Facebook connections in the Feeds module

Displaying Facebook page posts in the Feeds module requires connecting a personal Facebook account that has admin access to the school's Facebook page. The connection lasts two months before expiring and must be refreshed, as required by Meta. This article covers new connections, best practices, and refreshing expired connections.

To display posts from the @YourSchool Facebook page in the Feeds module, you can connect a personal Facebook account that has admin access to the @YourSchool page.

This article will show you how to make connections between Facebook and Finalsite's Feeds module.

In this article

• How does it work?
• What do I need to do? 
• Step 1: Connect a personal Facebook account in feeds
  • Connect a NEW Facebook account in the Feeds module
  • Best Practice: Set a two month reminder! 
  • Refresh an EXPIRED Facebook connection in the Feeds module
• Step 2: Add the Facebook page as a source on the Feeds dashboard
• Additional information

How does it work?

Connecting a personal Facebook account that has admin access to the @YourSchool page allows posts from the official school page to show up in Feeds.

What do I need to do? 

• Connect a Facebook account in Feeds (Step 1).
• If you’re not already a manager of the page, someone who is a manager needs to add you. This can be done by visiting the Pages section on Facebook.
• The connection lasts for two months and then needs to be refreshed to keep showing new posts, as required by Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
• Once connected, you can add the Facebook page as a source (Step 2) back on the Feeds dashboard. NOTE: This step is only for new connections. Expired sources will exist in Feeds but show as deactivated.

Now let's break this down a bit more so that you can follow along. 

Step 1: Connect a personal Facebook account in feeds

• To load posts into the Feeds module from the @YourSchool Facebook page, you must first connect a personal Facebook account in Feeds that has admin access to the @YourSchool page.

• If you're not a manager of a Facebook page you want to display, an existing manager must add you within Facebook. Any manager level (admin, editor, moderator, etc.) will suffice.
• They can do it at https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/pages (must be logged in to Facebook for this page to load and redirect you to the "Pages you manage" section.
• If you are displaying posts in the Feeds module from the @YourSchool Facebook page, you must connect a personal Facebook account to Feeds that has manager access to @YourSchool.

Connect a NEW Facebook account in the Feeds module

1. In Composer, open the Feeds module from the left side modules menu. Feeds will open in a popup window and take you to the feed for your school. Click the X and you'll arrive back at the dashboard.
   
2. From the Feeds dashboard, go to the "Connected Accounts" page, which you can find in the hamburger menu in the top right of the Feeds window.
   
   
   
3. On the Connected Accounts screen, check whether a connection is currently listed for Facebook.
4. If there is not a connection listed, click the red "+" icon. You should be forwarded to a Facebook screen. Enter the login details for a Facebook account that is an admin of any Facebook pages you will want to add as sources in Feeds. Next, you will be asked to grant the Juicer app access to your Facebook account.
   
   
   

   Important Note

   When granting the Juicer app access to your Facebook pages, please make sure the options for "Read content posted on the Page" and "Read user content on your Page" are both clicked to the blue, which allows the page to be accessed for that content.

5. Once you've granted the Juicer app access on the Facebook screen, it should return you to the Feeds screen after a few moments. When you have successfully made the connection, it should show your Facebook account name and a "valid until" message for two months in the future.
   
   
   The connection by itself does NOT automatically load the Facebook posts into Feeds. You must now return to the Feeds dashboard, click the name of your feed, and then add the Facebook source.

Refresh an EXPIRED Facebook connection in the Feeds module

If your Facebook sources have stopped syncing, then you will see a red warning symbol next to the source name in Feeds. The source deactivation usually happens due to an expired Facebook connection.

1. If you have a deactivated Facebook source, click the red "Fix Now!" button in the Feeds window.
   
   
   
2. Proceed to the Inspect screen, where you'll see a list of sources along with any error explanations. For Facebook, you should see your existing name as the connection and a red warning symbol. Click the "Refresh your Facebook connection" button. 
   
   
   
3. Login to Facebook and then reauthorize the Juicer app access to the Facebook account.
   
   
   
4. You should then return to the Inspect screen in Feeds and see a green checkmark for a valid Facebook connection and source. The Facebook source may not refresh the latest posts until the next sync of your Feeds ID, but should do so at that time.

Step 2: Add the Facebook page as a source on the Feeds dashboard

After successfully connecting the account, you can add the Facebook page as a source on the Feeds dashboard.

Additional information

• The connection is a requirement from Meta and lasts for two months at a time, at which point it expires and needs to be refreshed. Create an alert on your calendar to reconnect your feed at that time.
• Since the Facebook connection requires username and password, Finalsite can not login to your account on your behalf. You will be responsible for configuring the Facebook/Meta settings as necessary.
• At this time, we can only connect one Facebook account in the "Connected Accounts" page of the Feeds module. If your school or district has multiple Facebook pages, it is easiest for one person who is a central admin on all those Facebook pages to make the single connection in the Feeds module. After making the connection, the user can return to the Feeds dashboard and add the multiple Facebook page sources to Feeds.
• If you have different admins for different Facebook pages, then an admin from each Facebook page will need to connect the relevant account in Feeds via their Composer login (Step 1). After doing so, they can add the relevant Facebook page source on the Feeds dashboard (Step 2).
• Users within an organization can only see the connections made from their own account. We do not have a way to show all connections made by all users across an organization. However, sources added to Feeds do work across an organization.