Scheduled Publishing

What Scheduled Publishing Does

Scheduled publishing lets you set a future publication date for content. Once scheduled, the content publishes automatically at the specified time on your chosen platform (WordPress, Shopify, social media). The platform-native scheduling system handles the timing, so no manual intervention is required.

This feature is timezone-aware. Set a schedule in your local timezone, and the platform converts it correctly for publication.

How It Works

ILLIXIS uses platform-native scheduling mechanisms:

WordPress: Posts are saved with future status and a post_date. WordPress cron automatically publishes the post when the date arrives.

Shopify: Articles are created with published_at set to a future date and published set to false. Shopify automatically publishes when the scheduled time arrives.

Social Media: Posts are scheduled via the social publishing integration, which handles per-platform scheduling for 13 networks.

Key Point: The external platform handles the scheduled publication automatically, with no manual intervention required.

Scheduling Content for CMS Publishing

Step 1: Open the Content Calendar

Path: Content Hub → Calendar

The calendar view shows all scheduled, published, and draft content in a visual timeline.

Step 2: Choose Content to Schedule

From Unscheduled Sidebar: Drag an unscheduled draft from the left sidebar onto a calendar date. A modal appears to confirm the schedule.

From Content List: Navigate to Content Hub → All Content, click the three-dot menu on any draft, and select "Schedule."

From Content Editor: While editing content, click "Schedule" in the status dropdown and choose a date/time.

Step 3: Set Date and Time

Enter the publication date and time in the scheduling modal.

Timezone: Uses your tenant timezone (configured in Settings → Tenant Settings). If you're in EST and schedule for "2:00 PM," it publishes at 2:00 PM EST.

Future Dates Only: The system validates that scheduled dates are in the future. Past dates trigger a warning and save as draft instead.

Step 4: Select Publishing Platform

Choose which CMS platform to publish to:

• WordPress (if connected)
• Shopify (if connected)

Platform-Specific Handling:

WordPress:

• Post status = future
• post_date = your scheduled datetime (ISO 8601 format)
• WordPress cron publishes automatically at the specified time

Shopify:

• Article published_at = your scheduled datetime (ISO 8601 format)
• Article published = false
• Shopify automatically publishes when the time arrives

Featured Images: If your content has a featured image, it's included in the push. WordPress and Shopify download the image using a time-limited signed URL (15-minute expiry).

Step 5: Confirm and Save

Click "Schedule" to confirm. The content status changes to scheduled and appears on the calendar at the chosen date.

Bulk Scheduling

Schedule multiple pieces of content at once using the calendar's bulk scheduling feature.

From the Calendar View

1. Select multiple drafts from the unscheduled sidebar (hold Shift or Cmd/Ctrl)
2. Drag the selected items onto the calendar
3. Choose whether to schedule them on the same day or spread across multiple days
4. Set time intervals (e.g., 9:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM)
5. Confirm the bulk schedule

The platform assigns sequential times to each piece based on your interval settings.

From the Content List

1. Navigate to Content Hub → All Content
2. Use checkboxes to select multiple drafts
3. Click "Bulk Actions" → "Schedule"
4. Choose start date and publishing frequency (daily, weekly, custom)
5. Set time of day for publications
6. Confirm

The scheduler distributes content according to your chosen frequency.

Scheduled Social Posts

Social media scheduling works similarly but uses the social publishing integration.

From the Social Hub

1. Navigate to Content Hub → Social Hub → Queue
2. Click "Create Post"
3. Select an article to generate social captions
4. Choose platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
5. Set scheduled date/time for each platform
6. Click "Schedule"

Per-Platform Scheduling: Each platform can have a different scheduled time. For example:

• LinkedIn: Tomorrow at 9:00 AM
• Twitter: Tomorrow at 2:00 PM
• Instagram: Tomorrow at 6:00 PM

Timezone Handling: Social posts use your tenant timezone. If you schedule for 9:00 AM, it posts at 9:00 AM in your configured timezone.

Editing Scheduled Content

Content scheduled for future publication can be edited before it goes live.

