Platform Guide

Social Calendar

A complete content management platform for social media agencies — from creative brief through to client approval and publishing.

socialcalendar.online

What is Social Calendar

Social Calendar is a purpose-built platform for social media agencies that manages the entire content lifecycle in one place. From the moment a brief is written to the day a post goes live, every step — creative production, internal reviews, client approvals, and reporting — happens inside a single, organized workspace.

The platform is fully branded for your agency and gives each client their own private portal where they can review and approve content without ever seeing your internal tools or conversations.

Every phase in the video walkthrough below has a short screen recording attached — click Watch Video on any step to see it in action.

Try the Demo

The demo environment comes pre-loaded with sample clients, posts, briefs, and artwork across all stages of the workflow. Use the accounts below to explore the platform from any role.

Staff Login

Visit socialcalendar.online and use any of the following accounts. Password for all: Staff@2026

Email	Role
sarah@demo.agency	Account Manager
maya@demo.agency	Creative Director
luca@demo.agency	Art Director

Client Portal Login

Visit socialcalendar.online/client-login — Password for all: Client@2026

Email	Brand
rima.aziz@lumiere.com	Lumière Beauty
tom.archer@apexathletics.com	Apex Athletics
leila.nour@verdecollective.com	Verde Collective

Full Walkthrough

This walkthrough follows a single post from creation to publishing in seven stages, each with a short video showing exactly what to do. You can log in as each role using the demo accounts above and follow along step by step.

Account Manager 1 · Creating a post and submitting the brief

Use password Staff@2026. You land on the Dashboard, which shows a summary of all active posts and anything that needs attention, plus your own Quick Actions for creating posts, calendars, and clients.

Open Posts and create a new post

Click Posts in the left sidebar, then New Post. Choose a client, platform (Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.), caption, and scheduled date. Save it as a draft.

Posts → New Post

Open the post and write the creative brief

Click into the post. Scroll to the Creative Brief section and fill in the objective, target audience, key messages, tone of voice, and any special instructions for the creative team.

Post Detail → Creative Brief tab

Submit the brief to the Creative Director

Click Submit Brief. The post status moves to Brief Sent and every Creative Director on your team receives a notification and email. A colored guidance banner on the post also tells you what happens next.

Post Detail → Submit Brief button

Next — Creative Director picks it up

Creative Director 2 · Reviewing the brief and assigning an Art Director

Use password Staff@2026. The Dashboard leads with posts newly waiting on you — briefs to review first, then anything overdue.

Read and, if needed, edit the brief

Open the post. Review the brief the Account Manager wrote — objective, audience, key messages, tone. As Creative Director you can edit any of these fields directly if something needs tightening up before production starts.

Post Detail → Creative Brief tab

Select an Art Director and assign

Open the assignment dropdown — anyone already assigned to this client appears first under Assigned to this client, with the rest of the team listed below. Pick a name and click Assign Art Director. The status moves to Artwork Pending and only that person is notified by email.

Post Detail → Select Art Director → Assign Art Director button

Not ready yet? Reject the brief instead

If the brief itself needs work before anyone touches artwork, click Reject Brief & Send Back to Account Manager, add a required comment explaining what's missing, and the post returns to Draft for the Account Manager to fix and resubmit.

Post Detail → Reject Brief button

Changed your mind on who's doing the work?

While the post is at Artwork Pending, click Cancel & Reassign to Different Art Director to pull it back and hand it to someone else — the previous Art Director is notified their assignment was cancelled.

Post Detail → Cancel & Reassign button

Meanwhile — Art Director works on the artwork

Art Director 3 · Creating and uploading artwork

Use password Staff@2026. The Dashboard and Posts list show all posts assigned to you — Drafts that haven't been submitted yet are never shown to you.

Read the creative brief

Open the assigned post and review the full brief before starting production. All the context the Account Manager and Creative Director wrote is here.

Post Detail → Creative Brief tab

Create and upload your artwork

Go to the Artwork tab and upload the finished image or video file. You can upload multiple versions and add notes for the Creative Director on each one.

