PostlyResearchPublishing presets · October 2026 findings
Publishing presets: the settings behind the posts
A platform-by-platform audit of saved publishing choices, with accessibility, distribution, interaction and conversion checks.
Source: Postly Research. Anonymized retained publishing data: 72,883 documents inspected; 47,388 posts with verified publications; 165,158 deduplicated destination deliveries; 3,645 destination accounts. Observation cutoff: 2026-10-04 22:35:49 UTC.
Download this complete report ↓Publishing presets
Publishing presets: the settings behind the posts
A platform-by-platform audit of saved publishing choices, with accessibility, distribution, interaction and conversion checks.
Retained eligible publications up to October 4, 2026; October is partial.
The findings across platforms
The audit reviewed 100 preset dimensions across 19 platform settings groups and published 59 qualifying setting-state rows. For example, YouTube tags were configured on 1,449 eligible post/destination records and empty on 2,126; Pinterest destination URLs were configured on 950 records and empty on 171. Google Business Profile recorded 4,630 Call choices, 1,352 Learn More choices and 159 Book choices. These comparisons reveal different publishing intentions and workflow checks. They do not establish which choice produces more engagement or sales.
ALT rows count source posts once. Other rows count source-post/destination pairs with a verified delivery and an explicitly stored setting. Defaults are not inferred. Settings may overlap.
| Observed group | records | Accounts |
|---|---|---|
| No image ALT text recorded | 18,799 | 2,049 |
| All images have ALT text | 2,096 | 430 |
| Facebook / Facebook Linked Carousel (image cards with links) / Off | 33,837 | 866 |
| Facebook / Facebook Feed Post (including multi-image posts) / On | 32,595 | 841 |
| Facebook / Share as Reel / Off | 32,264 | 847 |
| Facebook / Share to Story / Off | 30,920 | 805 |
| Facebook / Generate first comment / Off | 29,275 | 737 |
| Facebook / Allow Comments / On | 28,950 | 728 |
| Instagram / Default collaborators / Empty | 18,687 | 977 |
| Instagram / Share as Reel / Off | 15,529 | 947 |
| Instagram / Share to Story / Off | 15,009 | 942 |
| Instagram / Share to Feed / On | 14,784 | 958 |
| Instagram / Generate first comment / Off | 14,403 | 738 |
| Instagram / Allow Comments / On | 13,940 | 727 |
| TikTok / Share to Feed / On | 7,326 | 456 |
| TikTok / Disable Comments / Off | 7,325 | 456 |
| TikTok / Privacy / Public | 7,320 | 454 |
| TikTok / Branded-content disclosure / Off | 7,245 | 454 |
| TikTok / Disable Duet / Off | 7,239 | 454 |
| TikTok / Disable Stitch / Off | 7,239 | 455 |
| LinkedIn / Visibility / Public | 6,332 | 379 |
| LinkedIn / Feed Distribution / Main feed | 6,331 | 378 |
| LinkedIn / Enable Resharing / On | 6,296 | 377 |
| TikTok / Own-brand disclosure / Off | 6,229 | 445 |
| Google Business Profile / Publication type / Update | 6,216 | 476 |
| TikTok / AI-generated content disclosure / Off | 5,995 | 422 |
| LinkedIn / Generate first comment / Off | 5,370 | 334 |
| Google Business Profile / Call to action / Call | 4,630 | 345 |
| Instagram / Share to Feed / Off | 4,067 | 158 |
| Instagram / Share to Story / On | 3,842 | 175 |
| YouTube / Embeddable / On | 3,574 | 162 |
| YouTube / Made for Kids / Off | 3,571 | 162 |
| YouTube / Notify Subscribers / On | 3,560 | 161 |
| Telegram / Send as Message / On | 3,365 | 59 |
| Telegram / Silent Message / Off | 3,363 | 59 |
| Telegram / Protect Content / Off | 3,363 | 59 |
| Telegram / Pin Message / Off | 3,362 | 59 |
| YouTube / Privacy / Public | 3,344 | 159 |
| Instagram / Share as Reel / On | 3,322 | 168 |
| Threads / Reply Control / Everyone | 3,270 | 73 |
| Threads / Allow Quotes / On | 3,270 | 73 |
| Telegram / Mark Media as Spoiler / Off | 3,153 | 59 |
| Telegram / Disable Web Page Preview / Off | 3,128 | 59 |
| Facebook / Share to Story / On | 2,929 | 162 |
| YouTube / Generate first comment / Off | 2,707 | 146 |
| YouTube / Default tags / Empty | 2,126 | 134 |
| Google Business Profile / Action destination URL / Configured | 1,686 | 208 |
| Facebook / Share as Reel / On | 1,585 | 85 |
| YouTube / Default tags / Configured | 1,449 | 65 |
| Google Business Profile / Call to action / Learn More | 1,352 | 174 |
| TikTok / AI-generated content disclosure / On | 1,331 | 59 |
| Facebook / Facebook Feed Post (including multi-image posts) / Off | 1,254 | 113 |
| Pinterest / Default tracking code / Empty | 1,121 | 108 |
| Pinterest / Enable Tracking / Off | 1,112 | 108 |
| TikTok / Own-brand disclosure / On | 1,097 | 82 |
| Pinterest / Allow Try On / Off | 1,058 | 96 |
| Pinterest / Default destination URL / Configured | 950 | 92 |
| Pinterest / Allow comments / Off | 714 | 83 |
| Pinterest / Allow comments / On | 407 | 42 |
| Pinterest / Default destination URL / Empty | 171 | 37 |
| Google Business Profile / Call to action / Book | 159 | 42 |
At least 30 accounts and 100 observations per displayed group. Account counts overlap. Small groups are withheld; absence from this table does not mean zero usage.
