Post to X and Instagram yourself

Magpie does not post to X or Instagram. For these accounts it prepares each post in the platform's limits and image shape, reminds the team when the post's time comes, and opens the platform with as much filled in as the platform accepts. The person who posts it selects Mark as posted, so the rest of the team can see that it went out and who posted it.

Adding X and Instagram accounts

In Social Media → Accounts, a team admin selects Add account, chooses X or Instagram and, optionally, types the username. Nothing is connected and no password is asked for, so any Instagram account works: personal, Business or Creator. The account is listed under Accounts you post to yourself. Remove takes it out of the team: posts marked as posted to it keep that record, and posts not yet posted to it no longer include it.

Writing for X and Instagram

A new post includes every account of the team, X and Instagram among them. Each account shows a character count as the platform counts it, under the post's text or under its own text:

• X allows 280 characters as X counts them: most letters count once, many other characters and every emoji count twice, and a link counts as a fixed length. A post can have up to 4 images.
• Instagram allows 2,200 characters and up to 20 images in one post, and needs at least one image. Instagram does not make links in captions clickable, so Magpie leaves the post's link out of the Instagram text.

Each account's Image shape decides the shape of every image it receives. For Instagram the shapes are Instagram portrait, Square, Instagram landscape, and Story or Reel cover. Instagram crops a post with several images to the shape of the first, so they are all prepared in the one shape.

When a post's time comes

Schedule the post as usual under Publish. X and Instagram do not allow Magpie to post automatically, so a note above the question of when the post goes out names the accounts you will post to yourself. At the time chosen, those accounts move to Ready to post and Magpie emails a reminder. The email explains the steps for each platform and has a Post to button for each account. The button opens that account's posting page without signing in, for 7 days, and what is done there is recorded as the person emailed. Choosing Now sends the same email within about a minute, so you can post from your phone when you scheduled the post on a computer. Accounts Magpie publishes to, such as Bluesky, go out at the same time.

A post that goes only to X and Instagram has no Now choice: open its posting page to post it straight away. Its button is Set reminder.

Reminder goes to, under Publish, chooses who is reminded for that post: the person who scheduled it, or everyone who can publish. The default for new posts is Reminders go to in Social Media settings.

A post stays Ready to post until someone marks it as posted, switches the account off on the post, or unschedules it. A missed time does not make the post fail. Posts ready to post are listed first on the Social Media page.

Posting from a phone

Open the account's posting page: Post to Instagram (or Post to X) from the reminder email, from Ready to post, or from Publish on the post. How to post it, at the top of the page, lists the steps for that platform on that device. The exact text and the images, in order, are below it.

On a phone, for Instagram:

1. Select Share to Instagram. Magpie copies the caption and opens the phone's share sheet (the list of apps you can share to) with every image.
2. Choose Instagram, then Feed for a post or Story for a story. Several images arrive as one post, in order.
3. For a post, touch and hold the caption box and choose Paste: Instagram does not accept text from other apps. A story has no caption.
4. Post it, then come back to the page and select Mark as posted.

For X, the share sheet gives X the images and the text. The text is copied too, in case X leaves it out.

Some phones do not open the share sheet in the same tap that copied the text. The page then says so; select the button again.

Instagram and X do not receive image descriptions from other apps. On the posting page, Copy description copies an image's description to paste into its alt text on the platform.

Posting from a computer

• X: Open X with this text opens X's compose window with the text and link filled in. X cannot be given images this way. Copy the first image copies it to paste into the post, and Download images saves them all, numbered in order, to drag in.
• Instagram: Instagram posts are made in its phone app. Post from my phone shows a code. Scan it with your phone's camera to open the same posting page on your phone, where one tap shares everything. Email me the link sends the link to your email address instead.

The phone link opens only that post's page for that account, without signing in, for 30 minutes. What is done through it is recorded as the person who made it. When the post is marked as posted on the phone, the posting page on the computer updates.

Marking it as posted

Mark as posted records who posted it and when. The account then shows Posted by and the person's name. Under Publish, you can add the post's address on the platform afterwards, so the post links to it.

Mark as not posted undoes it. The account is ready to post again, waits for its reminder when the post's time is still to come, or becomes a draft when the post has no time.

When someone shares the post, opens X, downloads its images or makes a phone link, the post and Ready to post show that they started posting it, so others can check the platform before posting it a second time.

Who can post

The people who can schedule and publish can post and mark posts as posted: team admins, or everyone who can edit when Who can schedule and publish in Social Media settings allows it. In Personal, you can.

In the Magpie app

Social Media in the app opens on Ready to post while posts are ready, and the reminder notification opens the post. On a post, an X or Instagram account has Copy text, Mark as posted and a way to share:

• With one image, Share to Instagram (or Share to X) copies the text and opens the share sheet with the image in the account's shape.
• With several images, the app gives other apps one image at a time. Share image 1, Share image 2 and so on copy the text and share each image; choose Save Image for each, then select them together in Instagram.
• With no images, Open X with this text opens X with the text filled in.

For help, see Contact support.