Automations overview
On this page
An automation watches a source for you, such as your blog's feed or your online store, and turns every new item it finds into a post. It can publish that post right away, save it as a draft for you to review, or add it to a collection that posts on its own schedule.
You need: at least one connected channel, and the address of the feed, blog or store you want to share (or a connected Facebook Page to copy from).
What can an automation post from?
Pick the source in Automation Type when you create the automation.
| Automation Type | What it watches | Setup guide |
|---|---|---|
| RSS Feed | Any RSS or Atom feed | Post from an RSS feed |
| WordPress | New posts on a WordPress site | WordPress and Ghost |
| Ghost Blog | New posts on a Ghost site | WordPress and Ghost |
| WooCommerce | New products in a WooCommerce store | WooCommerce |
| Shopify | New products in a Shopify store | Shopify |
| Shopify (News) | New articles on a Shopify store's blog | Shopify |
| Squarespace | New posts on a Squarespace blog | Squarespace |
| Channel | New posts on one of your Facebook Pages | Recurring posts and collections |
None of these need a password, an API key or an app installed on your site. Robopost reads the same public feed a news reader would, so the source must be reachable without logging in.
Create an automation
- In the sidebar, click Posts → Automations (open it), then New Automation.
- Type an Automation name you'll recognize later, such as "Blog to Facebook".
- Choose the Automation Type.
- Paste the address of your feed, blog or store in URL. For a Channel automation, pick the Source Channel instead.
- Decide how the post text is written: fill in the Post Template, or switch on Let AI generate the post text. See Post from an RSS feed for both.
- In Post To, choose where new posts go (see the next section).
- In For Channels, pick every channel that should get the posts.
- Leave Enable on and click Create Automation.
If you chose Save as a Draft or Post to Collections, Robopost asks for an Initial Fetch Limit: how many of the most recent items already in the feed to bring in now, from 0 to 100. Enter a number and click Confirm.
The automation appears as a card on the Automations page with an enabled badge. Robopost then checks a feed about every 10 minutes, and a Facebook Page every few minutes.
Note
Once an automation is created, you can't change its Automation Type or URL. To watch a different address, create a new automation and delete the old one.
Choose where new posts go
| Post To | What happens to each new item |
|---|---|
| Directly post to Channels | Published right away on every channel in For Channels |
| Save as a Draft | Saved in Draft posts for you to review, edit and schedule |
| Post to Collections | Added to each collection picked in Post Collections, which publishes it on its own schedule |
See Drafts and approvals and Collections for what to do next with drafts and collection items. With Directly post to Channels, each channel gets its own post, worded for that network. A draft or collection item is a single post for all the channels you picked.
What happens right after I create it?
A feed, blog or store automation starts with the newest items that are already in the feed, then keeps watching for new ones:
- With Directly post to Channels, the first check can publish up to the 5 most recent items in the feed. If you don't want to re-share older articles or products, create the automation with Save as a Draft first, delete the drafts you don't want, then edit the automation and switch to Directly post to Channels.
- With Save as a Draft or Post to Collections, the Initial Fetch Limit sets how many recent items are imported first.
In every case, one feed never produces more posts per hour than Maximum RSS items fetched per hour (1 to 5), so a large import arrives over a few hours. A Channel automation works differently: see Copy new Facebook Page posts to other channels.
Pause, edit or delete an automation
Pause it. Click Edit on the automation's card, switch Enable off and click Update Automation. The card now shows disabled and nothing is posted. When you switch it back on, items published while it was paused count as new if they are still among the latest items in the feed, so they may be posted then.
Change its settings. Click Edit on the card, change what you need and click Update Automation. The new settings apply to items found from then on.
Delete it. On the card, open the ⋮ menu and click Delete, or open the automation and click Actions → Delete Automation. Click Yes to confirm. Robopost stops watching the source.
Re-import items. Open a feed, blog or store automation and click Actions → Re-Import Posts (available after the first check). Enter how many of the most recent items to import again (1 to 20) and click Yes. Robopost saves your current settings first, then creates the posts again with them. A Re-Import in progress... message stays on screen until it's done.
Important
Re-importing creates the posts again, so expect duplicates. With Directly post to Channels it publishes the items again (up to 5). Re-import into drafts or a collection when you only want to rebuild them.
What do the badges on an automation mean?
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| enabled | The automation is on and watching its source |
| disabled | The automation is paused |
| Initializing... | Robopost hasn't finished its first check yet |
| Re-Import... | A re-import is running |
| RSS Error | The last check or post failed. Click the badge to see why |
The grey badge shows the automation type, for example RSS or SHOPIFY NEWS.
How many automations can I have?
Your plan sets how many automations you can create. Every automation on the Automations page counts, whatever its type, including paused ones. Recurring collections and faceless video series don't. When you reach the limit, Robopost shows Plan Limit Hit instead of creating the automation. Check your count in Account → Plan Usage: see Usage and limits.
Who can manage automations?
Team admins, and members with the Manage Automation right. Others don't see Automations in the sidebar. See Team members and roles.
Why isn't my automation posting?
Work through these in order:
- Is it enabled? The card should show enabled.
- Is there an RSS Error badge? Click it to read the reason. The most common are "Failed to fetch feed" (the address doesn't answer, or the site blocks automated requests) and "No entries found in feed" (the address isn't a feed, or the feed is empty).
- Is there anything new? Robopost posts only items it hasn't seen before. Publish a new article or product, or use Re-Import Posts to test.
- Is Smart Filtering on? Items that don't match your instructions are skipped on purpose.
- Does the network need media? Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok posts need an image or a video, and YouTube needs a video. An item without one is skipped for that channel. See Choose the image.
- Did the post itself fail? Check Published posts for an error and see Why did my post fail?.
- Is X missing? X posts use X credits and pause when you run out. See X credits.