Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2

Our last post on Facebook explained why you should use Facebook; now we'll go into how Facebook works with Blackbaud NetCommunity. First, you need to connect the two applications.  In this post, we'll go through the process.

What do I need to get started?
To get these two applications to talk, you will need:

• Access to the Blackbaud NetCommunity web server (If you're hosted with Blackbaud OnDemand, contact support in the steps ahead)
• A Facebook account (Join Facebook)
• Rights to create Pages and Parts within Blackbaud NetCommunity

What needs to be done in Facebook?
After you set up your Facebook account, you have to create a Facebook application to bridge the gap between the two systems.  If you've never created a Facebook application, follow the steps below.

1. In your browser, go to http://www.facebook.com/developers/
   
2. Log in if you have not already done so.
3. If you haven't added the Developer Application before, you will see a prompt asking you to approve it.  Click .
4. Click the  button in the upper right.
5. Enter a name for your application.
6. Carefully read Facebook's Terms, and if you agree to them, click Agree.  Note: You must agree to these terms to integrate with Facebook.
7. Click .
8. Copy or write down the API Key and Secret Key for your application.  You will need this information to configure your server.

What needs to be done on the Blackbaud NetCommunity web server?

1. Log into your web server.
2. Navigate to the Blackbaud NetCommunity folder.  The default location is C:\Program Files\Blackbaud\NetCommunity\.
   
3. Find the file called Web.Config and open it in a text editor such as Notepad.
   
4. Find the appSettings section in the file.
   <appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionString" value="server=BBNCLEAD-TEST;database=BBNCLatest;user id=BBPortalWebUser;pwd=admin"/>
</appSettings>
   Note: Your appSettings may contain additional settings.
   
5. After the last add key= item in the list, add two more <add key= lines, one for "FBAppKey and FBSecret. The value for FBAppKey and FBSecret should be the values that you copied or wrote down when you created the Facebook Application.
   <appSettings>
<add key="ConnectionString" value="server=BBNCLEAD-TEST;database=BBNCLatest;user id=BBPortalWebUser;pwd=admin"/>
<add key="FBAppKey" value="e239ad1c05e6de055c5bbb88c939c345" />
<add key="FBSecret" value="a6b455364cb81c0cac44a0f6c644239d" />
</appSettings>
   
6. Save and close the web.config file.

What does it do?
After the integration is established, you can do many things with the application.  In my next post, I'll cover importing photos from Facebook and other features that are part of the built-in integration.

Posts in this series:
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 1
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 2
Facebook and Blackbaud NetCommunity Part 3