How to schedule posts in WordPress and share them when they go live

WordPress can publish a post at a future date and time, but scheduling publication does not automatically arrange a social media post. To share the post on social media, connect WordPress to a service and set a rule that runs after WordPress publishes it.

PressQueue connects WordPress to Buffer, which sends posts to your connected social accounts. Set a publication time in WordPress, then use PressQueue to test and enable a rule that shares posts after WordPress publishes them.

Schedule the post in WordPress

Before choosing a date, check the site’s timezone under Settings > General. WordPress uses that setting to interpret the time you select. The WordPress timezone settings let you choose a city, which helps account for daylight saving time.

In the post editor, open the publication settings and change Immediately to a future date and time. Select Schedule and confirm if WordPress prompts you. The dashboard lists the post as scheduled. WordPress’s scheduling instructions cover the editor controls and how to change or cancel a scheduled post.

Publication is not guaranteed to happen at the exact minute on every self-hosted site. WordPress’s built-in scheduler, called WP-Cron, checks for tasks that are due whenever someone loads a page. A site with little traffic can publish late if no visit triggers the check around the scheduled time. WordPress’s Cron documentation explains the mechanism. If punctual publishing matters, ask your hosting provider about a server-level schedule rather than disabling WP-Cron without a replacement.

Set up PressQueue to share new posts

PressQueue is a free, open source WordPress plugin for Buffer. It sends your posts to Buffer when WordPress publishes them. Your WordPress site must allow 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.

1. Download pressqueue.zip from the PressQueue download page. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add Plugin > Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP, and activate it.
2. In PressQueue, paste a personal Buffer API key, a code that lets PressQueue connect to your Buffer account, from your Buffer settings. There is no Buffer login button. PressQueue stores the key encrypted, then displays your Buffer channels with on and off switches. New channels start turned off.
3. Create a sharing rule. One click creates the rule “Share every new post to all my channels.” You can also choose which post types, categories, tags, authors, or other ways of grouping posts the rule covers, and select specific channels.
4. Write the social message and choose its image and timing. Messages support placeholders such as {{ title }} and {{ excerpt }}; PressQueue adds the post link. You can use different messages for different networks and preview each one with a character count.
5. Keep PressQueue in Test mode while you check the rule against recent posts. Test mode records what PressQueue would share without sending anything. When the preview looks right, switch the rule on and set PressQueue to Live.

For timing, send the post immediately or save it as a Buffer draft for review. You can also schedule it for the end of Buffer’s queue, the top of the queue ahead of posts already waiting, or a date and time you choose. Through Buffer, PressQueue supports LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Facebook.

Choose the message and image

A social message should make the post’s subject clear and give readers a reason to open the link. Use a title placeholder for a consistent format, or customize the message by network. Check the preview before enabling a rule so that each message fits the destination.

For images, choose no image, the post’s featured image, an image selected in the post, or a PressQueue social image. The social image is a share graphic showing the post title and site name. Set its background, font, text color, and alignment once under Settings > Social images; PressQueue generates an image when a post first needs one and redraws it when the title or style changes. Image generation requires PHP GD with FreeType, which most hosts provide. Without it, posts go out with text and a link.

PressQueue can also set its social image as the page’s Open Graph and Twitter image. Open Graph is webpage information that social networks use to build link previews, including the title, description, and image. This setting works with Yoast SEO, Rank Math, The SEO Framework, and Jetpack. An image assigned to an individual post in an SEO plugin takes priority.

Confirm the share and manage older posts

After the first scheduled post goes live, check that it appeared on the intended social accounts and that the link, image, and message look right. In Test mode, review what a rule would share before you enable it. If WordPress triggers the same sharing rule more than once, PressQueue does not create duplicate posts. PressQueue also does not automatically retry a share when Buffer’s reply is unclear.

For one already-published post that has never been shared, use Share now to review what each channel will receive before sending. To reshare older posts, use Share old posts to send them across the Buffer queue, one at a time, or as Buffer drafts. Backdated posts are not shared automatically. A Never share rule takes priority over sharing rules for posts in a category or with a tag or author covered by the rule. Each post also has a Share this post switch in the editor.

For installation and configuration details, see the PressQueue documentation.