# Getting started with Postless

> Create an account, set up a brand, connect platforms, and get your first drafts into Approvals or the Scheduler.

- HTML: https://postless.app/guides/getting-started
- Published: 2026-09-03
- Author: Postless
- Category: Product
- Tags: founders, creators, agencies, teams, scheduling, auto-publish

Postless is an AI social brand-building workspace. You can generate a weekly plan and drafts from your brand, or write and schedule posts yourself.

This guide covers account creation, onboarding, connecting platforms, and what to do in the first week.

## What you need

- An email address (or a Google account)
- A public website, About page, or a short written description of what you do (for **Build My Brand**)
- Optional: social accounts to connect (LinkedIn, X, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube)

The app lives at [dashboard.postless.app](https://dashboard.postless.app). Workspace pages (Planner, Posts, Inbox, and so on) require an active trial or subscription after you have a brand.

## 1. Create an account

1. Open **Create your account**.
2. Sign up with **Google**, or fill in **Name**, **Email**, **Password**, and **Confirm password**, then click **Create account**.
3. Password must be at least 6 characters.

If you already have an account, use **Sign in**. **Forgot password?** is on that screen.

After sign-up with no brand yet, you go to onboarding.

## 2. Choose how you want to use Postless

The first onboarding screen asks: **How would you like to use Postless?**

### Build My Brand (recommended)

Creates a brand with AI content planning on and **Require approval** on. You answer a 9-step wizard, then review a summary.

1. Click **Build My Brand**.
2. Complete the wizard (details below).
3. On **Does this look right?**, click **Create brand**.
4. If you do not already have a trial or subscription, the dashboard shows plan cards. Click **Start free trial** on Creator, Pro, or Team (monthly or yearly). First-time checkout includes a 7-day trial.

### Use As Scheduler

Creates a **Personal Brand** with AI content planning off. You write and schedule posts yourself.

1. Click **Use As Scheduler**.
2. You land on **Settings → Connections** so you can link accounts immediately.

You can turn **AI content planning** on later from that brand’s settings if you complete the profile fields the planner requires.

## 3. Build My Brand wizard

Buttons on each step: **Back**, **Continue**. The connect step also has **Skip for now**.

### Step 1 — What brand do you want to build?

1. Enter the brand name (2–40 characters).
2. Under **Draft from your site**, add at least one of:
   - **Website link** (prefer an About page; homepage is fine), or
   - **Or paste a description** (at least 120 characters).
3. Click **Continue**. Postless starts a draft brand in the background and fetches suggestions from your sources. Navigation is not blocked while that runs.

You can add more links with **Add another link** (up to 5). Invalid private/local URLs are rejected.

### Steps 2–8 — Profile

| Step | Screen title          | What you do                                        |
| ---- | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| 2    | Who are you?          | Pick a **Role** (or add your own).                 |
| 3    | What do you do?       | Write **What you do** (description).               |
| 4    | What are your goals?  | Write **Goals**.                                   |
| 5    | Who is your audience? | Write **Audience** (prefilled from role; edit it). |
| 6    | Content pillars       | Choose 3–5 themes.                                 |
| 7    | Voice                 | Pick one or more tones.                            |
| 8    | Reference brand       | Optional. **Skip for now** or **Continue**.        |

On steps 3–5, if URL fetch succeeded, a **Suggestion** card may appear. Click **Use this suggestion** (or **Use suggestion** if you already typed something). Suggestions are only for description, goal, and audience — not role, pillars, or voice.

If fetch failed, a notice tells you to confirm the URL, paste a description, or fill the fields yourself. **Try again** returns you to step 1.

### Step 9 — Connect your platforms

1. Under **Connected Platforms**, click **Connect** (or **Add account** if that network is already linked).
2. Complete the provider login. Bluesky uses **Handle** and **App password**, then **Connect**.
3. Click **Continue**, or **Skip for now**.

Connections are shared across all your brands. You choose which accounts each brand publishes to later under **Publishing Defaults**.

### Review — Does this look right?

Check **Brand summary**. Unused suggestions are called out with **Review suggestion(s)**.

- **Create brand** finishes setup.
- **Edit answers** returns to the wizard.

