Limitations on Facebook

Facebook doesn't make all features available through its official APIs. KNOWYOURCHAT therefore cannot offer some things, even though they would be possible directly in Facebook.

This page summarizes the most important limitations. You'll find the complete comparison (✅/❌) in API capabilities for Facebook.

If you're generally wondering whether something is a bug or an API limit, the overview page Platform limitations also helps.

The basic principle: why are there limitations?

KNOWYOURCHAT uses the official Facebook APIs.
Which features are available depends on the page type, permissions, and the API specifications.

If something is missing for you, it's best to start with this quick check:

Is the page connected correctly? → Adding social media channels
Do you have the necessary rights? (e.g. admin rights on Meta) → KNOWYOURCHAT glossary (admin rights)
Are you allowed to publish or approve in KNOWYOURCHAT? → Inviting your team & assigning roles

Publishing limitations (Posts)

Currently, some publishing features are limited or unavailable:

If you want to lock down publishing properly "up front" so you have less to fix later directly in Facebook, these pages are the best companions:

Posts
Approval & review in Posts
Publishing GIFs as a post: not available.
Setting alt text on photos: not available.
Carousel posts with links: not available.
Publishing event posts: not available.
Publishing multilingual posts: not available.
Captions for video posts: not available.
Disabling comments before publishing: not available.

In addition:

Importing already published posts: not available.
Importing already published ad posts: not available.
Deleting published posts from within KNOWYOURCHAT: not available.
Editing already published posts: not available.

What this means in everyday use:

For certain post types or detail settings, you'll need to work directly in Facebook.
Already published content can't be fully pulled in or edited "after the fact" in KNOWYOURCHAT.

Community management limitations (Inbox)

In the Smart Inbox you can handle the key tasks, but not every action:

If you're new to the Inbox, start with Inbox.

Liking/unliking a post: not available.
Hiding/unhiding a post: not available.
Blocking/unblocking users: not available.

Direct message (DM) limitations

Facebook DMs have similar limits to other networks:

Importing DM message requests: not available.
Composing new (outgoing) DMs: not available.
Retrieving images/videos in DMs: not available.
Replying to DMs with images: not available.

Import and metadata limitations

Importing user profile pictures: not available.
Importing @mentions in comments: not available.
Importing @mentions in stories: not available.

Statistics limitations (Insights)

Facebook generally provides classic performance metrics. Exactly which metrics you see depends on the post type and the Facebook APIs.

If you want to understand analytics in general, start with Insights.

Typical metrics:

views or reach (depending on the display)
likes
comments
shares

Important:

Facebook and Instagram don't define "views" and "reach" identically.
- Views can mean something different on each platform, for example whether a piece of content was only shown briefly or whether a minimum duration must be reached.
- Reach is often "unique" (how many individual accounts/people saw the content), but counting methods, deduplication (across devices/sessions), and which placements are included also differ here.
- Additionally, content types (e.g. Reel/video vs. photo) and the way views are measured differ.
Cross-platform comparisons are therefore only meaningful to a limited extent. It's best to compare within the same platform and the same format.

You'll find details here: Facebook Insights: available statistics.

If you want to know why cross-platform comparisons often go wrong (e.g. "views" vs. "reach"), the KNOWYOURCHAT glossary (terms like views, reach, impressions) also helps.

Best practices

Use KNOWYOURCHAT as the hub for planning, status, approvals, and execution. (Calendar starting point: Introduction to the KNOWYOURCHAT Calendar)
For special cases (event posts, multilingual posts, some metadata), go directly to Facebook.
If features are missing, first check your permissions and whether you're really working on the right page.
If something looks like an error (post missing, status looks odd), start with Troubleshooting the KNOWYOURCHAT Calendar.