Overview
Behind every campaign you publish to Facebook is a Facebook app, which is a collection of settings used by Facebook to control the behavior of the campaign. A Quick Published campaign uses a Facebook app that is shared by many ShortStack users, whereas a Custom Published campaign uses a Facebook app created specifically for that campaign. A Custom Published campaign requires more work to set up, but the payoff is that you get to customize the Facebook app settings since it isn’t shared with other apps.
To learn how to Custom Publish a campaign, see the Custom Publish section of our Publishing to Facebook help doc.
During the Custom Publish process, we configure some basic settings in your Facebook app automatically so that Facebook will work with ShortStack to serve the content of your campaign. To change the app's name, icons, or permissions dialog, edit the Facebook app settings directly in Facebook.
Getting to the Facebook App Settings
There are several ways to get to the settings for the Facebook App behind your Custom Published ShortStack app.
Method 1
- Go to the Facebook Developer App.
- By default, Facebook will show the app you last created/changed, so you may already be on the correct app. If not, find it using the My Apps drop-down menu.
Method 2
- Visit your campaign in the Campaign Builder and click on the gear icon (Campaign Settings) in the top-left.
- Click Custom Publish in the left-hand column.
- Click the View/Edit All Settings in Facebook App link in the top-right.
Changing the Application Name
- Click Settings in the left-hand column of the Facebook Developer page for your app.
- Find the Display Name field and enter a name for your app.
- Click the blue Save Changes button at the bottom of the Page.
Changing the Application Icons
- Click Settings in the left-hand column of the Facebook Developer page for your app.
- Click on the preview area under App Icon.
- Follow the steps to upload an image, the submit it.
The Small App Icon appears:
- In News Feed posts when users share content from your app.
The App Icon appears:
- In the Friend Invite Widget popup.
- Whenever permission is required from the user, such as when voting for the first time, etc.
Roles and Comment Moderation
Initially, only the user who created the Custom Published Facebook App can moderate comments. To allow other users to moderate comments, you must add them as an Administrator or Developer to the Facebook App:
- Click Roles in the left-hand column of the Facebook Developer App.
- Use the corresponding links to add Administrators or Developers.
- Follow Facebook's instructions. You can add users by typing their name (if they’re in your Facebook Friends List) or by entering their email addresses.
- The users you add must approve the request by visiting the Facebook Developer App.
Country and Age Restrictions
ShortStack lets you set country restrictions on individual widgets, but you can also set restrictions on the entire app. If you add a country restriction, for example, the entire app would be invisible if the user was not from one of the approved countries and the user would be redirected to your Facebook Page’s Timeline.
- Click Settings in the left-hand column of the Facebook Developer App.
- Click Advanced in the sub-menu.
- Find the App Restrictions section.
- Click the Country Restricted slider to Yes.
- Enter one or more countries in the Country Restrictions field and/or select an option for the Age Restrictions field.
- Click the blue Save Changes button at the bottom of the Page.
Where ShortStack Prompts for Permissions
- Form Widget: Only if you have added the Facebook ID field to the form.
- Voting Widget: When a visitor first votes for an entry, we use the visitor’s Facebook ID to enforce voting restrictions, if selected.
