Gallery link posted to Facebook not including the Description

ChancyRat · August 29, 2015

At one point in time I had a problem where only "Your photos look better here - Smugmug" (or something along that line), posted as the description with a gallery thumbnail in Facebook.

Then a wizard had to re-set something behind the scenes, and all was well.

Right now I'm seeing "nothing" except my site name under the gallery name. There is a short gallery description in gallery settings. In the past it did populate correctly in FB.

What should I do to fix this? thanks.

rnrjosh · August 31, 2015

Facebook caches data from links, and when you post any link to Facebook, the data that's shown (image thumbnail and text) is pulled from Facebook's internal cache. You can update Facebook's cache for any URL by plugging that URL into their Debugging tool: https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/og/object/ Enter the URL in question there, and click Fetch New Scrape Information. Doing that should update Facebook's internal cache with the current info (i.e., current featured photo for that gallery and gallery description). That information should update on its own in time, but doing this will force an immediate update.

ChancyRat · August 31, 2015

Thank you!

ChancyRat · August 31, 2015

I'd like to ask a related question about publishing a gallery link to FB. I've been testing posting the permalink instead of the non-permalink. When I do that, no gallery thumbnail or description populates in FB. Is that correct behavior? If it is correct, is there any way to change the behavior so that the thumbnail and first sentence of the gallery description, post to FB?

rnrjosh · September 1, 2015

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'permalink'. Could you clarify what link you are posting specifically?

ChancyRat · September 1, 2015

rnrjosh wrote: »

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'permalink'. Could you clarify what link you are posting specifically?

Meaning the SM permalink, the one with numbers/letters at the end. I'm not sure what the method is to retrieve it for each gallery when logged into SM. I use Nicholas Sherlock's backup-and-other-great-stuff tool: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=240752.

In Chrome, in whichever gallery for which you want the peramlink, the tool will show it to you for copy/paste. Or, I also download the full list of gallery links and choose the permalink, then paste into excel for an easy reference.

rnrjosh · September 1, 2015

The permalinks just redirect to the non-permalink version of the URL from what I can tell. It would appear that Facebook doesn't like the redirect, and thus doesn't load metadata from that URL (as no metadata exists at the 'permalink', it only 301s to the gallery's current location). You'd just need to use the non-permalink version of the URL if you want to show the image thumbnail and description in a Facebook post.

WinsomeWorks · September 3, 2015

rnrjosh wrote: »

The permalinks just redirect to the non-permalink version of the URL from what I can tell. It would appear that Facebook doesn't like the redirect, and thus doesn't load metadata from that URL (as no metadata exists at the 'permalink', it only 301s to the gallery's current location). You'd just need to use the non-permalink version of the URL if you want to show the image thumbnail and description in a Facebook post.

WHat's the "non-permalink" version? As I just stated in another thread, I was trying to put an image thumbnail (& title or whatever if possible, but more importantly just the thumb) in a FB comment (not a status or post) today, & it did not work as it used to. I tried using mobile view & couldn't find any way at all (only shares, as in a status-type of post). I then tried from my desktop & copied the URL showing on that page when the preview for the photo I wanted to post was pulled up. But when I pasted that URL into my comment, all that showed was the link, no thumbnail as it used to do. Also, clicking on the link took viewers to the image alone on a page. Idk if FB changed something, or SmugMug did. It's a bummer to not have the thumb & a link that'll just take someone to that gallery with that particular photo previewed...

ChancyRat · September 3, 2015

WinsomeWorks wrote: »

WHat's the "non-permalink" version? As I just stated in another thread, I was trying to put an image thumbnail (& title or whatever if possible, but more importantly just the thumb) in a FB comment (not a status or post) today, & it did not work as it used to. I tried using mobile view & couldn't find any way at all (only shares, as in a status-type of post). I then tried from my desktop & copied the URL showing on that page when the preview for the photo I wanted to post was pulled up. But when I pasted that URL into my comment, all that showed was the link, no thumbnail as it used to do. Also, clicking on the link took viewers to the image alone on a page. Idk if FB changed something, or SmugMug did. It's a bummer to not have the thumb & a link that'll just take someone to that gallery with that particular photo previewed...

