Facebook Integration with Office 365, SharePoint and 150+

Facebook Integration and Synchronization is codeless with various other data sources using the Layer2 Cloud Connector via our Facebook data provider. Posts, comments, likes and other data entities or queries are supported. Please take a look here for supported target systems and applications like SQL databases, Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, Dynamics and many others.​​​​

Facebook is one of the leading online social networking services. After registering, users can create a profile, add other users as "friends", exchange messages, post status updates and photos, share videos and receive notifications when others update their profiles. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into groups.

Facebook data can be integrated und synchronized codeless with many systems and applications on-premises (locally) or in the cloud using the Layer2 Cloud Connector. To connect to Facebook the source entity must be configured as follows in the Layer2 Cloud Connector Connection Manager:

Fig.: Sample connection configuration to connect to a Facebook status feed.

Facebook Specific Integration Settings

​Please note the following Facebook specific settings.

• Choose the "Facebook” Data Provider” for your data entity (source and / or destination).
• Set the connection string as required, e.g. OAuthClientId=myClientId; OAuthClientSecret=myClientSecret; OAuthCallbackURL=http://localhost; InitiateOAuth=true;
• Set the data query as required, e.g. SELECT * FROM Statuses or "SELECT * FROM comments WHERE Target ='myTargetId'"
• Choosing a primary key is not required as the provider does set one automatically.
• You can map your Facebook data query fields to specific external fields in the Layer2 Cloud Connector. Please take care about data types (simple type conversions are supported).
• No installation or changes are required at the Facebook data source and also the data destination.
• Data synchronization can be started manually in the Connection Manager, per command line or scheduled in background by the Layer2 Cloud Connector Windows Service. Only data changes are processed (no delete / bulk import).
• No programming required for setup a connection and sync.
• No need to open your local network for access from outside.

Known Issues with Facebook Integration And Synchronization

• The first time new credentials are used, your default browser will open a web page where you are asked to authorize access to your Twitter account.
• Writing (Facebook as target) is possible with exceptions. You can write or comments, editing is not allowed if you not created the post with the same app.
• The data provider requires to have your App Domain set to “localhost”, but Facebook blocks that unless you first add a new website platform (same configuration page) with http://localhost as URL.
• Some requested permissions are subject to Facebook review (you get more info during your first authentication attempt), but accessing my statuses still worked without the review. 
• It is not possible to get access for private Facebook Groups due to Facebooks API requirements.

Intros For Codeless Facebook Integration And Synchronization

Just some ideas what to connect next with to Facebook data queries: 

• Sync with Microsoft Exchange (on-premises or online) for contacts, calendar events, mobile access and offline availability on any device. Public folders also supported.
• Sync with 3rd party tools like ERP/CRM/CMS based on SQL databases like Oracle, mySQL or Microsoft SQL Server.
• Sync with Microsoft SharePoint or Office 365 for better collaboration (for example with customers or partners) or for intranet publishing. Search, change notifications and workflows fully supported.
• Integrate with Microsoft Dynamics CRM/ERP/NAV etc.
• Archive Facebook data in a database for reporting / analyis.
• You will find more systems to connect here.

OAuthClientID=<your_client_id>;
OAuthClientSecret=<your_client_secret>;
InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;

Select Statement:

SELECT * FROM Messages WHERE ChannelID=’CBZVAAE6L’ AND SearchTerm Like ‘’;

You can get all available tables with:  

SELECT * FROM sys_tables;

You can get all available views with:  

SELECT * FROM sys_views;

Ready to go next steps?