Follow these steps to subscribe a page to our messenger system, using the Facebook messenger API
Before we start register the Facebook account of the administrator of the Facebook page you want to subscribe, as a Facebook Developer via the following link: https://developers.facebook.com/. This will prepare your account for all the next steps. After the set-up is completed you will need to provide the Social25 team with data that is generated throughout the set-up, we recommend to copy/past this template into a document so you can easily update it with the correct values whilst setting everything up.
We recommend to share the Page Access Token and the App Secret through our Password sharing tool which can be found here. This will provide the Social25 team with a one time available link to copy/paste the values. Please make sure to set the expiration to 7 days before sharing the details.
App Info | Page Access Token: copied in step 11 of the Generating Page Access Tokens section. Please use this tool to share this and set expiration to a week |
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App ID: find it on the dashboard of the app | |
App Secret: find it on the Settings > Basic page of the app, click Show next to the secret. Please use this tool to share this and set expiration to a week | |
Webhook URL: The webhook URL you've linked the app to | |
Page Info | Page ID: see Get Page ID section below |
your page's URL for verification purposes. This should be in the format www.facebook.com/<page_id> |
For the use of Social25 we ask you to create your own Facebook development app. If your organisation already has an app, make sure you get access to this app.
Social25 asks you to create your own app because of several reasons.
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If you do not have a Facebook Business, skip the following steps and expand "Creating a development app without having a Facebook Business" just below step 7.
Once your app has been created make sure to add a web platform. This won't be used for anything but is required according to the Facebook platform terms.
If you do not have a Facebook Business yet make sure to take into account that before your app can go live you will have to request the pages_messaging permission and business verification which can take up to several weeks. So prepare for that before planning your go-live date.
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If you have multiple stages in your development process and want to connect a separate Facebook Page to every stage we recommend to create multiple apps. For your test apps you do not have to request the pages_messaging permission, nor do you have to set the status of your test app to "In Production". Messages sent to pages linked to this app will only come into Social25 if the sender is a tester, developer or admin of the Facebook Development app. Later on in this document we explain you how to add other people to your app. |
After creating your Facebook Development app you will be redirect to the "Products" page of your Facebook app. From this page we will immediately add the Messenger product to the app and configure the webhook.
Enter the following details:
Production | Production Callback URL | |
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Production Verify Token | ogbfb1ckiiszmnsp5cdqcevabebef9mz | |
Sandbox | Sandbox Callback URL | https://social25-staging.herokuapp.com/v1/webhook/facebook/ |
Sandbox Verify Token | 5544612db8c4e0626147a136ca6de183 |
Acceptance Acceptance receives releases before staging and can be used to test new functionalities of Social25 before we push the to Staging.
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Your Webhooks are now configured and should look something like this.
You might notice the section Webhook Field Version Controls. Social25 aims to keep the Facebook Messenger integration as up to date as possible. However, if you experience any unexpected issues while setting-up Social25 make sure to tell the Social25 team which version of the webhooks you're using. Make sure to keep the values of the webhooks consistent and don't randomly change the versions without testing in your testing environment first. |
In this section we assume a page has already been created that will be linked to the development app.
Once this is complete you can use the the information gathered and add this via the wizard. Add new social messaging channels
If you ever need to add any additional pages or regenerate tokens you can follow along with the steps from this section again.
At this point everything has been configured and prepared for the connection to Social25. We recommend to send all details to the Social25 team first and wait until they have configured everything before actually subscribing pages to the webhook.
If you ever need to add any additional pages to Social25 you can follow along with the steps from this section again.
This pages_messaging permission is only required if you want to take your app Live. Taking your app live will allow anyone to send messages to linked pages. As long as your app is 'In development' only registered Testers, Developers and Administrators will be able to send messages to linked pages. |
To prepare your app for requesting the pages_messaging permission you will need to configure some basic details in the Development app. This section explains several different steps that need to be taken before you can request permissions.
To be able to request the pages_messaging permission and set your app in production you will need to upload an icon to your app. This icon will never be displayed to the end user unless you're utilising opt-in techniques for your pages. We recommend to use a 1024x1024 icon of your own logo. If you prefer to use our icon feel free to do so, you can download it here: You can upload this icon by navigating to your Facebook developer App. Open up Settings and click on basic. Here you can upload your image and click "Save Changes". |
Facebook requires you to add a link to your privacy policy and your terms of service. These are required and will need to explain how you handle your customer data and how the customer support centre works. Social25 does not offer ready to use documents about how your service works, so make sure to include your own documents. Navigate to your Facebook developer App. Open up Settings and click on basic. Fill out the URL to the documents and and click "Save Changes". |
You need to explain how your business is using the Facebook Messenger app, since this Facebook app you've created will be used for your own customer service centre you need to make sure to mention that in the app. You can do this by navigating to your Facebook developer App. Open up Settings and click on Basic. Here you will find a field that says "Support my own business", click that and click "Save Changes". |
Facebook Messenger also requires you to activate the additional permissions to fully set up the integration.
Permissions that need to be enabled are:
If you want to give other people control over your app you can add them as a Developer or Administrator of your app. If you want to give people access to send and receive messages from the pages connected to the app without having set your app Live or having pages_messages permission, make sure to add them as registered Tester.
Adding people that are not part of the Facebook Business yet.
Assigning people that are already part of the Facebook Business.
If you don't have a Facebook Business or want to manage people's access to the app directly from the app that is possible as well.
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To be able to take your app Live, you will need to request business verification. This is only needed if the app has not been linked to an existing business that was not verified yet. The header includes a link to the most up to date version of the Facebook Documentation on how to request Business Verification. But we've also included the instructions in this section.
You can start the business verification process and check the status in Business Manager. You may also see a "Start Verification" option in other places such as the app dashboard for app review. Although not every business needs to be verified on Facebook, you must be a verified business to access certain Facebook products and developer features. Learn more about business verification. Note: Business verification is different from Page verification, individual verification and the verified badge on Instagram because it verifies your business, not you as a person. You won't receive a badge for business verification. How it works If we're unable to auto-verify, we'll ask you to submit documentation proving your legal business name and business address or phone number. If you use monthly invoicing to pay for ads on Facebook, you don't have to submit documentation for business verification. When you start the business verification process, you can fill in the form with your line of credit information and submit it. If you don't see that option, make sure that the Business Manager you are attempting to verify is linked to a line of credit that you own (not one that is shared with another business). To start the verification process:
Verification of legal business name Upload documents that prove that your business is a legally registered business with official authorities.
Note: All examples are documents that are issued to your business proving that your business has been officially registered with the authorities in your country and/or state. Verification of business address or phone number Upload documentation that shows your legal business name and either the address or phone number.
To upload documents
If you receive confirmation of your submission, monitor your verification status in Business info. Businesses will typically hear back from us within five working days and in many cases, much sooner. Please note that this turnaround time doesn't necessarily mean approval. It means we will get back to you with the result of your submission, which could be approved or require more information. |
One of the most important permissions you will need is the pages_messaging permission. Without this permission even if your app status is Live anyone who isn't a developer, tester or admin of your developer app their messages won't be submitted through the webhook.
A lot of the information comes from the Facebook App Review guide (https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/review/). If you encounter any issues with the guide not matching the steps please refer to this guide and send us an email via info@social25.chat. |
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Make sure the person that is going to add the page to our system is an administrator of the page that is going to be added. Only administrators are able to complete these instructions. The tokens generated by this set of instructions should be treated as highly confidential! As an admin of the APP you can change a lot of settings. Do not change anything other than instructed, as this can easily cause downtime of existing pages in your Facebook organisation. |