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Planning · Guide 17

Run a weekly series

Give a recurring post a name, a day and a format. Every episode is numbered, the number is earned on export, and your week plans itself around it.

~2 minutesAny planYou need: a brand kitResult: a series that numbers itself
SERIES
What you set once
1a name worth returning for
2a day of the week
3one locked format
What happens after
1Tuesday is yours
2same look each week
3#12 on export
4a reason to come back
FIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.A series is the onlypost people expect.Everything else here helps youmake one post. This is the onethat makes next week easier.
A brand kit
~2 minutes
Up to 3 per kit

Do it in 5 steps

1

Open the brand kit

A series belongs to the kit, not to you — an agency running three clients gets three sets, and they never mix. You can have up to three per kit, which is about the point where "a series" becomes "your whole feed".

Name your series…FIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Step 1not made yet
2

Give it a name people will recognise

Field Notes. Tuesday Tips. Friday Fixes. The name goes on the slide as the eyebrow, so it should read like something somebody could come back for rather than a category label.

Field NotesFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Step 2not made yet
3

Pick a day and a format

The day puts it on your week plan automatically — that slot stops being drawn from the idea engine and becomes yours. The format locks so every episode looks like the last one, which is the entire point of a series.

Field NotesTUESDAYTIPSFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Step 3not made yet
4

Make the posts as usual

When you generate on the series day, the post joins the series. The topic still comes from you or from the idea engine: a series is a slot and a rhythm, not a content plan.

Field NotesTUESDAYTIPSFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Step 4generated, not yet numbered
5

The number appears when you export

Episode numbers are earned on export, never on generate. Three drafts you abandoned do not burn three numbers, and a file you have already downloaded can never show the wrong one — the export writes the eyebrow from the number it actually stamped.

Field NotesTUESDAYTIPSFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Step 5exported — #12 is stamped on

Why the number works the way it does

Small decisions that stop a numbered series embarrassing you later.

Drafts do not consume numbers

Generate five attempts and export one, and that one is episode 12. Numbering on generate would mean every discarded draft left a hole, and your audience would see #12 follow #8.

EXPORTFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.FIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.FIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Two discarded, one exported. The run reads 11, 12, 13.

A downloaded file keeps its number

Rename the series or reorder it a year later and the posts you already published do not change. The number is written onto the post, not looked up from the series.

STALEFIELD NOTES · #12Check yourflashing.Rename the seriesa year later →this file still says #12.

It takes the slot on your week

Set "Field Notes, Tuesdays" and Tuesday stops being whatever the idea engine drew. A series on a day outside your cadence simply does not appear — switching to five days a week is your decision, not ours.

DAYMONidea engineTUEField NotesWEDidea engineThe series takes the slot. The topic still comes from you.
TIP
A series is the reason to come back Most of what a social tool does helps you make one post. A named series is the thing that makes next week easier than this one — and it is the only format your audience can anticipate. See Guide 11 · Plan your month on a calendar.

A feed with a rhythm

Eleven unrelated posts, or three threads somebody can follow.

Eleven unrelated posts

All on brand, and nothing to follow. Every post starts the relationship again.

Three threads somebody can follow
#10#11#12

The numbered ones are a run. Somebody who liked #10 knows what Tuesday brings.

Common questions

How many series can I have?+
Three per brand kit. Past that you do not have a series, you have a schedule.
What happens if I skip a week?+
Nothing. The next export is the next number. There are no streaks here and nothing scolds you.
Can I change the name later?+
Yes, and posts you already exported keep the name they were exported with. Only future episodes use the new one.
Can I set the episode number by hand?+
No. The count is derived from exports, which is what stops it drifting from reality.
Does the series day work with a three-day week?+
If the day is in your cadence, yes. A Tuesday series on a Mon/Wed/Fri plan does not appear until you switch to five days.

Give the weekly post a name.

Free to start · three series per kit · numbered on export.

Open my brand kit →

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