PHP function to get Facebook status?

Question

I'm looking for a good, simple PHP function to get my latest Facebook status updates. Anyone know of one?

Thanks!

EDIT: I've added a half-solution below.

Or if anyone knows a good way to read in the RSS feed and spit out the recent status update?

Answer 1

A quick check on PEAR found Services_Facebook

Answer 2

I never seem to get along with PEAR, but if you have better luck than I, then the PEAR solution seems the best route long term.

Another idea is to explore the Facebook Developer API library and see if that might give you anything you are looking for.

Lastly, there used to be a way to get an RSS feed... but I can't seem to find any instructions that work anymore, but you might poke around Facebook help if that interests you. Mine ends up looking something like this:

http://www.new.facebook.com/feeds/status.php?id=[idnumber]&viewer=[viewer]&key=[key]&format=rss20

Answer 3

This is an incomplete answer, but this is what I've gotten so far:

First: add the developer application on FB. Then create a new application. Call it whatever you want.

Second: Download the PHP client. Dump it somewhere on your webhost, i.e. /facebook/

Third: Copy the following beginner code to get yourself started into a php file:

 <?php
 require_once('facebook/php/facebook.php');
 $facebook = new Facebook("YOUR_API_KEY","YOUR_SECRET_KEY");
 $result = $facebook->api_client->fql_query("SELECT status FROM user WHERE uid = YOURIDNUMBER");
 // OR --- they both get the same data
 $result = $facebook->api_client->users_getInfo(YOURIDNUMBER,'status');
 print_r($result);
 echo "<pre>Debug:" . print_r($facebook,true) . "</pre>"; // debug info
 ?>

Other info:

• You must be logged in and have the application added. OR you give the application offline_access permissions and have the aapplication added.
• You can add offline_access by typing in the following url: http://www.facebook.com/authorize.php?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&v=1.0&ext_perm=offline_access
• more info on permissions found here: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Extended_permissions
• I'm at a stopping point: anything my program calls the fql query or users_getInfo, my page stops executing the php? I'm guessing there are a limited amount of calls for new applications? I've never done any FB development so I'm completely new to it. Maybe make the call and save your recent status (or most recent statuses) in your own DB to prevent excessive calls to the API?

I hope this helps someone get started!

EDIT: It seems that FB won't let you access someones status, even if the offline_access is on, unless you are that person or their friend (depending on their privacy settings).

I did however, finally manage to find the RSS feed in the new profile version: http://www.new.facebook.com/minifeed.php?filter=11

Answer 4

Since I couldn't use the API route, I went with the RSS found at: http://www.new.facebook.com/minifeed.php?filter=11

And used the following PHP function, called StatusPress, with some of my own modifications, to parse the RSS feed for my Facebook status. Works great!

Answer 5

<?php
// see http://github.com/facebook/php-sdk/blob/master/facebook.php
require './facebook.php';
// Create our Application instance.
// see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYqx-RtmkeU for how to get these numbers
$facebook = new Facebook(array('appId' => 'XXX','secret' => 'XXX'));
// This call will always work since we are fetching public data.
// this could be /username or /username/friends etc...
// see developer api for FQL for examples
$status = $facebook->api('/haanmc/feed?limit=1');
?>
<p><?php print $status['data'][0]['message']; ?></p>
<p>Likes: <?php print $status['data'][0]['likes']; ?> | Comments: <?php print count($status['data'][0]['comments']['data']); ?></p>
<textarea style="width: 95%; height: 600px;"><?php print_r($status); ?></textarea>

Answer 6

I have found a way to fetch your latest facebook status. This is how you do it:

1) Create a facebook app, and copy your application secret and application id.

2) Grant the app read_stream and offline_access to your profile. (http://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/permissions) To fetch your latest status the app needs an access_token. With offline_access granted the access_token should "never" expire. The easiest way to do this is to click the button generated by this code: (be sure to fill in 'your app id' and set cookie to true!)

<fb:login-button perms="read_stream,offline_access"></fb:login-button>
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script src="http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
<script>FB.init({appId: 'your app id', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true});</script>

3) Now try to find out what access_token it is using. The access_token is saved in the fbs_appId cookie. Locate it using your browser or using $_COOKIE['fbs_appId']. Look for access_token=....

4) Now that you have a (hopefully) never expiring access_token you can use the following code:

$access_token='xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';
$appId='123456789132456789';
$appSecret='xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';
$profileId='123456789';

//http://github.com/facebook/php-sdk/blob/master/src/facebook.php
require 'facebook.php';

$facebook = new Facebook(array('appId' => $appId,'secret' => $appSecret));
$response = $facebook->api('/'.$profileId.'/feed?limit=1&access_token='.$access_token);

5) The message part should be located: $response['data'][0]['message']

I don't know HOW long the access token is valid. Facebook says:

Enables your application to perform authorized requests on behalf of the user at any time. By default, most access tokens expire after a short time period to ensure applications only make requests on behalf of the user when the are actively using the application. This permission makes the access token returned by our OAuth endpoint long-lived.

Answer 7

Hi,

I got it working using Jens' post to retrieve a valid access_token. Then, I extracted the status messages and the time of posting from the xml file using the following code (you can change $limit to display more or less status messages, or use a form to change it).

Be sure to put in your Facebook ID and the access token you got from the app you created (see Jens' post). You can check the output of this script here.

Have fun!

<?php
if(isset($_POST['limit'])) {
    $limit = $_POST['limit'];
}
else {
    $limit = 3; // number of status messages to display
}
$f = fopen ("https://api.facebook.com/method/status.get?uid=YOUR_FACEBOOK_ID&amp;limit=".$limit."&amp;access_token=YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN", "r");

while ($line= htmlentities(fgets($f))) {
    if ($line===FALSE) print ("FALSE\n");
    else
    {
        $content = $content." ".$line;
    }
}
fclose ($f);

$message = explode("&lt;message&gt;", $content); // search for the <message> tag
$message_cnt = count($message);
$msg_index = 0;

$time = explode("&lt;time&gt;", $content); // search for the <time> tag

for($i=1; $i<$message_cnt; $i++)
{
    $tmp = explode("&lt;/message&gt", $message[$i]);
    $msg[$msg_index] = $tmp[0]; // status message

    $tmp2 = explode("&lt;/time&gt", $time[$i]);
    $t[$msg_index++] = $tmp2[0]; // time of posting
}

for($i=0; $i<$msg_index; $i++)
{
     echo("<span class=\"status\">".preg_replace('!\015\012|\015|\012!','<br>',$msg[$i])."</span><br>\n
           <span class=\"date\">on ".date("d.m.Y", $t[$i])." at ".date("H:i",$t[$i])."</span><br><br>\n");

}
?>