Schedule and publish Instagram posts
Schedule, in the app menu, is where you plan and publish Instagram posts. Askenly publishes each one at the time you choose, even when you’re offline, and can start an automation on the post the moment it goes live.
Schedule your first post
Open Schedule and press Schedule post
Choose the type: Post, Carousel, Reel or Story.
Add your media
Upload photos or a video. Carousels take up to 10 items, Reels need a video, and a single feed video is published as a Reel.
Write the caption
Up to 2,200 characters, 30 hashtags and 20 @mentions, which are Instagram’s own limits. Stories have no caption.
Choose when
Publish now, or pick a date, time and time zone. Scheduled posts publish on their own.
Add the extras you want
Turn on First comment to post a comment under it as soon as it’s live, or Share to Story to share a feed post or Reel to your Story.
Link an automation
Choose comment to DM or comment to booking so every comment with your keyword gets a reply from the first minute.
Confirm
Askenly checks the post against Instagram’s limits and schedules it. You’ll see it under Scheduled.
- Reel: Spring menu tastingThu 6:00pm · Comment to DM: MENUScheduled
- Carousel: 5 booking tipsSat 10:00am · First comment onScheduled
- Story: Open slots this weekNot scheduled yetDraft
Post statuses
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Saved but not scheduled. Nothing will publish. |
| Scheduled | Waiting for its publishing time. |
| Publishing | Askenly is sending it to Instagram. Videos can take a few minutes while Instagram processes them. |
| Published | Live on Instagram, with a link to the post. |
| Failed | Instagram refused it. The post shows the reason and what to do next. |
Why link an automation to a post
Most comments on a post arrive in its first hour. If the automation is linked before the post goes live, the first person to comment your keyword gets the DM, not just the people who comment after you remember to set it up.
Put the keyword in the caption and in the first comment, for example “Comment GUIDE and I’ll send it to you.” The first comment stays at the top of the comments, so late visitors see the instruction too.
Publishing is safe to leave alone
Each scheduled post has exactly one publishing job. Askenly marks it Publishing before it calls Instagram, so a retry or a second server can never post it twice. Media is checked at publishing time; if a file has been deleted since you scheduled the post, it fails with a clear reason instead of publishing without its image.
Disconnecting an Instagram account pauses its scheduled posts. They wait for you to review them after you reconnect, so an old post doesn’t go out by surprise.
If a post fails
Open the post to read the reason. The most common ones are an Instagram account that needs reconnecting (Settings → Channels), media Instagram can’t use, or a caption over Instagram’s limits. Fix it and schedule the post again. If Instagram was only briefly unavailable, Askenly retries on its own before marking anything Failed.
The first comment and Share to Story are added after the post is live. If either can’t be added, the post stays published and you’ll see a note saying which extra didn’t work.
Scheduled posts per month
| Plan | Posts a month |
|---|---|
| Free | 10 |
| Starter | 60 |
| Growth | 200 |
| Scale | Unlimited |
Scheduling questions
Do I need to keep the browser open?
No. Posts publish from Askenly’s servers at the time you chose.
Can I edit a scheduled post?
Yes, until it starts publishing. Open it from Scheduled, change it and confirm again.
Which time zone is used?
The one you pick for each post, so you can plan for an audience in another country.
Before you schedule
- Check the Instagram account in the header switcher is the one the post is for.
- Upload the final version of your photo or video, so nothing needs swapping at the last minute.
- Put your keyword in the caption, and in the first comment if you use one.
- Link the automation now, so the first comments get a DM.