Facebook Channel

The Facebook channel can handle multiple accounts and will create tickets on new posts on your Facebook page and messages to the page.

Activate or Deactivate Channel

The Facebook channel is disabled by default and needs to be activated before use. To do this, go to Settings -> Tickets -> Channels and click the "Activate" link on the Facebook channel row. The channel can be deactivated in the same way, instead this time by clicking the "Deactivate" link on the same row.

Step-by-Step Guide

Prerequisites

As part of App Review, Facebook request that you provide a login to the software so that they can test the step-by-step instructions and verify the contents of the video (see https://developers.facebook.com/docs/apps/review/faqs#faq_166560497060278). In order to prevent Facebook from accessing more required, we recommend the following configuration:

1. Create a new Operator Role with the following permissions:
   Manage Scheduled Tasks, View Tickets, Open Tickets, Update Tickets, Delete Tickets
2. Create a new Operator Group and assign it to all brands, and the role created above.
3. Create a new Operator and assign it to the above group, do not set any departments.
4. Create a new Department, assign it to all brands, turn off the Public setting, and assign the operator group created above.

Create Facebook Page & App

To set up a Facebook page to work with the help desk, you need to set up an application with the right permissions, follow the steps below.

1. Login to Facebook.
2. If you do not currently have a Facebook page for your company, please create a page and keep a note of the page ID. If you already have a Facebook page, you can get the page ID by clicking the "About" link in the sidebar, and scrolling down to the "Page ID" row. Your page must be published (publicly visible) for the integration to work.
   
3. Visit the applications page on the Facebook developers website - https://developers.facebook.com/apps - and click the "Add a New App" button.
4. Type in a name for the application, the name is not important, and click the "Create New Facebook App ID" button.
   
5. The screen will load with your new app. Click the "Settings" option in the sidebar and click the large "Add Platform" button. Click the "Website" option.
   
6. Enter the main domain for the help desk under "Site URL", and enter the same URL in the "App Domains" field above.
   
7. Click "Save Changes."
8. Under "Products" in the sidebar click "Add Product". Hover over the Facebook Login option and click on the "Set Up" button that appears.
   
9. Click "Settings" in the sidebar under the "Facebook Login".
   
10. Find your token URL when you go to add/edit a Facebook account in the help desk operator panel, and enter this in to the "Valid OAuth redirect URIs" field.
    
    
11. Click "Save Changes".

Create an Account

To create a new account, or update an existing one, please follow the following steps.

1. Visit Settings -> Tickets -> Channels in SupportPal and click on the "Settings" link on the Facebook channel row. If you're creating a new account click "Add Account", or if you're updating an existing account, search for it and click the edit (pencil) icon on the right side of the table row.
2. Complete the input fields:
   
   1. Page Name - Enter the page name.
   2. Active - If the account is active and should be included when polling for new posts and messages.
   3. Page ID - The page ID found on the "About" tab on the Facebook page (See Setting up your Facebook Account For Access).
   4. Application ID - The app ID found on the application page (See Setting up your Facebook Account For Access).
   5. Application Secret - The app secret found on the application page (See Setting up your Facebook Account For Access).
   6. Import From - Lets the ticket importing start from a specified date, for example set to today's date to avoid any old posts and messages being imported. This option is only available for new accounts.
   7. Import Posts - If it should convert wall posts or comments made to your Facebook page into tickets.
   8. Import Messages - If it should convert messages sent to your Facebook page into tickets.
   9. Default Department - Select the department in which messages sent to this account should be opened as tickets in.
   10. Default Priority - Select the priority with which tickets opened by this account are set as.
3. Once all the details have been entered, click the "Get Access Token" button and you will be redirected to Facebook.
   App Roles
   Before clicking "Get Access Token" please ensure that your Facebook account is listed as an administrator or developer under "Roles" in the Facebook app dashboard. This allows you to request permissions without getting your app reviewed by Facebook.
   Follow through all the popups that are shown, which will just be making sure that you are allowing the application to post on the page's behalf. You will not have to change any of the permissions, simply press "OK" on each popup window as seen in the screenshots below.
   Information
   Please disregard the big red "Submit for Login Review" message. We will do this next (see below).
   
   Finally you will return back to the help desk with an access token.
4. Click the "Submit" button to finish.

App Review

1. Select App Review in the sidebar of your app, and click the Start a Submission button.
   
2. In the popup window, select the following permissions: manage_pages, publish_pages, read_page_mailboxes.
   
3. You will then need to detail how each of these permissions are used within SupportPal.
   
4. Click Add Details for the publish_pages permission, and fill out the fields using the information provided below:
   1. How is your app using publish_pages?
      Lets people publish content or respond to posts and comments as a Page (also requires manage_pages).
   2. What platforms does your app use publish_pages on?
      Web
   3. Step-by-step instructions:
      
      Information
      Replace the operator login information (URL, email and password) with the details created during the prerequisites above.
      Definitions:
      

      • OPERATOR - company staff, must be authenticated via SupportPal login.