Post Detail → Artwork tab → Upload

Submit for Creative Director review

Once you're happy with the file, click Submit Artwork for Review. The status moves to Artwork In Review and the Creative Director is notified.

Post Detail → Submit Artwork for Review button

Back to Creative Director — final internal sign-off

Creative Director 4 · Approving the artwork and sending it back to the Account Manager

Open the submitted artwork

You'll get a notification the moment artwork is submitted. Open the post and review the file in the Artwork tab.

Post Detail → Artwork tab

Approve — or reject with notes

Click Approve Artwork to move it forward to Creative Approved, which notifies the Account Manager and — for the first time — makes the artwork visible to them. If it's not ready, reject it with notes so the Art Director can revise and resubmit.

Post Detail → Approve Artwork button

Back to Account Manager — client-ready

Account Manager 5 · Reviewing artwork and sending to the client

Log back in as sarah@demo.agency and open the post

You'll see a notification that the artwork was approved. Open the post — you can now see the artwork for the first time. Review it before sending to the client.

Post Detail → Artwork tab

Send to client for review

Click Send to Client. The post appears in the client's portal and they receive an email notification. Status moves to Sent to Client.

Post Detail → Send to Client button

Client reviews the content

Client 6 · Reviewing and approving or rejecting content

Visit socialcalendar.online/client-login and log in as rima.aziz@lumiere.com with password Client@2026. You see all posts for your brand organised by status.

Review the post

Click into the post awaiting your review. You can see the caption, scheduled date, platform, and the artwork. If you have questions, use the comment thread to send a message directly to the agency.

Client Portal → Awaiting Review

Approve or reject

Click Approve to sign off. If something needs changing, click Reject and select the reason (wrong copy, wrong visual, not on-brand, etc.) with optional notes. The agency is notified instantly either way. See If the Client Rejects below for exactly what happens next.

Post Detail → Approve / Reject buttons

Bulk approve when you have multiple posts waiting

When two or more posts are awaiting your review, checkboxes appear next to each one. Select all the posts you're happy with and click Approve Selected — no need to open each one individually.

Client Portal → Awaiting Review → select multiple

Back to Account Manager — final step

Account Manager 7 · Confirming approval and marking as published

Check the client's decision

You're notified the moment the client approves or rejects. Open the post to confirm the decision and, if approved, prepare to publish it on the social channel.

Post Detail

Mark as published

Once the post goes live on the social channel, click Mark as Published. The status updates to Published and the post is captured in the monthly report.

Post Detail → Mark as Published button

Team Roles

Every team member is assigned a role that determines what they can see and do. Clients have their own separate access and never interact with the staff interface.

Account Manager

Creates posts and briefs, manages client relationships, and sends approved content through for client review. Publishes once the client approves.

Creative Director

Reviews creative briefs, assigns (or reassigns) work to Art Directors, and approves or rejects artwork before it reaches the client.

Art Director

Receives assigned posts, uploads artwork versions, and submits them for Creative Director review. Never sees Drafts that haven't been submitted yet.

Super Admin

Full platform access. Manages team accounts, client team assignments, branding, and app-wide settings.

Client Team Setup

Every client can have its own dedicated team, assigned directly on the client record. This controls who gets notified and who shows up first in assignment dropdowns for that client's posts.

Section	Who can edit it	What it controls
Account Manager(s)	Account Manager, Super Admin	Which servicing staff are responsible for this client — you can assign more than one
Creative Team	Creative Director, Super Admin	Which Creative Director(s) and Art Director(s) work on this client — also supports multiple people

Super Admin sees and can edit both sections when creating or editing a client. Account Managers only see the Account Manager section; Creative Directors only see the Creative Team section — each role manages their own side of the relationship.

When a Creative Director opens the artwork assignment dropdown on a post, anyone already assigned to that client appears first under Assigned to this client — making it fast to keep the same person on a client's work over time.

