This is a short tip and I can't claim credit.
It comes from Crafty Mummy (thank you, Tonya!) who posted it in on my Facebook page. (Are you a fan yet? There's good stuff there! Like?) You can see the discussion here.
The problem? Facebook thumbnails
Facebook doesn't pull the right image from your post when someone shares it on Facebook.
The solution?
Try the WP Facebook Open Graph Protocol plugin (Dashboard –> Plugins –> Add New –> search for "WP Facebook Open Graph Protocol").
Note from me:
I haven't used it myself (haven't had this problem), but the plugin has gotten good reviews so far and Crafty Mummy says it works.
Update: If you install the plugin and it doesn't seem to work, check out Ginny's comment below for a possible fix.
What about you? Have you had this problem and have you found a solution?
I am definitely going to check this out! We have this problem sometimes. It will pull some random picture from our sidebar instead of the pic in the actual post. If this works…. Brilliant! Thanks Amy and Crafty Mummy!
Yay! This will be my first order business this morning. Thanks Amy and Crafty Mom.
I also just learned about this one as well through another blogger from Mitchell.
Sorry – trying to link it in… it is called facebook-like-thumbnail…
Thanks for the tip, Amy {and Tonya!} I was so happy to find this. It was driving me crazy because FB was pulling like 90 pictures that I had to sort through {not to mention my followers} to get the right photo attached to the link.
I did have some trouble initially, and I almost gave up before I figured out one very important piece of information:
In the plug-in settings you need to enter your "Facebook User Account ID", App ID and Page ID. So, I hopped over to FB and copied the URLs for my IDs and pasted them in – 'cause I'm lazy like that and didn't feel like typing them out.
Then, I tested it by entering a link on FB and it didn't work. I tried and tried to figure it out and almost gave up.
Finally, I realized that when I pasted in the URL for my IDs {on the settings page} it had an "s" after the http because I was logged into FB and it was a secure connection. In other words it looked like this: "https://www.facebook.com/my.user.name". If you remove the "s" from the URL {after the http}, it will work.
THANKS! I've been having the same problem and I think you fixed it for me.
Thanks, Ginny! So glad you added this!
ok, the one I added doesn't have any settings? not seeing anything that you are talking about – just has where you can edit the php file.
this is what mine is called "The Open Graph Protocol" – is that the right one?
This one is called "WP Facebook Open Graph Protocol".
I don't understand… I thought your ID was the 15-digit numbered one you get when you go to http://graph.facebook.com/yourusername as the instructions tell you to in the settings. You're putting in your page's URL(like, http://facebook.com/yourpage) for this instead? I've tried both and this plugin still isn't working for me.
Also, do you need to have an "app ID" for this to work? I don't even get what that is. I don't want to create an app for my already existing page.
Hi Emily,
What I did was put "http://www.facebook.com/ginny.(my last name)" in the Facebook User ID Account (without the quotes). This spot is for your personal Facebook account. You can find your URL by logging into your Facebook and copying the URL – just remember to remove the "s" after the http when you paste it. I found the "graph" part confusing, too. Don't worry about that, just use your regular Facebook URL.
You don't need an app ID. I didn't set one up either.
If you have a Facebook page, you can enter that information too. I put: "http://www.facebook.com/OrganizingHomelife/" (without the quotes).
Mine worked once I removed the "s" as I mentioned in the other comment. However, then it stopped working and I was very frustrated. Then about two days later it started working fine and has been great ever since. I think they re-index the site in order for it to work. So, enter your ID info. and give if a few days. It will more than likely work, you just have to be patient.
Thank you for this! I just installed it and it isn't working. I'll give it some time!
Amy and Ginny, thanks for the tip!
Now it works like a charm
THANK YOU!!!! This has been so annoying for me, sharing my content on Facebook only to have some other blog's button (from my sidebar) show up as the thumbnail. I just downloaded and configured this plugin and it works! I was told by other bloggers that there was no way to fix the problem, so I'm really happy to know that it's all fixed!
Hmmm, thanks I'll keep this in mind. I haven't had a problem with this yet, though so I'm not sure if I'll ever need it? But thanks anyway.
I've run into a similar problem going from my Blogger blog post to the new format on FB. Sometimes it doesn't pick up the image at all. So, when that happens I pull back on the link and don't publish it. Then I add the photo manually and finally the link. It works but not easily.
