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Auto-posting

fastCMS can share every new article on your own channels for you: Bluesky, Mastodon, a Telegram channel, a Discord server, and Pinterest. You connect each one once; after that, articles you publish are shared automatically.

You don't need to have used any of them before. Each section below starts from "make a free account" and goes one click at a time. Pick one or two to start; you can add more later.

All of these are free. X (Twitter), Facebook pages, Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn aren't included: they charge for posting or only let approved developer apps post.

How it works

  • Only new articles. A channel shares articles published after you switch it on, so your older articles are never posted all at once. (Pinterest has a Pin my latest articles button to get started.)
  • Spread out. No more than 3 posts a day on each channel (you can change this), at least 2 hours apart. If Autopilot publishes ten articles at once, they're shared over the next few days instead of flooding your followers, which networks treat as spam.
  • A short line for each article. The AI writes one or two friendly sentences about the article (about $0.001), shared by every channel. Hashtags come from the article's category and focus keyword. You can switch the AI line off in Promote → Auto-post; posts then use the article's summary.
  • Scheduled articles are shared once they go live.

To connect a channel: open Promote → Auto-post, click Set up on its card, and follow the steps there (the same as below). Send a test post shares your latest article straight away, so you can see how it looks.

Bluesky

Bluesky is a free social network, a lot like X (Twitter).

fastCMS posts with an app password: a spare password just for one app. You can delete it any time without changing your real password.

  1. No account yet? Go to bsky.app, click Create account and follow the steps. Your handle will look like yourname.bsky.social.
  2. In Bluesky, click Settings (on the left), then Privacy and security, then App passwords.
  3. Click Add app password, type your blog's name, and click Next. Leave "direct messages" unticked.
  4. Bluesky shows the password only once, like abcd-efgh-ijkl-mnop. Copy it straight away.
  5. In fastCMS, type your handle and paste the app password. Never use your main Bluesky password here.
  6. Tick Share new articles here automatically, click Save, then Send a test post.

Posts show a short line and hashtags, with a link card showing the article's picture.

Mastodon

Mastodon is a free social network made of many "servers" (communities) that all talk to each other.

fastCMS posts with an access token: a long code that lets one app post for you.

  1. No account yet? Go to joinmastodon.org/servers, pick a server (mastodon.social is the biggest), and sign up.
  2. Log in, then open Preferences (the cog icon), then Development in the menu on the left.
  3. Click New application and type your blog's name.
  4. Under Scopes, untick everything, then tick only write:statuses. Scroll down and click Submit.
  5. Click your new application and copy the code next to Your access token.
  6. In fastCMS, type your server's address (like https://mastodon.social) and paste the token.
  7. Tick Share new articles here automatically, click Save, then Send a test post.

Telegram channel

Telegram is a free chat app. A channel is like a news feed people can follow.

fastCMS posts through a bot: a helper account you make in a minute, which you then allow to post in your channel.

  1. No Telegram yet? Install it from telegram.org (the phone app is easiest) and sign up with your phone number.
  2. No channel yet? Tap the pencil (new message) icon, then New Channel.
  3. Give it your blog's name.
  4. Choose Public, and pick a link like t.me/yourblog.
  5. Search for @BotFather (it has a blue tick), open it and tap Start.
  6. Send /newbot. Give your bot a name (your blog's name is fine), then a username ending in bot, like yourblog_bot.
  7. BotFather replies with a long token, like 123456789:AAH…. Copy it.
  8. Open your channel, tap its name, then Administrators → Add Admin. Search for your bot's username and add it, with Post messages switched on.
  9. In fastCMS, paste the token, and type your channel's link name with an @, like @yourblog. (For a private channel, use its number instead.)
  10. Tick Share new articles here automatically, click Save, then Send a test post.

Posts show the article's picture with its title, the short line and a Read more link.

Discord

Discord is a free chat app made of servers (communities) with channels (rooms).

fastCMS posts through a webhook: a private address that lets an app post into one channel.

  1. No account yet? Sign up free at discord.com/register. Once you're in, you can use Discord right there in your browser; there's no need to download the app.
  2. No server yet? Click the + button on the left, then Create My Own, and give it your blog's name. It comes with a #general channel; you can add a #new-articles one.
  3. Hover over the channel you want posts in and click its cog icon (Edit Channel).
  4. Click Integrations, then Webhooks, then New Webhook (or Create Webhook).
  5. Click the new webhook, then Copy Webhook URL. Keep it private: anyone with it can post in your channel.
  6. Paste it into fastCMS, tick Share new articles here automatically, click Save, then Send a test post.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a free picture search engine. People save pins (pictures that link to websites) onto boards (collections). It sends lots of visitors to food, home, travel, craft and how-to blogs.

Pinterest doesn't let apps post for you, but it can collect new pins from a feed (a list of pins on your site that Pinterest checks by itself). fastCMS makes a tall pin picture for every new article (1000 × 1500: the article's picture with its title underneath, in your theme's colour) and puts it in your pin feed.

Setting it up takes about 15 minutes, plus up to a day of waiting for Pinterest:

  1. Make a business account. Sign up free at business.pinterest.com. Already have a personal account? In Pinterest, open Settings → Account management and convert it to a business account (also free).
  2. Claim your website. This proves the site is yours, so your pins can link to it.
  3. In Pinterest, click the small arrow at the top right, then Settings, then Link to Pinterest on the left.
  4. Next to Websites, click Claim, and type your site's address.
  5. Prove it's yours. Pinterest offers a few ways. The easiest:
  6. Choose Add HTML tag, and copy the line Pinterest shows (it starts with <meta name="p:domain_verify").
  7. In fastCMS, open Promote → Auto-post, click Set up on Pinterest, paste the line into the Pinterest claim tag box, and click Save tag.
  8. Back in Pinterest, click Verify.
  9. Pinterest can take up to a day to finish. When it's done, your site is listed under Link to Pinterest.
  10. Other way: choose Upload HTML file instead, download the file, and upload it with your hosting's File Manager into the folder that holds your site's index.php.
  11. Switch on your pin feed. In fastCMS, tick Share new articles as pins automatically and click Save.
  12. Click Pin my latest articles. Pinterest won't accept a feed with nothing in it, and only articles published after you switch Pinterest on are pinned by themselves. Your 10 newest articles are added: one straight away, the rest a few a day.
  13. Click Copy next to your pin feed.
  14. Connect the feed. In Pinterest, open Settings → Import content. The RSS option only shows once your website is claimed. Choose the RSS feed option and paste the address.
  15. Choose a board. Under Save Pins to, pick a board.
  16. No boards yet? Create one there.
  17. Name it after what people search for, like Easy Weeknight Dinners (not your blog's name).
  18. Keep it public, and click Save.

That's it. Pinterest checks the feed about once a day and adds new pins to your board, oldest first. Your site needs to be live at its real address, so Pinterest can read the feed.

If something doesn't work:

  • No Import content RSS option: your website isn't claimed yet. Wait for Pinterest to finish, then look again.
  • "This feed has no items": click Pin my latest articles in fastCMS, then try again.
  • Your profile's address: Pinterest shows it in Settings → Edit profile (Username), like pinterest.com/yourname.

The Posts list

Everything shared, and everything waiting, is listed at the bottom of Promote → Auto-post, with a link to each post.

  • Waiting posts go out at the time shown.
  • Failed posts show why. Click Retry to queue one again.
  • If a channel's password or token stops working, it shows Needs reconnecting: its posts wait until you save working details again.

Posts are sent in the background. With a cron job they go out on time even when the admin is closed; without one, they go out while an admin page is open.

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