Client management is at Clients in the sidebar (visible to Account Manager, Creative Director, and Super Admin) — click any client card to edit its team.

Post Workflow

Every post moves through a structured set of stages. At each step, the right people are notified automatically — no chasing required.

Draft

Account Manager or Executive creates the post and writes the creative brief. Only visible to account-side staff and Super Admin.

Brief Sent

The brief is submitted. Every Creative Director is notified to review, edit if needed, and assign it.

Artwork Pending

Creative Director assigns an Art Director. Only that person is notified and begins production.

Artwork In Review

Art Director uploads the artwork and submits it. Creative Director reviews it internally.

Creative Approved

Creative Director signs off. Account Manager is notified and can now see the artwork for the first time.

Sent to Client

Account Manager sends the post to the client portal. The client receives a notification.

Client Decision

Client approves or rejects the post with structured feedback. Account Manager is notified immediately. See below for what happens on rejection.

Published

Once live, the post is marked as published and captured in monthly reports.

If the Client Rejects

A client rejection doesn't dead-end the post — the Account Manager has two ways to move it forward, and everyone downstream sees the full feedback trail.

Option A — Quick fix, resubmit directly

If the fix is small and doesn't need creative rework, the Account Manager can click Resubmit To Client straight from the Rejected post — no need to loop in the creative team.

Option B — Send back through the creative team

If the client's feedback needs actual creative revision, the Account Manager clicks Send Back to Creative Director, adds a required comment with their own notes, and the post travels back through the same production chain — this time carrying the full feedback history with it.

Client rejects — feedback and reason are stored on the post, Account Manager is notified.

Account Manager reviews and clicks Send Back to Creative Director, adding a required comment with instructions. Status returns to Brief Sent; every Creative Director is notified with the client's feedback plus the Account Manager's note.

Creative Director reviews the combined feedback (shown directly on the post) and assigns an Art Director — the same person as before, or someone new via Cancel & Reassign.

Art Director sees the feedback on the post and in their email, uploads a revised version, and submits for review.

Creative Director approves the revised artwork, sending it back to the Account Manager.

Account Manager resubmits to the client — the feedback trail is cleared once the client makes a fresh decision.

The client's original feedback and every note added along the way are kept together in one place, so nobody has to relay context by email or Slack — everyone opens the post and sees exactly why a revision was requested.

Artwork Visibility

Artwork is shown to each role only when it's relevant to them — preventing unfinished work from reaching clients or account teams before internal sign-off.

Role	When they see artwork
Art Director	From the moment they're assigned
Creative Director	Once the Art Director submits it for review
Account Manager / Executive	Only after Creative Director approval

Artwork is deliberately hidden from account-facing roles until the Creative Director has approved it — so nothing unfinished can accidentally be sent to a client.

Dashboard

The dashboard gives your team an instant read on where things stand — no need to dig through individual posts, and each role sees a version tailored to their job.

Summary cards — Published this month, Awaiting Client Approval, Artwork Needed, and Overdue
Overdue alert — A prominent banner appears whenever posts are past their scheduled date without approval
Priority filters — Switch the priority list between All, Overdue, New, and For Review with one click
Role-aware ordering — Creative Directors and Art Directors see newly submitted briefs and assignments first, then overdue items. Account Managers see overdue items first.
Role-specific Quick Actions — Account Managers get New Post / New Calendar / Add Client / Monthly Report; Creative Directors get Review Briefs / Assign Artwork / Review Artwork / Monthly Report; Art Directors get My Assignments / Upload Artwork / Calendar
Clickable priority cards — every item in the priority list opens straight into that post

Posts & Calendar

View and manage all content from the Posts list or the visual Calendar — both stay in sync.