This thread and the term "permalink" are only talking about gallery URLs. I do believe the behavior you describe regarding thumbnails or images, yes, they can't be posted the way you want in FB. I wonder where the locus of that resides: SM or FB...

I have not yet understood what's up with permalinks and posting them to FB (or anywhere else for that matter), now that "The permalinks just redirect to the non-permalink version of the URL" was described. I swear I remember that one would see the permalink in the URL field itself, but now, if you click one and arrive in the gallery, it's back to no-permalink.

For the purposes of using a permalink to preserve correct access (in the case of site-wide reorganization or gallery renaming, for example), what good is it if the visitor who clicked a permalink to get to the gallery, isn't able to access the permalink to share with others?

What would it take - can it be done - to have the permalink show in the URL to visitors? (Not sure that's the right question but it's the only one I know to ask.)

ChancyRat · September 3, 2015

WinsomeWorks wrote: »

WHat's the "non-permalink" version?

I don't think I answered this question. Non = what you see in the URL field. Has no numbers/letters at the end.
If this is what you give out publicly, and then you reorganize your site or rename the gallery, the non-permalink link will break.

I don't know the method to see the permalink from within SM. I've only ever used Nicholas' tool to retrieve them.

rnrjosh · September 4, 2015

ChancyRat wrote: »

I have not yet understood what's up with permalinks and posting them to FB (or anywhere else for that matter), now that "The permalinks just redirect to the non-permalink version of the URL" was described. I swear I remember that one would see the permalink in the URL field itself, but now, if you click one and arrive in the gallery, it's back to no-permalink.

For the purposes of using a permalink to preserve correct access (in the case of site-wide reorganization or gallery renaming, for example), what good is it if the visitor who clicked a permalink to get to the gallery, isn't able to access the permalink to share with others?

What would it take - can it be done - to have the permalink show in the URL to visitors? (Not sure that's the right question but it's the only one I know to ask.)

SmugMug doesn't actually show this 'permalink' anywhere on the site. The permalink option is just a feature of that special browser plugin you are using. The 'permalink' is a hack of sorts, though it is supported by SmugMug's internal URL infrastructure. But, the permalink URLs don't do anything but 301 to the actual gallery URL (which is non-permanent--that URL can change if you do something like move it to a new location or change the gallery/folder URL). It's not possible for those permalink URLs to show within the browser address bar themselves when in a gallery, sorry. That is kind of the purpose of the 'permalink' anyway (it will redirect to wherever the gallery is located, no matter where you move it on your site).

pbandj · September 4, 2015

One trick to get a "permalink" (other than the tool you're using) takes a few steps, but it's pretty quick and easy once you get used to it. When you go to "Share --> Get a Link", and then go to Gallery Links, some of the gallery links contain the album key. For example, the "batch buy" link. Grab that link, which looks something like this example:
http://photos.bellhanley.com/buy/9949655_RCWvwr/

Change the word "buy" to "gallery", ending up with a link like this:
http://photos.bellhanley.com/gallery/9949655_RCWvwr/

That's a "permalink" to your gallery. It doesn't fix the problems you're talking about, because of course the issue is that FB is still not handling it well, and if a user clicks that link and smugmug forwards to the non-permalink, the non-permalink is the URL in the browser's address bar. But it's a fairly easy way to grab a "permalink" for a single gallery.

