---
title: "Social feeds troubleshooting"
date: 2026-09-06
author: "nK"
---

# Social feeds troubleshooting

## The gallery is empty right after connecting

The import runs in the background after you save the settings. Open **Visual Portfolio → Social Items**: if it is empty after a few minutes, click **Sync All Accounts**. If items still do not appear, WP-Cron or loopback requests are blocked: see [CRON](https://www.visualportfolio.com/docs/social-feeds/cron/) and Tools → Site Health.

## Items show the placeholder image

Images are downloaded after the items are created. Downloading needs cURL or `allow_url_fopen` in PHP, a writable `wp-content/uploads/visual-portfolio-pro/` folder, and GD for thumbnails. Some CDNs refuse requests from servers (403); such hosts are skipped until the next full sync. Ask your host to enable the PHP requirements if the folder stays empty.

## Instagram: “Your Instagram API connection is using outdated keys”

The account was connected through the retired Basic Display API. Click **Reconnect**, log in with a Business or Creator account, and save.

## Instagram videos stopped playing

Instagram’s video links expire. The sync refreshes them and keeps a local copy; if the site’s cron was not running for days, run **Sync All Accounts**.

## Captions with emoji are missing or the feed does not load

The database must use the `utf8mb4` character set. The Instagram tab warns “Be careful, your database encoding may not work properly with Instagram posts data” when it does not. Ask your host to convert the tables (`wp_posts`, `wp_postmeta`, `wp_options`) to `utf8mb4` with the `utf8mb4_unicode_ci` collation. Back up first.

## Captions or counts do not update

Existing items are never updated by a sync. Edit the Social Item, or **Purge Cache** the account to re-import everything.

## Deleted items come back

Deleting an item permanently lets the sync recreate it. Leave unwanted items in the Trash, or use the **Exclude from Sync** bulk action.

## “Sync already in progress”

Another sync holds the lock, for at most five minutes. Wait and retry.

## YouTube: quota exceeded

See the [YouTube](https://www.visualportfolio.com/docs/social-feeds/youtube/) page for the cost of a sync. Lower Max Videos or the number of accounts, or request a higher quota from Google.

## X: “Bearer Token is good, check your query”

Max Tweets above 100, a wrong Account Name, or an API plan without read access.

## Vimeo: “Please check your Data!”

Wrong credentials, missing token scope, or an ID that does not match the source. Showcases need the numeric ID.

## The page cache shows the old feed

LiteSpeed, W3 Total Cache, WP Fastest Cache, WP Super Cache and WP Rocket are purged automatically when new images arrive. For other caches, purge the pages with social galleries or exclude them from the cache.

## Social Items is missing from the menu

It appears once an account (other than Unsplash) is connected or an item exists.