Connect Facebook
SocialSgnl reads groups and replies as you, using your own Facebook session. You connect it with our browser extension.
Why an extension
Facebook's public API does not give access to group posts. The only way to read a group is with a logged-in session, the same one your browser uses.
The extension hands that session to SocialSgnl. There is no password involved, and SocialSgnl never sees one.
Connecting
- Install the SocialSgnl browser extension.
- Open Facebook and make sure you are logged in.
- Click the extension icon, then Connect.
Your session is checked against Facebook before it is saved. A session that does not work is refused rather than stored, so you find out straight away instead of on your first run.
How your session is stored
- It is encrypted and kept in a secure vault.
- It is used only to read the groups you added and to post replies you approved.
- To have a session removed, email support@socialsgnl.com.
You can also end it from Facebook's side at any time: log out of Facebook, or remove the session under Facebook's Security and login settings. SocialSgnl loses access immediately and the account shows as needing reconnection.
Connection states
Connections shows one of these.
- Connected
- Working. Nothing to do.
- Needs reconnecting
- Facebook ended the session. Reconnect through the extension.
- Paused
- Facebook is rate limiting the account. Nothing to do, it retries on its own.
- Security check
- Facebook flagged the account. Clear it on Facebook first, then reconnect.
A security check is the one that catches people out
Reconnecting will not clear it. Open Facebook, complete whatever it asks for, and only then reconnect. Connecting again first just saves another blocked session.
Why it asks you to reconnect sometimes
Facebook ends sessions periodically. It is normal, and it is not a sign anything is wrong.
SocialSgnl checks each connected account regularly so it can tell you before a run fails rather than after.
Posting as a Page
If your account manages Facebook Pages, SocialSgnl finds them when you connect.
A brand can then reply as your personal profile or as one of those Pages. Set it on its automation, under Post as. See Automation.
If you add a Page later, use Refresh on the Connections page to pick it up.
Using more than one account
You can connect several Facebook accounts.
Each brand runs on one of them at a time, and the switcher at the top right of every page says which. It decides two things: the groups that brand can reach, and who its comments are posted by.
To move a brand to a different account, turn its automation off first, switch, then turn it back on. The switcher is greyed out while an automation is scheduled or running, so a brand can never change account midway through its own work.
Picking an account that needs reconnecting takes you here to sign in again rather than moving your brand onto it — an account Facebook has signed out cannot run anything, so it is an errand, not a destination.
Groups and collections belong to the account that can reach them. If an account needs reconnecting, its brand pauses until you sign back in — nothing is lost.
Reconnecting and removing are different
Reconnect signs the account back in. Everything is kept: its groups, its collections and the posts collected from them.
Removing an account deletes its groups
Remove deletes the account along with every group and collection that only it could reach, and every post collected from them. Automations running on it stop. The dialog counts what will go before you confirm. If you only need to sign in again, use Reconnect.
One Facebook account, one SocialSgnl account
A Facebook account can only be connected in one place at a time. Facebook issues fresh session cookies as you work and only one connection can keep up with them, so connecting the same Facebook account twice logs one of them out within hours. Connecting an account that is already in use elsewhere is refused.