      The SupportPal application uses a periodic cron task to fetch Facebook user communications (page messages and visitor posts). Facebook user communications automatically create a SupportPal ticket which is ONLY visible to authenticated OPERATORs. Authenticated OPERATORs can then reply to the Facebook user communication on behalf of the Facebook page.
      

      1. Send a message to the Facebook page
      2. Login to OPERATOR interface:
         • URL: https://demo.supportpal.com/en/admin/login
         • Email: [email protected]
         • Password: facebook123
      3. Browse to Settings > Scheduled Tasks and click the arrows on the Check Facebook accounts task to force it to run.
      4. Browse to Manage Tickets and see the user’s message has been converted to a ticket (visible in the table).
      5. Click on the ticket subject, and the authenticated OPERATOR can reply to the ticket which will be posted to the Facebook private messages conversation.

      It is only possible for authenticated OPERATORs to reply to existing tickets.
      It's not possible to publish individual posts to Facebook.
   4. Screencast: Download the video and attach it to your submission https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jLQVbCMII6sve85lW01Sk6SwkOL40Vkg/view?usp=sharing
5. Click Add Details for the read_page_mailboxes permission, and fill out the fields using the information provided below:
   1. How is your app using read_page_mailboxes? Lets people manage the mailboxes of their Pages through the app.
   2. What platforms does your app use read_page_mailboxes on? Web
   3. Step-by-step instructions:
      Information
      Replace the operator login information (URL, email and password) with the details created during the prerequisites above.
      Definitions:

      • OPERATOR - company staff, must be authenticated via SupportPal login.

      The SupportPal application uses a periodic cron task to fetch page messages. After someone sends a message to the Facebook page, the message will appear in the SupportPal OPERATOR interface as a new ticket.

      1. Send a message to the Facebook page
      2. Login to OPERATOR interface:
         1. URL: https://demo.supportpal.com/en/admin/login
         2. Email: [email protected]
         3. Password: facebook123
      3. Browse to Settings > Scheduled Tasks and click the arrows on the Check Facebook accounts task to force it to run.
      4. Browse to Manage Tickets and see the user's message has been converted to a ticket (visible in the table).
      5. Click on the ticket subject, and the authenticated OPERATOR can reply to the ticket which will be posted to the Facebook private messages conversation.

      The imported Facebook post is ONLY visible to authenticated OPERATORs via the OPERATOR interface.
   4. Screencast: Download the video and attach it to your submission https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jLQVbCMII6sve85lW01Sk6SwkOL40Vkg/view?usp=sharing
6. Click Add Details for the manage_pages permission, and fill out the fields using the information provided below:
   1. How is your app using manage_pages? Lets people publish content or respond to posts and comments as a Page (also requires publish_pages).
   2. What platforms does your app use manage_pages on? Web
   3. Step-by-step instructions:
      Information
      Replace the operator login information (URL, email and password) with the details created during the prerequisites above.
      Definitions:

      • OPERATOR - company staff, must be authenticated via SupportPal login.

      The SupportPal application uses a periodic cron task to fetch page visitor posts. After someone creates a visitor post to the Facebook page, the message will appear in the SupportPal OPERATOR interface as a new ticket.

      1. Post a "status" to the Facebook page as a Facebook user
      2. Login to OPERATOR interface:
         • URL: https://demo.supportpal.com/en/admin/login
         • Email: [email protected]
         • Password: facebook123
      3. Browse to Settings > Scheduled Tasks and click the arrows on the Check Facebook accounts task to force it to run.
      4. Browse to Manage Tickets and see the user's message has been converted to a ticket (visible in the table).
      5. Click on the ticket subject, and the authenticated OPERATOR can reply to the ticket which will be added as a comment on behalf of the Facebook page to the visitor post.

      The imported Facebook post is ONLY visible to authenticated OPERATORs via the OPERATOR interface.
   4. Screencast: Download the video and attach it to your submission https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pZdn5vSN5KM8lbXVCtjwEGQ_0x6WYSkP/view?usp=sharing
7. Set an App Icon and for Business Use select "Support my own business".
8. Click the "Submit For Review" button.

Business Verification

After you submit your app your review, Facebook may also require business verification.

App Review Successful

Once your app has been accepted by the app review process, it is critically important that you switch the app from "development mode" to "public". This ensures that content published by the app is visible to other Facebook users.

1. Click "App Review" and toggle the option to make the application public, follow the steps shown.
   
2. Ensure the application shows as status "Live"
   

Delete an Account

To delete an account, follow the below steps:

1. Visit Settings -> Tickets -> Channels and click on the "Settings" link on the Facebook channel row.
2. Search for the account you wish to delete.
3. Click the delete (cross) icon located on the right of the table.
4. Click on the left button, "Yes, I'm sure", that pops up confirming you would like to delete this account and it will then be deleted.

Modifying the Polling Time

The active accounts are polled automatically by a scheduled task (See Scheduled Tasks). Edit the scheduled task to change the polling frequency and you can manually run the task to verify it's working.