Displaying your Facebook feed on your Joomla website can be a great way to showcase your social media activity and increase engagement with your audience. However, Joomla does not have built-in support for displaying Facebook feeds. So you will need to use a third party extension to add this functionality.
In this article, I will walk you through the process of adding a live Facebook feed to your Joomla site step-by-step. We will look at how to find and install a suitable Facebook feed extension, how to get your Facebook App ID, and how to configure the extension settings in your Joomla backend. By the end, you will have a fully functional, automatically updating Facebook feed on your site.
Benefits of Adding a Facebook Feed
Here are some of the benefits of displaying your Facebook feed on your Joomla site:
- Increase social engagement – your website visitors can easily like, comment and share your Facebook posts without leaving your site.
- Showcase social media activity – displaying your Facebook feed shows visitors how active your page is.
- Save time – no need to manually cross-post Facebook content on your site.
- Dynamic content – the feed updates automatically when you add new Facebook posts.
- SEO boost – fresh content from the feed helps search engine indexing.
- Encourages follows – makes it easy for visitors to follow your Facebook page.
Clearly, integrating your Facebook presence with your Joomla site has multiple advantages. So let’s look at how to do it.
Installing a Facebook Feed Extension
Joomla extensions allow you to add new features and functionality to your site. There are many Joomla extensions for displaying Facebook feeds, both free and premium. Here are some popular options to consider:
EasySocial
EasySocial is one of the most powerful social media extensions for Joomla. It includes native support for displaying your Facebook feed, along with many other social features.
- Pros: Very customizable, allows filtering feed content, great documentation.
- Cons: Can be overwhelming with many unused features, premium version is expensive.
ReJoom
ReJoom Facebook Feed is a lightweight extension focused solely on displaying Facebook feeds.
- Pros: Simple install and setup, free with good support.
- Cons: Limited customization options, no post filtering.
JFBCTFE – Facebook Feed Display
Another lightweight Facebook feed extension with the basics.
- Pros: Free, easy to use.
- Cons: Hasn’t been updated recently, limited features.
There are many other options, but these three are good places to start. I’d recommend ReJoom for a simple free solution or EasySocial for maximum functionality and customization.
Once you’ve selected an extension, download and install it on your Joomla site like any other Joomla extension. Make sure it is compatible with your Joomla version.
Getting a Facebook App ID
To display your Facebook feed on a website, you need a Facebook App ID. This is used by the Facebook feed extension to connect to the Facebook Graph API and pull in your page’s feed data.
Here is how to get a Facebook App ID:
- Go to https://developers.facebook.com and login with your Facebook account.
- Click on My Apps in the top menu bar and select Create App.
- Give your app a name and contact email. Leave the default selected options.
- Click Create App ID. This generates your unique App ID.
- Under Products, click Set Up for the Facebook Login product.
- Under Valid OAuth redirect URIs, enter your website URL.
- Save changes. Your App ID is now ready to use.
Be sure to use a Website platform when creating your Facebook app. The App ID will start with a number rather than letters. Make note of the App ID as you will need it soon.
Configuring the Facebook Feed Extension
Once your Facebook feed extension is installed and you have your Facebook App ID, it’s time to configure it. Here are the key steps:
- In your Joomla administrator dashboard, find the configuration page for your Facebook extension.
- Enter your Facebook Page URL that you want to display a feed for.
- Paste in your Facebook App ID that you generated earlier.
- Select options like number of posts, post types, layout, etc. Start with default options.
- Save your settings.
- Enable the Facebook feed module in Extensions > Modules.
- Assign the module to a page position like “mainbody”.
- Visit your site page to test the feed. Make any tweaks in the module settings.
Refer to your extension’s documentation for more details on the configuration settings. The process may vary slightly but the general steps are the same. Most extensions will walk you through authorizing the app to connect to Facebook as well.
Displaying the Facebook Feed
Once configured and enabled, your Facebook feed extension will automatically display your Facebook page’s posts on your Joomla site.
Here are some tips for optimizing the feed display:
- Show a relevant intro text and follow button above the feed.
- Style the feed using CSS to match your site design.
- Use filtering options to control which post types display.
- Limit the number of posts to 5-10 recent ones.
- Set cache timeouts to keep the feed updated.
- Place the feed strategically on high-traffic pages.
Experiment with different layouts, positions, and settings until you achieve the optimal Facebook feed display for your site.
Troubleshooting Issues
Some common issues and how to fix them:
Feed not displaying
- Double check App ID is correct.
- Clear extension cache and re-authorize app.
- Enable the module and assign a page position.
- Check for JavaScript conflicts on the page.
Feed posts missing
- May be due to Facebook API restrictions. Try fewer posts.
- Increase cache timeout so feed updates more frequently.
- Ensure proper Page ID or URL is used in settings.
Feed looks distorted
- Apply custom CSS styling to override default extension styling.
- Disable unused styling and JavaScript from the extension.
- Use feed preview feature first to identify issues.
Getting the feed to display properly can require some trial and error. Refer to the extension’s documentation for other troubleshooting tips.
Alternative: Manually Embedding Feed
While using a Joomla extension is the best approach, you can also manually embed the Facebook feed iframe code:
- Go to your Facebook page > Settings > Templates and Tabs.
- Get the Post tab embed code. Paste into a Custom HTML module.
- This won’t auto-update but can work if extensions don’t.
However the manual method is very limited compared to a full featured extension integration.
Conclusion
Adding your Facebook feed to a Joomla site takes just a few steps but offers great benefits. Install a Facebook feed extension, get your Facebook App ID, configure the settings, and enable the feed module. Position it strategically and customize the styling for best results. Fix any issues like missing posts by adjusting settings and cache timeouts.
With the right extension, you can seamlessly match your website content with your Facebook presence. This helps engage visitors and gives your Joomla site some social media flair.
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