Autopilot and the publishing schedule

Autopilot writes your scheduled articles for you. For each site, it takes the next article in the queue, writes it with the same pipeline as Write now, marks it Published, and sends it to the site's Webflow or Shopify connection if it has one. It runs on Rankbox's servers, so your dashboard doesn't need to be open. You control it with one switch and one pace setting per site.

What autopilot needs to write

Autopilot writes for a site only when all of these are true. A connected website is not one of them.

A trial whose card couldn't be verified doesn't write. A plan whose payment failed keeps writing for 48 hours. A cancelled plan keeps writing until the end of the period you've paid for. Details are in Billing, invoices and cancellation.

What happens on each run

Autopilot works in runs on Rankbox's servers. In each run, it goes through every site that has autopilot switched on, one after another:

1. Checks timing. It skips the site if not enough time has passed since its last autopilot article. A site that has never had one is due straight away.
2. Checks the plan. It skips the site if the account or site can't write right now. Nothing is charged.
3. Reserves a credit. It takes one article credit from the site. If none are left, it skips the site.
4. Picks the next article. It takes the scheduled article with the lowest queue position, then the earliest date. If nothing is scheduled, it returns the credit and skips the site.
5. Writes it. The article shows as Writing while Rankbox researches, drafts, revises and adds a video, exactly as in How articles are written. It uses the site's brand brief and can carry a backlink exchange link.
6. Saves it. The article becomes Published and the time is recorded. That time sets when the site is next due.
7. Sends it. If the site has a Webflow connection, the article goes to Webflow; if it has a Shopify connection, it goes to Shopify.

Autopilot writes at most one article per site per run. If writing fails, the article goes back to Scheduled, the credit is returned, and the site stays due, so the article is tried again on a later run.

Pace and timing

Pick the pace in Settings → Autopilot → Pace. The default is Every day.

The minimum gap is 7 days divided by the pace, less one hour of tolerance. It's measured from autopilot's last successful article for that site. Because a site is only written for during a run, the real gap is the first run after the minimum gap has passed. Rankbox has no time-of-day setting and doesn't publish at a fixed hour.

Three rules decide what gets written and when:

• Order comes from the queue. Autopilot always takes the next article in queue order. It doesn't wait for an article's date: when the site is due, it writes the next article even if that article is dated later.
• The calendar sets the order. Moving an article on the Calendar renumbers the queue to match the dates, so the calendar order is the writing order.
• Manual writing doesn't reset the clock. Writing an article yourself with Write now doesn't change when autopilot is next due. Its next run takes the next article still in the queue.

Changing the pace re-spaces every scheduled article from tomorrow, in the current order, and shows a toast such as "Autopilot now writes 3 times a week." with Undo. Under the options, Rankbox shows "About N articles a month" and how many your plan covers. If the pace needs more than your plan covers, it adds "autopilot will run out before the month ends".

Turn autopilot on or off

1. Open Dashboard → Settings and scroll to Autopilot ("Whether it writes, and how often.").
2. Use the Write automatically switch. It reads "On — writing every day" (or your pace) or "Paused". You see "Autopilot is on." or "Autopilot paused."

You can also click Pause or Resume in the autopilot bar on the Articles and Calendar pages. Pausing from the bar offers Undo.

Pausing stops new writing for that site only. Scheduled articles stay in the queue and nothing is lost; as their days pass, they show as Overdue. Before you start a trial, the switch is replaced by a Start free trial button with the note "Autopilot starts writing when your free trial does."

Read autopilot's status

The autopilot bar

The bar sits at the top of Articles and Calendar whenever something is scheduled.

When articles are overdue and autopilot is on or paused, the bar adds how many, and a Re-plan from tomorrow button.

The Overview

The Autopilot chip at the top of the Overview shows On or Off and links to the switch in Settings. Hover it for the reason it's off, such as "Autopilot is paused. Turn it back on in Settings." When autopilot is paused and the Overview's launch checklist is complete, the next-step card reads "Autopilot isn't writing right now" with Turn autopilot on.

The sidebar count

The number next to Articles in the sidebar is how many articles on the active site are scheduled or being written. It's hidden when the count is zero.

Catch up on overdue articles

An article is overdue when its day has passed and it hasn't been written, usually because autopilot was paused, the trial hadn't started, or the site ran out of credits.

1. Make sure autopilot can run: start the trial, wait for credits to renew, or click Resume.
2. Click Re-plan from tomorrow in the autopilot bar.
3. Rankbox keeps the queue's order and spaces every scheduled article from tomorrow at your pace. The toast offers Undo.

Re-planning only changes dates. Autopilot would write overdue articles anyway, in queue order, as soon as the site is due.

When credits run out

Autopilot spends one article credit per article: 30 a month per site on the Business plan, 7 during the free trial. When a site has none left, autopilot skips it until the billing period renews and the allowance resets. There's no per-article top-up, and unused credits don't roll over. See Plans and credits.

Where autopilot's articles go

Every article autopilot writes is saved in Rankbox as Published, whether or not your website is connected.

A Webflow or Shopify sending error never undoes the article: it stays Published in Rankbox, the credit stays spent, and the error is recorded on the connection and shown in Integrations. Both connections also leave alone any post you've edited or deleted in your CMS. See How publishing works, Webflow, Shopify and Any website, with the REST API.

Several sites with Studio

Each site in Studio has its own autopilot switch, pace, credits, queue and brand brief, and is due on its own schedule. The Studio page shows each site's autopilot as "On" with its articles per week, or "Off". To change a site's settings, switch to it in the sidebar and open Settings.

Limits and edge cases

• Your own text in a scheduled article is replaced. If you start writing a scheduled article yourself, autopilot still writes it and replaces your text. Click Publish in the editor to keep your version.
• One article per run per site. Autopilot never writes a batch to catch up. A long overdue queue clears at your pace.
• Ideas are never written by autopilot. Only Scheduled articles are. Schedule an idea to include it.
• The trial's 7 credits. At Every day, autopilot uses them in about a week.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Content plan and calendar: the queue autopilot works through
• How articles are written: the pipeline every autopilot article goes through
• Brand voice and writing settings: the brief autopilot writes with
• How publishing works: getting finished articles onto your website
• Plans and credits: how many articles autopilot can write