This is such a timely post! I was just complaining (on Facebook) that whenever I share a link it pulls the wrong photo and excerpt info. Can't wait to try it!
Thank you for the mention, Amy. One of the things I love about blogging is when we can help each other out.
WooHoo. This hadn't happened to me until this past week. So annoying. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for always being so helpful! http://www.thingsIfancy.com
OK- I am a blogger but not techy at all. I can't figure out how to do this on my blogger site but I am having serious trouble with my pictures not loading on FB- is there a way to do it on blogger?
I have a similar problem with my Blogger site. Although lately, it's had trouble identifying any photos at all–and people are far less likely to follow a link with no pictures! Sometimes FB will pick up my photos and sometimes it won't–it's extremely frustrating! If anyone has any answers that would be wonderful!
I have tried this plugin, 2 others, turning off hotlinking, using featured images and nothing, nothing works. The only images FB will pull correctly or pull at all are images hosted on other sites like photobucket… It has been driving me crazy for weeks…
Make sure that the images you're putting on your site on images you've first saved on your own computer, not just images you've cut & pasted from somewhere else. They should have a .jpg or similar type ending.
Actually what's odd was the images I uploaded from my computer were the ones that would not show up, others I copied/pasted like from my photobucket account or anywhere else showed up fine. I did figure out the problem, I commented below – but it was Comment Luv Premium causing the issue, I had to disable a setting in there and now all is fine! Thanks for the reply & trying to help though!
Here is an update: I was so excited to find this fix, but it only lasted for about 10 minutes. I left the above comment about removing the "s" and shortly after that it stopped working. : / It actually still works on one of my posts, but not all the others. I think it may have some issues with other plugins, but I haven't identified which one yet. Anyone else have success with it? I sent a message to the plugin administrator/creator, but haven't heard back yet.
Oh bummer.
Let us know if you figure it out. Thanks, Ginny, for the follow-up!
It's FINALLY working again!
Yay! It took a few days, but it works fine now (finally!). My best guess is that it needed to re-index after I changed the Facebook ID. 
I'm loving not having to sort through tons of pics! Thanks again for the tip.
I believe I have it running right. It now gives me the option to flip through images when I'm sharing a post from my page through my facebook share button. Under the settings of the plugin where it says "Facebook User Account Id" just put your facebook name (ex. mine is DelawareCouponMom)..you don't need any http://*** or anything. I skipped the next two "Facebook Application ID" & "Facebook Page ID" (which said it was optional). HTH!
I finally got it to work on my site, if it helps anyone else. I used a different plugin – Open Graph Pro – recommended for Genesis themes (which is what I have). Then I also had to go into my Comment Luv Premium Settings and click to Prevent FB Open Graph meta tags. Once I configured Comment Love Premium to not also put the meta data in, wah-la everything started working perfectly for me on FB. If anyone else has Comment Luv Premium this might be the solution for you too!
Thanks, Misty!
Thank you for posting about this. I have done this one time (shared) since having several problems, and it worked right, without me changing a thing. The correct image showed up on the initial FB posting, just not when I shared it. Kind of quirky, it seems.
I'll keep the plug in information handy in case my luck runs out!
Is there a code (or a recommended tutorial) for adding to blogger?
Thanks! I have a random question. I am in the BEGINNING process of creating a website for a consignment event. I have NO idea what is going on with my homepage. My "menu" tabs are fine- but why is my homepage so crazy? I have no idea how to get to it to fix it. Any suggestions? THANK you, thank you in advance!
Or helpful links?
Do you have access to the StudioPress forums? I'd ask there. They are great and very helpful!
FB always seems to grab my "feature image" which is usually fine, but I notice that when I post a link from some blogs, it will offer up several images for me to choose from, and sometimes I wish I had that option on my own posts.
For example, right now I have a post about spring cleaning your kitchen, but there is also a giveaway within that post……….so when I'm talking about the giveaway on FB I would like for the image of the giveaway item to show up instead of the feature image I chose about cleaning your kitchen.
I'm in agreement with TidyMom. I want to be able to chose from more images. I didn't have any trouble until I created our facebook page. When it was on my personal one no issues. Since creating the page I only get 1-2 choices of pic. I use to be able to choose from any picture in the post. Seems weird!
I tried your suggestions above. Thanks for posting this tool. When I posted the link into my Facebook page, and it gave me a preview of what my post will look like, I could see the image show up just fine. But when I actually clicked the submit button to submit the post, the picture didn't end up going into the post, even though the preview showed the picture.
