Show listeners and/or followers of my long-running FB writing and podcast page DRTisAvailable will know that for the last six months I’ve only been able to post to that page via my mobile (cell) - Do I need to use the ‘cell’ thing here? This is far from ideal for me as I’ve never been one for using apps to post links to my work. I like to have a proper screen and see what I’m doing.
Now when you, the person who may like my work click on that page, you will see my page properly, as do I (only on my mobile). But from my laptop, since April, for no reason I could ascertain until now, this is what I see. The Please Don’t Hug Me page is from an old podcast, and I don’t post there. The first page is the one I’ve used for almost a decade and the one I can’t access.
I’ve been at a complete loss from day one as to what is going on here. A friend kindly volunteered to have a try, someone far better than me at things like this. Even they were stumped. It goes without saying Facebook haven’t bothered to respond at all to my requests to resolve this issue. Of the social media sites that I use, FB is definitely my least favourite, by a distance, but along with the Instagram page for my work, it does a lot better than my default social media Twitter (not happy about that). So for me, it’s worth saving, and even if I was happy to delete the page, I can’t. That’s the annoying thing. It can’t be right not to be able to control your own page.
I don’t know how it works in 2020 but back in 2011/12, when this FB page was set up by a friend for my podcast and stand up gigs, you could only set up an FB page if you had a personal page. The personal page is still there, rarely used, though I’ve noticed that in the last six months, owing to posting only on my mobile, I’ve mistakenly posted show links and promo clips on that personal page by mistake, which just compounds the frustration I feel about being unable to resolve this.
Finally, about nine days ago (Do I need to be precise here? Does it offer anything to my post?), I spent a couple of hours online trying to see if I could finally find a solution for the issue. Lo and behold, though I’ve never used Reddit, I found a brilliant thread on there which I’m replicating here via screenshots and also a link to the page itself, which at least confirmed that this is a known issue for users who have business pages.
This next screenshot helped me resolve the issue for TWO WHOLE DAYS.
Coincidentally, I managed to get this very temporary resolution two days before FB was set to do away with Classic View. Again, I know very little about how FB works, but I’m guessing this is why the solution only worked for forty-eight hours. By Friday, I again had the same issue. Any time I was able to access my FB page, it was almost as if I had to trick it into allowing me to access it on the laptop. The next time I turned on my laptop, I had to again start from scratch with the page not loading.
Click here to read the full Reddit thread.
I’ve also found this Chrome thread mentioned (I think) by someone in the Reddit thread. Seems this is how this issue is described: Infinite redirect loop on business page.
This Chrome thread in turn led me to this post by an IT guy in Australia which perfectly illustrates the problem FB business page users have/are experiencing. Unfortunately the solution offered by this post is no longer an option as from what I’ve learnt these last nine days, the Classic View option has now been withdrawn.
I’m out of ideas now. I might’ve been out of them as far back as April, probably. As well as just wanting to keep that page active for my work, I’m also in the process of launching a new show for which I’d also like to create an FB page that I can manage. Right now, there’s fat chance of that happening if I can’t even manage the one page I have.
Below, assuming anyone is still reading, are a series of screenshots showing the problem as it is today. Again, I seem to have found a laborious solution to posting to my page on the laptop, but it’s just not the way a page should work. I’d rather get rid of the page if this is the only way I can use it.
This is nothing to do with browsers, or clearing caches. That is clear from all the threads. It’s an issue at the FB end and of course, you’re never going to get help from those guys. Not unless you’re famous or some 12-year-old influencer.
Above is what I see when I type in (as per the Reddit thread) facebook.com/DRTisAvailable.
Over on the left is the Pages tab.
Again, please disregard the second page. ‘Daniel Ruiz Tizon’ is the active page. Or the page that should be active.
When I click on my page, I get no immediate option to post. This is a new development. Wasn’t like this pre-April 2020. So I now have to click on Publishing Tools, another extra step in the process.
So I’ve clicked in Publishing Tools.
I click on Create Post, and here I am. Finally.
This, quite frankly, is a rubbish way for anything to work. So I’m asking if there is anyone still reading this, who might manage an FB page themselves and have come across this issue, who can kindly help.
If you can, message me on Twitter or Instagram (@1607WestEgg on both) or email DRTAvailable
Thanks for reading, and if you don’t know what the solution might be, retweets and shares are greatly appreciated.