Rescheduling

1. Open the calendar view
2. Click the scheduled content event
3. Select "Reschedule"
4. Choose a new date/time
5. Confirm

WordPress/Shopify: The platform updates the post_date or published_at value on the external platform. WordPress and Shopify automatically adjust to the new schedule.

Editing Content

1. Click the scheduled content on the calendar
2. Select "Edit"
3. Make changes to title, content, excerpt, etc.
4. Save

Status Change: Editing scheduled content reverts its status to draft and marks it as having unpublished changes. The scheduled date is cleared. You must reschedule after editing.

Why This Happens: Editing creates a disconnect between the scheduled version on WordPress/Shopify and the new version in ILLIXIS. To prevent publishing outdated content, the schedule is cleared.

Canceling a Schedule

1. Click the scheduled content on the calendar
2. Select "Cancel Schedule"
3. Confirm

The content reverts to draft status and moves back to the unscheduled sidebar. The scheduled post on WordPress/Shopify is updated to draft status.

Viewing Scheduled Content

Calendar View

The calendar displays scheduled content as events on specific dates. Color-coded by status:

• Purple: Scheduled (future publication)
• Green: Published (already live)
• Gray: Draft (no schedule)
• Orange: Has unpublished changes (needs republishing)
• Red: Error (publication failed)

Filtering: Use the status filter buttons at the top of the calendar to show/hide specific statuses.

List View

Navigate to Content Hub → All Content and filter by status = "Scheduled" to see a list of all scheduled content with publication dates.

Sort Options:

• By scheduled date (soonest first)
• By content source (Search Console, Trends, etc.)
• By platform (WordPress, Shopify)

Scheduled Queue

Navigate to Content Hub → Scheduled to see a dedicated queue view of upcoming publications.

Columns:

• Title
• Scheduled date/time
• Platform
• Status
• Actions (Edit, Reschedule, Cancel)

Platform-Specific Scheduling Details

WordPress Native Scheduling

WordPress uses its built-in cron system (wp_cron) to handle scheduled posts.

How It Works:

1. ILLIXIS pushes the post with status = 'future' and post_date = '2025-12-15T14:00:00Z'
2. WordPress cron checks every minute for posts with future status and post_date in the past
3. When the time arrives, WordPress automatically publishes the post (status changes to publish)

Requirements:

• WordPress cron must be enabled (default on most hosts)
• Server time must be accurate
• ILLIXIS WordPress plugin must be installed

Verification: Check the WordPress admin dashboard. Scheduled posts appear under "Posts → Scheduled" with the future date/time.

Shopify Native Scheduling

Shopify handles scheduled publishing through its API without requiring external cron.

How It Works:

1. ILLIXIS creates the article with published_at = '2025-12-15T14:00:00Z' and published = false
2. Shopify monitors scheduled articles internally
3. When the scheduled time arrives, Shopify automatically publishes the article

Requirements:

• Valid Shopify OAuth connection
• Blog must exist in Shopify (articles require a parent blog)
• API rate limits must not be exceeded

Verification: Check the Shopify admin dashboard. Scheduled articles appear under "Online Store → Blog Posts" with a "Scheduled" label.

Social Media Scheduling

Social media scheduling uses the social publishing integration, which provides unified scheduling across 13 platforms.

Supported Platforms:

• Twitter/X
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Threads
• Bluesky
• Pinterest
• Reddit
• Tumblr
• Mastodon
• Snapchat

How It Works:

1. ILLIXIS sends the post data to the social publishing integration with the scheduled timestamp
2. The integration queues the post for each platform
3. Posts publish to each platform at the scheduled time
4. Webhooks send publication confirmations back to ILLIXIS

Requirements:

• Connected social accounts via Social Hub
• Valid social publishing credentials
• Platform-specific authentication (varies by network)

Timezone Handling

All scheduled times are timezone-aware. The platform uses your tenant timezone for scheduling.

Setting Your Timezone

1. Navigate to Settings → Tenant Settings
2. Find "Timezone" dropdown
3. Select your timezone (e.g., "America/New_York", "Europe/London")
4. Save

Default: If no timezone is set, the platform defaults to UTC.

