How to Install and Set Up the Social Media Manager by Xobytes

The social media manager by Xobytes helps WordPress site owners turn posts, pages, WooCommerce products, and custom post types into AI-written social media posts. It is built for businesses that want to save time, promote content more often, and manage social activity from inside WordPress.

Instead of copying links, writing captions, and logging into each social platform by hand, Xobytes Social Autopilot gives you a smarter workflow. You can connect your social accounts, scan your WordPress content, generate AI social posts, build a queue, and publish content on a schedule.

This guide will show you how to install and set up the social media manager by Xobytes step by step.

You can find more commercial WordPress automation products in the Xobytes shop. For support, product updates, and company information, visit Xobytes.

What Is Xobytes Social Autopilot?

Xobytes Social Autopilot is a WordPress plugin that works as an AI-powered social media manager.

It can help promote:

Blog posts, pages, WooCommerce products, service pages, landing pages, custom post types, and other WordPress content.

The plugin is designed to help your website promote itself. Therefore, your content does not just sit on your site after you publish it. Instead, it can be turned into platform-specific social media posts and added to a publishing queue.

The plugin currently supports social publishing connections for Facebook Pages, Instagram, and LinkedIn Publishing. LinkedIn Comments is shown as Coming Soon while API approval is pending.

Before You Install the Plugin

Before installing the social media manager by Xobytes, make sure your WordPress site is ready.

You should have:

A working WordPress website, admin access to WordPress, a valid Xobytes license key, your own OpenAI API key, and access to the social accounts you want to connect.

The plugin does not include a bundled OpenAI key. This is important. Each site owner must use their own OpenAI API key for AI generation. The key is saved through the plugin’s License page and written into wp-config.php.

Also, social network app credentials and OAuth tokens are handled through the Xobytes Social Hub. That means normal customers do not need to paste Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn app secrets into their own WordPress site.

Step 1: Upload the Plugin to WordPress

First, log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.

Then go to Plugins → Add New.

Click Upload Plugin at the top of the page. Next, choose the Xobytes Social Autopilot plugin zip file from your computer.

After that, click Install Now.

Once WordPress finishes installing the plugin, click Activate Plugin.

After activation, you should see a new menu item in your WordPress admin called Xobytes Social.

Step 2: Open the Xobytes Social Dashboard

After the plugin is active, go to Xobytes Social → Dashboard.

This dashboard gives you a quick overview of the plugin. It shows the main areas you will use during setup.

These areas include:

License, Connections, Content Library, AI Generator, Schedules, Queue, Interactions, Logs, and Settings.

The dashboard is your starting point. However, before you generate or publish anything, you need to activate the license and save your AI key.

Step 3: Activate Your License Key

Next, go to Xobytes Social → License.

This page controls commercial access for the plugin.

Paste your license key into the license field. Then click Activate License.

After activation, the License page should show your license status, plan, max sites, site ID, last checked date, and any license message from the server.

This step matters because the plugin requires an active license before generating, scheduling, or publishing social posts.

If you need another license or want to browse related tools, visit the Xobytes shop.

Step 4: Save Your OpenAI API Key

The same License page also includes the AI setup area.

Look for the section called Customer AI API Key.

Paste your OpenAI API key into the OpenAI API Key field. Then keep the model as the default unless you know you want to change it. The default model is usually fine for most users.

Then click Save AI Key.

The plugin writes this key into your wp-config.php file. It does not save the OpenAI key inside normal WordPress options. This helps keep the key stored in a cleaner and more secure way.

If WordPress says wp-config.php is not writable, make it temporarily writable, save the key, and then lock the file back down.

For general information about WordPress plugin structure and best practices, the official WordPress Plugin Handbook is a helpful external resource.

Step 5: Connect Your Social Media Accounts

Now go to Xobytes Social → Connections.

This is where you connect the platforms you want the social media manager to use.

Current connection cards include:

Facebook Pages, Instagram, LinkedIn Publishing, and LinkedIn Comments.

