What is the PostSnag panel?

The PostSnag panel is the window that opens on top of Facebook and shows you what PostSnag is capturing as you scroll, along with live analytics on everything you've collected from the current profile.

The panel is a PostSnag interface built directly into the Facebook page: a small floating button that expands into the full panel. It is not Chrome's built-in side panel feature, so browser settings that control Chrome's native side panel have no effect on it, and there's nothing to enable in Chrome itself beyond having PostSnag installed.

How to open the panel

1. Go to a facebook.com tab and make sure you're signed into Facebook.

2. Click the PostSnag icon in your browser toolbar, or the floating PostSnag button in the corner of the page.

3. If you're signed into PostSnag already, the panel opens straight to its main view. If not, it opens to a sign-in screen headed "Welcome Back to PostSnag."

4. After you sign in, a short "Setting things up..." screen appears for a couple of seconds while PostSnag prepares your library, then the main panel loads.

If you're signed out of PostSnag, or you're on a tab that isn't Facebook, clicking the toolbar icon opens a small popup instead of the panel, with sign-in and an Open Dashboard button. Navigate to a Facebook profile and click the icon again to reach the full panel. See Why does the PostSnag icon open a small popup instead of the panel?

[Screenshot: The floating PostSnag button on a Facebook page, and the same button expanded into the full panel]

What's in the panel

Capture status

• Collected, a running count of posts captured from the current profile.

• Scanning Profile, showing the profile's name or username directly underneath (or "Profile" plus a number, for a numeric profile.php URL), with a hint to scroll down to collect more posts.

• A status pill that reads Capturing, with a pulsing dot, while a post is being processed, and Synced once a capture pass has settled.

Free plan notices

Two notices can appear above the export button if you're on the Free plan:
- "You've used all 3 free scans this week." appears once you've hit your weekly scan limit, with a "Go Pro for unlimited scans" link.
- "Your free plan saved the first 30 posts of this profile." appears when a capture's post cap has been applied to an otherwise successful export, with a "Go Pro to keep every post" link.

Neither notice appears on Pro or Lifetime.

Export To Dashboard

The button that sends everything you've captured to your PostSnag dashboard. It reads Sign Up To Export if you're not signed in yet, prompting you to create a free account before it sends anything anywhere.

Analytics

Once a profile has captured posts, the panel adds five sections built from what you've captured so far, even before you export:

• Engagement: total likes, comments, and shares, plus the average per post, across the date range of what you've captured.

• Post Types: a donut chart showing the mix of text, photo, video, reel, album, and link posts.

• Engagement Composition: a tab per post type, showing how likes, comments, and shares split within that type.

• Top Performing Posts: the top 3 posts, ranked by a weighted score that counts a comment 4 times and a share 3 times against a single like, so a highly-commented post can outrank a merely well-liked one.

• Posts by Day of Week: a bar chart of which day of the week posts were originally published on, not the day you captured them, with the busiest day highlighted.

Theme and close

A light and dark theme toggle and a close button sit in the panel's header.

What the panel doesn't do

The panel has no content ideas feature and no manual filters. Its only controls are the theme toggle, sign-in, and the export button. Filtering, searching, and sorting your captured posts all happen on the dashboard after you export, not in the panel itself. See What's in the PostSnag dashboard? (Overview).

Before you've captured anything

The panel shows one of two messages depending on where you are:
- "Open a Facebook profile to start grabbing", if no profile page is open.
- "No posts captured yet. Scroll the profile and posts will appear here as they come into view", if you're on a profile but haven't scrolled yet.

Common questions

Is the PostSnag panel the same as Chrome's side panel?
No. It's a PostSnag interface injected into the Facebook page itself, not Chrome's built-in side panel feature. Chrome's side panel settings don't affect it.

Why does the panel show a free-plan notice?
It's telling you a Free plan limit applies: either your weekly scan limit or a profile's 30-post cap. Both clear on a paid plan.

Can I filter or sort which posts the panel captures?
No. The panel captures posts as you scroll; filtering, searching, and sorting your captured posts happen on the dashboard after you export.

Does the panel show analytics before I export to the dashboard?
Yes. The Engagement, Post Types, and other analytics sections build from what you've captured locally, even before you click Export To Dashboard.

Why does the panel briefly show the wrong profile when I switch pages?
The panel is built to keep showing useful information rather than going blank the instant you navigate, so there's a short handoff moment when you move to a new profile. It updates automatically within a moment; refresh the tab if it doesn't.