Facebook Social Share Breaking Change - Action Required!

Jes Rodriguez

Attention Luminate Online users who have Facebook social sharing set up through Janrain: 

Facebook has made some major changes that will no longer allow authenticated Facebook sharing (as of August 1, 2018).  Authenticated sharing presented a pop-up box that required users to grant permission for access to the user's profile in order to use the social share app.  This functionality allowed organizations to collect information from users through a permission called, publish_actions, which required Facebook's approval.     Facebook has now (as of August 1, 2018) deprecated this permission.

I have received several inquires on how this change affects Luminate Online users and what updates a user must make in order for Facebook share to continue to work after August 1, 2018.  I have listed those questions below:

What Janrain changes are needed for Facebook sharing to work after August 1?

Social share widgets in Janrain will need to be updated to use native sharing instead of authenticated sharing. Native share will use native Facebook functionality (in other words, a basic app that is not customized to your organization) for sharing and does not require the user to grant any permissions.

What are the exact steps I need to take in Janrain to make this update?

Follow the instructions as outlined in the document that is attached to this article.

Should I update all of my providers to use native share instead of authenticated share?

Yes. Per Janrain, there is an industry trend away from authenticated share and in the next couple of months, they expect to announce timelines for winding down its authenticated share products.

What happens if I don’t update my application in Janrain?

If you don’t update your application, Facebook share will be broken after August 1, 2018.

What error messages should I expect to see?

Your constituents will see the following error when a social share attempt is made:

We use AddThis/Share This.  Does this affect us?


These changes do not apply to you.  At this time, it is to our knowledge that Add This/Share This isn't requiring any changes.  However, you may want to check with them to see if they are requiring any updates to the share code they provided you.  

Are there any other changes I should be aware of when using native sharing?

Yes. Since native share occurs on the provider’s site using their tools, neither Janrain or Luminate Online can provide analytics around sharing.

Are there any other changes or considerations I should be aware of in regards to Luminate?

Yes, the following areas may be affected so it is important that you revisit any Luminate page and test the social sharing component. 

• The Participant Center sharing may be affected .  A social sharing component must be added to the default personal page so that all participants can share their page directly from their personal page dynamically. 
• Any pages that currently have the Social Sharing component added to a Luminate page including:
  • Thank you pages
  • PageBuilder pages
  • Calendar Event Pages
  • Splash Pages
  • Advocacy Pages
  • Default TeamRaiser Team Pages and Personal Pages
• If any of your attempts to share on Facebook fail, then remove and re-add the social sharing component  to the page in order for the native apps to take effect. 
• Note: Social Login is not affected by this change.

Sarina Tacovic

Jes Rodriguez:

Attention Luminate Online users who have Facebook social sharing set up through Janrain: 

Facebook has made some major changes that will no longer allow authenticated Facebook sharing (as of August 1, 2018).  Authenticated sharing presented a pop-up box that required users to grant permission for access to the user's profile in order to use the social share app.  This functionality allowed organizations to collect information from users through a permission called, publish_actions, which required Facebook's approval.     Facebook has now (as of August 1, 2018) deprecated this permission.

I have received several inquires on how this change affects Luminate Online users and what updates a user must make in order for Facebook share to continue to work after August 1, 2018.  I have listed those questions below:

What Janrain changes are needed for Facebook sharing to work after August 1?

Social share widgets in Janrain will need to be updated to use native sharing instead of authenticated sharing. Native share will use native Facebook functionality (in other words, a basic app that is not customized to your organization) for sharing and does not require the user to grant any permissions.

What are the exact steps I need to take in Janrain to make this update?

Follow the instructions as outlined in the document that is attached to this article.

Should I update all of my providers to use native share instead of authenticated share?

Yes. Per Janrain, there is an industry trend away from authenticated share and in the next couple of months, they expect to announce timelines for winding down its authenticated share products.

What happens if I don’t update my application in Janrain?

If you don’t update your application, Facebook share will be broken after August 1, 2018.

What error messages should I expect to see?

Your constituents will see the following error when a social share attempt is made:

We use AddThis/Share This.  Does this affect us?


These changes do not apply to you.  At this time, it is to our knowledge that Add This/Share This isn't requiring any changes.  However, you may want to check with them to see if they are requiring any updates to the share code they provided you.  

Are there any other changes I should be aware of when using native sharing?

Yes. Since native share occurs on the provider’s site using their tools, neither Janrain or Luminate Online can provide analytics around sharing.

Are there any other changes or considerations I should be aware of in regards to Luminate?

Yes, the following areas may be affected so it is important that you revisit any Luminate page and test the social sharing component. 