**Create brand** turns on **AI content planning** and **Require approval** for that brand.

## 4. Subscribe (if prompted)

Without a trial, active, or past-due subscription, the workspace shows **You're all set** / **Choose your plan** instead of Planner and Inbox. **Settings** stays available.

1. Choose **Monthly** or **Yearly** (yearly is billed as 10× monthly).
2. Click **Start free trial** on a plan.
3. Complete Stripe Checkout.

On success you are sent to **Planner**. If AI content planning is on and no weekly plan exists, Postless tries to generate the first week of idea cards. That requires at least one connected social account and publishing defaults.

## 5. Connect platforms (if you skipped)

1. Open **Settings → Connections**, or open the brand from **Brands** and use **Publishing Defaults**.
2. Connect at least one account, then on the brand page tick which accounts are **Included** as publishing defaults.

Instagram as a default requires **Include AI images in plans** or **Include short AI videos in plans**. TikTok and YouTube as defaults require **Include short AI videos in plans**.

Until an account is connected, Dashboard shows **Connect your social platforms**. Approvals warns you to connect before approving or publishing.

## 6. First week of drafts

Sidebar: **Dashboard**, **Scheduler**, **Approvals**, **Planner**, **Posts**, **Inbox**, **Brands**, **Settings**. The footer switcher sets the active brand.

### If you chose Build My Brand

1. Open **Planner**. Tabs: **This Week**, **Next Week**, **All planned**.
2. If the week is empty, click **Generate plan** (or **Add topic** to add an idea card yourself).
3. On a weekly idea card, click **Generate Post**. That opens the post editor with platform-specific copy.
4. Edit, then **Save**.

**Require approval** is on by default, so AI drafts show as **Needs approval** and appear in **Approvals**. They do not go live until you click **Approve** (then they publish at the scheduled time if one is set) or **Publish now** after approval.

You can also open **Inbox**, add material, and click **Create Post** on a Brand Inbox item.

### If you chose Use As Scheduler

1. Click **Create Post** in the header.
2. Pick publish accounts, write copy (or **Generate draft**), then **Publish** → **Schedule…** or **Publish now**.
3. Posts you write yourself are approved automatically. They do not wait in Approvals.

Manual drafts stay **Draft** (no status badge) until you schedule them. Scheduled posts show as **Scheduled** on **Scheduler**.

## What happens after

| Action                                                     | Result                                                                                                |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Generate Post** / inbox **Create Post** with approval on | **Needs approval** → **Approvals**                                                                    |
| Same, with **Require approval** off                        | Approved immediately; **Scheduled** on **Scheduler** if a time is set; due posts publish on their own |
| **Approve** on a scheduled AI post                         | Leaves Approvals; stays on **Scheduler** until the scheduled time                                     |
| **Publish now**                                            | Status **Published**                                                                                  |
| **Create Post** (your own copy)                            | Draft or scheduled; never held for approval                                                           |

Weekly idea cards are not posts. **Planner** says they are “not posts until you generate them.” With **AI content planning** on, Postless can also generate that week’s posts automatically later; they still follow **Require approval**.

## If this fails

- **Stuck on onboarding after you already have a brand.** Finish **Does this look right?** or go to the dashboard; users with a brand are redirected away from the wizard unless they are adding another brand.
- **Plan cards on every page.** No trial/subscription yet, or it lapsed. Use **Settings → Billing**.
- **Connect a social account to generate your content plan.** First weekly plan needs a connected account. You are sent to **Settings → Connections**.
- **Prefill failed.** Use a public https URL, paste ≥120 characters, or type description/goal/audience yourself.
- **Brand limit reached.** Archive a brand or upgrade. Creator is 1 brand; Pro 3; Team 10.
- **Nothing in Approvals.** Approval may be off for the active brand, or you have not generated an AI post yet. Manual **Create Post** drafts do not go there.
- **Cannot approve or publish.** Connect a platform. Instagram drafts need media. Posts over a platform character limit must be edited first.

## Related

- [Set up your brand profile](https://postless.app/guides/brand-setup)
- [Connect social platforms](https://postless.app/guides/connecting-platforms)
- [Approvals](https://postless.app/guides/approvals)
- [Plans and usage](https://postless.app/guides/plans-and-usage)