Docs / Publish
Facebook and Instagram
Connecting Facebook Pages and Instagram professional accounts through Meta's login, why you tick every Page every time, Reels and their 90-second limit, and fixing Meta connections.
ChannelForge posts each episode as a Reel to a Facebook Page and to an Instagram professional account, on the channel's slots. Both connect through Meta's own login, and both are in every paid plan.
Before you connect#
- Facebook: you need to manage the Page on Facebook (a Page role that may post).
- Instagram: the account must be a professional account — business or creator — linked to a Facebook Page you manage. A personal Instagram account cannot be connected: switch it to a professional account in Instagram's settings, and link it to its Page there.
- Connecting needs the editor role or above. Disconnecting needs an admin or owner.
Connect Facebook Pages#
- Open Settings → Connections and press Connect on the Facebook card.
- Sign in to Facebook. Meta shows the Pages you manage.
- Select ALL the Pages you use with ChannelForge — the ones connected before too.
- Leave the permissions it lists switched on, then save.
- Back on Connections, each Page is an account of its own ("Facebook connected (3 accounts)"). Under Which account each channel posts as, pick each channel's Page and press Save.
Connect Instagram#
- On the Instagram card, press Connect.
- Instagram connects through Facebook: sign in to the Facebook account that manages your Pages.
- Select ALL your Pages, including the Pages your Instagram accounts are linked to.
- Select your Instagram account when Meta shows it, keep the permissions on, and save.
- Each Instagram account linked to a ticked Page arrives as an account of its own, named by its @username. Link each to its channel under Which account each channel posts as.
What the connections need from Meta (Meta shows them in its own words, and may group them):
| Permission (Meta's name) | Why | ||
|---|---|---|---|
pages_show_list | Yes | Yes | To list the Pages you manage |
pages_read_engagement | Yes | Yes | To read the Pages and their posts' numbers |
pages_manage_posts | Yes | To publish Reels on a Page | |
pages_manage_metadata | Yes | To manage the Page's settings posting needs | |
business_management | Yes | Yes | To reach Pages owned through a business portfolio |
instagram_basic | Yes | To read the Instagram account's profile and media | |
instagram_content_publish | Yes | To publish Reels on the Instagram account |
What is posted#
| Where | A Reel on the Page | A Reel on the account, shared to its feed |
| Video | The episode's Facebook edit — its own cut of 55 to 89 seconds | The whole episode when it is 90 seconds or less; otherwise its Facebook edit |
| Text | The title, the hook line, the channel's call to action and up to five hashtags (a title of up to 255 characters, a description of up to 2,000) | The title, the hook line, the call to action, a line with a dot, then up to ten hashtags — at most 2,200 characters |
| Cover | The episode's thumbnail | The frame the thumbnail was taken from |
Both platforms' publishing interfaces stop Reels at 90 seconds, while episodes run 2–3 minutes; so each episode has an edit under 90 seconds, made and measured with the episode. Before an edit is posted it is read as a story of its own: an edit that does not tell the story on its own is not posted to Facebook or Instagram — YouTube and the other platforms take the whole video — and no try is used.
Instagram receives a 720 × 1280 copy, which Instagram's processing takes most reliably. When it refuses a copy, ChannelForge tries the same file again, then a gently re-cropped copy, then a 540 × 960 one. Instagram can take up to 10 minutes to process a Reel.
When it posts#
On the channel's slots (queued after YouTube), or with Post now on the episode page. Facebook and Instagram can also post a channel's photo carousels, and a channel testing its openings in the hook lab may post to Instagram as a trial reel first.
Never twice#
- Facebook: when the step that publishes a Reel loses its answer, the post is marked may be live. Check the Page, then press Confirm it is not live, retry.
- Instagram: when publishing answers with an error that may hide a success, ChannelForge asks Instagram whether the Reel went out and looks for it on the account, recording it when it is there. When that cannot be told, or the answer is lost, the post is marked may be live: check the account, then press Confirm it is not live, retry.
Numbers#
Insights reads each Reel's own numbers from your accounts. Watch time on both, and Instagram's own insights, wait for Meta's App Review of ChannelForge's app; until then those parts are left out.
Reconnecting#
Page and Instagram connections do not run out on a timer. They end when you change your Facebook password, remove ChannelForge in Facebook's settings, lose your role on a Page — or connect again without ticking that Page. To reconnect, press Add on the card and go through the steps above, ticking every Page: the same accounts are updated, and their channel links stay.
To remove ChannelForge's access at Meta, use Facebook's Settings → Apps and Websites (Instagram and Threads are there too). Disconnect in ChannelForge deletes only its own copy of the connection.
Troubleshooting#
A Page stopped posting after someone connected Meta again. That login left the Page unticked. Reconnect, ticking every Page.
"No Facebook Page was shared. Connect again and choose the Pages to use." Nothing was ticked on Meta's screen. Connect again and select the Pages.
"No Instagram professional account is linked to the Pages you shared." Link the Instagram account to its Facebook Page in Instagram's settings (as a professional account), then connect again, ticking that Page.
"Facebook Reels stop at 90 s" — no Facebook edit. An episode over 90 seconds without a Facebook edit cannot post to Facebook or Instagram. Nothing was sent and no try was used; the other platforms post it as usual.
"Instagram processing failed". Instagram's processing sometimes refuses a Reel it takes the next time. The post is marked failed and the next slot tries again, up to three tries.
Related#
- Schedules and autopilot
- Threads — made from your Instagram account
- Ready-to-post packs — the Instagram and Facebook tabs
- Agency mode — connect links for clients' Pages
Something missing or unclear? Tell us and we will improve this page.