Channels
A channel is one account, Page or server that Postra publishes to. Your channels are listed under Channels on the left of the Calendar page.
Platforms you can connect
- Facebook Page
- Instagram (Business or Creator account)
- LinkedIn (your personal profile)
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Threads
- X
- Bluesky
- Mastodon
- Telegram (a channel or group)
- Discord (a server you manage)
Platforms and settings shows which plan includes each one. A platform outside your plan shows a lock.
Connect a channel
- On the Calendar page, click Add Channel.
- Pick the platform.
- Sign in on the platform’s page and approve the permissions Postra asks for.
- You come back to the calendar with the message Channel connected, and the channel appears in your list.
Keep every permission ticked. If you untick one on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube or Discord, the connection stops and you have to start again.
Facebook and Instagram. Postra first shows a short checklist. Click Done - continue to go on. Postra publishes to Facebook Pages, never to personal profiles. Instagram must be a Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Page. In Meta’s dialog, tick every Page: a Page you skip there stays invisible to Postra.
After you sign in, Configure Your Channel lists your Pages or Instagram accounts. Pick one and click Save. To add another Page, use Add Channel again. If the list is empty, Postra explains why and offers Remove the unfinished channel.
YouTube. If your Google account has more than one YouTube channel, pick one and click Save.
Bluesky. A form asks for Service, Identifier and Password. Leave Service as https://bsky.social. Identifier is your full handle, for example yourname.bsky.social. For Password, use an app password made in Bluesky’s settings rather than your main password. Click Connect.
Mastodon. Postra connects Mastodon accounts on mastodon.social. If yours is on another server, email us at hello@postra.co.uk.
Telegram. Postra posts through its bot. Add the bot named in the dialog to your channel or group as an administrator that can post messages. Click Connect Telegram, copy the /connect command and send it in that channel or group.
Discord. Discord asks which server to add the Postra bot to. When you write a post, choose where it goes under Select Channel in the Discord settings.
Let a client connect their own channel
Next to Add Channel is a link button (Send your client an invite link to add a channel). Pick a platform and Postra copies a link to your clipboard. The link works for 1 hour.
Your client opens the link, reads what the platform needs and signs in there. They see Channel Connected! and the channel appears in your workspace. Invite links work for every platform above except Bluesky and Telegram.
The channel menu
Click the three dots next to a channel.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create Post | Opens the editor with this channel picked, at its next free time slot. |
| Reconnect channel | Shown when the channel needs reconnecting. |
| Update Credentials | Bluesky: enter your sign-in details again. |
| Additional Settings | Extra options for some channels. On X, Verified marks an X Premium account and raises the limit from 280 to 4,000 characters. |
| Change Bot Nickname | Discord: the name the bot posts under. |
| Move / add to customer | Puts the channel under a customer. See below. |
| Rename channel | Changes the name you see in Postra. Reset to original name undoes it. |
| Edit Time Slots | Your usual posting times for this channel. |
| Disable Channel | Pauses the channel. |
| Enable Channel | Turns a disabled channel back on. |
| Delete | Removes the channel. |
Only owners and admins can disable, enable, delete or rename channels, or move them between customers.
Disable keeps the channel and its posts, but nothing is published to it: a post due on it fails, and Postra tells you why. A disabled channel does not count towards your channel limit. Enable Channel appears only when your plan has a free channel slot.
Delete asks first: Deleting this channel removes it and all its posts from Postra, scheduled and past. Posts already published stay on the platform. This cannot be undone.
Customers
If you manage channels for several clients, group them by customer.
- In a channel’s menu, choose Move / add to customer.
- Under Select Customer, pick a customer or type a new name.
- Click Save.
The channel list groups channels under each customer’s name. Remove from customer takes a channel out of its group.
With more than one group, a person icon (Select Customer) appears in the calendar and in the post editor. In the calendar it shows only that customer’s posts. In the editor it picks all of that customer’s channels.
Reconnect a channel
When a platform stops accepting Postra’s access, the channel gets a red ! on its picture: Channel disconnected, click to reconnect.
- Click the picture, or choose Reconnect channel in the menu.
- Sign in again with the same account.
A different account stops with Please refresh the channel that needs to be refreshed. For Bluesky, use Update Credentials instead.
Until you reconnect, posts due on the channel fail with Refresh channel needed. Reschedule them afterwards: see When something goes wrong.
A red ! also marks a channel whose setup you did not finish. Click it to carry on.