Personalizing Your Post Captions
Overview
When scheduling or editing a post in the calendar, you can personalize the caption in two ways: add a Your Context hook at the top of the post, or override the full caption for My Stream content. These fields let you add a personal touch to any post before it goes live.
Before You Start
- You need an Editor, Admin, or Owner role to edit scheduled posts.
- Caption edits can only be made before a post is published. Published posts cannot be modified.
Your Context
Your Context is a short personal hook that appears above the main caption in the published post. Use it to add a sentence or two explaining why you are sharing this content, a personal anecdote, or a call to action.
How to add Your Context
- Click a day on the Strategy Calendar (or open a post from your calendar).
- In the post scheduling form, find the Your Context field.
- Type your hook (up to 280 characters).
- Click Schedule or Save.
Your Context is prepended to the caption when the post is published. The final post reads: Your Context + Caption + Attribution + Disclaimer + Hashtags.
Your Context is available for all content types — Partner Library, My Stream, and video posts.
Caption Override (My Stream Only)
For content from your My Stream library, you can replace the entire caption with your own text. This is helpful when you want to repurpose a visual with a completely different message.
How to override a caption
- Click a day on the Strategy Calendar and select a My Stream post.
- In the post scheduling form, find the Caption field. For My Stream content, this field is editable.
- Clear the existing caption and type your replacement (up to 2,200 characters).
- Click Schedule or Save.
If you clear the Caption Override field entirely, the original source caption is restored.
Important: Caption Override is available only for My Stream content. Partner Library and video posts use their source captions, which cannot be fully replaced (use Your Context instead to add personalization).
Character Limits
| Field | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Your Context | 280 characters | Available for all content types |
| Caption Override | 2,200 characters | My Stream content only |
A character budget indicator in the scheduling form warns you when the full composed post (context + caption + attribution + disclaimer + hashtags) approaches platform limits, especially Instagram’s 2,200-character maximum.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Caption field is not editable | The post is from a Partner Library or video source, not My Stream | Use Your Context instead to add a personal hook above the source caption. |
| Changes did not save | Whitespace-only input is treated as empty and clears the field | Enter at least one visible character, then save. |
| Post is too long after publishing | The composed caption (context + caption + extras) exceeded the platform limit | Shorten Your Context or the caption. Watch the character budget indicator in the scheduling form. |
| Cannot edit a published post | Post has already been published | Caption edits are only available before publishing. To change a published post, delete and reschedule it. |
FAQ
Q: Where does Your Context appear in the final post?
A: Your Context appears at the very top of the caption, before the main body text.
Q: Can I use both Your Context and Caption Override on the same post?
A: Yes, for My Stream content. Your Context appears first, followed by the overridden caption.
Q: Does Caption Override carry over to other platforms?
A: No. Caption Override applies only to the specific post you are editing. If the same content is scheduled to multiple platforms, each platform copy can have its own caption.