[AppInsights] Data Sources - Facebook: Add an image from your social feed

AppInsights' Facebook integration has always made it easy for you to keep track of your Facebook KPIs (likes, impressions, etc.).  Now you can also monitor the media posts (images, videos, etc.) that appear on the feeds that are most important to you.  To pull in the most recent image or video screenshot from a Facebook feed, just use the “Latest Post” image widget offered by our Facebook integration.

Please note: it is only possible to retrieve media posts from public Facebook pages, or from pages that specify you as an administrator.

To get started, navigate to the Services panel -- "+ Add Widget" button on the right side of the app -- and click the Facebook app tile.  At the bottom of the list of available metrics, you can choose “Latest Post”.



Once you’ve deployed your new image widget to the dashboard, you’ll need to authenticate your Facebook account (if you haven’t already).  To do so, hit the gear icon at top right of your new widget and select the “Edit Widget Settings” menu.  From this menu, hit the blue “Connect” button and a pop-up window will invite you to enter your Facebook credentials and extend access permissions to Leftronic.  You will only need to do this once…







Once your Facebook account is connected, you’ll be redirected to the “Data Settings” tab.  If you’d like to retrieve media posts from a Facebook page that you administrate, choose “Preset” as your Account Type and select an account from the “Account” dropdown menu.  You can also choose to include the Post Date with a corresponding local time zone.



Alternatively, you can choose “Custom” as your Account Type and enter the Page Name for a public Facebook feed.  (To find the Page Name, navigate to the public page on Facebook and use the string of text that immediately follows the primary facebook URL).  Don’t forget to include the Post Date with a corresponding local time zone, if desired.





The “Widget Settings” menu will allow you to give your widget a title, vertically align the image to your preference, and limit your feed length (to prevent the filling of useful dashboard space with post text).



Once you’re finished modifying your settings, hit the blue “Save” button and your image widget will populate.  The image will automatically update as new posts are made to the profile you’ve chosen to monitor.

Please note: if the public profile you’re monitoring has a recent post that does not include an image or video, the image presented in your widget will default to the profile image for the corresponding Facebook account.