The Social Networks module is part of the censhare Server and enables the publishing of social media posts in censhare Web. 

Prerequisites

The Social media service and the respective social media apps must be installed and running.

Introduction

The Social Networks module connects to the Social media service, which needs to be set up independently. The Social networks module also maps the workflows and workflow steps that are applied in the Social media publishing wizard.

In the Social Networks module, you configure the connection from the censhare Server to the Social Media service. The censhare Server connects to the social networks through the Social Media service. In the Social Networks module, you configure the host where the Social Media service is running inside the censhare environment.

To publish content to a social network, censhare Web comes with the Social media publishing wizard. In the wizard, users can select the desired channel, add the content to be published, and set a publishing date.

In addition, the publishing process follows a specific workflow. In the Social Networks module, you configure the scheduling of the publication as well as the workflows. The module integrates seamlessly with the workflows that are provided in the censhare standard workspace. You can configure a custom workflow, if you wish.

The Social Networks module integrates seamlessly with the workflow management of censhare. You can configure workflows, map workflow steps to their respective publishing status, and define the author of a posting. For example, configure a workflow that comprises an approval before a social media post can be published.

Configure host and workflow

To configure the host and workflows of the Social Networks module, proceed as follows:

  1. In the censhare Admin Client, go to the Configuration/Modules/Social Networks folder.

  2. Open the Social Networks (Preferences) configuration.

  3. In the Social service area, in the Host field, enter the host URL of the Social media service. The social media service is required to authenticate the user at the social network via a social media application. It must be set up independently from the censhare Server.

  4. In the Asset update section, configure the workflow for social media postings:

    Field

    Description

    Workflow

    Select the workflow to apply. For more information, see Workflows (Master data) and Workflows for dedicated solutions.

    Last step of wizard

    This step shows that the social media post is created (but not yet published).
    Social media post assets are put in this workflow step when a user finishes the wizard. To publish the social media post without further workflow steps, the Last step of the wizard and the Ready for publishing steps must be identical. To add an approval/review, select the respective step here.

    Ready for publishing

    This step indicates that the social media post is ready to be published. When the Social media service is invoked, it collects all social media posts in this workflow step and published them to the respective social network. The Social media service is invoked in intervals that are defined in the scheduler.

    Publishing step

    This step indicates that a social media post was successfully published through the Social media service. This step should be the final step of the social media workflow.

    Error step

    When the Social media service throws an error during the publishing process, the social media post is set to this workflow step.

    Note: If the selected workflow has less steps than required here, you can use the same step for multiple publishing states.

  5. In the Author team member role field, enter the resource key of the asset feature that is used as author of the social media post. This field is required for the Social media publishing wizard. If your system uses the censhare Dedicated solutions, use the censhare:team-role.author key. Team roles are part of the censhare Dedicated solutions and can be assigned to any asset in the censhare standard workspace. Team roles are independent of user roles and permissions. For more information, see Configure Approvals for Dedicated Solutions.

  6. Click OK to close the dialog and save the configuration.

Configure the scheduler for publishing

The publishing of social media posts is handled via the Social media service. The Social networks module invokes the social media service in defined intervals. Every time the scheduler invokes the social media service, it collects all social media posts that are in the Ready for publishing step and publishes them in the respective channels.

In the Social networks publishing wizard, users can select whether they want to publish a social media post immediately (without publishing date), or whether they want to schedule the publishing by entering a publishing date.

The scheduler checks in defined time intervals, if an unpublished social media post with a publishing date that lies in the past exists. If both conditions are true, the scheduler invokes the Social media service that publishes the post. The time interval, in which the scheduler runs, can be configured in a cron expression.

You can also configure the query that searches for assets ready to be published, and the storage item type to be published. We strongly recommend that you leave the query expression as is unless you want to add your own conditions that must be matched!

Besides that, you can define the storage item to be published. For example, if you have defined different formats, aspect ratios, or resolutions for an image or video, you can select here, which one to use for the social media post. Ensure that you select a compatible storage item, especially for video files.

To configure the scheduled publishing proceed as follows:

  1. In the censhare Admin Client, go to the Configuration/Modules/Social Networks folder.

  2. Open the Performs a scheduled post to the social network configuration.

  3. In the General setup section, select the Enabled field. Leave all other settings as is.

  4. In the Trigger events area, in the Cron event field, enter the cron expression for the desired time interval. Leave all other settings as is.

  5. In the Asset filters section, you can add your own conditions to the query expression. If you change the query expression, test the result thoroughly. Do not remove or change the default conditions from the query expression, as this can lead to unexpected results, or break the scheduled publishing!

    The default search expression:

    (Currversion = “0 ”) and (Deletion state = “Not deleted”) and (State = “Available”) and (Type = “Social post*”) and (Channel NOTNULL “ID: ”) and (Release date ISNULL “”) and (Publication date < “[CURRENT_DATE]”)


  6. In the Storage item setup section, select the desired storage item types for image and video assets. We recommend that you always select the Fallback to master field to ensure that an image or video is posted correctly in case the selected storage item type is not available.

    Note: Ensure that the selected storage item has a proper type. Especially for video files, the selected storage item type must be a video file! For example, the preview must not be used, as it is an image, not a video file. Also check with the social networks, which file types, formats, and sizes are allowed.

  7. Click OK to close the dialog and save the configuration.

Configure status updates

For published social media posts, the Social Network module checks for any reactions or other status updates in the social networks. It then adds the figures to the respective social media post asset. 

The update check runs in defined time intervals, which are defined in a cron expression.

To configure the update check, proceed as follows:

  1. In the censhare Admin Client, go to the Configuration/Modules/Social Networks folder.

  2. Open Updates the status of the social network post.

  3. In the General setup section, select the Enabled field. Leave all other settings as is.

  4. In the Trigger events area, in the Cron event field, enter the cron expression for the desired time interval. We recommend that you execute the status update once a day. Leave all other settings as is.

  5. In the Asset filters section, enter the query expression that matches published social media post assets in your system:

    (Currversion = “0 ”) and (Deletion state = “Not deleted”) and (State = “Available”) and (Type = “Social post*”) and (Channel NOTNULL “ID: ”) and (Release date NOTNULL “”) and (Workflow = "[YOUR_WORKFLOW]") and (Workflow step = "[PUBLISHED_WORKFLOW_STEP]")

    Replace the [YOUR_WORKFLOW] and [PUBLISHED_WORKFLOW_STEP] placeholders with the respective values that you configured in the workflow section. Leave the other parts of the query expression as is.

  6. Click OK to close the dialog and save the configuration.

Update server configuration

To activate your changes, you must update the server configuration and, if necessary, synchronize the remote servers in your censhare environment.

Result

The Social networks module is enabled and configured. Users can create Social media channels and authenticate through the Social Profile widget. Users can create and publish social media posts with the Social media publishing wizard. Published social media postings receive automatic status updates.

Next steps

Create Social media channels.