Facebook Feeds not updating automatically

Hi @troyw2015

Thank you for contacting us! If your Facebook feed only updates after clearing the cache or resaving the feed, please try the following:

• Go to your WordPress dashboard > Facebook Feed > Settings > Feeds and set the caching time to “Every Hour”.
• If you are using a caching plugin, with site cache enabled, please set a lower time for “Cache Timeout” or “TTL”.
• Edit the feed shortcode to include the cachetime setting “cachetime=60”. Your new shortcode will look similar to this: [custom-facebook-feed feed=1 cachetime=60] (The feed=ID may be different for you)
• If the above don’t work, wp-cron, the function to automatically run background processes like feed updates is not working on your site. Please follow this guide to troubleshoot and fix wp-cron issues: My feed does not update unless I manually clear the cache. – Smash Balloon

I hope this helps! Could you please let me know if you have any questions?

Thanks! ??

Hi, I have tried everything listed above and still it only updates when I save settings or clear cache? I am not using any questionable themes or Page builders and my hosting is not a cheap nasty service. I don’t usually have any issues with the server and feeds?

Out of utter desperation and against my better judgement, I have signed up to Uptimerobot as suggested in your documentation and still it does not update. I have ensured the .wp_config file is including the wp_cron, I have checked with the host provider and cannot see why the feed updates the backend, but won’t update on the front end of the website? I have exhasted every avenue and since I am using a very standard and simple WordPress layout, cannot understand why this is happening?

Hi @troyw2015

To further investigate the issue, please submit a support request via the form on our website, https://smashballoon.com/support/, and include the System Info. 

To obtain this information, please follow the steps on this page: https://smashballoon.com/doc/how-to-get-system-info. We ask you to use our form, as the System Info contains other website information from your site, which we do not suggest posting here.

Please also include the link to this forum thread in your ticket as it will make it easier for me to follow up.

Thanks! ??

Done, thank you

Hi,

I am a little disappointed by how I have been handled by your customer support team, having left this open forum for the privacy of your email support.

Initially I presented all of the steps I took to resolve the issue and how I implemented all of the steps you suggest in your documentation. Your support team ignored what I wrote and told me to add cachetime=30 to the Shortcode, which I had clearly already tried. I told them this and also advised I have checked the https://www.mywebsite/wp_cron.php link and confirmed this is working at server level.

I also tried Uptimerobot as recommended in your documentation and this did not work either.

I advised that I had disabled ALL other Plugins and Themes and still the feed will not update, unless you save Smash Balloon Settings or refresh its cache.

I have remained polite and courteous throughout, clearly presenting your support team with the steps I have taken to resolve this.

Each time I had to wait 24 hours for a response and then the entire weekend, only to be told this morning that I am on my own with this and you can’t help unless I buy the Pro version of the plugin?

I had a ready contacted you previously about buying Pro version as I want to use the Video Feed feature, but I am seriously reconsidering that now.

Please can I get some help with this. I have done everything you asked, followed all your documentation and even stripped the website down to no plugins and just the Twenty Twenty Four WordPress theme. But still your plugin does not update the latest Facebook posts on the front end of the website. I removed and reinstalled Smash Balloon and it did not make any difference. Nothing is conflicting, so surely this is an issue you would want to solve?

Thanks

Hi @troyw2015,

I am sorry for the experience you went through. I am checking with my colleagues to get more details on this.?I’ll get back to you as soon as I have an update; thank you in advance for your patience.?In the meantime, if you have any additional thoughts or questions, please let me know.

Best regards

• This reply was modified 4 months ago by Smash Balloon Nigel.

Thank you and I look forward to your resolution. As mentioned, I have re-installed and even tested with no plugins or themes (other than Twenty Twenty Four) active and still it will not update. It updates in the backend, but not the front?

Hi team,

I was last contacted via email by a member of your team 3 days ago regarding this ongoing issue. They had made some minor changes that did not fix the issue, so I responded immediately to notify them. I have not heard back since, so am not sure where we are up to. I can see that the feed has updated, but cannot tell if this is due to your team saving the settings or refreshing the cache or if the issue is resolved. Please can someone update me?

Many thanks

Just letting you know, I have responded to your email as follows;

Hi,

1. I purged the Cache Via Cpanel and this did not work
2. We have already Disable Object Caching via htaccess file
3. Redis or Memcached are not enabled
4. There is no database caching

I have been talking to the hosting provider who has checked many times for any caching and there is none active. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this hosting service, in fact Synergy is one of the biggest in Australia, so it is highly unlikely this is a server issue. Even flushing the Cache on the server does nothing, because it is not enabled.

Hi team,

I just want to clarify one important thing, as I have been going around in circles now for 2 weeks, so its important that you understand the question I am asking. Please read carefully and I will be as clear as I possible can.

Does the free version of this plugin (Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress) automatically update new Facebook posts, to the front end of a WordPress Website?

Or, are automatic updates only possible using your Pro Version of the plugin?

Please advise and if I am not being clear, please feel free to ask me for further clarification.

Many thanks

Hey @troyw2015,

Thank you for getting back to us. Due to privacy concerns, our responses are typically handled via the ticketing system on our website to keep the details you have shared securely. However, I’ll be glad to provide a summary of the troubleshooting steps we discussed in the support ticket.

To answer your last question, yes, the free version of the plugin will update both the backend and the frontend of the feed.

As mentioned in the ticket, the issue appears to be related to the caching on the frontend of the site. We have ruled out other factors that could be affecting the plugin. The CRON jobs are running correctly, as confirmed by the latest posts being displayed accurately in the feed preview. I understand you have checked with your host multiple times, and it seems there is no caching system in place. I have continued testing and provided more details in my last response on the support ticket.

Please feel free to review the additional information I provided there, and let me know if you have any further questions. I’m here to help.

Best regards,

Hey team, I received your last email and thank you for the temporary solution you provided, but moving forward I am still having issues with the free version of this plugin, automatically updating. You had suggested that the install may have been corrupted, so I tried reinstalling and this did not fix it. As I said in the email, I have tested it again on a completely different website and the feed still does not update unless I save the settings. It does not automatically update as you suggest it should? It seems that only the Pro Version will update the Facebook feed automatically, when a post is added to Facebook.

For clarity, can we now confirm that only the Smash Balloon Pro version updates automatically?

Hi Troy,

Yes, the PRO version does have a feature to asynchronously update feeds that is not present in the free version. I’m not sure if it will resolve your issue without first trying it.

Most websites update their feeds automatically, but on some setups, the only way is to manually clear the cache or resave the feeds, and we do not currently have a workaround for this.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Hello,

Was this resolved? I have the same issue. The feed show’s the up-to-date post in the back end preview, but the front end site does not update unless I save settings for the FaceBook Feed plugin. I have disabled caching on the site and at host level. The site is https://crickhowelladventure.co.uk/

Thanks