# Configuring Instagram

Your site can show a **feed** of your recent Instagram posts on the home page, and **publish** walk photo albums to Instagram as a carousel.

Both rely on the Facebook Page connection described in [Configuring Social Media](https://ngx-ramblers.org.uk/how-to/committee/configuring-social-media). Connect that first — this page only covers what is specific to Instagram.

## What Instagram needs in addition

* An **Instagram professional account** — Business or Creator. A personal account will not work.
* That account **linked to your Facebook Page**, in the Page's Linked accounts settings.

You no longer need a separate Instagram access token, and there is no command-line work involved.

## Turn on the site feed

On the **Social Media** sub-tab, find the **Instagram site feed** panel. These fields only control how the feed is presented; the posts themselves come from the Facebook Page connection.

* **Profile URL** — your Instagram profile address.
* **Account name** — your handle, shown in the panel heading.
* **Show Instagram Feed** — tick to show the panel on the home page.

Click **Save**.

![](https://ngx-ramblers.org.uk/api/aws/s3/site-content/cf71132f-b0e5-4203-b0be-283012aebdf6.png)

*The Instagram site feed panel controls presentation only. The posts come from the Facebook Page connection.*

## What members see

The home page shows a panel with your Instagram icon, account name, follower and post counts, and a **Visit** button opening your profile in a new tab.

Below that sit your nine most recent posts as square thumbnails. Hovering enlarges a photo slightly and shows its date and caption; clicking opens that post on Instagram. Videos and multi-photo carousels show a still image rather than a gap. While posts load, placeholder tiles keep the panel's shape.

## Publishing albums to Instagram

With **Publish walk albums to Instagram** switched on, content admins can publish an album straight from the website. On an album where an editor has enabled **Allow Share To Social Media**, open **Share**, choose Instagram, select photos, write or generate a caption, then publish. Progress is shown as it goes, because Instagram takes a minute or two to process each image.

Instagram's own rules apply, and the panel checks them before you publish:

| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Carousel size | Between **2 and 10** images |
| Aspect ratio | Between **4:5** and **1.91:1** |
| Posting limit | Roughly **25 published posts per 24 hours** |

The site records each successful post, so the same album cannot be published twice to Instagram by accident.

## If the feed is empty

| What you see | Likely cause |
|---|---|
| Nothing on the home page | **Show Instagram Feed** is off |
| "No Instagram posts yet" | The Page is not connected, or the account has no public posts |
| "Instagram feed unavailable" | Meta could not be reached, or the token needs renewing |
| Feed works but publishing fails | **Publish walk albums to Instagram** is off, or the account is personal rather than Business or Creator |

## A note on the old process

Earlier versions of this page described the Instagram **Basic Display API**: creating a Consumer app, inviting Instagram test users, and exchanging short-lived tokens for long-lived ones on the command line. Meta has retired that API and the website no longer uses it. If you followed those steps before, nothing needs undoing — just connect your Facebook Page as described in [Configuring Social Media](https://ngx-ramblers.org.uk/how-to/committee/configuring-social-media).