We understand how frustrating it can be to experience disconnection issues with your social media profiles. π Don't worry, though. It's not a catastrophe! And it's not an issue with your NapoleonCat account.
Having to periodically refresh your social media profiles might be a nuisance. But it's also necessary. It's a standard procedure. That way, social media platforms make sure that your account stays secure.π‘
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In this article, you'll discover the most common reasons for disconnects. You'll also get to know troubleshooting steps as well as best practices for keeping your profiles connected.
The main reasons for disconnects
Before we delve into platform-specific reasons for disconnects, let's make sure you have a general idea of why this happens. Below is a list of some of the main causes:
Password changes for the page or admin account
Access tokens expiration
Loss of admin access for the user who connected the profile
Removal of the user who connected the profile as an admin
Overwriting permissions already granted to NapoleonCat when connecting another social profile by a person with lower permission levels
Routine security checks on external applications made by platforms like Facebook
Connection limitations for external apps
Changes to Social Media Platform API
β If any of the above occurs, this might render your access tokens invalid. Social media platforms use access tokens to authenticate third-party applications like NapoleonCat.
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βAlso, tokens for some of your social media accounts have an expiration date. So when the token expires, NapoleonCat can no longer access your account. You then need to re-authorize the connection.
Platform-specific causes of disconnects and troubleshooting
Each social media platform is a bit different, and goes about making sure your accounts are secure in a slightly different way. Here's a guide for each of the major social media platforms supported by NapoleonCat, as well as some troubleshooting tips.
Common Causes of Disconnections:
Expired Access Tokens
Changes to Facebook API
Changes to Account Permissions
Routine checks made by Facebook
Change of password
Troubleshooting Tips:
Refresh Access Tokens by Reconnecting your Facebook account in NapoleonCat. Click on the *Reconnect* button to refresh the access token and restore the connection
Ensure the correct permissions are granted to NapoleonCat in Facebook -> Business integrations (you need to be logged in to your personal [admin] account, not viewing the settings as a FB page)
If nothing else helps, remove the NapoleonCat app from Facebook -> Business integrations and then connect your Facebook profiles afresh
Here's a cool tip to reduce the chances of disconnecting your FB profiles: get a teammate(s) to connect the profiles as well!
By having two different people connect a single profile, we'll have two separate authorization tokens, which actually lowers the risk of disconnects
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β Just have them connect your FB profile as usual, even if it's already connected.
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Once everything's all set, you'll see how it looks in your Workspace Settings, with two different people connecting the same profile:
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Common Causes of Disconnections:
Expired Access Tokens
Changes to Instagram API
Changes to Account Permissions
Change of password
Troubleshooting Tips:
Refresh Access Tokens by Reconnecting your Instagram account in NapoleonCat. Click on the *Reconnect* button to refresh the access token and restore the connection
Ensure that the correct permissions are granted to NapoleonCat in your Instagram account settings
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is extremely sensitive to any actions taken on an account of the user who connected your Facebook or Instagram profile to NapoleonCat.
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Whenever there's a change of password, your profile might get disconnected.
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The same goes for routine security checks these two platforms perform. Not to worry, though! We'll always send you an email if your profile gets disconnected.
Here's what Meta says about their policy on tokens
Here's what Meta says about their policy on tokens
User access tokens come in two forms: short-lived tokens and long-lived tokens. Short-lived tokens usually have a lifetime of about an hour or two, while long-lived tokens usually have a lifetime of about 60 days. You should not depend on these lifetimes remaining the same - the lifetime may change without warning or expire early.
Common Causes of Disconnections:
Expired Access Tokens
Changes to LinkedIn API
Changes to Account Permissions
Linkedin tokens are refreshed automatically every 60 days. However, LinkedIn's API requires you to reauthorize your profile to ensure its continued functionality once a year.
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If your LinkedIn Company Page becomes disconnected, we won't be able to publish any of your scheduled posts until you reconnect it.
βTroubleshooting Tips:
Refresh Access Tokens by Reconnecting your Linkedin account in NapoleonCat. Click on the *Reconnect* button to refresh the access token and restore the connection.
Ensure that the correct permissions are granted to NapoleonCat in your Linkedin account settings
Here's what Linkedin says about their policy on tokens
Here's what Linkedin says about their policy on tokens
Access Tokens stay valid until the number of seconds returned in the *expires_in field in the API response. A user can go through the OAuth flow on multiple clients (browsers or devices) and simultaneously hold multiple valid access tokens as long as the same scope is requested.
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If the user requests a different scope than the previously granted scope, then all the previous access tokens are invalidated.
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*expires_in β The number of seconds remaining, from the time it was requested, before the token will expire. Currently, access tokens are valid for 60 days and programmatic refresh tokens are valid for a year.
Google My Business and YouTube
Common Causes of Disconnections:
Expired Access Tokens
Changes to Google My Business / YouTube API
Changes to Account Permissions
Troubleshooting Tips:
Make sure you have manager access to the Google My Business / YouTube account
Check if your Google My Business / YouTube account is verified and published
Reconnect your Google My Business / YouTube account through NapoleonCat
Google My Business tokens have a lifespan of 200 days. So, NapoleonCat might get disconnected from GMB due to token expiration at some point.
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When that happens, you just need to re-connect your GMB account to NapoleonCat.
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In the event that your local listing is suspended or you've disabled posting permission, NapoleonCat will not be able to publish posts to your profile.
Best practices for keeping your social profiles connected
Now that we've covered some platform-specific troubleshooting steps, let's move on to best practices for keeping your social media profiles connected! π
π¨ You'll always receive an email notification if a social media profile gets disconnected from your NapoleonCat account. Be sure to reconnect it swiftly, so as not to miss out on your social media activity data β which is not flowing into NapoleonCat while your account is disconnected.
Keep your social media accounts active. Regularly logging in to NapoleonCat and engaging with your social media accounts will help keep them active and less likely to be disconnected
Refresh access tokens. Access tokens may expire after a certain period of time. If you encounter any issues, try refreshing your connection or disconnecting and reconnecting your profiles
Make sure you grant the correct permissions to NapoleonCat when connecting your social media accounts. If you connect another Facebook profile, make sure to give NapoleonCat the necessary permissions. If not, they'll overwrite the old ones
Review permissions granted to NapoleonCat in the admin panel of a given social media platform to ensure that NapoleonCat has all it needs to maintain connectivity
Keep an eye on API updates. Sometimes social media platforms update their APIs, which can cause temporary disconnections
Use strong login credentials and enable two-factor authentication whenever possible, so that you don't have to update your credentials often (which causes disconnects)
Discuss with your team members if they performed any actions on your social media accounts that could've caused them to disconnect from NapoleonCat
How to reconnect your social media profiles
We happen to have another guide on just that! Click the link for more information on how to reconnect your social media profiles.
And if all else fails, our Customer Success team is always here to lend a helping paw.
π¨οΈ Just reach out to us on chat in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.