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PressQueue
Documentation Getting started

Getting started

Getting started

Install PressQueue, connect Buffer and share your first post.

PressQueue is a free WordPress plugin that shares your posts to social media through Buffer. You make rules that say which posts go to which channels and what the message says. When you publish a post, PressQueue checks it against your rules and hands it to Buffer in the background.

PressQueue starts in test mode. It records what it would share and sends nothing until you switch it to Live.

Before you start

You need:

  • A WordPress site on WordPress 6.8 or newer with PHP 8.1 or newer.
  • An administrator login for that site.
  • A Buffer account with your social accounts added as channels in Buffer. Buffer has a free plan.

PressQueue posts to LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Facebook.

1. Install the plugin

Download pressqueue.zip from the download page. In WordPress, go to Plugins, Add Plugin, Upload Plugin, pick the ZIP and activate it. See Installation.

After activation, a PressQueue menu appears in the admin. The Overview shows a checklist with four steps: Connect Buffer, Choose channels, Create a sharing rule and Go live.

2. Connect Buffer

Open PressQueue, Channels.

  1. Click "Open Buffer API settings". Buffer opens in a new tab.
  2. In Buffer, open the "Personal Access" tab and click "+ New Key". Name the key PressQueue, pick "1 year" as the expiry and click "Generate API Key". Copy the key.
  3. Back in WordPress, paste the key and click "Connect".

PressQueue checks the key and lists the channels of your Buffer account. They all start switched off. Switch on the channels PressQueue may post to. See Connect Buffer.

3. Make a rule

Open PressQueue, Rules and click "Share every new post to all my channels". This creates a rule named "Share new posts". It sends each new post to the channels you switched on, adds it to the end of your Buffer queue, uses the post title as the message and adds the featured image when there is one.

To build your own rule instead, click "Add sharing rule". A rule has a few parts: when it runs, which posts it covers, which channels get the post, the message, the timing and the image. See Rules.

New rules start switched off.

4. Test the rule

After saving, PressQueue opens the test page. It runs the rule against your ten most recent posts without sharing anything. For each post you see the channels it would go to, or why it would not be shared. "Show messages" shows the text each channel would get.

When it looks right, click "Turn on this rule".

5. Publish a post in test mode

PressQueue is still in test mode. Publish a post, then open PressQueue, Activity. The post shows up as a test run with the channels and the message PressQueue would have sent. "Check a post" on the Overview does the same for any single post.

6. Go live

Click "Go live" on the Overview, or choose "Live" under Settings, "Sharing mode". From then on, a post that matches a rule is sent to Buffer when you publish it. Earlier test runs are never sent.

If another plugin or service already shares your posts, switch that off first. Otherwise the same post appears twice.