How to Auto-publish and Schedule Posts on Instagram
Option 1: Use the Standard App Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow
Option 2: Use the Cookie Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow
Option 3: Use the Login & Password Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow
Option 4: Use the Personal App Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow
Before adding your account to Mainflow, please keep the following Instagram rules in mind:
- You have four options to add your accounts. The Standard App method is recommended unless you want to have links on your story image. If you do not need links on your story image, use the App method. The account must be a business account to use the App methods.
- If you want to share links on stories, you need to add your accounts using the Login & Password method.
- You can pin Instagram posts using the Login & Password method.
- If you use the Cookie and Login & Password methods, you need to follow Instagram rules: try to use old accounts, avoid spamming, do not share too frequently, avoid URL shorteners, and do not post content that may be flagged by others.
- You should have either a featured image or a video in your post, product, etc., to share posts on your Instagram account. Instagram requires an image or video and does not accept simple text.
- To share videos on Instagram, you must install the “FFprobe” and “FFmpeg” extensions on your server. If they are not installed, contact your hosting provider for installation.
- PHP EXIF must be installed and enabled. If you cannot install it, contact your hosting provider.
- Links are not clickable on Instagram. Read more about Instagram rules.
1. Use the Standard App Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow #
– This method is the simplest and most convenient for adding an Instagram account. It is safer, more reliable, and works 100% of the time: no errors, no chance of being blocked by Instagram. Note: The Instagram account must be a Professional (Business) account.
– You need just three clicks to authorize your Instagram account:
– First, ensure that you have a Facebook page connected to your Professional (Business) Instagram account. If you manage multiple Instagram accounts, all must be connected to pages where the account is an admin, and the App is created on this account. Navigate to the Facebook page settings => Linked accounts to connect your page. -After authorizing the Instagram account, refresh the page to verify the connection.
– Go to Mainflow > Channels > Instagram menu and click the “Add channel” button.
– Next, click the Sign in with Instagram Business button;
– You can also add the account with a proxy;
– When the Instagram authorization page appears, click the Continue (account name) button without editing access. The page will display the account name currently logged into the browser. If this is not the account you want to add to the plugin, or if you wish to add a different account, log into the desired account in a new browser tab;
– Click the channels to add them to the plugin or click the >> button to add all of them at once;
– Activate your channels to share posts on social media automatically whenever a new post is published on your website. If you do not activate channels, you must add them to the Mainflow section when you want to share specific posts;
– You can also activate channels conditionally by selecting specific taxonomies to share specific posts or not share specific posts on particular channels. This will apply to only auto-posts;
– The Customize content option allows you to assign specific content for this specific channel which will override the content you specifically in the social network settings;
– You can enable proxies or edit proxy credentials without needing to reauthorize the channel.
– Once channels are activated, they will appear in the Mainflow section when publishing new posts. The plugin will share the post automatically on these channels once it’s published;
– In the Permissions tab, you can grant other users permission to use the channels in their Mainflow dashboard. You can allow them to only share posts or give full access to manage the channel and its settings;
-In the Labels tab, you can organize channels into specific groups, making it easier to add a group of channels to the Planners or Schedules rather than adding them one by one.
– Channels can now be filtered by label, and you can click the >> button to add them all at once for sharing.
2. Use the Cookie Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow #
Follow the steps to add an account using the cookie method:
– Open the browser in the Incognito mode;
Click the “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “n” keys for opening Incognito tab in Chrome
Click the “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “p” keys for opening Incognito tab in Firefox
– Log in to your Instagram account;
– Open the Inspect element panel by clicking the F12 key or right-click on the page and click the Inspect button;
– Go to the Application tab within the Inspect element panel and click the Cookies menu. Copy the csrftoken, ds_user_id, sessionid cookie values, and close the incognito tab without logging out from your account;
– Go to Mainflow > Channels > Instagram menu and click the “Add channel” button;
– Next, click the More options button;
– Select the Cookie method from the methods list and paste the cookies you copied earlier. Click the Continue button to add the account to the plugin;
– You can also add the account with a proxy;
If you encounter a consent or challenge request while adding the account using the Login method, it means Instagram has sent a verification message to your email or phone number. Follow the steps provided in the message and try adding the account again. If this does not resolve the issue, try adding the account using the App method.
If Instagram detects unusual login activity due to the plugin being installed on your server, it may block your session for security purposes. Go to Instagram account Settings > Login activity and click “It was me” to confirm if any suspicious logins occurred.
3. Use the Login & Password Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow #
– Go to Mainflow > Channels > Instagram menu and click the “Add channel” button;
– Next, click the More options button;
– Select the Login method from the methods list and type your account credentials. Click the Continue button to add the account to the plugin;
– You can also add the account with a proxy.
– You might encounter consent or challenge required while adding your account using the Login method. It means Instagram has sent a message to your number or email that you have added to your Instagram account. Simply follow the steps in the email or text message. Then try to add again. If it does not help, add your account using the App method.
– When you add your account to the plugin and because the plugin is installed on your server, Instagram detects an unusual activity login. As a result, Instagram might block your session for your security. Please go to Instagram account Settings > Login activity. Click the “It was me” option and confirm if you see any suspicious logins.
4. Use the App Method to Add Your Account to Mainflow #
Note: The Instagram account has to be a Professional (Business) account.
– First, ensure that your Facebook page is connected to your Professional (Business) Instagram account. If managing multiple Instagram accounts, all must be connected to pages where the account is an admin, and the App is created on this account. Go to Facebook page settings => Linked accounts to connect your page.
– After authorizing the Instagram account, refresh the page and review the connection:
– Go to Meta for Developers and the “My Apps” menu. If you haven’t applied for Meta for Developers, you must apply first to create Apps.
– Create a new App:
– Select the Other option;
– Then select the App type as Business and click Next;
– Type a name that suits your Business and create the App:
– In the App dashboard, you need to click the Set up buttons for the Instagram Graph API and then Facebook login:
– Then go to the mainflow Apps => Instagram menu to copy the Redirect URL:
– And then paste it into the Facebook Login settings. Save changes:
– Copy your App credentials:
– Now you can give a name for the app to recognize it and add the App credentials to the plugin;
– Go to mainflow > Channels > Instagram menu and click the Add channel button;
– Next, click the More options button;
– Select your App from the list and click the Continue button.
– You can also add the account with a proxy.
