How to Fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed Issue in WordPress
If you have ever embedded Facebook or Instagram content in WordPress using the default oEmbed or Embed blocks feature, then you need to implement this fix immediately.
Starting October 24th, you will no longer be able to automatically embed Facebook and Instagram content in WordPress using the default methods due to a breaking change in the Facebook API.
But don’t worry, in this article, we will show you how to fix the Facebook and Instagram embed issue in WordPress, so your content embeds keep working, and you never lose any features.
Why will the Facebook & Instagram Embeds Stop Working?
That’s because Facebook recently announced that all oEmbed requests for Facebook and Instagram content will be deprecated on October 24th, 2020.
This API is fundamental to both Gutenberg and the WordPress Classic editor’s default embed feature that lets you easily embed videos, pictures, updates, and other content from Facebook and Instagram.
Instead, Facebook now requires each developer to register an app, and use a client token when getting data from their Graph API for oEmbed content.
This is not scalable for WordPress core team to implement in the WordPress project, so a decision has been made to remove Facebook and Instagram embed feature from WordPress core in favor of letting WordPress plugins solve the issue for users (core ticket #50861).
So basically if you have any Facebook embeds in your WordPress content, then they will break and look like this after October 24th:
If you have any Instagram embeds in your WordPress content, they will break and look like this after October 24th:
How to Fix the Facebook & Instagram oEmbed Issue (Restore Default Features)
The easiest and most beginner friendly way to fix the oEmbed issue is to use the Smash Balloon free Instagram Feed plugin, and custom Facebook Feed plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
These plugins are developed by our team at Awesome Motive, and they’re used by over 1.2 million users.
When we heard about this upcoming breaking change, we realized that we were in the best position to solve the problem for our users and the larger WordPress community.
Since Smash Balloon has to register an API key to create custom feeds for both Facebook and Instagram, we didn’t need any additional authentication to restore this functionality.
If you’re already using our Smash Balloon feed plugin, then you simply need to upgrade to the latest version, and the default oEmbed features will continue to work without any issues.
If you run into any troubles, or if you’re a new user who wants to restore the oEmbed functionality, then simply go to the oEmbed navigation menu under Smash Ballon’s Facebook / Instagram feed plugin, and then click on the Connect button.
The best part about using the Smash Balloon plugins is that you will NOT need to go through a complicated process of creating your own app.
We made the process easy for beginners, and as a bonus, you’ll now have all the powerful custom feed features of the Smash Ballon Instagram and Facebook feed plugins.
Alternate Method: Restore Default Facebook / Instagram oEmbed Features
If you’re a developer and would prefer to go through the complex process of registering a Facebook app for each client site to restore this functionality, then you can use the oEmbed Plus plugin.
It’s a new plugin created by one of the volunteer developers to restore the default oEmbed for Facebook and Instagram.
Act Fast and Spread the Word
There are only 12 days left before the Facebook and Instagram embeds in WordPress will stop working.
If you have ever embedded content from Facebook or Instagram on your site using the default embed features, then you need to act fast.
We strongly recommend that you install and activate the Smash Balloon free Instagram Feed plugin, and custom Facebook Feed plugin.
If you’re new in your WordPress journey and just started a blog, then we also recommend that you install the above plugins, so you have access to the easy embed blocks for Facebook and Instagram.
Last but not least, we need your help in spreading the word, so more people can fix this issue on their website before things start breaking. Please share this article in your network and help us spread the word.
We hope this article helped you learn how to fix the Facebook and Instagram oEmbed issue in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert pick of the must have WordPress plugins, and our guide on how to get a virtual business phone number app for your website.
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