Filter by client, platform, status, or date range
Sortable columns — click Content, Metadata, Status, or Scheduled in the table header to sort; click again to reverse the order. Sorting by Status groups overdue posts first, then follows the production stage order so new briefs and pending items are easy to find
Overdue indicator — any post past its scheduled date that hasn't been approved or published is flagged automatically
Drag-and-drop rescheduling — drag any post chip on the calendar to move it to a new date
Month, week, and day views with colour-coded status chips

Client Rejection Feedback

When a client rejects a post, they must choose at least one reason — giving your team clear, actionable feedback every time:

Wrong copy / caption Wrong visual / artwork Not on-brand Wrong timing / date Needs more content Technical issue

See If the Client Rejects for the full recovery flow.

Reports

Monthly reporting gives you a clear picture of output and performance, ready to share with clients or management.

Summary of total, published, awaiting approval, approved, rejected, and overdue posts
Platform breakdown showing where content is distributed
Full post list filterable by client and month
Export to CSV — one click, straight to a spreadsheet
Print / PDF — clean, print-ready layout for presentations

Client Portal

Clients get their own private, branded space where they can review and approve content — completely separate from your internal tools. No logins to share, no email chains to manage.

All posts organized by status so clients always know what needs their attention
Bulk approval — when multiple posts are awaiting review, clients can select them all and approve with a single click
Approve or reject individual posts with structured category feedback and optional notes
Comment thread on each post for back-and-forth with the agency
Clients can update their display name and change their own password

Notifications

The right people are notified at every step — automatically. No manual handoffs or follow-up emails needed.

What happens	Who is notified
Brief submitted	Every Creative Director
Brief rejected back to Account Manager	The post owner (Account Manager)
Art Director assigned or reassigned	The assigned Art Director only
Assignment cancelled	The previously assigned Art Director
Artwork submitted for review	Every Creative Director
Artwork approved internally	Account Manager / Executive
Post sent to client	Client
Client approves	Account Manager / Executive
Client rejects	Account Manager / Executive — with their rejection reason included
Sent back to Creative Director for revision	Every Creative Director — with the full feedback trail

All notifications also appear in real time inside the app, so your team is always up to date the moment something changes.

What's New

Latest round of additions, built to make the day-to-day easier for every role.

Global search — a search bar in the header finds posts and clients as you type, with results grouped by type.
Notification bell — every in-app notification is now also reachable from a dropdown in the header, with mark-as-read and mark-all-read.
Client team badges — the client card now shows a badge for every assigned Account Manager, Social Media Manager, Creative Director, and Art Director, instead of a single manager name.
Client Notes & Asset Library — each client can now hold brand guideline notes (do's and don'ts) plus an asset library for logos, fonts, and other brand files, all uploaded and managed from the client's "Client Specs" panel.
Client-side version history — clients reviewing a post can now see every previous artwork version, not just the latest.
Pin feedback on artwork — clients can click a specific spot on the artwork image and leave feedback pinned to that exact location.
Team Workload view — Creative Directors and Super Admins see a live breakdown of how many posts each Art Director has Pending or In Review, right on the dashboard.
Review deadlines — when sending a post to the client, you can now set an optional review deadline. If the client hasn't responded by then, the post owner gets a one-time reminder automatically.
Audit log export — Super Admins can export the full history of admin and account actions as a CSV file from Settings → System.
Permission matrix — a new reference tab in Settings shows exactly what each role can and can't do across the platform, at a glance.
Reordered client form — the client creation/edit form now lists the Creative Team before Connected Platforms, matching how the fields are actually filled in.
Direct publishing to Meta (Facebook & Instagram) — live and tested. See Publishing Integrations below for how it works and how to connect your own account.
LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and X publishing — built and ready, pending each platform's own developer access approval. Details and cost breakdown in Publishing Integrations.
Scheduled & bulk publishing — publish immediately or schedule for later, directly from the post, and bulk-publish a batch of Approved posts at once from the Posts list.
Post performance stats — once a post is published, likes/comments/reach pull in automatically and show on the post, and clients see the same summary on their own published posts in the client portal.
Calendar feed (iCal) — each client can get a subscribable calendar link for Google/Apple/Outlook Calendar showing their live content schedule.
Caption variants — save up to five caption options on a post and switch between them with one click.
Artwork size checks — a gentle warning if an uploaded image doesn't match the recommended dimensions for its platform and format.
Reset Status — Super Admins can reset a post back to Draft to undo a mistake, without deleting and recreating it.
Publishing permissions — connecting accounts and triggering a live or scheduled publish is restricted to Account Managers and Super Admins.

