Time periods
This lesson covers the second way to define when posts are published. Instead of setting specific times, this mode lets you create flexible time ranges that still give structure to your content schedule.
In the current Fedica interface, this is labeled "Hours" — which doesn't quite reflect what the feature does. I’ll refer to it here as Time Periods, since that’s closer to how it actually works.
Why "Hours" doesn't work
The label "Hours" makes it sound like you're defining office hours, or time restrictions. But you're really setting a rhythm: how many posts per day, and when they should go out.
The goal here is to offer flexibility without losing structure. That means the interface should make it easy to:
- Add and edit time periods
- Avoid overwhelming people
- Understand how the schedule will behave
From checkboxes to time blocks
The old UI shows a grid with 24 checkboxes per day. You can select an hour, or mark an entire day as active. But that setup isn’t very flexible.
In the updated version, you can create one or more custom time ranges for each day. Want posts to go out between 9–11am, and again from 2–5pm? Just mark those blocks.
This isn’t about reducing the number of possible time slots — in fact, the new version can create even more. But it does so in a way that’s easier to read and control.
Interface improvements
There are a few smaller things in the interface that are worth rethinking together:
Input field without label: There’s a text field for naming the schedule, but it has no label. As we already know it is considered a bad practice.
Timezone selection: In the original version there are only four timezone options: All, Americas, Europe & MEA, Asia & AUS. Since there are so few, there's no need for a dropdown — they can be displayed as pill buttons right in the interface.
How it works
To create a new time period schedule:
- Choose a timezone
- Enter the number of posts per day
- Draw one or more time blocks on the weekly calendar
- Name the schedule
- Save it
This schedule can then be assigned to pipelines.
What this feature isn’t
This isn’t the same as assigning fixed times — that’s covered in the Exact Time lesson.
It also doesn’t include analytics like green “best time to post” indicators. Those will appear later in the data visualization module.
Summary
- The label "Hours" is being replaced with Time Periods
- Instead of fixed times defined by checkboxes we can now set flexible time periods
- Timezone selection is simple and visible
This setup gives more flexibility, but keeps the interaction lightweight. You’re still setting rules — just in a way that adapts better to real-world publishing.