Episode Production Notes
The Episode Production Notes panel is a private, chronological log attached to each episode. Notes are only visible to site admins — they never appear in RSS feeds, subscriber account pages, or any public-facing template.
Use it to track production decisions, leave context for team members, log important changes, or review an episode’s history at a glance.
Where to Find It
The notes panel appears in the episode editor sidebar as a Notes tab alongside the other editor panels. Open any episode in the WordPress admin to access it.
Adding a Note
- Open the episode in the WordPress editor.
- In the sidebar, select the Notes tab.
- Type your note in the input field.
- Click Add Note.
Notes appear in reverse chronological order — the most recent note is at the top. Each note shows the author’s avatar, display name, and the date it was added.
There is no character limit. Notes support plain text only; HTML and markdown are not rendered.
System Notes
Some notes are generated automatically by Benecaster and its add-ons. These are called system notes and are marked with a system badge. You cannot edit or delete system notes.
System notes are written when:
| Source | Example events |
|---|---|
| Podcast Workflow | Episode status changes, checklist completed, Member Thanks accepted, preview link generated, task assigned |
| Sponsor Manager | Sponsor assigned, confirmed, removed, campaign started or ended |
| Guest Manager | Guest linked or unlinked, guest profile created or updated, preview link shared |
| Content Calendar | Publish date rescheduled, availability date changed, calendar event added |
System notes create a permanent audit trail for each episode without any manual effort.
Viewing an Episode’s Full History
All notes — yours and any system notes — appear in the same chronological list. Use the notes panel to review what happened during production: when a sponsor was added, whether the checklist was completed before publish, who scheduled a date change.
Notes are permanent once added. There is no delete or edit action for internal notes.
Notes and Add-ons
If no add-ons are active, only internal (manually added) notes appear. Each add-on that writes system notes lists the events it logs in its own documentation. The notes panel is always available regardless of which add-ons you have installed.
Developer Notes
Add-ons and custom code can write system notes programmatically using benecaster_add_episode_note(). The benecaster_episode_note_added action fires after every insert. See benecaster_episode_note_added for the hook reference and usage examples.