Facebook integration: pages and public groups

Facebook remains the place where a lot of local and regional communication actually happens. Works pages, regional branches, plant-level pages and public interest groups often publish there first and nowhere else.

This integration watches one public page, profile or group and turns its posts into cards. It is also the social source that needs the most monitoring, because Facebook changes what it allows more often than the others.

Public is the whole requirement

Only what a visitor without a Facebook account can see can be imported. Private profiles and closed groups cannot be connected, and there is no setting that changes that.

Check it before you set anything up. Open the page in a private browsing window, logged out. What you see there is what the integration can read. If you get a login prompt instead of posts, that source is out of reach.

This one check prevents most setup errors on this integration.

Which kind of source you have

Groups are worth a thought. On many topics the group is where the real conversation is, and the page is where the announcements are. A group produces more posts, from more people, with more variation in quality. That is an argument for leaving auto-publish off rather than an argument against connecting it.

What a Facebook post becomes

Facebook posts vary more than any other source in this list, and the card shows it.

• A post with a link and a preview image makes a good card. Title, text, picture, tap through.

• A post with a photo and a caption makes a decent card, carried by the image.

• A one-line status update makes a thin card. There is little for a card to show and no setting fixes it.

If a page you are connecting posts mostly one-liners, expect a mix of thin cards. The realistic options are to leave auto-publish off and let an editor skip the weak ones, or to connect a different source.

Where this integration is used well

• Regional and plant-level pages. Head office publishes on the intranet, the site publishes on Facebook. Connecting the page puts both in the same feed for people who read only one of them.

• Works council and staff association pages. Where those publish publicly, employees who avoid Facebook still see the posts. Check Works council for the consultation questions that come with employee-facing feeds.

• Public interest groups a community follows. For a news or fan app, a well-run local group is a genuine source.

• Archiving your own page. Posts that would scroll away sit in a mix instead, searchable and taggable.

Expect to check this one

Facebook changes access rules more often than any other platform in this list. The practical consequences:

• An integration that has worked for months can go to Error without anything changing on your side.

• Errors are silent. Nothing notifies you, so someone has to look.

• After any Facebook policy change you hear about, the integrations list is worth a glance.

Put a weekly look at the status list into someone's routine. For a Facebook source you genuinely depend on, ask us to set up an email alert on that integration.

When Facebook breaks it

Error immediately after setup. Almost always publicness. Repeat the logged-out check in a private window.

Error on a source that worked for months. Either the page changed its visibility or Facebook changed what it serves. Confirm with the logged-out check, then contact us if the page is genuinely public.

Nothing arrives, status Active. The page has not posted since setup. Check the page's own newest post date first.

Cards have no image. Text-only posts carry no image. Nothing to configure.

A group flooded the mix. Active groups post more than pages do. Move the group to its own mix, which means a new integration since the mix is fixed after creation.

A post was deleted on Facebook and the card still exists. Cards do not disappear when the source item does. Delete the card by hand. Worth a spot check on sources you do not own.

What customers ask about Facebook

Can I connect a private group I administer? No. Administering it does not make it readable without an account.

Can I connect Facebook comments or reactions? No. Posts come across. Discussion stays on Facebook. Conversation inside your app happens on the tchop card itself.

Can I connect a page I do not own? Technically yes, if it is public. Whether you may republish what it posts is a rights question you settle before you connect it.

Can I connect a page and a group to the same mix? Yes, as two integrations pointing at the same mix.

How fast do posts appear? Within about half an hour, the same as every other source type.

Does deleting the integration remove the cards? No. The sync stops and the cards stay.

Do the public check first

Do the logged-out check, decide page or group, and be honest about the posting style of the source. A page that posts links and photos is worth automating. A page that posts one-liners is worth curating by hand.

For mix, name, backfill and auto-publish, see How integrations work.