Why Did My Post Fail in UniLink Social Planner? (Common Errors and Fixes)
Why Did My Post Fail in UniLink Social Planner? (Common Errors and Fixes)
Find out exactly why a post failed, read the error detail from the platform, and fix it in minutes — whether it's an expired token, a rejected aspect ratio, or a caption that's too long.
A failed post in Social Planner doesn't mean your content is lost — it means something stopped the publish from completing and UniLink caught it. The platform returned an error, UniLink logged it, and the post is sitting in a Failed state waiting for you to review and retry. Understanding what caused the failure lets you fix it quickly and, more importantly, prevent the same issue from happening again.
What the Failed Post System Does
When a scheduled post fails to publish, UniLink marks it with a Failed status and stores the error response from the platform's API. That error message is visible in the post detail panel — it tells you exactly what the platform rejected and why. Without this system, you'd have to notice the post never appeared, check the platform manually, and guess at the cause. UniLink surfaces the failure and the reason in one place.
Most failures fall into a small number of categories: authentication issues (expired tokens, disconnected accounts), media specification problems (wrong aspect ratio, file size too large, unsupported format), caption violations (too long, prohibited characters or links), and platform-level restrictions (rate limits, account restrictions, missing permissions). Each category has a clear fix.
After fixing the underlying issue, you can retry the post directly from the detail panel. Retrying uses the current post content — if you updated the caption or media before retrying, the retry uses the updated version. If the underlying platform issue hasn't been resolved, the retry will fail again with the same or a related error.
How to Find and Read Error Details
- Open Social Planner — click Social Planner in the UniLink Dashboard sidebar.
- Go to the Posts tab — click the Posts tab to see your full post list.
- Filter by Failed status — use the Status filter and select Failed. This narrows the list to only posts that didn't publish successfully.
- Click the failed post — click the post card to open the detail panel. Failed posts are marked with a red indicator.
- Open the Details tab — inside the detail panel, click the Details tab. Look for the Error section near the bottom of the panel.
- Read the platform error — the error message is the raw response from the platform API. It typically includes an error code (e.g.,
OAuthException,ASPECT_RATIO_ERROR) and a human-readable description. Note both the code and description before acting. - Apply the fix — use the error code reference below to identify the correct fix, apply it, then return to the post and click Retry Post.
How to Retry a Failed Post
- Fix the root cause first — retrying without fixing the issue will fail again. Make sure the token is refreshed, the media is corrected, or the caption is shortened before retrying.
- Open the failed post detail panel — follow the steps above to find the post.
- Edit the post if needed — click Edit Post if you need to update the caption, swap the media, or change the platforms. Save the edits before retrying.
- Click Retry Post — the Retry Post button is at the bottom of the detail panel. Click it to resubmit the post to the platform.
- Wait for the status to update — the post status will change to Scheduled briefly, then to Published if successful, or back to Failed with an updated error if the underlying issue persists.
- Check the platform directly if needed — if the retry succeeds but you don't see the post live within a few minutes, log into the platform to confirm it published correctly.
Key Settings Explained
| Setting | What it controls | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Failed status filter | Shows only posts that did not publish due to an error | Check the Failed filter daily or set up an email notification so failures don't sit unresolved for days |
| Platform error message | Displays the raw error code and description returned by the platform API | Copy the error code and search it in the platform's developer docs if the message is unclear |
| Retry Post button | Resubmits the post to the platform using current post content | Always fix the root cause before retrying — retrying without a fix wastes a publish attempt and may trigger rate limits |
| Connected Accounts page | Lists all linked social accounts and their token status | Check this page first when you see multiple failures across the same platform — one expired token causes all posts to fail |
| Edit before retry | Allows updating caption, media, or platforms before resubmitting the failed post | Use this to fix caption length or swap non-compliant media without creating a duplicate post |
How to Get the Most Out of Failed Post Troubleshooting
The fastest way to prevent recurring failures is to understand the most common error by platform. Instagram rejects images with aspect ratios outside the 4:5 to 1.91:1 range — always resize images before uploading rather than letting the platform crop. LinkedIn has a 3,000-character caption limit for company pages and rejects posts that lead with a URL. Facebook's caption limits vary by post type. TikTok rejects videos under 3 seconds or over the allowed duration for your account type.