ChancyRat · September 5, 2015

pbandj wrote: »

One trick to get a "permalink" (other than the tool you're using) takes a few steps, but it's pretty quick and easy once you get used to it. When you go to "Share --> Get a Link", and then go to Gallery Links, some of the gallery links contain the album key. For example, the "batch buy" link. Grab that link, which looks something like this example:
http://photos.bellhanley.com/buy/9949655_RCWvwr/

Change the word "buy" to "gallery", ending up with a link like this:
http://photos.bellhanley.com/gallery/9949655_RCWvwr/

That's a "permalink" to your gallery. It doesn't fix the problems you're talking about, because of course the issue is that FB is still not handling it well, and if a user clicks that link and smugmug forwards to the non-permalink, the non-permalink is the URL in the browser's address bar. But it's a fairly easy way to grab a "permalink" for a single gallery.

Thanks, I just roamed around checking various places. I don't sell anything on my site so I have "buy" turned off everywhere. So I tried checking other options and just couldn't find any. I believe Inspect Element is supposed to be one option but I don't know how to find the link that way. It's very confusing as to why SM would make this option so hard to use. In fact why can't we have the permalinks be the normal URL? That's what old SM had, I think... An on-off button for either site-wide or gallery-specific, would be cool.

rainforest1155 · September 7, 2015

ChancyRat wrote: »

Thanks, I just roamed around checking various places. I don't sell anything on my site so I have "buy" turned off everywhere. So I tried checking other options and just couldn't find any. I believe Inspect Element is supposed to be one option but I don't know how to find the link that way. It's very confusing as to why SM would make this option so hard to use. In fact why can't we have the permalinks be the normal URL? That's what old SM had, I think... An on-off button for either site-wide or gallery-specific, would be cool.

As Josh explained, the old SmugMug permalinks aren't actually something available on the New SmugMug. While you might still be able to get them from the get a link > buy button option by modifying the link, and possibly via the use of the browser extension that was previously linked to, that's not something we can officially support.
The New SmugMug comes with a completely different url structure to make links more readable by avoiding long digit and random letter combinations unless the gallery is unlisted. However, that means the links are no longer permanent, and if you rename or move items, the links would change.

pbandj · September 11, 2015

rainforest1155 wrote: »

As Josh explained, the old SmugMug permalinks aren't actually something available on the New SmugMug. While you might still be able to get them from the get a link > buy button option by modifying the link, and possibly via the use of the browser extension that was previously linked to, that's not something we can officially support.
The New SmugMug comes with a completely different url structure to make links more readable by avoiding long digit and random letter combinations unless the gallery is unlisted. However, that means the links are no longer permanent, and if you rename or move items, the links would change.

That's interesting...I recall folks from Smugmug in the past advising/encouraging us to use the "permalinks" so we would have the freedom to organize and reorganize the site freely as our site develops and we need to rethink the folder/gallery structure. This is the first I've heard of Smugmug no longer supporting this, and it means we're trapped in whatever structure we start with if we publish links elsewhere.

I would really like to restructure my site now that the new organizer makes it so easy, but it sounds like I can't/shouldn't.

rainforest1155 · September 11, 2015

pbandj wrote: »

That's interesting...I recall folks from Smugmug in the past advising/encouraging us to use the "permalinks" so we would have the freedom to organize and reorganize the site freely as our site develops and we need to rethink the folder/gallery structure. This is the first I've heard of Smugmug no longer supporting this, and it means we're trapped in whatever structure we start with if we publish links elsewhere.

With the old SmugMug, each gallery link had the gallery ID along with a gallery key included, which allowed the system to always know the specific gallery you're linking to. However, that also made the links long and difficult to remember.

With the New SmugMug, we've revamped the link structure and on popular request added lots of additional levels, so you can now have folders within folders. Links no longer include the lengthy gallery ID and key. Only on unlisted galleries and folders, do we include a special node ID to provide protection against people trying to guess links. The downside of this is that the links are no longer permalinks. If you move a gallery to a different folder or change its custom url, the previous New SmugMug link won't work anymore, and you would need to give out the new link.

That said, the old SmugMug links still work as before, so if you've been with us for a long time, you won't have to send out updated links for your older galleries. They'll be automatically redirecting to the New SmugMug link.

Gallery link posted to Facebook not including the Description

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