Important: You can now use the easy "Log in and get my Access Token" button which was added in v3.4 of the Pro plugin, and v2.7 of the Free plugin, to get your own Access Token. However, if you want to display events from your Facebook page, or if you just want to use your own Facebook app, then you will need to follow the directions below to retrieve a token.
Creating a Facebook Developer Account
If you already have a Facebook Developer account then skip to step 7
1) Go to developers.facebook.com and click on Log In in the top right. Log in using your personal Facebook account. Note: You must use the username and password from your personal Facebook profile. Facebook doesn’t allow businesses to register as developers, only individuals.
2) If this is your first time signing in to the Facebook Developer portal then click on Register. Registering is a quick an easy process which will take less than a couple of minutes. If you’re already registered then you can skip ahead to step 7.
3) Accept the Facebook terms and click Next.
4) Enter your phone number to confirm your account.
5) Facebook will send you an automated text message containing a confirmation code. Enter it in the box and click Register.
6) You’re now registered as a Facebook Developer. Click Done.
Creating an App
7) Hover over My Apps and then click on Add a New App.
8) If prompted, click on basic setup. Note, this isn’t always displayed so, if not, then you can skip to the next step.
9) Enter your app Display Name – this can be anything you like. Enter an email address and click Create App ID
10) Complete the Security Check and click Submit to complete the app setup.
Important: Leave the app in Development mode. Do not make it Live.
Retrieving a Page Access Token
11) Important: Make sure your app is in “Development mode” and not Live. Then, go to the Settings > Basic to get your app information.
12) Important: Copy and paste your App ID and App Secret (shown below) into the fields in the next step.
Note: Make sure to click “Show” next to your App Secret before copying.
13) Copy and paste your App ID and App Secret from step 12 above into the fields below, then proceed to the next step.
14) Go to developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer/ and select the same app you set up in step 7 from the Application drop-down list show below:
15) Click the Get Token button and in the Page Access Tokens section select the Facebook page you want a token for.
16) Copy the Access Token provided and paste it into the field in the next step.
17) Paste your Access Token from step 16 into the field below and click Extend my token.
18) Copy and Paste this token into the plugin's Settings page by selecting "Enter my own Access Token" and pasting it into the field.
Using it in a shortcode
You can also use it in a shortcode by using the ownaccesstoken and accesstoken shortcode settings together.
Eg: [custom-facebook-feed id="YOUR_PAGE_ID" ownaccesstoken=true accesstoken="YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN_HERE"].
Important: This token can only be used to display posts from the Facebook page you selected in step 15.
Troubleshooting
If you're receiving the following error message:
(#10) To use 'Page Public Content Access', your use of this endpoint must be reviewed and approved by Facebook. To submit this 'Page Public Content Access' feature for review please read our documentation on reviewable features: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/review.
Then check the following three things:
- That you are an admin of the Facebook page you're trying to display posts from
- That the app is in "Development" mode and not "Live"
- That you selected the correct app and Facebook page in steps 14 and 15