What the preset audit means
A successful delivery is only one part of a publishing checklist. The saved settings determine such choices as placement, reply permissions, visibility, notifications and action destinations. Counts describe explicitly stored choices, including serialized defaults; they do not prove that someone deliberately selected a preset or that the provider executed every setting. A missing setting is not treated as Off.
Configured versus empty: what to prioritize
On Pinterest, 950 of the 1,121 records in the published destination-URL comparison had a configured URL (84.7%). Check the destination and campaign tracking when the objective requires an outbound action. YouTube tags were configured in 40.5% of its 3,575 published comparison records, but filling every tag field is not a meaningful success measure: YouTube says tags mainly help with spelling variants. Prioritize the title, thumbnail and whether the video fulfils its promise. These are workflow recommendations informed by measured configuration counts and official guidance, not measured outcome lifts.
Accessibility within the wider preset
ALT text is one element of the production checklist. The audit found 2,096 eligible source posts with descriptions on all source images and 18,799 with none recorded. These counts use source posts, not destination deliveries, and small partial-description groups are withheld. Review accessibility on every asset; do not wait for proof of a reach increase before providing a useful description. The current records do not establish an engagement difference between the groups.
Recommended actions
Organize each platform preset around four decisions: where the content appears, who can see or respond, what action the audience should take, and what accessibility or disclosure checks are needed. Review ALT text for every image. Check destination links and tracking before saving a conversion-oriented preset. Review comments, sharing and notification choices deliberately. Recheck audience and content disclosures for each post instead of optimizing them for reach.
What can be concluded about growth
The completed audit does not yield a complete, comparable outcome cohort linking historical preset values to views, interactions or conversions at the same post age. It therefore cannot estimate an ALT-text lift, a first-comment lift, or a growth advantage from enabling any setting. Use these findings to identify workflow omissions and the comparison to measure next. Absence of a measurable effect here is not evidence that a setting has no effect.
Facebook: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Facebook Feed Post (including multi-image posts); Facebook Linked Carousel (image cards with links); Share to Story; Share as Reel; Allow Comments; Generate first comment. 9 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Instagram: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Share to Feed; Share to Story; Share as Reel; Allow Comments; Generate first comment; Default collaborators. 9 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Threads: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Reply Control; Allow Quotes. 2 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
X: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Sensitive content; Community only; Posting mode; Limit replies to mentioned accounts only; Auto like; Auto retweet; Retweet after; Minimum views; Auto delete; Delete after; Maximum views. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
TikTok: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Share to Feed; Privacy; Disable Duet; Disable Stitch; Disable Comments; Own-brand disclosure; Branded-content disclosure; AI-generated content disclosure. 10 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
YouTube: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Default tags; Generate first comment; Privacy; Embeddable; Made for Kids; Notify Subscribers. 7 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
LinkedIn: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Generate first comment; Visibility; Feed Distribution; Enable Resharing; Call to action; Action destination URL. 4 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Pinterest: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Default tracking code; Default destination URL; Allow comments; Allow Try On; Enable Tracking. 7 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Telegram: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Send as Message; Pin Message; Disable Web Page Preview; Silent Message; Mark Media as Spoiler; Protect Content. 6 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Discord: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Hide link previews; Silent message; Publish to announcement followers; Default button text; Default button URL. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Bluesky: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Languages; Content labels. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Whatsapp: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Default approved template name; Default template language code; Default body variables; Default campaign name. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Wordpress: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Publishing status; Post format; Default tags; Publish as Gutenberg blocks. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Ghost: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Publishing status; Visibility; Default tags; Feature new posts; Custom template filename. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Hashnode: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Unlisted post; Publishing status; Default tags; Disable comments; Show table of contents. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
DEV: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Publishing status; Default tags (maximum 4); Default series name. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Blogger: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Publishing status; Default labels. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Google Business Profile: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Call to action; Action destination URL; Publication type; Event Start Date; Event End Date; Offer Start Date; Offer End Date; Coupon Code; Coupon Redeem Url; Terms Conditions; Product Url. 5 setting-state groups met the public sample thresholds and appear in the results table. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Reddit: preset coverage
Reviewed dimensions: Post title; Subreddit flair; First comments. No setting-state group met the public sample thresholds in this edition. Only explicitly stored settings on source-post/destination pairs with verified publications are counted. Missing values are not inferred from app defaults. Content, recipients, URLs, tags and other customer-provided values are never published; text and list fields are classified only as configured or empty.
Sources for the teaching sections
Platform sources support the explanations. Postly data supports the observed counts. Strategic recommendations are editorial judgments.
Source and counting rules
The census reads retained Postly production records in bounded batches from a database secondary. Receipts require platform, destination account, publication identifier and timestamp. TikTok also requires confirmed success. Repeated provider identifiers are counted once per destination. This is a live retained-data census, not a random sample or an atomic snapshot. Deleted records and publishing outside Postly are absent. Small groups are withheld: every displayed row requires at least 30 destination accounts and 100 observations. Accounts are not necessarily independent businesses; their counts overlap between rows.
Citation: Postly Research, Publishing presets: the settings behind the posts, October 2026.