Substack Scheduled Notes User Guide
Comprehensive but a simple guide on scheduling Substack Notes
How To Install Substack Scheduled Notes Chrome Extension
After your purchase from the Gumroad link, you can install the Chrome extension using the following six steps.
Steps:
1. Download the Zipfile and unzip it to a new folder.
2. Open Chrome browser and navigate to chrome://extensions/
3. Enable Developer mode on the right side
4. Click "Load unpacked" button and select the folder where you unzipped the files.
5. Enable Substack Scheduled Notes extension
6. Pin extension on the browser toolbar - cloudberry icon will be visible
1. Initial Configuration
Once installed, follow the steps shown in the image below.
Navigate your browser to your Substack Notes page. It is typically https://<your username>.substack.com/notes but if you have purchased a custom domain, it can be something like https://<custom domain name>/notes. In my case, it is https://finntropy.substack.com/notes. Copy your own URL to your clipboard and open the Chrome extension. Click the little gearbox icon, and paste your URL as shown below. Click the Submit button to see a pop-up window confirming your notes page.
Return Back to Main page, write a short note, and click the Post button. Refresh your browser; your note should be posted on your Substack Notes page.
Your Notes Scheduler is now ready for scheduling.
2. Scheduling a Note
Write your note in the editor window, select the date and time to post it, and click the Schedule Note button. A pop-up window will inform you that your note has been successfully scheduled. The Note will appear in the Scheduled Notes section.
3. Editor Features
The image below shows the editor features. The editor supports bold, italic, and link styles. You can also create a bullet list and attach images (a maximum of 6 per note).
The clear formatting feature helps strip extra formatting if you paste text from another source. Clear All Content will delete all content from the editor window.
The Preview button below the editor allows you to paste a weblink and show the preview image from Open Graph compatible websites that have og:image <meta> tag. This function will retrieve and attach the image to the editor window and the link URL below the picture. See example below.
4. Save, Load Last, Post, and Fetch
The Status bar below the buttons shows progress messages from current operations. The Save button stores the editor's current content in the Saved Notes section. The Load Last button returns a copy of the last saved note to the editor.
The Post button will post the current note in the editor with attached images to Substack. This feature can be used to test the Notes Schedule configuration.
The Fetch button will retrieve all Notes from Substack with engagement metrics and save them to the Delivered Notes section.
5. Load, Edit, or Delete Note
The Load button will load a copy of the Note from the section, but leaves the original in place. This can be handy if you want to reuse an existing Note but modify it slightly before rescheduling or reposting.
The Edit button will load the Note to the editor and remove the original from the section. This can be used if you change your mind about a scheduled note and want to rephrase it before rescheduling. The original Scheduled Note will be cancelled.
The Delete button will permanently remove the Note from the Note Scheduler storage.
6. Export and Import Notes
Once you have some notes in the Scheduled Notes, Saved Notes, or Delivered Notes sections, you can back up your Notes using the Export Notes feature.
Select YAML format if you want to re-import your notes back to the Notes scheduler. Select CSV format to analyze your Notes using Excel or Google Sheets. The exported Notes files will show up in the Downloads folder (this may vary depending on your browser and operating system configuration).
To import Notes from YAML files, select the section (Scheduled Notes, Saved Notes, Delivered Notes) and choose the file you want to import from. See example below.
It is recommended that you regularly take backups using YAML export. Also, if you plan to upgrade your Notes Scheduled to a new version, please take a backup before the upgrade.
7. Checking Software Version
The version number of your Notes Scheduler is shown below the cloudberry icon. Please provide the version number if you contact me for support.
8. Errors and Troubleshooting
Navigate to chrome://extensions/ and check if you have a red Errors button. If so, you can access the error logs, which will provide additional details of possible issues.
9. Support Contact
You can get support by sending an email to finntropy@gmail.com.
To speed up the troubleshooting process:
Please provide the version number in the email.
Please follow the troubleshooting instructions above to take a screenshot of the problem and the Errors you see.
10. Final Thoughts
Your feedback will help me improve the Substack Notes Scheduler product.
Any comments are welcome.
What new features would be most useful for you?
What part of the product needs improvement?
Does this user guide meet your needs?
What else should I focus on improving?
I just uploaded version 1.4.0 of Substack Notes Scheduler to Gumroad. It features new enhancements that can be attributed to Julie Diebolt Price. Thanks, Julie, for our quick chat yesterday.
I added the ability to sort the Notes by created date in ascending or descending order. This helps you find the note more easily if you have hundreds of them.
I also added the ability to search Notes from the Scheduled Notes, Saved Notes, and Delivered Notes sections using keywords. The content of matching notes is retrieved and displayed in the editor window along with the creation date.
I'm behind with my updates...gotta catch up!