Token expiry is the most common and most avoidable failure. Platform access tokens expire periodically — typically every 60 days for Instagram and Facebook. UniLink shows a warning banner on the Connected Accounts page when a token is within 7 days of expiring. Check that page weekly to stay ahead of token expiry rather than reacting after posts fail.
When a post fails on one platform but succeeds on others, the issue is always platform-specific. The content that worked on Twitter may have a caption that violates Instagram's link-in-caption restriction, or an image that meets Twitter's specs but not Facebook's. Read the per-platform error to isolate which platform rejected it and why.
Keep a short note of recurring failures and their fixes. If you regularly use a particular image format or caption template and it keeps failing on a specific platform, the issue is structural in your workflow — address it at the content creation step rather than the retry step.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| OAuthException / token expired error | The platform access token expired or was revoked by the platform (common after a password change) | Go to Connected Accounts, disconnect the platform, and reconnect it to issue a fresh token |
| ASPECT_RATIO_ERROR or media rejected | Image or video dimensions fall outside the platform's accepted range for the post type | Resize the media to the platform's required specs (Instagram feed: 4:5 to 1.91:1; Story: 9:16) and retry |
| Caption too long error | Caption exceeds the platform's character limit (Instagram: 2,200; LinkedIn: 3,000; Twitter: 280) | Edit the caption to meet the limit, then retry. Use the character counter in the composer to stay within limits when drafting |
| Account disconnected or permission denied | The platform account was disconnected from UniLink or had its publishing permissions revoked | Go to Connected Accounts and reconnect the account. Ensure UniLink is granted full publishing permissions during the OAuth flow |
Pros
- Error messages are surfaced directly in the dashboard — no need to investigate on the platform
- Retry button lets you resubmit without recreating the post from scratch
- Edit before retry allows fixing content issues in the same workflow
- Failed status filter makes it easy to audit unresolved failures in one view
Cons
- Some platform error messages are cryptic API codes that require cross-referencing platform developer docs
- Failed posts don't send push notifications by default — you need to check the dashboard proactively
- Retry does not reschedule to the original time — the post publishes immediately when retried
Frequently Asked Questions
Will UniLink retry a failed post automatically?
UniLink does not retry failed posts automatically. You need to review the error, fix the cause, and click Retry Post manually. This prevents automatic retries from repeatedly failing and triggering platform rate limits.
What happens to the original scheduled time when I retry a failed post?
When you click Retry Post, the post publishes immediately rather than at the original scheduled time. If you want to reschedule it for a specific time, edit the post and change the scheduled date before retrying.
Why does my post fail on Instagram but succeed on Facebook even though they use the same content?
Instagram and Facebook have different media specs and caption rules even though both are Meta platforms. Instagram has stricter aspect ratio requirements and does not allow clickable links in post captions. Check the Instagram-specific error in the detail panel to identify the exact rejection reason.
How long do failed posts stay in the Failed status before being removed?
Failed posts stay in your post history indefinitely — they are not automatically deleted. You can retry, edit, or manually delete them at any time. They remain visible in the Failed filter until you act on them.
I reconnected the account but posts are still failing. What should I try next?
After reconnecting, make sure you granted all requested permissions during the OAuth flow. Some failures occur because the account reconnected without publishing permissions. Disconnect the account again, reconnect, and confirm all permissions are accepted on the platform's OAuth consent screen.
Key Takeaways
- Find failed posts via Social Planner > Posts tab > Failed filter — the error detail is in the Details tab of each post
- Most failures are caused by expired tokens, wrong media specs, or captions over the platform's character limit
- Fix the root cause before retrying — retrying without a fix will fail again
- Multiple failures on the same platform usually mean one expired token — reconnect the account to fix all at once
- Check Connected Accounts weekly for token expiry warnings to prevent failures before they happen
Ready to publish without the guesswork?
UniLink Social Planner shows you exactly what failed and why — so you can fix it fast and keep your content calendar on track.
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