If you publish on WordPress and want new posts to appear on social media, you can send them to Buffer, which schedules and publishes social posts. A collection of posts waiting for their scheduled times is called a queue.
PressQueue connects WordPress to Buffer and lets you choose which posts to share, where to send them, and when to send them. It is a free, open source WordPress plugin for Buffer. Your WordPress site must support plugin uploads and run WordPress 6.8 or newer and PHP 8.1 or newer. You also need a Buffer account with your social accounts connected.
Set up Buffer and WordPress
Connect the social accounts you want to use in Buffer first. PressQueue sends posts through Buffer to LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Facebook. Buffer offers a free plan.
Download pressqueue.zip from the PressQueue download page, then in WordPress go to Plugins > Add Plugin > Upload Plugin. Upload the ZIP file and activate the plugin.
Connect PressQueue to Buffer
PressQueue connects to Buffer with a personal API key. The plugin uses the key to send instructions to your Buffer account. Open PressQueue > Channels and click Open Buffer API settings. In Buffer, open the Personal Access tab, click + New Key and name the key PressQueue. Buffer asks how long the key should last. Pick 1 year, the longest option, because the default is 30 days. Click Generate API Key, copy the key and paste it under PressQueue > Channels. There is no Buffer login button. PressQueue stores the key encrypted; keep it private.
After connecting, your Buffer channels appear in PressQueue with on and off switches. New channels start off, so turn on only the destinations you intend to use. For details, see the PressQueue setup documentation.
Create and test a sharing rule
A rule determines which WordPress content PressQueue shares, which Buffer channels receive it, and how the post is written and timed. You can set rules for content type, category, tag, author, custom field, or another taxonomy, meaning a way WordPress groups content.
One click creates a rule to share every new post to all your channels. For example, make a rule that shares posts in one category to LinkedIn. Rules start switched off. First, test the rule against recent posts. Review the results before switching it on.
PressQueue starts in Test mode. In this mode, it records what it would share but sends nothing to Buffer. Switch to Live when you are ready to send posts; choose Paused to stop sharing. A Never share rule keeps a category, tag, or author off social media even if another rule would share it.
PressQueue responds when a post is published, including when a scheduled WordPress post goes live. It also responds when you make a real change to the content of a published post, or when you select posts with Share old posts. Backdated posts are not shared automatically.
Choose the message, timing, and image
Messages can use placeholders such as {{ title }}, {{ excerpt }}, and {{ terms:category }}. PressQueue adds the post link for you. You can write different messages for different networks, preview each message with a character count, or start from a saved template.
Choose whether the post goes to the end of the Buffer queue, to the top of the queue ahead of posts already waiting, or out right away. You can also send it as a Buffer draft for review or choose a date and time for one post.
For the image, choose no image, the featured image, or an image selected in each post. You can also use a social image. PressQueue’s social image displays the post title over a background, with your site name underneath. Set its style once under Settings > Social images and preview it there. PressQueue creates the image the first time a post needs it and redraws it when the title or style changes. It does not add the image to WordPress’s Media Library. If the server lacks PHP GD with FreeType, posts go out with text and a link instead.
The social image can also serve as the link-preview image: the picture shown when someone shares a post URL. PressQueue can add the image to the page’s Open Graph and Twitter image tags, which social networks use to display previews. Choose whether to use it on every post. You can limit it to posts without their own image, or disable it.
Verify the first share
Before relying on the rule, review its test results. Check that the message and channel are right, and confirm the timing and image. Then switch to Live and check Buffer to make sure the post reached the intended queue or draft. PressQueue avoids duplicate posts from repeated WordPress events and does not automatically retry a share when Buffer’s reply is unclear.
PressQueue is free. For the plugin’s code and release history, visit the PressQueue GitHub repository.