Publishing Integrations: Overview

Social Calendar can publish approved content directly to your clients' social accounts, no copying captions or downloading files to post manually. This works the same way for every platform: connect the account once from the client's page, then publish or schedule from any Approved post.

Important: the Facebook Page and Instagram account connected in the video below belong to a real, currently operating business. This connection is for demonstration purposes only, please do not post, schedule, or publish anything to it outside of an agreed test.

Account Manager Video · Scheduling & publishing on Meta

Connect the client's Facebook Page and Instagram account

One-time setup per client, see Connecting Meta below.

Take a post to Approved

Publishing only unlocks once a post has gone through the full workflow and the client has approved it.

Choose the destination and publish or schedule

On the Approved post, pick the connected Facebook Page or Instagram account, then choose Publish Now or Schedule with a date and time.

Watch it go live

The Publishing page shows the job move from queued to published in real time, and the post's Performance card fills in with likes, comments, and reach shortly after.

Connecting Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

Meta publishing is live and already tested successfully on a real client account. Here's how to connect a new one.

Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and create a Meta App (use case: Other → Business).
Add two products to the app: Facebook Login and Instagram Graph API (found under the "Content management" use case category when adding).
Under each of those use cases, click Customize and add the required permissions (pages_manage_posts, pages_read_engagement, instagram_basic, instagram_content_publish, etc.) — this grants Standard Access, enough for connecting real accounts without a lengthy review.
Under App settings → Basic, add the app's domain and copy the App ID and App Secret.
Under Facebook Login → Settings, add the redirect URI exactly as shown in Social Calendar (see next step).
In Social Calendar, go to Settings → Publishing → Meta, paste in the App ID, App Secret, and Redirect URI, and save.
Open the client in Clients, find Publishing Connections, and click Meta (FB/IG). Log in with the Facebook account that manages that client's Page, and the Page and any linked Instagram Business account connect automatically.

While the Meta app is in Development Mode, only Facebook accounts added as Admin/Developer/Tester on the app can connect. Submitting the app for Meta's App Review lifts that restriction for any client.

Only Account Managers and Super Admins can connect, disconnect, or publish to social accounts — this is enforced both in the interface and on the server, so it can't be bypassed by other roles.

LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok & X

The same publishing engine that powers Meta is already built for these four platforms. Connecting a real account for any of them takes two steps: getting developer access approved by that platform (this is the slow part), then pasting the credentials into Settings → Publishing in Social Calendar (the fast part, same as Meta above).

Platform	What's required	Typical approval time	Cost
LinkedIn	Apply for the Community Management API / Marketing Developer Platform via LinkedIn's Partner Program. Works for Company Pages.	2–6 weeks	Free
YouTube	Standard Google Cloud OAuth app with the YouTube Data API v3 enabled, plus OAuth verification for the upload scope. Video content only.	2–4 weeks	Free
TikTok	TikTok developer app with the Content Posting API, audited for direct public posting (not just private sandbox testing). Video content only.	4–8+ weeks, strictest of the four	Free
X (Twitter)	X developer app on a paid API tier — the free tier can't reliably post media.	Access is immediate once subscribed, no lengthy review	Paid subscription (X's pricing changes periodically, confirm current rate before committing)

Recommended order: apply for LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok access in parallel now, since the wait on approval is the real bottleneck, not the engineering. Hold off on X until there's a decision on the recurring subscription cost.

Once any platform's developer app is approved, connecting a client's account works exactly like Meta: paste the credentials into Settings → Publishing, then click Connect on the client's Publishing Connections panel.