Facebook Pages, Instagram, and LinkedIn Publishing can be connected for publishing. LinkedIn Comments is currently marked as Coming Soon. Once LinkedIn approves the needed API access, that feature can be connected later.

To connect a platform, click the connect button for that platform. The plugin sends you through the Xobytes Social Hub. You will log in to the social platform, approve the requested access, and return to your WordPress site.

After connecting, use Sync Hub Connections if needed. This pulls the connected account information back into your WordPress plugin.

Step 6: Configure Brand Settings

After your license, AI key, and social accounts are ready, go to Xobytes Social → Settings.

This page controls how the AI writes and how the automation behaves.

Start with the Brand Profile section.

Fill out details like:

Brand voice, target audience, primary offer, service areas or markets, default call to action, priority links, preferred keywords, banned words, hashtag style, emoji style, and link settings.

These settings help the AI write social posts that sound more like your business.

For example, a local contractor may want a helpful and professional tone. An ecommerce store may want a more exciting product-focused tone. A software company may want a clear and benefit-driven tone.

The better your brand settings are, the better your AI-generated posts will be.

Step 7: Set AI Content Rules

Next, review the Post Generation Rules section.

This area tells the AI what to do and what to avoid.

You can add instructions such as:

Be clear and helpful, mention the main benefit early, avoid spammy hype, do not make false claims, use current offers only when they are provided, and keep the post focused on the source content.

You can also add proof points, business notes, content angles, and handoff language.

This is important because AI works best when it has clear rules. Therefore, do not leave this section too generic if you want stronger results.

Step 8: Set Publishing Defaults

Now review the Publishing Defaults section.

This area controls automation behavior after content is scanned and posts are generated.

You can choose whether the plugin should:

Auto generate after scan, auto queue after generation, auto publish approved posts only, use a default timezone, limit posts per cron run, and delete old logs after a set number of days.

For most businesses, it is smart to start with approval turned on. That way, you can review generated social posts before they go live.

Once you trust your setup, you can use more autopilot features.

Step 9: Configure Interaction Settings

The Interactions section controls comment syncing and AI reply behavior.

You can choose whether interactions sync manually or automatically. You can also set the sync interval. For example, setting it to 60 means the plugin checks hourly.

You can also control:

AI reply mode, approval before replying, safe autopilot only, how many days to fetch, max interactions per sync, max AI replies per run, reply signature, reply voice, reply CTA rules, escalation keywords, never auto-reply keywords, and blocked topics.

This section is important because social replies can affect your business reputation.

A good starting setup is:

Use draft replies for review, require approval before replying, keep safe autopilot on, and add escalation keywords like refund, legal, angry, complaint, broken, unsafe, or emergency.

This helps the AI handle simple comments while holding sensitive issues for a real person.

Step 10: Scan Your WordPress Content

After settings are saved, go to Xobytes Social → Content Library.

This page lets you scan your WordPress content into the plugin’s reusable source library.

You can scan:

Posts, pages, WooCommerce products, and public custom post types.

The plugin can scan titles, content, SEO data, product details, taxonomies, media, featured images, attached images, videos, and other useful source information.

Click Scan Content Only if you only want to refresh the library.

Or use Easy Mode to scan, generate, and queue in one flow.

Step 11: Use Easy Mode

Easy Mode is the fastest way to use the social media manager by Xobytes.

On the Content Library page, look for Scan, Generate, and Queue in One Flow.

You can set:

Campaign name, number of sources to generate, scan limit, start date, start time, automation mode, and timezone.

Then click Scan + Generate + Queue.

This workflow scans your content, uses AI to create platform-specific social posts, and places them into the queue.

If you are new to the plugin, start with a small batch. For example, generate posts from 5 to 10 sources first. Then review the results before creating larger campaigns.

Step 12: Generate Posts Manually

You can also go to Xobytes Social → AI Generator.

This page is useful when you want more control.

