Publish and schedule social posts

This guide shows you how to write a post in Publisher, send it for approval, schedule or publish it, and check that it really went out. It is for anyone who creates or approves social posts.

Before you begin

• Connect at least one account in Social Media → Connections and check that Publishing is ready for it. See Social Media overview.
• You need edit access to create or change posts. With view-only access you can look at posts but not change them.
• Have your text, links, and media ready. Only use images and videos you have the right to post.
• Creating, reviewing, scheduling, and publishing posts use no credits.

Where to find it

• Social Media → Publisher – your list of posts, filtered by Status, with Create post and Saved drafts.
• Social Media → Calendar – scheduled and published posts by Day, Week, or Month.
• Social Media → Approvals – posts waiting for review.
• Social Media → Media Library – images, videos, and custom fonts you can reuse.

Create a post

1. Open Social Media → Publisher and select Create post. The Create social post window opens.
2. Optional: fill in Internal title (optional), Campaign (optional), and Labels (optional). Only your team sees these.
3. Under Brand Kit, pick your Brand Kit, or choose Do not apply a Brand Kit.
4. Write your main message in Base content.
5. Under Publish to, select each account that should receive the post.
6. Under Platform variants, adjust the text for any network that needs different wording. Select Use base content to go back to the main text.
7. Add media under Media attachments (optional). Select Choose from Media Library, or Add external media and paste a Public HTTPS URL. Use Move up and Move down to set the order.
8. Optional: add a First comment (optional).
9. Check the Live channel preview for each network.
10. Select Save draft.

What you should see: the post appears in Publisher with the status draft.

Extra settings for TikTok and YouTube

• TikTok: choose Who can view this video (Everyone, Friends who follow back, Followers, or Only me) and complete Content disclosures if the video promotes something.
• YouTube: under YouTube video details, add a YouTube title, pick a Format (YouTube Short or YouTube video), and choose Visibility (Private, Unlisted, or Public).

Check the post against your Brand Kit

When a Brand Kit is selected, the Publisher preflight box appears.

1. Select Run free check.
2. Read the score and any blocking issues or warnings. Each one explains the rule it breaks.
3. If a required disclaimer is missing, select Add required disclaimers.
4. Fix the text and select Check again.

Your Brand Kit decides how strict this is. With Advisory only, the check is optional. With Require review or Block publishing, a current check is needed before you can submit, schedule, or publish.

Get approval

If your team reviews posts before they go out:

1. In Publisher, select Submit for review on the post. You'll see Submitted for review. No credits were used.
2. The reviewer opens Social Media → Approvals. Needs my review and Waiting on others help them find their work.
3. They select Review to open the post, read the Current content, and check Version history and Activity.
4. They either select Approve, or Request changes and write Required feedback.
5. Reviewers can also set a Reviewer and Review deadline, then select Save assignment, and leave notes under Internal discussion. Comments are never posted to the network.

Approval only records a decision. You'll see Post approved. It has not been published. Someone still needs to schedule or publish it.

Schedule or publish

1. Open the post from Publisher and select Edit.
2. To schedule, set Schedule time and select Schedule. The label shows your timezone in brackets, for example Schedule time (Europe/London). The post uses your browser's timezone.
3. To publish straight away, select Publish now and confirm Publish this post now?

What you should see: a scheduled post shows scheduled with its date, time, and timezone. While it sends, it shows publishing. When it finishes, you'll see Post published successfully. and the status published.

You can close or reload the page while a post is publishing. Publisher picks up the progress again when you come back, even if you switched workspaces.

Move a scheduled post

Open Social Media → Calendar, then drag the post to a new slot. With the keyboard, focus the post and press Alt with the Left or Right arrow to move it one day, or Alt with Up or Down to move it one hour. You'll see Post rescheduled.

Check the result

After the post is published, open the network and look at it there. Check the text, links, crop, and that it appeared on the right account.

Worked example: one launch post, three networks

Sam announces a new service on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. In Base content he writes the announcement with a link. In Platform variants he shortens the Instagram version and replaces the link with "link in bio", because Instagram captions don't make links clickable. He points his bio at a Smart Link. The preflight flags a missing disclaimer, so he selects Add required disclaimers. His manager approves it, and Sam schedules it for Tuesday 9:00. On Tuesday he checks all three networks.

If something goes wrong

Other post actions

• Cancel stops a scheduled post before it is sent (Cancel this post before delivery?).
• Delete removes a draft or cancelled post for good (Delete this draft? This cannot be undone.).
• Reuse content copies a post into new drafts. See Plan and reuse content.
• Saved drafts opens drafts created by AI tools so you can review them before they become Publisher posts. See Review saved drafts.

FAQ

Does an approved post publish automatically?

No. Approval and publishing are separate. After approval, someone with edit access still schedules or publishes it.

Which timezone does scheduling use?

Your browser's timezone, shown next to Schedule time. Check it before you confirm, especially when travelling or around daylight saving changes.

If I disconnect an account, are its posts deleted?

No. Posts already on the network stay there. Scheduled posts and automations that used that account need another connected account.

Can I edit a post after it's published?

Not from Spacebrain. Edit is only available before a post starts sending. If a published post has a mistake, fix or remove it on the network itself, then note what you changed.

Next step

Plan a full week of posts with campaigns, queues, and saved drafts.