exactly as if you had done it there. Only people who may edit the post can change its notes.
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Can I export the notes to a spreadsheet?
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Yes. The inbox’s download button saves the notes it shows, every page of them, as a CSV file any spreadsheet opens: each note with its replies, who wrote it and when, open or resolved, and a link to the post. Each person gets only the notes on posts they may edit.
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Will it email my team without asking?
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No. The digest is off until you turn it on, and each person can turn theirs off.
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Does WordPress still send its own note emails?
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Yes, unless you switch them off on Notewake’s screen.
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Does Notewake send anything outside my site?
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No. Everything happens on your site, and its emails go through your site’s own mailer.
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What happens to my notes if I remove Notewake?
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They stay, exactly as they were. Deleting the plugin removes only what Notewake itself stored: its settings, each person’s choices and its daily event. WordPress’s own note emails stay as you last saved them: to switch them back on, tick “Anyone posts a note” in Settings › Discussion.
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Does it work on a multisite network?
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Yes. Each site of the network has its own inbox, digest and settings, and a site’s notes never show on another site.
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Does it work on a phone?
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Yes. The inbox works on any phone or tablet, an iPhone, an iPad and an Android phone included, and on a small screen each note is a card.
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Does it show my open notes on the dashboard?
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Yes. A “Your open notes” card on the dashboard lists the newest open notes on posts you may edit. Each person can hide it, and bring it back in their profile.
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Does it work with WordPress’s personal data export and erase tools?
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Yes. WordPress’s own tools leave notes out, so Notewake adds them. A person’s notes and their Notewake settings can be exported. Erasing takes the writer’s name and email off their notes and keeps the words, as WordPress does for comments.
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Is there a paid version?
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Not yet. Everything described here is free and stays free, with no limits. We are thinking about an optional paid service for later, where someone outside your team could read a draft from a private link and leave notes on it without a WordPress account. The “Get early access” link at the foot of the Notewake screen lets you ask to be told if it is built: it opens in your browser only if you tap it, and your email address reaches us only if you type it there. It is never shown as a notice, and nothing in this plugin is locked behind it.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Notewake – Editor Notes Inbox & Digest” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “Notewake – Editor Notes Inbox & Digest” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.1
- New: a “Get early access” link at the foot of the Notewake screen, for an optional paid service we are thinking about. It opens a page only if you tap it, and nothing in the plugin is locked behind it.
- New: when a newer Notewake is out, the Notewake screen says so, with Update now, What’s new and Not now. It reads what WordPress already knows about updates and asks nothing of its own.
- A late daily digest now goes out through WordPress’s own scheduler, so no page you open waits for the emails.
- The readme says who sees a note: each person sees the notes on the posts they may edit, and how to switch WordPress’s own note emails back on after removing Notewake.
- What makes Notewake different: it reads the Notes your block editor already keeps and stores nothing of its own, so every note stays in WordPress, and the inbox, the digest, Notes on more post types and the export are free, with no limit and no account.
1.0.0
- First version: the notes inbox with filters and search, resolve, reopen and reply from the inbox, the daily email digest, Notes on custom post types, the CSV export, the dashboard card, WordPress’s own note emails on Notewake’s screen, and notes in WordPress’s personal data tools.
- What makes Notewake different: it reads the Notes your block editor already keeps and stores nothing of its own, so every note stays in WordPress, and the inbox, the digest, Notes on more post types and the export are free, with no limit and no account.