Hey there, need some help?

Help Center › Managing Signals › Creating Your First Signal

Creating Your First Signal

Signals are the heart of ThreadSignals. They let you track specific keywords and conversations across Reddit (and future platforms) to uncover real buying intent.

Creating your first Signal only takes a few minutes—and gives you complete control over which topics, groups, and keywords you want to monitor.

Step 1: Open the Signal Setup Panel

After signing in, you’ll land on the Signals page.
Click the “Create Signal” button in the top-right corner to open the Signal Setup Panel.

From here, you’ll fill out a few fields to define what your Signal should look for.

Step 2: Choose Your Platform

Currently, ThreadSignals supports Reddit as the primary platform, with Quora and other sources coming soon.

Select Reddit to proceed.

Step 3: Select a Category

Next, choose a Category to narrow your search.
Categories help you focus on the right audiences (for example, Business & Finance, Technology, Lifestyle, etc.).

Each category includes multiple groups (subreddits) related to that topic.

Step 4: Pick Your Groups

Within your chosen category, select the subreddits you want to target. Each subreddit shows its member count, giving you a quick idea of group size and activity level.

You can choose multiple groups per Signal depending on your plan.

Step 5: Add Your Keywords

Keywords determine which posts your Signal will collect.

Type in phrases your target audience might use when looking for help, advice, or recommendations.
Examples:

“marketing help”
“accounting software”
“logo designer”

Each plan has a limit on the number of keywords per Signal (e.g., 2 for Launchpad, 3 for Takeoff, 5 for Ascent).

Step 6: Set Your Max Credits Per Run

This slider controls how many posts your Signal can pull in each run.

Setting a limit gives you control over credit usage—you’ll only be charged for the number of posts actually retrieved.

Step 7: Choose How Your Signal Runs

You have two options for running your Signal:

Manual Run (All Three plans)
You control when it runs by clicking the “Run” button after creation.
Scheduled Run (Takeoff & Ascent)
Choose a specific time, and ThreadSignals will automatically run your Signal every 24 hours (PST).
Once active, scheduled Signals appear as “Scheduled” in your Signal list.
- To stop it, click “Pause.”
- To restart, click “Resume.”

Step 8: Create and Run

When everything looks good, click “Create Signal.”
Your new Signal will appear at the top of your Signals list.

If it’s manual, click “Run.”
A confirmation box will appear—click Continue to start the search.
If it’s scheduled, it will automatically begin running at your chosen time.

Signals usually take just a few seconds to complete.