Rules share a post when you publish it. Posts from before you installed PressQueue, and posts dated more than a day in the past, are not shared automatically. "Share old posts" in the PressQueue menu shares them in a batch that you review before anything happens.
Which rules take part
Only rules with "I pick old posts in Share old posts" ticked take part when you share posts for the first time. Only rules with "I pick shared posts to share again" ticked take part when you share posts again. The rules decide the channels and the message. "Never share" rules still apply.
If no rule takes part yet, the page says so and links to Rules.
Step 1: Pick posts
Choose what to share:
- "Never shared before": posts that have no share yet on the channels your rules pick.
- "Share again": posts Buffer accepted before. Each goes again only to the channels it was sent to, and only after the gap you set in "Only posts last sent at least" a number of days ago. Leave the gap empty to allow any gap.
Narrow the list with "Published after", "Published before" and "At most". A batch holds up to 100 posts and 100 shares. The most recently updated posts come first. "More ways to pick posts" adds "Title contains", "Tags", "Category", "Post type" and "Author".
Click "Preview posts".
Step 2: Review
The review lists each post with "Will be shared" and its channels, or "Skipped" with the reason. Common reasons: a "never share" rule matches, sharing is switched off for the post, the post already has a share on that channel, or no rule shares it right now.
If you change your choices, click "Update preview". A preview lasts 30 minutes, so what you confirm is always current.
Step 3: Timing
Pick how the shares go out:
- "Spread across the Buffer queue": each share goes to the end of your Buffer queue and goes out in your next free time slots. Recommended.
- "One at a time from a start time": you set "First share on", "At" and "Then one every". The start must be at least 15 minutes from now, and the last share must be within a year.
- "Save all as Buffer drafts": nothing goes public. You review and schedule each one in Buffer.
- "Use each rule's timing": each share follows the timing set in its rule.
"Top of the Buffer queue" and "Post right away" only work when the batch has one share.
Then confirm. PressQueue adds the shares in small steps and the page refreshes on its own. Follow each share in Activity.
Good to know
- Followers see old posts as new ones. Spread a batch across your queue instead of sending fifty posts in one morning.
- In test mode, a batch records test runs and sends nothing.
- When PressQueue is paused, shares from a batch wait on hold until you resume.
- "Cancel batch" cancels the shares that were not sent yet. Anything Buffer already accepted stays in Buffer.
- To stop one waiting share, open it in Activity and cancel it there.
- "Recent batches" at the bottom lists earlier batches with their status. "Preview again with the same choices" starts a new preview from an old batch.