You can see the post in question on my Facebook page. It's on dating. No thumbnail is showing up.
http://www.facebook.com/davidpauldoyle
Thanks for your insights.
Thank you for this – just installed it – hope it works!
Just used this. It works! Thank you for the post!
Amy, I have learned so much from reading your blog. Thank you!
Facebook shares are my largest traffic driver. But I'm having a time with Facebook shares since I moved to from wordpress.com to self-hosted wordpress.org. The Facebook shares will not pick up a photo or the beginning text of the post!
I've tried WP Open Graph Protocol and Open Graph Pro as suggested above. I've tried my URL Facebook IDs for my personal and blog pages, as well as the number IDs. I've created an app on Facebook and tried that. I've posted questions in the wordpress.org and WP Open Graph Protocol forums and await advice. Ugh.
In the near future, I hope to move to the Genesis framework and/or get some professional help. Do you think moving to Genesis will help with this issue?
Thanks, Amy — this worked like a charm. I had two images on my WP Blog and neither thumbnail was coming up on my business fan page. I installed the plug-in and 1 of the 2 images showed up. Fortunately, it was the one I wanted. Thanks again!
Kristy
I just had my blog of 2 years re-done and I'm really excited about it but I've been having the worst time getting my photos on my blog posts to show up. When I copy and paste the link in facebook, it starts loading like it's going to show a thumbnail and then poof! No thumbnail what so ever.
I really hope this plug in works for me. I just added it and only gave it my personal facebook url and my page url. Giving it a couple of days and hoping it will work!
This thread has been amazing. The one tool that got me over the hump when I was wondering, "is this ever going to work?" was the Facebook dubugging page. http://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
That page explained exactly what was conflicting so I could fix it. As soon as I made the change, it worked. No more wondering if I had to wait longer to see if it would magically appear. Thank you all.
Thanks, Marcia!
How does the debugger work? I have installed the PlugIn because FB is always pulling a button from my sidebar (not even mine) on my posts and I'd like it to pull mine. I changed the https to http and it's still not working. Thoughts?
Thanks for that – I've had no trouble loading the image I want as a thumbnail to facebook UNLESS I change the page/image. Apparently FB caches the originals images. I recently learned you can clear the cache at http://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
Hi all, big thanks for all the posts so far. I am frustrated though as nothing seems to be working for me, i've been sat here nearly 4 hours and am tired, frustrated and depressed! I use photocrati on wordpress.org and used to get my thumbnails up fine on FB. Since i upgraded to the newest versions of wordpress and my theme, I dont get any thumbnails anymore. Ive installed both plugins mentioned (not simultaneously) and when I go to the FB debug tool, it does show me the thumbnail, but says the image isnt the right size so it will use the one inserted in the post. Yes when I try to put the link on FB i still dont get a thumbnail!! I've tried resizing the image to the dimensions but still not working. I really need my thumbnails to display my work, so I just dont know what to do!! Please can someone help me, Ive emailed FB and been trawlling the web for hours. oh, and I dont speak 'web' im totally at a loss. This is what I am trying to post on FB:
http://66.147.244.75/~lauraoph/?p=3211
Please help me before i go insane…
Nice! Worked out for me
Thanks
please help here, i am struggling to find a way to share a larger image on my pages when new post made on my blog.. unfortunately when i share the link of my post on facebook wall it shows v small image with some description in it. it is not nice for me. i want to share only a very big image form the post with the link to the post. like https://www.facebook.com/mvbay
I want to know how that page posts bigger images without description. I know that page owner will not help me :p
Can anyone please help me ..
Hi Methy, I think you are referring to uploading a photo on Facebook, not a link. If you upload a photo, it'll show up bigger.
Thnks amy, i want to upload large images with the link to the post… check out this page
https://www.facebook.com/mvbay
i want to post images like that. Is there any wordpress plugin which automates that kind of posting?
Yep, for those updates, the page owner uploaded a photo and then added their caption and the link in the description field to go with the photo.
Thank you ever so much!
Couldn't get it to work with the full URL to my FB page.
When I removed everything but my username from the URL it worked.
Thanks again
I am on wordpress.com I do not have a plugin area or a way to edit code what do I do?
Unfortunately, that's one of the downsides to WordPress.com: they don't let you use plugins with their free option.
This is one of the major reasons I highly recommend getting a self-hosted WordPress site. Here are my instructions to do that if you're interested.