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I hate to be the bearer of unfortunate news, but you need to hear it. Technology does not always work the way it’s supposed to, should, or the way you think it will. And sometimes, you’ll find that things that have worked for you in the past have stopped working (or begin to act strangely again).
That’s why it’s important to realize that in any software or system you set up, occasional maintenance via troubleshooting and (hopefully) minor changes will be required.
If you’re using ManyChat regularly, then you’re most likely no stranger to oddities or things breaking. And sometimes, what’s even stranger, is when you’ve fixed something before but the same fix isn’t working this time around.
1-Simple & Often Overlooked Troubleshooting and Fix-All Step (Sometimes...)
Refresh Permissions
That’s —> Help >> Refresh Permissions
You’ll notice that ManyChat Support has conveniently put a 1-click “Refresh Permissions” callout when you hit “Help” because usually, that’s the first thing that the support agent will tell you (after you’ve been waiting for 24 hours, it’s frustrating to get a response like that).
However, nine times out of ten, it’s usually the solution to a strange problem you may have been experiencing. It’s the equivalent of PC or mobile provider support reps telling you to turn your computer On/Off or restart your phone before trying anything else out.
I don’t know if I’ve had the same success with my phone or computer when it comes to restarting things. But, sometimes “Refresh Permissions” is that magic button to fix it all.
What Does Refresh Permissions Do?
All it does is reset the connection that ManyChat has to your Facebook page. It’s a third-party tool that is working off of the Facebook API, and Facebook is known to change things without giving much notice (if at all) when making adjustments on their backend.
Think of it as a jolt that tells your system “Hey! Get back in line!”
Note: You can ONLY Refresh Permissions if you are an Admin of the associated Facebook page. Being an “Admin” on ManyChat for that page is NOT the same thing, and you’ll be frustrated when you get hit with an “Insufficient Permissions” pop-up.
So, if you’re an agency or service provider building bots, make sure that at least one person on your team or yourself has Facebook page Admin access to do this. Otherwise, it’s best if you create a step-by-step document that you can send out to your clients to do this on their end (if they’re not willing to give you administrative access to their page).
Trust me. This should always be the first thing you do when troubleshooting. I even like to do it on periodically even when nothing is going wrong - it’s just like restarting your phone.
It’s good for your bot’s health. And it’ll thank you back with smoother operations more consistently.
If Refreshing Permissions Doesn’t Work and You’re Still Having the Same Problem(s)
Oh… well, I tried. Jump ship and burn it all down 🔥🔥🔥
Just kidding!
Here’s what we usually do in order of importance and speed if we’re needing some outside assistance:
- Search the knowledge base for your problem.
- Use the “Search this group” search bar inside of the Facebook ManyChat Community to see if the group has crowdsourced an answer for you.
- If you can’t find an answer still, write your own post inside the Facebook ManyChat Community and ask for help. It’s important that you are as specific as possible - If you can provide images, or better yet, a screen recording of what is going on, you’ll get an answer quicker.
- And then, if after an hour you still don’t have your problem fixed, reach out to ManyChat Support under the same Help tab.
Remember the Golden Rule for ManyChat Troubleshooting: Refresh Your Permissions First!
If you’ve been handling your bot development & management in-house and it’s not been the best experience (or if you keep running into problems), then it’s time to start looking at hiring a ManyChat Agency Partner.
Better yet, why not hire a ManyChat Agency Partner that also has 3 ManyChat Messenger Marketing Experts on deck?! This is a step above Agency Partner status, which just about any company can get into with a form submission - and requires that we prove our skills
Yup, you guessed it: We’re that ManyChat Agency Partner.
If you’re fine to keep doing it on your own, or want to test your luck with self-proclaimed “bot experts”, be my guest.
Or, if you know you’re ready to start making the most out of your Messenger & Bot Marketing, schedule a free 30-minute consultation with one of our Bot Experts below.
