Before it goes live,the last word is yours.
Scheduled posts wait in the publishing queue. Approve them one by one or in bulk; if auto-publishing is on, approved posts go live on time.
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Social media management servicesWhat the publishing approval screen does
This screen is a decision list, not a dashboard. Posts are on the left and a preview of the selected post is on the right, so you never leave the page to decide. The top line tells you in one sentence how many posts need approval, how many are scheduled and how many have problems.
| Tab | What is in it | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Needs approval | Posts waiting for your decision | Approve, decline, change the time |
| Scheduled | Approved, not yet due | Change the publishing time |
| Published | Sent to the platform | View only; cannot be changed |
| Failed | The publishing attempt returned an error | Fix the issue and approve again |
| Declined | Rejected by you, not deleted | Approve again if you change your mind |
The auto-publish switch sets the rules
The badge at the top right shows the brand's auto-publish setting, and the “Settings” link takes you to it. This one setting decides whether the weekly plan lands in the approval queue and whether approved posts publish by themselves.
| Situation | Auto-publish on | Auto-publish off |
|---|---|---|
| When the weekly plan is generated | Posts go straight to Scheduled | Every post lands in Needs approval |
| A scheduled post becomes due | It is published to the connected account | Published if you approved it; otherwise it returns to Needs approval |
| Best for | Teams that review the plan ahead and let the system publish | Brands that never want a post to go out by itself |
How the social media approval workflow runs here
- 1Plan is built
A weekly plan is generated or a post is added to the calendar.
- 2Enters the queue
A post that needs approval appears under Needs approval.
- 3Gets reviewed
Preview, readiness score and Brand Guard result sit side by side.
- 4Decision
You approve, decline or change its time.
- 5Publishes
Due scheduled posts are picked up every five minutes and published.
Posts come from the same records as the content calendar, so a time change here shows up in the calendar too. If publishing fails on a platform, the post moves to the Failed tab and waits there with the error reason.
- Filters narrow the list by brand, platform, format and time (today, this week, overdue).
- Search covers the title, the caption and the content pillar.
- A platform's own scheduler, such as YouTube's publish-time scheduling, works on one channel; this screen brings scheduled posts from every channel into one list.
- Sort by publishing time or by readiness score; sorting by score puts the lowest-scoring post on top.
Readiness score and Brand Guard checks
The readiness score is not a guess; it is a weighted average of four measurable parts. If a part has no data it is left out, the others are re-weighted, and the report marks that part as “not measured”.
| Part | Weight | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Checks | 40% | The result of the five Brand Guard checks |
| Past performance | 25% | Comparison with the brand's own measured posts |
| Publishing time | 25% | How the chosen time scores on brand history or platform benchmarks |
| Format fit | 10% | The format's share in the industry's content mix |
Weights are taken from the panel's quality scoring code.
- Brand tone: if the brand has phrases to avoid, the copy is checked against them.
- Spelling and formatting: spelling and formatting problems are flagged.
- Call to action: checks whether the copy asks the reader to do something.
- Banned phrases: compared with the industry's list of prohibited claims.
- Platform format: character and hashtag counts are checked against the platform limit; a LinkedIn post, for example, is limited to 3,000 characters.
Bulk approval, declining and rescheduling
- Bulk approval: selected posts move to Scheduled in a single request.
- Bulk rescheduling: give selected posts a new publishing time; a time in the past is not accepted.
- Declining: on a single post you can add an optional reason; the post is not deleted and stays under Declined.
- Skipped posts: anything a bulk action could not process is reported with its reason, such as posts already published.
For agencies and multi-brand teams
If you manage several brands, set the brand filter to “all” to see every queue in one list, with the brand name on each row. Tab counts follow the same scope, so the count and the list always agree.
Frequently asked questions
Will a post I haven't approved be published?
No. The publishing cycle does not pick up posts under Needs approval; only posts in Scheduled status go out.
When does an approved post go live?
It moves to Scheduled. It publishes when due; the publishing cycle runs every five minutes. Because the approval is stored on the post, it doesn't fall back into the approval queue even with auto-publish off.
Is there bulk approval?
Yes. Select posts and choose “Bulk approve”. Up to 200 posts are processed per request, and any that fail are listed with their reason.
Is a declined post deleted?
No. It stays under Declined, along with the reason if you gave one. You can approve it again from there.
Can I change the publishing time?
Yes, for one post or for several at once. You cannot pick a time in the past, and the time of a published post cannot change.
What happens to a post that fails to publish?
It moves to the Failed tab with the error reason. Once you fix the problem and approve it again, it is scheduled again.
How is publishing approval different from content approval?
Publishing approval is the go-live decision for a scheduled social post. Content approval is the decision on produced social post, ad and product records, and it lives on a separate screen.
Sources
The official documentation behind the technical points on this page:
- [1]LinkedIn Help: Post and share updates
The 3,000-character limit for a LinkedIn post, which the panel's format check also uses.
- [2]YouTube Help: Schedule a video's publish time
A platform's own scheduler works on one channel; a multi-channel approval list is what this screen adds.
Related pages
- Content approvalThe content decision for produced social post, ad and product records.
- Content calendarWhere posts are scheduled; publishing approval uses the same records.
- Smart schedulingThe time suggestion behind the score's publishing time part.
- Social media managementHand planning, approval and publishing to our team.
- Canva AlternativeCanva is a design editor; AgentFabrica handles the work that comes after the design: copy, approval, the monthly plan and publishing.
Nothing goes out unchecked.
Use publishing approval on a paid plan. The full panel is free with no time limit: brand, accounts, reports. Allowance: 10 captions a month, 2 images a month, 1 videos a month, 1 brand, 1 user.