How Timezones Work

Display: All dates and times in the calendar are shown in your tenant timezone.

Storage: Internally, all dates are stored as UTC in the database.

Conversion: When scheduling, the platform converts your local time to UTC for storage, then converts back to your local timezone for display.

Example:

• Your timezone: EST (UTC-5)
• You schedule for: 2:00 PM EST
• Database stores: 7:00 PM UTC
• WordPress/Shopify receives: 2:00 PM EST (in ISO 8601 format with timezone offset)

Platform Handling:

• WordPress: Receives ISO 8601 datetime (e.g., 2025-12-15T14:00:00-05:00). WordPress converts to its configured timezone.
• Shopify: Receives ISO 8601 datetime. Shopify interprets the timezone offset correctly.
• Social Media: The social publishing integration handles per-platform timezone conversions automatically.

Troubleshooting

Scheduled Post Didn't Publish

WordPress:

1. Check WordPress cron is running: Visit your WordPress admin → Tools → Site Health → Info → Scheduled Events
2. Verify post status: Navigate to Posts → Scheduled. Does the post appear?
3. Check server time: WordPress relies on server time. If the server clock is wrong, cron won't fire.
4. Disable caching plugins: Some caching plugins disable wp_cron. Check plugin settings.

Shopify:

1. Check article status in Shopify admin: Navigate to Online Store → Blog Posts. Does it show as "Scheduled"?
2. Verify published_at date: Click the article in Shopify admin and check the scheduled date/time.
3. Check Shopify API rate limits: If you scheduled many posts at once, Shopify may throttle API requests.

Social Media:

1. Check social publishing connection: Navigate to Connectors → Social Accounts. Are all platforms connected?
2. Check Social Hub → Queue: Does the post appear in the scheduled queue?
3. Check for platform-specific errors: Some platforms reject posts that violate content policies or character limits.

Wrong Publication Time

Cause: Timezone mismatch between ILLIXIS and the external platform.

Fix:

1. Verify your tenant timezone: Settings → Tenant Settings → Timezone
2. Verify WordPress timezone: WordPress Admin → Settings → General → Timezone
3. Verify Shopify timezone: Shopify Admin → Settings → General → Store timezone

All three should match. If they don't, scheduled times will be off by the timezone difference.

Content Reverted to Draft After Editing

Expected Behavior: Editing scheduled content clears the schedule to prevent publishing outdated content.

Workflow:

1. Edit the content
2. Save changes
3. Reschedule the content (Content Hub → Calendar → drag to new date)

This ensures the latest version is published, not the originally scheduled version.

"Invalid scheduled date" Warning

Cause: Scheduled date is in the past.

Fix: Choose a future date. The platform validates that the scheduled date is in the future before saving.

If You See This:

• The content saves as draft (not scheduled)
• The scheduled date is cleared
• A warning appears informing you the content was saved as a draft instead

Best Practices

Schedule in Batches: Use bulk scheduling to set up a week or month of content at once. More efficient than scheduling one post at a time.

Stagger Times: Don't schedule everything for the same time. Spread posts throughout the day for better reach.

Check Before Scheduling: Review content in preview mode before scheduling. Once published, you can't unpublish easily on some platforms.

Monitor Queue: Check Content Hub → Scheduled regularly to ensure the queue is healthy and no posts are stuck.

Use Content Calendar: The visual calendar makes it easy to spot gaps in your publishing schedule and fill them.

Set Realistic Times: Don't schedule for 3:00 AM unless you want your audience to wake up to a new post. Schedule for times when your audience is active.

Backup Plan: Keep a few evergreen posts ready to schedule if a planned post falls through.

Test First: Before scheduling important content, test the workflow with a draft post to ensure the integration works correctly.

Related Features

• Content Calendar — Visual timeline for scheduling and managing content (Help Guide 64)
• WordPress Connector — Detailed WordPress integration documentation (Help Guide 65)
• Shopify Connector — Detailed Shopify integration documentation (Help Guide 66)
• Social Hub — Social media scheduling and publishing (Help Guide 18)
• Bulk Actions — Batch operations for content management (Help Guide 67)