Docs › Concepts › Calendar and queue

Schedule posts: calendar, queue and time zones

Post now, pick a time, or add a post to a weekly list of posting times. How slots, time zones and clock changes work.

Updated

There are three ways to send a post. You choose one in the composer under When.

  • Post now. Sending starts straight away.
  • Schedule for later. Pick a date and time. The time is read in your browser's time zone.
  • Add to queue. The post takes the next free time in your weekly list of posting times.

The Calendar shows everything that is scheduled or sent, by day. You can cancel or move a post there until it starts sending.

The weekly posting times

The queue is a list of times that repeat every week, such as Monday 09:30 and Thursday 18:00. You set it once in Settings, under Posting times, and choose one time zone for the whole list. Steps are in Use the queue.

"Add to queue" looks forward from now and takes the earliest posting time that is still free and at least a minute away. It looks up to 12 weeks ahead. A list can hold up to 56 posting times.

One post per slot

Each posting time holds one post. When two posts are queued, the second takes the next free time after the first. You never get two posts at the same moment by accident.

A post keeps its slot while it can still be sent. A slot becomes free again when:

  • you cancel the post, or
  • the post failed before its time, for example because every channel rejected it before sending.

A hand-picked time leaves the queue

If you change a queued post to a time you choose yourself, the post leaves the queue and its slot is free for the next post. A post you schedule by hand never uses a slot in the first place. In the API, the queued field of the post is true only while the queue placed it.

Time zones and clock changes

Posting times are local times in the zone you chose, not fixed moments. A 09:30 slot stays at 09:30 on the wall clock when the clocks change in spring or autumn.

Two edge cases come from how clocks work:

  • When the clocks go forward, some local times do not exist. A slot inside that gap moves later by the length of the gap. A 02:30 slot on a night when 02:00 jumps to 03:00 goes out at 03:30.
  • When the clocks go back, a local time happens twice. The slot uses the first one.

If a gap moves two slots onto the same moment, they count as one.

When the queue is empty or full

  • Empty. If your list has no posting times, "Add to queue" cannot place the post. The composer says your queue has no posting times yet and links to Settings. Add times, or pick a time by hand. The API answers 422 with the code queue_empty.
  • Full. If every posting time in the next 12 weeks is taken, the post cannot be placed. Add more times in Settings, or pick a time by hand. The API answers 422 with the code queue_full.