Understanding Approval Messages
After you send your weekly update, Pubdate sends you a preview of everything it's planning to post. This guide explains what you're seeing and what to do with it.
What Is an Approval Message?
An approval message is a WhatsApp from Pubdate showing you exactly what it plans to post and when. Nothing goes live until you say yes.
You'll see:
- A preview of each social media post (caption + description of the graphic)
- The platform it will be posted to (Instagram, Facebook, Google Business)
- The scheduled date and time
How to Approve
Reply to the message with any positive response. "Yes", "looks good", "go ahead", "perfect" — all work.
Once you approve, Pubdate schedules all the posts. You'll get a confirmation that everything is queued.
How to Request Changes
If something needs adjusting, just say so in plain English:
Change the time on the music post to 9:30pm
The quiz is actually on Thursday, not Friday — can you fix that?
Add "free entry" to the music post
Pubdate will update the posts and send you an updated preview to approve.
How to Skip a Post
If you don't want a particular post to go out:
Skip the happy hour post — we've changed the offer
Don't post the Sunday match screening, we're not showing it after all
You can skip individual posts without affecting the others.
What "Scheduled" Means
"Scheduled" means the post is queued and will go out at the time shown. You don't need to do anything else — Pubdate handles the publishing automatically.
Posts are typically scheduled for the morning or early afternoon of the day before the event (for advance notice) and again on the day itself. The exact timing depends on your settings.
What If I Don't Reply?
If you don't approve within 24 hours, Pubdate will send a reminder. If you still don't reply after 48 hours, no posts will be sent for that batch — it's better to miss a week than to post something you haven't approved.
Tips
- You can approve from anywhere — no need to be at the pub or on a laptop.
- You can update your posts after approving — message Pubdate and it will pull the post if there's still time, or update the next one.
- Approving is final — once approved and scheduled, posts will go out unless you message to cancel.
Related: Sending Your Weekly Update →