However, the Facebook post automation is much more complicated than the relative process for Twitter. This is not a surprise, as Facebook itself is much more complicated than Twitter. For example, except of a Facebook Personal Profile, you may have Fan Pages or Business Pages.
A significant difference is that Twitter Access Tokens
will never expire (according to current Twitter policy), while Facebook Access Tokens will expire in 60 days.
Share a Link to Facebook using PHP
Here is the code you need to share a link to Facebook using PHP. With small changes you can use this code to post just a message (without link), or to upload a photo in a Facebook album.
Also, with small changes you can use this code to post either to your Facebook Profile or your Fan Pages or Business Pages.
Detailed instructions are provided below in this post.
The following PHP script can be invoked from command line (or Cron) or from your browser.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
|
<?php
require_once("/YOUR_PATH_TO/facebook_php_sdk/facebook.php");
$config = array();
$config['appId'] = 'YOUR_APP_ID';
$config['secret'] = 'YOUR_APP_SECRET';
$config['fileUpload'] = false;
$fb = new Facebook($config);
$params = array(
"access_token" => "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN",
"message" => "Here is a blog post about auto posting on Facebook using PHP #php #facebook",
"name" => "How to Auto Post on Facebook with PHP",
"caption" => "www.pontikis.net",
"description" => "Automatically post on Facebook with PHP using Facebook PHP SDK. How to create a Facebook app. Obtain and extend Facebook access tokens. Cron automation."
);
try {
$ret = $fb->api('/YOUR_FACEBOOK_ID/feed', 'POST', $params);
echo 'Successfully posted to Facebook';
} catch(Exception $e) {
echo $e->getMessage();
}
?>
|
From the above code, it is obvious that
- you have to use Facebook PHP SDK (line 4)
- you have to create a Facebook app in order to use Facebook API (line 9,10)
- you have to get an Access Token, so your app can be post on your behalf (line 17)
- you have to renew Access Token after expiration (about 60 days)
- you have to get your Facebook id, either for your Personal Profile or for your Fan Pages or Business Pages (line 29)
All these steps are described below. I use a demo app (Demo_auto_post_php) without hiding "sensitive" information like app secret, access tokens etc. The reason is to make the whole process more understandable. Of course, all these "sensitive" data is not valid. This app (Demo_auto_post_php) created just for demo purposes and it has been deleted.
Get Facebook PHP SDK
Actually, you need three files (under folder src)
- facebook.php (the main class)
- base_facebook.php (other classes)
- fb_ca_chain_bundle.crt (SSL certificate)
Get and put them in the same directory (for example facebook_php_sdk ).
Facebook PHP SDK (v.3.2.2) Requirements
How to Create a Facebook app
(click the thumb for full image)
Step 2 - Your new Facebook app is just created
Your Facebook app credentials are now available: App ID and App Secret.
(click the thumb for full image)
Step 3 - Disable Sandbox mode and set Canvas URL. Then press "Save changes"
Disable Sandbox mode, so your app will become live (visible to all users).
Click on "App on Facebook" tab and set Canvas URL. I set Canvas URL to "http://localhost/fb-tokens" (andSecure Canvas URL to "https://localhost/fb-tokens"). This is the (local) URL where Facebook will use to redirect some results you need. Of course, you can use any URL you prefer. Please, see below (How to Get Facebook Access Token STEP 1 - create the redirect_uri page) for details.
(click the thumb for full image)
Please, note, that, you need a Personal Facebook account in order to create a Facebook app. Then, you can obtain Access Tokens for your Fan or Business Pages. In case you have only a Business Page (without a Personal Facebook profile), you cannot automate post procedure using a Facebook app. In this case you have to create a Personal Profile and then assign you as Admin to Business Page.
How to Get Facebook Access Token
STEP 1 - create the redirect_uri page
First, create a simple php script in your local web server, which has the Canvas URL (redirect_uri) you set creating your Facebook App in STEP 3. I set this URL to http://localhost/fb-tokens/. My local web serverDocumentRoot is /srv/http, so:
1
2
|
mkdir /srv/http/fb-tokens
nano /srv/http/fb-tokens/index.php
|
Put the following code.
STEP 2 - authorize your app (give permissions)
On your browser, give the following url, where client_id is App ID and redirect_uri is the URL defined as Canvas URL
The part &scope=manage_pages,publish_stream of this URL defines thw permissions you will assign to your app.
Read about Facebook permissions:
- an introduction here.
