Facebook recently implemented changes to the API which Linden Lab (among others) use to allow snapshots to be uploaded to Facebook from the viewer via the SL Share capability.
In response to this, as as I noted in my TPV Developer Meeting report on April 11th, the Lab made changes to SL Share itself to comply with Facebook’s update. These don’t involve and functional changes to SL Share or the way you go about uploading snaps, etc, to Facebook, and it had been hoped that the whole process of changing from the “old” to the “new” API would be completely transparent to SL users.
Unfortunately, Facebook seem to be lagging behind in actually migrating applications using the API to the updated version, and as a result have indicated that some of the applications (like SL Share) might encounter some disruptions as the switch-over occurs.
Because of this, Linden Lab have issued a warning to those using SL Share for Facebook uploads that there might be temporary problems with the service. The notice, which came in the form of a technology blog post, reads in part:
This means that when using SLShare (updating status, photo uploads, and check-ins from the Viewer) you may experience some temporary problems. Please be assured that we are aware of this and any issues you encounter should be resolved once the migration period is complete.
Thank you for your patience!
Note that potential problems might occur with any viewer using the SL Share capability to upload to Facebook, and not just the official viewer. So if you are using a TPV with the capability, please keep this in mind.
For those unfamiliar with the Facebook upload capability, it can be accessed either via a dedicated menu / toolbar option in those viewers supporting it, or via the unified snapshot floater (again, in those viewers supporting it). It allows those with a Facebook account to send updates on where they are in SL and what they’re doing, upload snapshots, complete with pre-processing filters. There’s also a Friends tab in the Facebook floater, but this hasn’t been defined in the Lab’s Knowledge Base article on the capability, as I don’t use Facebook, I’ve not been able to confirm it’s use. I assume its a method of connecting to other SL friends you have who also use Facebook.
Related Links
- An Update on SLShare Service Issues – Linden Lab
- Second Life Share – Facebook – Linden Lab
- My overview of the SL Share capabilities (FB, Flickr, Twitter)
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