# Post score

> A health check on every draft, per network, with what to fix.

Open **Post score** in the composer's right rail for a check of how well the post is written for each network it's
going to, with a checklist of what to fix.

The score never stops a post publishing. Hard limits, like text over a network's maximum, are
[issues](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/composer/overview#issues-and-score) instead.

## Grades

| Grade          | Score     |
| -------------- | --------- |
| **Excellent**  | 90 and up |
| **Good**       | 75 to 89  |
| **Fair**       | 50 to 74  |
| **Needs work** | Under 50  |

Each channel gets its own grade, and the post's is the average. A leftover placeholder (like `[thing]` or `TODO`) or
a suspicious link keeps a channel at **Needs work**, however good the rest is.

## What it checks

- **Hook**: whether the opening line gives people a reason to keep reading.
- **Length**: against each network's sweet spot, not just its maximum.
- **Readability**: long sentences and walls of text.
- **Spelling slips**: common misspellings and phrases that are wrong in any context.
- **Placeholders**: brackets, `TODO`s and template text left in.
- **AI-writing tells**: phrases that make a post read as machine-written.
- **Call to action**: whether the post asks the reader to do something.
- **Engagement bait**: "comment YES if…" and the like, on the networks that demote it (Facebook, Instagram, Threads,
  LinkedIn and TikTok).
- **Hashtags**: too many, or too few, for the network.
- **Mentions**: handles that don't look right.
- **Link placement**: a link in the post body where the network penalises it, and whether a first comment would
  serve better.
- **Link safety**: look-alike domains, such as a brand name one letter off.
- **Link tracking**: whether your links carry your [tracking parameters](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/composer/links#link-tracking).
- **Link card**: whether a link's preview has an image.
- **Visuals and alt text**: posts with an image or video, and images with a description.
- **Posting time**: against the network's typical best times.
- **Brand voice**: your [brand voice](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/workspace/brand-voice) rules, such as banned phrases.

Checks that pass quietly, like having no typos, don't earn points on their own; they only count against a post when
they find something. Each item says what to do ("Add at least 49 characters", "Remove 3 hashtags") and why it
matters on that network.

## Where the ranges come from

The ideal lengths, hashtag counts and link rules come from each network's published guidance, such as Instagram's
five-hashtag cap, LinkedIn's preference for posts of 1,200 to 2,000 characters, and X's open-sourced ranking weights.
They aren't your own analytics, so treat them as a starting point. [Analytics](https://orbitwrite.com/docs/guides/analytics/overview) tells you
what works for your audience.

## Find low-scoring posts

The schedule and planner can filter by grade, so you can find every scheduled post that still **Needs work** before
it goes out.