- about Facebook publish_stream permission here.
- about Facebook manage_pages permission here.
The result will be
authorize your app to access your profile
(click the thumb for full image)
click OK
authorize your app to post to your friends on your behalf
(click the thumb for full image)
click OK
authorize your app to manage your Pages
(click the thumb for full image)
Get the code value
(click the thumb for full image)
You will get somenthing like this
1
2
3
4
5
|
Array
(
[code] =>
AQCnhrD8RSxJRmGJdYCfFD33hGPv84xa-xqXKD1-3i3qmsPjqHODEn1cROQkYv6LSKhKlPBxkPHD9gUs-9W0GSwDJVvarX70QiLAYmcLsGhN2u0Ib1OF512TvMljg8WLjx0FaAFCB1DHiTqYE-6ZNtWqtZpe4aIecOw949QNcWbZOf2BiCH_yECCNfamKdatV5Nv1Oa1IvIi_8_zVGc_cQqujVC_O2Apkzyj7M1cypoucGc02NzpAQv3yPqCnIuz5TWglcvhr2YNL7HAClLW0ydWgmq7FyfXOfrbFLoRjd-GRTevmTCffA2iV_A1i-itStY
)
|
After getting the code value, give the following url, where client_id is App ID and redirect_uri is the URL defined as Canvas URL, client_secret is App Secret and code is the code got.
(click the thumb for full image)
You will get the Access Token (!)
1
|
access_token=CAACYHYyWcnIBAJ1LwRLTERQNXJ4qRCqoTf2pgs1V2AiZCOreWAH0bY2UKaoyD3elfcEZAZAs6fZAEYPAZC5OlU6ZCg8Org32D13LiencxZA0PsNzkQPPuZCiZAukgMnqLXM0F2ZBlYZAnZB08qVwOo6DgiCJSlkoZCb9VVs0ARsleZBcduzTQKZBvIcvjLZBXXr5ye8R4FcZD&expires=5183831
|
STEP 3 - Access Tokens for your Facebook Pages (if any)
If you have any Facebook Pages (except your Personal Profile), you can get Access Tokens for them, using the following URL, where access_token is the Access Token you just got for your Personal Profile
The result will be the following JSON string
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
|
{
"data": [
{
"category": "Website",
"name": "pontikis.net",
"access_token": "CAACYHYyWcnIBAMK1y2tqiRKx8bBXGFFzjdUamOlMZCBJrTSL8ic1z5sZBarBi3DbTh9mMUz3aiZCAQRNHvOmcMxLZC53FNtkrVCq8rZCLsyjbQVZAt8o7S6Rd1UT0LK7AkgyZAlu11MC9rWND8eZBiKjjiYjwmBMLWko7k6GGPZCREehKRNFCsyM1Ll7sFb1hXycZD",
"perms": [
"ADMINISTER",
"EDIT_PROFILE",
"CREATE_CONTENT",
"MODERATE_CONTENT",
"CREATE_ADS",
"BASIC_ADMIN"
],
"id": "466400200079875"
}
],
"paging": {
}
}
|
Except of getting Access Token for your Fan Pages, the above step is useful to get your Fan Pages Facebook id. You will need it, when you try to post to your Fan Pages. However, this procedure is described independently (see below: How to Find your Facebook id)
STEP 4 - Check your Access Token
Facebook
Access Tokens will expire in about an hour. Access Token obtained with the above procedure are long-lived Access Tokens and will expire after two months (60 days).
Since offline access is deprecated you cannot create an access token which doesn’t expire. The best you can get is a long-lived Access Token (expires in 60 days).
So, it is very important to know your Access Token expiration time. Just use the URL
For example, to check (debug) the Access Token obtained for this demo
(click the thumb for full image)
Notice that this Access Token will expire after 60 days.
I remind you that this app (Demo_auto_post_php) has been deleted, so the above URL will not give you the same results. The above screenshot is taken before app deletion.
Renew Access Token after expiration
Facebook long-lived
Access Tokens will expire after about two months (60 days). In order your app to remain functioning, you (unfortunately) have to repeat "How to Get Facebook Access Token - STEP 2".
How to Find your Facebook id
The Facebook id of a Personal Profile of Fan Page or Business Page is public information, available using Facebook Graph API. Just use a URL like:
http://graph.facebook.com/username
For example:
To find my Facebook Personal Profile id, use:
To find Facebook id of my Fan Page (the Fan Page of this blog), use:
