Platforms and templates

A platform in Postout is a set of instructions for one place you post: a name, a writing style, a character limit, and a website. Every time you create a draft, Postout writes one version per enabled platform.

Platforms are writing templates, not connections. Adding Bluesky doesn’t link your Bluesky account, and Postout never signs in to or posts on any service.

Adding a platform

Open Settings → Social Platforms and tap Add Platform, or choose Add Platform from the + menu in the sidebar. Then pick from the Template menu. The 23 built-in templates are grouped by type:

Group	Templates
Microblog / Short Social	Twitter / X, Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon
Visual / Image-First	Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr
Long-Form Writing	Medium, Substack, Dev.to
Forum / Community	Reddit, Hacker News
Video / Streaming	YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Vimeo
Professional / Dev	LinkedIn, GitHub
Chat / Messaging	Slack, Discord, Telegram
Social / Patron	Facebook, Patreon

A template fills in everything for you: the platform’s icon and color, its website, a sensible character limit, whether it supports markdown, and a prompt instruction describing its style. You can change any field before saving.

Making your own

Choose Custom template from the Template menu to start blank. You’ll need:

• Name: what the card is called, like Work Slack or Newsletter intro.
• Website: used for Copy and Open.
• Character Limit: leave it empty for no limit.
• Supports Markdown: on if the destination renders bold, lists, and headings. See How Postout keeps drafts clean.
• Icon & Color: for your custom card.
• Prompt Instruction: a sentence or two describing the format, for example “Two short paragraphs, first person, end with a question for the team.”

Custom platforms are useful beyond social networks: a release-notes format, a text to your group chat, an internal update.

Editing, turning off, and deleting

In Settings → Social Platforms:

• Switch a platform off to skip it without losing its settings. At least one platform has to stay on.
• Edit to change the character limit or instruction. Tweaking the Prompt Instruction is the most effective way to change how a platform’s drafts read.
• Delete to remove it. Drafts you already made for it are kept.

You can also skip platforms for just one draft using Post settings → Platforms. See Writing a draft.

In the sidebar

Enabled platforms appear as cards in the sidebar. Select one to filter History to drafts that include it. Change their order in Settings → General → Sorting: Manual, Name, Count, or Color. Turn off Settings → General → Platform Colors if you’d rather have neutral cards.