Difference between revisions of "Connecting SailBlogs to Facebook"

Revision as of 10:24, 18 April 2011

There are two ways to enable SailBlogs information to appear in your Facebook profile, the SailBlogsLink application, and via the RSS feed.

The SailBlogsLink Application

SailBlogsLink is a Facebook application written specifically to connect the two systems. Using this app will be the most reliable way to insure your SailBlogs activity appears in your Facebook profile or fan page.

Installing the SailBlogsLink Application

To add the application, log into the SailBlogs administration for your blog, and on the main Welcome page click on the Connect with Facebook button in the upper right hand side of the page. This button also appears under the Facebook tab of the Profile & Account Manager. If you are not currently logged into Facebook, you'll be prompted to do so after clicking the button.

Grant the Requested Permissions

The SailBlogsLink application requires 4 sets of permissions in order to properly post information to your wall or page.

• Access My Basic Info

This is the baisc information in your facebook profile, like your name, your profile photo, and your Facebook account identifier. This is used so that SailBlogs can identify your Facebook profile and match it to your SailBlogs account. SailBlogs only saves your Facebook ID. No other personal info is stored.

• Post To My Wall

This is needed as the primary point of the SailBlogs application is to put links to your blog posts on your wall.

• Access My Data Any Time

This permission allows SailBlogs to post information to your Facebook wall even if you are not currently logged into Facebook on the same system. This is needed for users sending in posts via email in particular, but is also useful in other situations where you may be able to add a blog post but not connect to Facebook.

• Manage My Pages

This is required for advanced users who may have other fan pages in Facebook. Examples of this might be someone who has a fan page for thier boat, a professional that has a celebrity fan page in addition to a personal page, or a company site. This allows the SailBlogs system to post on a wall of one of the pages rather than their personal profile page.

After accepting the permissions, the application will be installed.

Options

There are currently two options for the SailBlogsLink application, and these can be changed in the Facebook tab of the Account & Profile Manager.

• Automatically Send Remote Posts to Wall

The option is ON by default. Remote posts will automatically be linked to your Facebook wall without additional intervention.

• Send Info to a Page

If you are the administrator of one or more Facebook Fan pages, this option allows you to redirect the wall posts from your personal profile to that of the selected fan page.

Usage

After installing the application, just add blog posts as you normally would. If using the standard web admin system, a new option appears at the bottom of the blog post form: Send to Facebook Wall. Checking this box will post a link to your blog on your Facebook wall. Unchecking it will not put this link on your wall.

Remote posts will be posted to the Facebook wall based on the option setting (see above).

Removing the SailBlogsLink Application

To remove the application, follow these steps:

• Log into Facebook
• From the Account menu at the upper right of the page header, select Privacy Settings
• At the bottom of the Privacy Setting window is a section for Apps and Websites - click the Edit your settings link
• In the Apps You Use section, click the Edit Settings button
• Find SailBlogsLink in the list, and click the X at the right end of the row to remove the app.

Troubleshooting & Resetting the Connection

Sometimes the connection between SailBlogs and Facebook becomes invalid, even though the App is still installed. Usually this is because the Facebook Authentication Token stored in the SailBlogs system is invalidated. This can happen for a number of reasons, including permissions or privacy changes or changes by Facebook to their system.

To reset the connection, go to the Facebook tab of the Profile & Account Manager. At the very bottom there is a link to Reset the Facebook Connection. Click that link to remove the currently stored information. You'll then notice that the system now has a button to "Connect to Facebook". Clicking that button will now re-establish the link to Facebook and store updated information.

RSS Feed Link

If you would like your posts to display as "Notes" in your Facebook profile, you can configure your Facebook account to pull your posts via your SailBlogs RSS Feed. To enable this, follow these steps:

Requirements

• Be sure that your blog's RSS Feed is enabled. This is set in your Blog Properties.

Get the RSS URL from your SailBlog

On your blog main page, there is an RSS link if you have RSS enabled (its on by default). The link looks a little different depending on the template, but its usually an orange icon. Right click on the link and save the link location. This is the address of your RSS feed and provides the connection to Facebook:

Log Into Facebook

Log into your Facebook account, and from the Account menu in the upper-right of the header, select the Application Settings option. In the Application list, click on the Notes application (click the application name, not the Edit Settings link).

Configure the Notes Application

Clicking on the Notes application will bring up the main notes page. This page shows your recent notes and the recent notes from your friends. To the left of the notes listing under your profile photo is the Edit Import Settings link.

Import Settings

In the field for web URL, enter the link to the RSS Feed you copied in the first step. Check the box for Facebook permission to post the info.

Click the Start Importing button.

Removing the RSS Feed Link

Follow the above steps, but in the final screen for Import Settings will be a Stop Importing button.