Postbot is the latest invention from Automattic - the company behind WordPress.com. This time, it's a WordPress.com application for photo scheduling. 

In this quick tip, you'll learn about what it does and how to use it.

Before You Begin

If your site is running on WordPress.com already, you can skip this section; otherwise, if your site is self-hosted, you should follow these instructions.

Note: Postbot is not a plugin - it is a web app which runs on the WordPress.com servers.

Step 1

Begin by installing Jetpack. This is a plugin made by the guys at WordPress to enable the features of WordPress.com on a self-hosted site.

Step 2

Once it's installed, you need to connect your site with WordPress.com - the instructions to do so will be made very clear by the large green banner in the WordPress admin.

Step 3

Next, you should enable the 'JSON-API' module on the Jetpack page. This will enable applications to "securely access your content through the cloud."

Step 4

When you've done that, it's time to move onto Postbot!

Setting Up Postbot

Step 1

To get started with Postbot, navigate to its website and click the "Connect with WordPress.com" button.

Step 2

Enter your WordPress.com login credentials and click the "Sign In" button.

Step 3

Double check all the information is correct and click the "Authorize" button.

Step 4

You'll now be redirected back to Postbot, where you'll need to connect the application with your site. To do so, begin by clicking the "Connect" link in the corner of the page.

Step 5

You should now either select your site from the drop-down menu, or enter its URL into the text field. Click "Authorize".

Step 6

Finally, enter your site's login credentials and click "Log In".

Step 7

If everything has gone correctly, you'll now see your site's name in the corner of the page.

Uploading, Scheduling & Editing

Step 1

To upload your photos, simply drag and drop them onto the white space in the middle of the page.

Step 2

Once they've uploaded, you'll see them appear in a list. You can rearrange your photos, change the titles, descriptions and tags, and delete the photos all together.

Step 3

When the meta data has been set, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select your scheduling options. Click the "Schedule" button once you're ready to proceed.

Step 4

You can now check your scheduling options, and click the "Schedule Posts" button to confirm.

Step 5

Your photos and their information will now be uploaded to your site!

You can "Delete" and "Preview" your posts from within Postbot, and deleting them from there will also delete them from your server - so do so with caution!

Step 6

You can now login to your WordPress site, where you'll see your new posts patiently awaiting publication.

Summary

You've now learned how to use Postbot and set it up with your WordPress site. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I'll try my best to help you out.