Wp-calypso: Gutenberg: Embeds: Facebook embed doesn't show preview

[alisterscott]

Steps to reproduce

1. Starting at URL: https://wpcalypso.wordpress.com/gutenberg/
2. Paste a Facebook post link such as https://www.facebook.com/hollybutcher90/posts/10213711745460694

Gutenberg in Calypso Result

Calypso Editor Result

Browser / OS version

Chrome 69 on macOS

Related

https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/27498

[JavonDavis]

Currently still behaves this way in wordpress.com in the editor. Is the intended behavior? If so we can close out this one.

[codebykat]

This is a Gutenberg core issue that is being tracked here: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/8360

Since the embed itself renders after publishing, I don't think there's anything we can or need to do here.

[gwwar]

Reopening to keep track of reports. If needed we can fix this ahead of core.

[jjchrisdiehl]

Another case here 9724873-hc

Customer tried embedding their facebook page and received Sorry, we cannot preview this embedded content in the editor.

[zdenys]

Another case 2089010-zen

Tested with a different Facebook Page. Embedding a page URL, like https://www.facebook.com/AutomatticInc/ doesn't work and shows Sorry, this content could not be embedded.:

Embedding an individual post, like https://www.facebook.com/AutomatticInc/posts/998273493676267 works

Is it expected behavior? It seems it is.

[taropaa]

I am running into the same issue. Embedding a generic facebook page will just display a text URL that is not even clickable.
To make things worse, I can't paste a facebook page URL without it being converted into a broken embed. If default profiles can't be embedded, then just leave the URLs alone. In this particular instance, it works completely against the user and will drive a less experienced user insane, who just wants to paste a facebook link.

[formosattic]

[phone]-hc

The _"Embedded content from facebook.com can't be previewed in the editor."_
message is viewed as an error which makes it sound like the embed is broken even though it'll still display on the site.

[gwwar]

This should be on the WP whitelist, though https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/8360 is still open.

I'm still seeing the following on a standalone install. We'll need to make a core PR

Vanilla Install

wpcom

[davipontesblog]

@lancewillett do you think this is something we could prioritize in dotCom vs core, or help with efforts in core to fix the issue? Context: this used to be possible in the classic editor.

[lancewillett]

@davipontesblog Let's help push the fix "upstream" meaning in core first.

(CC @mtias as an example where WP.com can help make a core change, then merge it back to our platform later.)

[ockham]

Ran into this today on WP.com. Couldn't repro in Core however -- it seems to work there now :thinking:

WP.com (with GB 8.9.3):

Local vanilla GB install (master, >= 9.0):

The difference seems to lie in the previewable attribute, which isn't set in vanilla GB, but on WP.com is set to false.

[ockham]

Hmm, maybe that's expected/consistent. The FB embed hard-wires the previewable attribute to false here: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/f3cdac3726638604ecb9bef639db13a755acaf1b/packages/block-library/src/embed/variations.js#L70

But in 9.0, the FB embed was "removed": https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/24472

This means that inserting an FB URL will now create a "generic" embed -- which doesn't have previewable set, thus displaying the preview.

cc/ @ntsekouras @mkaz (in case we'd like to change that -- not sure what the original motivation for setting previewable to false was)

[ntsekouras]

not sure what the original motivation for setting previewable to false was)

When I refactored embed to use block variations that setting (previewable: false) was there before. I don't have the context for that decision..

[mkaz]

@ntsekouras I'm not sure about the setting either.

[ntsekouras]

https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/27701#issuecomment-693373999

-cc @youknowriad @mcsf @ellatrix @jorgefilipecosta
Do you have any context for the motivation for setting previewable to false for FB embed? Thanks!

[mcsf]

Do you have any context for the motivation for setting previewable to false for FB embed? Thanks!

I have no knowledge about this. Some of the people who did the most work on Embeds haven't been around in a while, either.

[ockham]

Could it be a privacy/GDPR thing? Do oEmbeds do any sort of non-GDPR compliant tracking? (Would be kinda surprising tho...)

[ockham]

Tracked it down to this PR, which seems to be where the FB embed block was first introduced (and added to a noPreview array, which seems to be the predecessor of the previewable attribute): https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/pull/816#issuecomment-305132046:

Also, previewing facebook embeds is disabled, because fb scripts want to change global things about the document they're running in (which the sandboxing iframe highlighted and wouldn't allow).