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Free Plugin by Mike Riethmuller v1.4

Better Writing

Helps you write better content with readability scores and preferred terms as you type. Highly configurable.

Better Writing

The facts

Rating
4.2★ from 5
Active installs
20+
Price
Free
Last updated
20 Jan 2014
Added
Jan 2013
Requires WP
3.0
Tested up to
WP 3.7.41
Downloads
5,831

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Better Writing is a WordPress plugin designed to assist you in creating more readable content. It provides various readability scores as you type, allowing you to monitor your writing against established metrics. You can also manage preferred and non-preferred terms to ensure consistency, especially when multiple authors contribute to a site.

The plugin features a readability meta box on the WordPress edit screen, where you can view your score and set custom targets. It also supports shortcodes for displaying readability information elsewhere in your WordPress site. This tool is suitable for writers and editors looking to enhance their content's clarity and consistency.

Best for: Writers and editors looking to improve content readability and consistency.

What it does well

  • Provides multiple readability scoring methods
  • Allows setting of custom target readability scores
  • Enables management of preferred and non-preferred terms
  • Includes non-intrusive features for distraction-free writing
  • Offers shortcodes for displaying readability scores

Where it falls short

  • Last updated in January 2014, may not be fully compatible with newer WordPress versions
  • Limited active installs may indicate lower community support
  • Directory score of 43/100 suggests potential areas for improvement

Verdict

Better Writing offers useful tools for enhancing text clarity, but its outdated status may limit its effectiveness with the latest WordPress updates.

From the developer

Mike Riethmuller's own description of Better Writing, lightly tidied.

Better Writing is a WordPress plugin that helps you write better content.

Readability

One way it achieves this is by providing readability information as you type. You can select from one of 5 different readability scoring methods including:

  • Flesch reading ease formula
  • Coleman Liau index
  • Gunning fog index
  • SMOG Index
  • Automated readability index

You are able to see at a glance if your content is on target with the readability meta box on the WordPress edit screen. You can also set a custom target score and sort posts and pages by readability.

All features can be turned on or off for posts, pages or even custom post types.

Use details of your readability score elsewhere within WordPress by using shortcodes.
* [readability-score]
* [readability-method]
* [readability-flesch]
* [readability-coleman]
* [readability-gunning]
* [readability-smog]
* [readability-ari]

Preferred terms

Consistent use of language is important and is something that can easily suffer, especially where multiple writers are involved. Better Writing allows you to maintain a list of your preferred terms and non preferred terms. It will prompt writers and editors with spell-check style suggestions in the content editor. It will check as you type and allows for multiple terms and multiple suggestions.

All features are designed to be non-intrusive and let you get on with your work, whilst giving you the tools you need to help you write better without distraction.

Credits

Credit to Dave Child for use of https://github.com/DaveChild/Text-Statistics.

Read the full description on the official page →

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