# Scheduling posts and the weekly plan

> How Planner weekly idea cards differ from the Scheduler calendar, and how to schedule AI drafts or posts you write yourself.

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

Postless splits planning and the calendar:

- **Planner** — weekly **idea cards** (topics, format, date/time). Not live posts until you generate them (or weekly auto-planning creates posts).
- **Scheduler** — calendar of posts that are **Scheduled** (queued with a time).
- **Posts** — full library (Draft, Needs approval, Scheduled, Published, Missed, Failed).

Scheduling itself is unlimited on every plan. Weekly **AI posts** generation is capped.

## AI weekly plan (Planner)

1. Open **Planner**.
2. Pick **This Week**, **Next Week**, or **All planned**.
3. If the week has no cards and AI planning is on, click **Generate plan**. If cards exist, **Regenerate week** (or **Generate week** if planning is off).
4. Optional: **Add topic** to create a card by hand.

If **AI content planning** is off, a banner says the auto weekly planner is disabled. **Open brand settings** to enable it.

First plan after subscribe also needs a connected social account and publishing defaults. Otherwise you get **Connect a social account to generate your content plan.**

### Idea card actions

| Button            | What it does                                                                |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Edit**          | Topic, content type                                                         |
| **Move**          | New date and time for the card                                              |
| **Delete**        | Removes the card from the week                                              |
| **Suggest**       | Re-suggests topic/format (AI planning on). Does not change an existing post |
| **Attach source** | Link up to 3 Brand Inbox items                                              |
| **Generate Post** | Creates a draft and opens the editor                                        |
| **View Post**     | Opens the linked post if one exists                                         |

**Generate Post** counts toward **AI posts/week**. Deleting a post does not refund that quota.

Generated drafts follow **Require approval** (see [Approvals](https://postless.app/guides/approvals)).

## Schedule a post you write yourself

1. Click **Create Post** in the header (or **Posts**).
2. Select accounts under the editor’s publish targets (defaults come from the brand’s **Publishing Defaults**).
3. Write copy, or **Generate draft** (topic required; optional angle).
4. **Save**.
5. Open **Publish** → **Schedule…** and pick date and time, or **Publish now**.

Manual drafts are always approved. They never wait in Approvals. Until you schedule them they have no status badge.

**Duplicate content** (default) keeps edits in sync across selected accounts. **Detach content** edits only the active tab.

Scheduled time must be in the future.

## Use the Scheduler calendar

1. Open **Scheduler**: “When your content goes live.”
2. Switch **Week**, **Month**, or **Agenda**.
3. Click a post to open it. Drag a card to another day in week view (time of day is kept).
4. **Reschedule** from the card if you need a new datetime.

Empty state: **Nothing scheduled yet** — create a post or generate one from the planner.

Only **Scheduled** posts appear here, not unapproved AI drafts and not unscheduled drafts.

## Posts library filters

On **Posts**: **All**, **Draft**, **Needs approval**, **Scheduled**, **Published**, **Missed**, **Failed**, plus a platform filter from connected accounts.

**Missed** means the scheduled time passed while the post was still queued (including while waiting for approval).

## What happens after

| You do                            | Status                                                                    |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Schedule…** on an approved post | **Scheduled** → **Scheduler** → publishes when due                        |
| **Publish now**                   | **Published**                                                             |
| Schedule an unapproved AI post    | Still **Needs approval**; time is stored; will not send until **Approve** |
| Due + approved + connected        | **Publishing…** then **Published**, or **Failed**                         |

## If this fails

- **Scheduled time must be in the future.** Pick a later time.
- Post stuck as **Needs approval**. Approve it; the calendar sender ignores unapproved AI posts.
- **Failed**. Check Connections, publishing defaults, and media rules (Instagram needs media; TikTok/YouTube need video when those defaults are used).
- Planner empty after checkout. Connect a platform, set defaults, complete the brand profile, then **Generate plan**.
- **Post generation is waiting on next week's allowance.** AI posts/week cap (Creator 5, Pro 15, Team 50).

## Related

- [Getting started](https://postless.app/guides/getting-started)
- [Approvals](https://postless.app/guides/approvals)
- [Require approval and auto-publish](https://postless.app/guides/auto-publish)
- [Content Inbox](https://postless.app/guides/content-inbox)