Connect Instagram
Introduction
Once you connect your Instagram, Socialphotos will fetch your posts, tagged photos, mentioned photos, and hashtags that you track. You then "approve" photos by adding them into your photo galleries. We send you an email every day when there are new photos from Instagram or photo uploads.
How it works
When you connect your instagram to Socialphotos, we get a token from Instagram and we use it to fetch your posts, tagged photos, mentioned photos, and hashtags.
For your Instagram posts and tagged photos, we can fetch all your photos with no restrictions. For mentioned photos and hashtags, we can only fetch photos starting today. This is an Instagram limitation.
Every day we run various checks to ensure that your token is valid. If there are any issues or if your token is about to expire, we email you so you can re-connect and fix the issue.
Requirements & Permissions
For Socialphotos to integrate with Instagram, Instagram requires that your account is:
- A business account
- Instagram is connected to a Facebook Page
Instagram has created a guide to help you set that up. Follow these two links to get your Instagram business account ready for integration:
Socialphotos takes your privacy and security very seriously. We asks for the minimum required permissions. Specifically, these are the permissions that we require:
- instagram_basic
- instagram_content_publish
- instagram_manage_comments
- pages_show_list
- pages_read_engagement
- Instagram Public Content Access
You can learn more about these permissions from Instagram's Permissions Reference page. We strictly fetch photos and do not post anything to your account.
Connect
To start connecting your Instagram, follow these steps:
- Go to your Instagram Settings page at Settings → Instagram
- Click "Connect Your Instagram"
- This will open a Facebook modal that guides you through Facebook's business integration flow
- You need to select the Instagram business account and the Facebook Page that is linked
Upon connecting your Instagram, we show you certain information to ensure that the integration is successful. We show the Instagram business account and the Facebook Page that is linked to it. We also show you the permissions that you have granted Socialphotos to use. If anything does not look right, you can click "Connect Your Instagram" again to make any changes.
Changing Setting
If you need to make any changes, follow these steps:
- Click "Connect Your Instagram"
- Click on Edit Settings
- Continue with Facebook's modal instructions
You need to go through "Edit Settings" if there are any changes to your Facebook Page or Instagram accounts. If your token is about to expire and you are renewing it, you do not have to click on "Edit Settings". You can simply click on "Continue as XXX XXX", and your token will be renewed. Your existing settings will remain the same.
Multiple Facebook Pages
You may have multiple Facebook pages, but only one can be connected to an Instagram business account. You then need to link the correct Instagram/Facebook Page with Socialphotos. You can follow these steps to ensure that your Instagram is connected correctly.
- Open the Instagram app on your mobile phone and click on "Edit Profile"
- Take note of the Name, Username, and Page. The Page is your Facebook Page that is currently connected to your Instagram Business Account.
- On Your Instagram Setting's page, ensure that the Instagram Name, Username and Page matches what is on your Instagram profile.
- If you have more than one Facebook Page, you can link the correct Instagram/Facebook Page combo.
Tokens Expiring
Your Instagram tokens do expire. Instagram implemented this as a security measure. You only want applications you are actively using to have access to your Instagram account. The token typically lasts for a few months to much longer. This is all controlled by Instagram and Socialphotos have no control over it.
We check daily to ensure that your Instagram tokens are valid. If your token are about to expire (Ex: 14 days), we email you to ask that you re-connect. Re-connecting takes less than 10 seconds and extends your token by a few months or more.
If you receive an email from us titled "[Socialphotos - Action Required] Instagram token expires in XX", follow these steps:
- Go to your Instagram Settings page at Settings → Instagram
- Click "Connect Your Instagram"
- This will open a Facebook modal that says "You've previously linked Socialphotosapp to Facebook"
- Click on "Continue as XXX"
- The Facebook modal closes
That's it! Since you have previously connected Socialphotos with Instagram, Instagram sees that as confirmation that you continue to give Socialphotos access to your Instagram account.
Error Messages
When there is an issue with your Instagram connection, we email you along with the error messages that we receive from Instagram/Facebook. Some messages may be cryptic. Below are some common messages and what they mean.
| Code | Subcode | Message | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | (#100) The parameter user_id is required. | Your Facebook Page is not connected to your Instagram account | |
| 100 | 33 | Unsupported get request. Object with ID 'xxxx' does not exist, cannot be loaded due to missing permissions, or does not support this operation. | You did not grant Socialphotos sufficient permission |
| 193 | 460 | Error validating access token: The session has been invalidated because the user changed their password or Facebook has changed the session for security reasons. | You changed your password |
| 193 | 463 | Error validating access token: Session has expired on xxxx, xx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx. The current time is xxxx, xx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx. | Your Instagram token has expired |
| 200 | (#200) Requires instagram_basic permission to manage the object | You did not grant Socialphotos sufficient permission |
Common Issues
Here are some of the common issues.
Instagram Disconnected
Sometimes your Instagram account can get disconnected. While you are disconnected, we cannot fetch any Instagram photos for you. Here are some of the reasons as to why this can happen:
- You changed your password
- Instagram detect suspicious activity on your account
- You have not used the site for a while and Instagram logs you out
- You change your Facebook page or other information
- ...and many more
The fix is to go to your Instagram Settings page via Settings → Instagram and re-connect.
Cannot Track Certain Hashtags
This can happen for the following reasons:
- Your hashtags may be deemed inappropriate or have adult content.
- Your hashtags may not exist yet.