• The Participant Center sharing may be affected .  A social sharing component must be added to the default personal page so that all participants can share their page directly from their personal page dynamically. 
• Any pages that currently have the Social Sharing component added to a Luminate page including:
  • Thank you pages
  • PageBuilder pages
  • Calendar Event Pages
  • Splash Pages
  • Advocacy Pages
  • Default TeamRaiser Team Pages and Personal Pages
• If any of your attempts to share on Facebook fail, then remove and re-add the social sharing component  to the page in order for the native apps to take effect. 
• Note: Social Login is not affected by this change.

 

I'm so glad to see this update, this is incredibly helpful for our team. We do not currently have a staff member that is skilled in this area, so we were having a difficult time trying to figure out our solution. I have two questions in response to this post:

1. Janrain's Knowledgebase article references copying the code at the end for our application. Can you go into any further detail in that last step? Where exactly does that code live in Luminate?
   
    
2. Last week I noticed that Facebook is pushing Social Plugins. Is this something that is necessary to continue sharing from LO to Facebook?

Thank you for posting the details and common questions! 

Sarina

Jes Rodriguez

Sarina Tacovic:

Jes Rodriguez:

Attention Luminate Online users who have Facebook social sharing set up through Janrain: 

Facebook has made some major changes that will no longer allow authenticated Facebook sharing (as of August 1, 2018).  Authenticated sharing presented a pop-up box that required users to grant permission for access to the user's profile in order to use the social share app.  This functionality allowed organizations to collect information from users through a permission called, publish_actions, which required Facebook's approval.     Facebook has now (as of August 1, 2018) deprecated this permission.

I have received several inquires on how this change affects Luminate Online users and what updates a user must make in order for Facebook share to continue to work after August 1, 2018.  I have listed those questions below:

What Janrain changes are needed for Facebook sharing to work after August 1?

Social share widgets in Janrain will need to be updated to use native sharing instead of authenticated sharing. Native share will use native Facebook functionality (in other words, a basic app that is not customized to your organization) for sharing and does not require the user to grant any permissions.

What are the exact steps I need to take in Janrain to make this update?

Follow the instructions as outlined in the document that is attached to this article.

Should I update all of my providers to use native share instead of authenticated share?

Yes. Per Janrain, there is an industry trend away from authenticated share and in the next couple of months, they expect to announce timelines for winding down its authenticated share products.

What happens if I don’t update my application in Janrain?

If you don’t update your application, Facebook share will be broken after August 1, 2018.

What error messages should I expect to see?

Your constituents will see the following error when a social share attempt is made:

We use AddThis/Share This.  Does this affect us?


These changes do not apply to you.  At this time, it is to our knowledge that Add This/Share This isn't requiring any changes.  However, you may want to check with them to see if they are requiring any updates to the share code they provided you.  

Are there any other changes I should be aware of when using native sharing?

Yes. Since native share occurs on the provider’s site using their tools, neither Janrain or Luminate Online can provide analytics around sharing.

Are there any other changes or considerations I should be aware of in regards to Luminate?

Yes, the following areas may be affected so it is important that you revisit any Luminate page and test the social sharing component. 

• The Participant Center sharing may be affected .  A social sharing component must be added to the default personal page so that all participants can share their page directly from their personal page dynamically. 
• Any pages that currently have the Social Sharing component added to a Luminate page including:
  • Thank you pages
  • PageBuilder pages
  • Calendar Event Pages
  • Splash Pages
  • Advocacy Pages
  • Default TeamRaiser Team Pages and Personal Pages
• If any of your attempts to share on Facebook fail, then remove and re-add the social sharing component  to the page in order for the native apps to take effect. 
• Note: Social Login is not affected by this change.

 

I'm so glad to see this update, this is incredibly helpful for our team. We do not currently have a staff member that is skilled in this area, so we were having a difficult time trying to figure out our solution. I have two questions in response to this post:

1. Janrain's Knowledgebase article references copying the code at the end for our application. Can you go into any further detail in that last step? Where exactly does that code live in Luminate?
   
    
2. Last week I noticed that Facebook is pushing Social Plugins. Is this something that is necessary to continue sharing from LO to Facebook?

Thank you for posting the details and common questions! 

Sarina

 

Hi Sarina, 

Sorry, I am just now seeing your reply!  To answer your questions:

1. The code referenced in the Janrain knowledgebase article does not apply to Luminate Online users.  That code is for developers of other non-related programs who are developing their own social tools using Janrain.  Blackbaud has a custom integration set up with Janrain that automatically adds and updates the code to the appropriate areas in Luminate (which some live in a template).  This makes it possible for LO users to simply drop a social sharing component to any Luminate page without ever having to mess with any coding.
   
2. The social plugins being pushed via Facebook are not required for LO users at this time.  This is similar to my response in the first question in that it is geared toward independent developers (not related to Luminate or Janrain) who were using the publish_actions permission in their Facebook app.   Social plugins would be an alternative to using Janrain (which again, is already integrated with Luminate), however, is not  method that is supported.  

 

I hope this helps!  -Jes R