Capturing content from specific date ranges on Facebook

Date range capture in New Facebook—status as of March 1, 2021

In 2020 Facebook converted all users over to its new layout, called New Facebook. This page summarizes the impacts this is having on Facebook captures with Page Vault and our current options for making Facebook captures.

There are currently two solutions for breaking down long Facebook profiles: Page Vault's Post-by-Post Feature and a modified Navigation Bar method.

Page Vault Post-by-Post

To address the need to capture very long Facebook profiles, Page Vault has developed a solution for timeline breakdowns that is currently in beta testing. This feature:

1. Finds the URL of each post on the timeline;
2. Sends you the full list of URLs;
3. Gives the option to immediately capture each post or you can enter groups of posts into Page Vault in bulk.

A full walkthrough of the feature, including a demo video, can be found on the Post-by-Post knowledge base page.

If you would like to have access to the beta, please contact our support team to get trained and have the feature enabled on your account. 

Filter by Dates (formerly Navigation Bar Method)

Facebook has introduced a modified version of an old feature to jump to a date on an individual's timeline, which we're calling "Filter by Date."

1. At the top of the timeline is now a bar titled "Posts" with a "Filters" button on the right hand side. Click on "Filters."
   

   

2. A dialog box will appear with a year. Select the year, then the month, then the day. Click "Done."
   

   

3. Facebook will jump down the timeline to the selected date, or the closest date before the selected date. Note that it does not actually filter, it simply jumps to that date. If you scroll down, all posts that were generated prior to that post will load as per a normal timeline. You can then utilize Page Vault's Facebook Expand button as with traditional Facebook captures.

Dates in URL: No longer available in Facebook

In the past, we have advised clients on how to use some of Facebook's hidden functionality for jumping to specific time periods on an individual's timeline. Unfortunately, Facebook appears to have completely removed the Date URL feature in New Facebook.