Free Instagram Extra/Service in 2024?

General
1

I have been using socialFeed for the last few years.
Now it seems that it is no longer working, and that Quadro made a new Extra called socialZap. But this Extra uses Zapier and for it to work correctly, one needs the Zapier-Webhook, which in return needs a paid Professional Plan. At this point, I’d like to say that Quadro made a really great job with socialFeed some years ago, and I also respect the effort to find a solution to continuing to deliver a solution to the “Instagram Feed” problem. Nevertheless, I don’t see myself paying 220,- € per year for Zapier, and I’m sure my clients won’t either, “just for some pictures on their website”.

Is there any free alternative in the works right now?

Right now I’m leaning towards recommending my clients to make an account at some free service like behold or sociablekit and use their embed-code.

I’m open for any suggestions and other ideas/solutions.

2

I’ve got a few clients using: https://lightwidget.com - it’s not free but it is cheap - about $10 I think. Only downside I’ve found is that you need to renew it (free) every now and then.

1 Like
3

I connected Instagram with Zapier (free version) and create a RSS Feed. This Feed i parse with the ParseX extra. I can look for the code tomorrow if interesting?

Its used here: https://bsv-eintracht-mahlsdorf.de/

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4

Thanks Chris, seems like an affordable alternative :+1:t3:

5

Nice Jens, this seems to be a feasible way to keep a free Instagram-Feed-Element in my systems. After some searching, I also saw it on the website (“Neuigkeiten”). So it does get the media-items from ones feed :raised_hands:t3:

I haven’t used ParseX, yet, and on the Extras-Website, it says compatible up to “2.5” - but you are using it in a 2.8 or even 3.x environment and it works?

If so, I’d be happy for your code-example! :white_heart:

6

Just be aware that the lightwidget access token expires every 6 months or so. It doesn’t cost any more but you have to log in and refresh it.

1 Like
7

Hej @sebastian-marinescu,
I use MODX3 and ParseX works fine on the latest version. If you need more details – feel free to ask!

Zapier Screenshots

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RSS Feed Structure

I used the <title> for a JSON encoded hack:

<rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0">
    <channel>
        <title>BSV Eintracht Mahlsdorf Instagram RSS Feed</title>
        <link>https://zapier.com/</link>
        <description>This feed is powered by Zapier's handy RSS service.</description>
        <atom:link href="https://zapier.com/engine/rss/9644925/instagrambsveintrachtmahlsdorf" rel="self"/>
        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:50:15 +0000</lastBuildDate>
        <item>
            <title>{"thumb":"https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/461159323_2245498795849094_859655886054296876_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=tWVWHc5_0g4Q7kNvgHT1-fq&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=A4eSWr3g8WbLBUNt1W5dBLV&oh=00_AYDJiSwXldCRcfK0f7ze9r3HF9yBvCF3yCN9pwk8ZY8fgg&oe=66F8B4FF","media":"https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/o1/v/t16/f1/m86/8B48517748F399391E4B03FDD40009B6_video_dashinit.mp4?efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6Inhwdl9wcm9ncmVzc2l2ZS5JTlNUQUdSQU0uQ0xJUFMuQzMuNzIwLmRhc2hfYmFzZWxpbmVfMV92MSJ9&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=105&vs=df809dd691d49cd6&_nc_vs=HBksFQIYUmlnX3hwdl9yZWVsc19wZXJtYW5lbnRfc3JfcHJvZC84QjQ4NTE3NzQ4RjM5OTM5MUU0QjAzRkRENDAwMDlCNl92aWRlb19kYXNoaW5pdC5tcDQVAALIAQAVAhg6cGFzc3Rocm91Z2hfZXZlcnN0b3JlL0dKQUdmaHVUWXNqbzNjd0JBTWZYRW9YMUdaVVFicV9FQUFBRhUCAsgBACgAGAAbAogHdXNlX29pbAExEnByb2dyZXNzaXZlX3JlY2lwZQExFQAAJoSO-aXM2Y8eFQIoAkMzLBdATKZmZmZmZhgSZGFzaF9iYXNlbGluZV8xX3YxEQB1_gcA&ccb=9-4&oh=00_AYCTTPadEr-aV70_mKjQTytVlwTcrIYL_0vEBjDC-WpA0w&oe=66F4BBB1&_nc_sid=1d576d"}</title>
            <link>https://www.instagram.com/reel/DATqOCzMiyH/</link>
            <description>Die Highlights des 6. Spieltags. Eintracht Mahlsdorf gegen Tasmania Berlin auf dem Rosenhag.</description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:50:15 +0000</pubDate>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">4EAI9fjTA6dXxOi4</guid>
            <enclosure length="0" type="VIDEO" url="https://scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/461159323_2245498795849094_859655886054296876_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=tWVWHc5_0g4Q7kNvgHT1-fq&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=A4eSWr3g8WbLBUNt1W5dBLV&oh=00_AYDJiSwXldCRcfK0f7ze9r3HF9yBvCF3yCN9pwk8ZY8fgg&oe=66F8B4FF"/>
        </item>
        …
    </channel>
</rss>

Snippet ParseX

<ul>
    [[!ParseX?
        &source=`https://zapier.com/engine/rss/…`
        &tpl=`instagramItem`
        &wrapper=`instagram`
        &limit=`3`
        &cacheData=`3600` ]]
</ul>

Chunk instagram

[[+result]]

Chunk instagramItem

{var $dateFormated = $pubDate | strtotime | date_format : '%d.%m.%Y'}
<li>
    <a href="[[+link]]">
        <figure>
            {var $images = $title | fromJSON}
            {$_modx->parseChunk('image', [
                'url' => $images.thumb ?: $images.media,
                'sizes' => '800x800,1500x1500',
                'alt' => 'Foto Instagrampost vom ' ~ $dateFormated,
            ])}
            <figcaption>
                <time>{$dateFormated}</time>
                <span>{$description | truncate:80:"…":true | jolitypo}</span>
            </figcaption>
        </figure>
    </a>
</li>
2 Likes
8

Thank you very much @jenswittmann

I’ll check it out more in-depth in the next weeks and I’ll get back to you - but on the first glance, it looks like it’s the solution :slight_smile:
Your title-json-image hack looks creative! :smiley:

1 Like
9

I haven’t had to use Instagram in ages, but for a JSON feed this might still work too:

https://www.instagram.com/your_username/?__a=1

@jenswittmann wrote a snippet to parse it:

11

Sadly, this don’t work anymore :cry:

12

I wonder if you could gin up a cron job with cURL or guzzlehttp to renew ParseX every six months.