You can generate platform-specific drafts from one content source. This is helpful when you want to promote a specific blog post, service page, or WooCommerce product.

The generator can create posts for the connected platforms and let you review the drafts before queueing them.

Use this when you want to fine-tune content instead of running a larger campaign.

Step 13: Create a Schedule

Next, go to Xobytes Social → Schedules.

Schedules control when generated posts are added to the publishing workflow.

You can build a campaign and queue posts based on your preferred date, time, and mode.

For example, you may want to publish one post each morning, promote products during the week, or push service pages during business hours.

A schedule helps keep your social media activity consistent.

Consistency is one of the biggest benefits of using an AI social media manager. It helps your business stay visible without needing to manually post every day.

Step 14: Review the Queue

Go to Xobytes Social → Queue.

This page is your publishing command center.

Here, you can review queued posts, approve items, and publish content according to the schedule.

If approval is required, make sure you approve the posts you want published. If you choose full autopilot mode, the plugin can publish approved content based on your automation rules.

Before going fully automated, review several generated posts. Make sure the tone, links, hashtags, calls to action, and images match your business.

Step 15: Use the Live Interaction Inbox

After posts are published, go to Xobytes Social → Interactions.

This page helps you manage comments, questions, approval items, failed replies, escalations, and AI-replied history.

Click Sync Now to pull in current interactions.

The Live Interaction Inbox is designed to stay clean. It hides zero-like and zero-comment summary rows. It also avoids pure like/reaction noise. Therefore, you only see items that may actually need attention.

You can generate AI reply drafts, review them, approve them, or let autopilot handle clean comments if your settings allow it.

Step 16: Check Logs When Needed

If something does not work as expected, go to Xobytes Social → Logs.

The Logs page can help you troubleshoot problems with licenses, connections, queue actions, publishing, interaction syncing, and API responses.

For example, if a platform does not connect correctly, check the logs after trying to connect. If a post does not publish, check the queue and logs together.

Logs make it easier to see what happened instead of guessing.

Recommended First-Time Setup

For a first-time setup, use this order:

Install and activate the plugin. Then activate the license. Next, save the OpenAI API key. After that, connect Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn Publishing. Then fill out the Settings page. Next, scan content. Then use Easy Mode with a small batch. Finally, review the Queue and publish approved posts.

This order gives you the cleanest setup path.

It also helps prevent common problems, such as trying to generate posts before saving an OpenAI key or trying to build a queue before connecting a platform.

Common Setup Mistakes to Avoid

Do not skip the license step. The plugin needs an active license before core actions can run.

Do not skip the OpenAI API key. AI generation will stay locked until the key is saved.

Do not expect LinkedIn Comments to connect yet. That feature is currently Coming Soon.

Do not start with full autopilot before reviewing output. First, check that your brand settings are correct.

Also, do not leave brand rules blank if you want strong AI content. The AI needs your voice, offers, markets, proof points, and content rules to create better posts.

Why Setup Matters

The social media manager by Xobytes is powerful because it connects several parts of your marketing workflow.

It uses your WordPress content as the source. It uses AI to create platform-specific captions. It uses connected accounts to publish. It uses schedules to stay consistent. Also, it uses the interaction inbox to help manage replies.

However, the setup matters.

When you configure the plugin correctly, it can save time and keep your social media active. When you add strong brand rules, it can write better posts. When you use approval workflows, you stay in control.

Final Thoughts

Xobytes Social Autopilot gives WordPress site owners a better way to manage social media promotion.

Instead of manually writing and posting every update, you can use the plugin to scan content, generate AI posts, build schedules, publish through connected accounts, and manage real interactions.

Start simple. Connect your accounts, scan a few posts, generate a small batch, and review the queue. Then improve your brand settings and automation rules over time.

With the right setup, the social media manager by Xobytes can turn your WordPress site into a smarter content promotion system.

To browse more tools, visit the Xobytes shop. For support and product information, visit Xobytes.