Facebook Troubleshooting & FAQs

"New Facebook" Notice

In 2020 Facebook converted all users over to its new layout, called New Facebook. This has impacted the way Facebook profiles can be collected in Page Vault. We will highlight any changes in the questions below. For the latest updates, visit our dedicated New Facebook help page here.

Do I have to log in to capture Facebook content?

Almost all of the content on Facebook will require you to be signed into an account to view it. If you do not want to use your personal account, check with your firm to see if you have a generic or “Examiner” account that they use to view and collect Facebook pages.

Facebook freezes when I try to collect the page.

Facebook freezing or taking a very long time to scroll is due to two things: 

1. Data loading limitations by Facebook; and
2. All browsers—including Page Vault Browser—have limits on how much content they can load at once. If the user posts very frequently, there simply may be too much content to load at one time in the browser. This has become an even greater problem with New Facebook, as the new design requires significantly more data to load. 

Here are some ways we have found to work around these issues.

1. Disable "video autoplay" in Facebook settings. 

Allowing Facebook videos to automatically start playing while scrolling the timelines consumes significant CPU & browser resources, as well as calling from Facebook’s database. To disable:

Method 1: Use Page Vault's Built-In Option

1. Navigate to Facebook and log in (the option will not be available if you are not on a Facebook page)
2. Click on the hamburger menu in the right corner of the capture menu bar. A menu will appear; select "Turn off video auto-play..."
   

   

3. A dialog box will appear to confirm that you want to have Page Vault turn off video auto-play for you. Click yes.
4. A new tab will open, navigate to your Facebook settings, and turn auto-play off for you. You can now proceed with your Facebook captures.

Method 2: Manually Turn Off Auto-Play

1. Navigate to Facebook settings (in the far left corner of the Facebook menu bar)
   

   

2. Select Videos from the left menu options (at the very bottom)
   

   

3. For Auto-Play videos, select “Off” from the drop-down menu
   

   

2. Break the Timeline into smaller timeframes to reduce the amount of content loaded

All browsers—including Page Vault Browser—have limits on how much content they can load at once. If the user posts very frequently, there simply may be too much content to load at one time in the browser. 

In these cases, we recommend breaking the timeline down into smaller chunks for the browser to capture. This can be done with Page Vault's new beta feature, Facebook Post-by-Post, or through Facebook's new "Filter" option on the timeline. Please see the article on breaking down timelines here.

Alternatively, let Page Vault capture it for you with Page Vault On Demand.

If you’d prefer to have experienced capture professionals make the capture for you, Page Vault can help. Facebook timeline captures start at $269 for Page Vault Browser clients. Quotes are free and require no commitment.

To receive a quote, simply submit an On Demand Quote Request form with the URL you are trying to capture and we’ll send you a quote to have our staff make the capture.

Why don’t the date range URLs work anymore?

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, including using add-ons to the URL for date ranges. Unfortunately, Facebook has removed these options entirely with the rollout of New Facebook. 

We are testing a new solution for timeline breakdown that is currently in beta testing. 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.