# Understanding Sources

{% embed url="<https://youtu.be/_D7VuqVWL88>" %}

Sources are the raw materials you use to generate social media post drafts. Add a YouTube video, article, or PDF as a source, then Blotato uses AI to remix that content into post drafts for each platform.

Sources and drafts are different:

* **Sources** = raw materials (videos, articles, PDFs, text) stored locally in your browser
* **Drafts** = social media posts generated from sources, saved to Blotato's database

Here's a step-by-step guide to using sources effectively in Blotato:

## Sources Supported

Click "+ Add Source" in the top-left corner of the "Remix" screen.

To generate rich well-researched posts, focus on the QUALITY of each source!

Here are all the sources currently supported by Blotato:

* **Text Sources:** Copy and paste any relevant text from articles, notes, or documents.
* **Articles & Websites:** Input the website URL and Blotato will extract the text content.
* **YouTube & TikTok:** Simply add a link, and Blotato will extract the transcript. The video must have captions (subtitles) for transcript extraction to work. If a video has no captions, copy-paste the content as a Text source instead.
* **Audio, Podcasts, & Meeting Recordings:** Upload audio files to extract useful content.
* **PDFs:** Upload PDF documents, ebooks, research papers, case studies, etc.
* **Perplexity AI:** Research any topic by using Perplexity's AI-powered real-time web search.

> :bulb: The quality of your sources directly affects your final output — use reliable, well-structured sources for the best results. Garbage In, Garbage Out.

> :warning: Sources are stored locally in your browser and are NOT saved across devices. If you switch from laptop to phone, your sources will not transfer over.

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## Toggling Sources On/Off

Once you've added sources, toggle them on or off based on relevance. Only the toggled-on posts will be used when you generate a new post or re-generate an existing post.

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🚀 Pro Tip: If you're overwhelmed adding sources, start by adding ONE high-quality source. I personally don't often use more than 2-3 sources. A SINGLE high-quality source of information can be used to generate many diverse posts.

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## Workaround for Paywalled or Inaccessible Websites

Blotato can only extract the visible text from websites that are publicly accessible. Paid articles are not supported.

Here's a workaround if adding the website URL does NOT work:

* Manually copy and paste the website's text.
* Add it as a "Text" source.

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## Research Any Topic with Perplexity AI

If you're not sure what sources to use, let Perplexity do the research for you!

:point\_right: Add "Perplexity" as a source.

🔍 Type any prompt (e.g., “latest AI trends”)

📜 Blotato uses Perplexity AI to research the web.

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## Custom Instructions to Pre-process Each Source

"Custom Instructions" allow you to apply a prompt to each source before generating your final content.

When using multiple sources, custom instructions helps AI prioritize key information – ensuring only the most impactful data, statistics, or insights are used to write your posts.

<figure><img src="https://2374509648-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FevfU9S4Nh53PiGflQLah%2Fuploads%2FNLbkYEAvSo7FBGzArncp%2FScreenshot%202025-02-22%20at%202.33.18%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=206739f9-5270-4fbe-86fc-ec03a293b446" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Example: if you're using a long Youtube video as a source, a custom instruction like *“Extract the top three takeaways”* ensures the post remains concise and valuable.

If you have multiple sources, I highly recommend using custom instructions. They lead to **higher-quality content by instructing AI to focus on what's important.**

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## Examples of Custom Instructions

Here are some examples of custom instructions.

| Purpose                        | Custom Instruction                                                                             |
| ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Extract Main Content Only      | Ignore sidebars, ads, and navigation menus; extract only the core article or video transcript. |
| Summarize Key Points           | Generate a concise bullet-point summary of the most important insights from the source.        |
| Highlight Actionable Tips      | Identify and list any actionable tips or strategies mentioned in the content.                  |
| Emphasize Quotes               | Extract and highlight impactful quotes, ensuring they’re clearly formatted and attributed      |
| Conversational Rewrite         | Rephrase the source material in a friendly, conversational tone suitable for social media.     |
| Create a Step-by-Step Guide    | Break down the content into a simple, numbered process or checklist.                           |
| Focus on Data-Driven Insights  | Prioritize statistical data and research findings.                                             |
| Format for Readability         | Reformat the content into short, digestible paragraphs with subheadings where applicable.      |
| Identify Trends and Patterns   | Highlight any emerging trends or recurring themes mentioned in the source.                     |
| Generate FAQs                  | Based on the content, produce a list of potential FAQs with brief answers.                     |
| Extract Problem/Solution Pairs | Identify any problem statements and their corresponding solutions, listing them side-by-side.  |
| Focus on Expert Opinions       | Extract and emphasize expert opinions, including any credentials or references.                |
| Emphasize Urgency              | Highlight any points that suggest urgency or immediate action, framing them as timely advice.  |
| Data Exctraction               | Extract only the most shocking facts and numerical data.                                       |