Can Facebook share button be made to share link, but not photos?
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I don’t have a FB account, and I have avoided adding a FB share button on my site, because I’m a photographer and I don’t want FB having any claim over ownership of my photos. However, I realize I’m missing out on what’s probably the biggest potential source of shares of my content as a result.
Two other bloggers have told me that when you click the share on FB button, what appears on FB is the title of the post and its link, but NOT whatever photo might be in the post. One of them even tested this with a couple of his own posts, when not logged in to WP, and confirmed that the image did not appear on FB.
However, I checked this out with another (non-blogger) friend who uses FB – I temporarily added a FB share button to my site for posts, and she clicked on it. What appeared in her FB popup window (which previews what will appear on FB) was the title, link AND photos in that post. So now I’m really confused.
I am wondering if this could possibly be dependent on the WP theme (mine is Selecta), or whether one has a “featured image” set on posts (I do).
Does anyone know, definitively, the answer to my question – i.e. how to have a “share on Facebook” button on your WP blog, WITHOUT having it result in images showing up on FB?
Thanks very much.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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There isn’t currently a way to pick out the image manually for a WordPress.com. Facebook uses a very strict set of criteria which WordPress.com has absolutely no control over which image displays.
You may be able to work around this. I would recommend that when you create a new post, Give the post all of its necessary information (title, text, category etc.) and a Featured Image that you don’t mind being on Facebook. The Featured Image will show as the thumbnail in your Facebook post.
Once all the information is complete, you can publish the post and add the image you want to showcase in the content. This is of course after the post has been posted to your Facebook page or profile.
I understand this is work around and not an ideal method of execution, but it may give you what you are looking for.
Cheers,
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Thanks for the quick reply John – but I wasn’t really asking about posting it to my FB account (I don’t actually have a FB account and don’t plan on getting one).
I was asking about the “share on Facebook” button – i.e. whether there’s a way to make the image NOT appear on FB when a visitor to your site uses that button to share your post on FB. I currently have a bunch of “share” buttons on my site – twitter, Pinterest, G+, etc. – just not Facebook. I’d love to add it but don’t want my photos appearing on FB if someone opts to use the share button.
One of the folks who tested it for me found that the photos did not appear – while the other one found they did.
I welcome any further thoughts on this from the WP community. Thanks!
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I was asking about the “share on Facebook” button – i.e. whether there’s a way to make the image NOT appear on FB when a visitor to your site uses that button to share your post on FB.
No. We cannot control what appears or does appear on Facebook if you choose to post the share button on your blog.
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Thanks, timethief.
Do you have any idea why one of the people who tested the FB share button this morning (by clicking on the share button on one of his own posts, while not logged in to WP) did NOT have his photos appear on FB, while the other person who tested it (by clicking on the “share on FB” button that I temporarily added to my site) found that my photos did appear on FB?
This inconsistency is confusing to say the least, and it made me wonder whether setting a “featured image” makes a difference, or whether it might be in the theme I’ve chosen. I appreciate any further light you can shed on this.
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I cannot shed any light on this. Perhaps Staff can. I tagged this thread for their assistance. Please subscribe to it so you are notified when they respond and please be patient while waiting.
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All the button really does is tell Facebook to “share this content”. It’s really up to Facebook to choose what is shared, we have no control over that.
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