VendorHearth Pro creates Vendor Spotlights as WordPress posts. This allows you to use your existing WordPress social-sharing tools to automatically share spotlights to supported social media accounts.
VendorHearth itself does not directly connect to Facebook or Instagram.
How Social Sharing Works #
The process works like this:
VendorHearth creates the spotlight → WordPress publishes the post → Your social-sharing integration shares the post
This separation means VendorHearth does not need access to your social media passwords or accounts.
Using Jetpack #
One option for social sharing is Jetpack.
If you want to use Jetpack with Vendor Spotlights:
- Install and activate Jetpack on your WordPress website.
- Connect Jetpack to the appropriate account.
- Configure Jetpack’s social-sharing features.
- Connect the supported social accounts you want to use.
- Confirm that normal WordPress posts can be shared successfully.
Once configured, VendorHearth Spotlights can use the same WordPress publishing workflow.
Facebook and Instagram #
If your WordPress social-sharing setup supports your Facebook or Instagram account, published Vendor Spotlights can participate in that workflow.
The availability of individual social networks depends on the social-sharing service you are using and the connections it currently supports.
VendorHearth does not control which social networks are available through Jetpack or another third-party service.
Scheduled Spotlights #
Social sharing becomes especially useful when combined with VendorHearth’s automatic spotlight scheduling.
For example, VendorHearth can schedule spotlight posts in advance.
When WordPress publishes each scheduled post, your configured social-sharing integration can then handle sharing that post to connected social accounts.
This allows much of your vendor-promotion campaign to run automatically.
Test Your Connection First #
Before scheduling an entire event’s Vendor Spotlights, test your social-sharing setup.
Create or publish a normal WordPress test post and verify that it appears on the intended social account.
If the WordPress post publishes but does not appear on social media, troubleshoot the social-sharing integration before troubleshooting VendorHearth.
VendorHearth Does Not Store Social Passwords #
You should never enter your Facebook, Instagram, or other social media password into VendorHearth.
Authentication is handled by the WordPress social-sharing service you choose.
This keeps social account management separate from VendorHearth.
If a Spotlight Publishes but Does Not Share #
If the Vendor Spotlight successfully appears on your website but does not appear on social media, VendorHearth has generally completed its part of the process.
Check:
- Your social-sharing plugin or service
- Whether the social account is still connected
- Whether automatic sharing is enabled
- Whether that network supports automatic sharing
- Any errors reported by the social-sharing service
Account permissions can sometimes expire or require reconnection.
Changing Social-Sharing Services #
VendorHearth does not require a specific social-sharing provider.
Because Vendor Spotlights are WordPress posts, you may use another compatible WordPress social-publishing solution instead of Jetpack.
The important requirement is that the service can work with WordPress posts and supports the social networks you want to use.
Social Sharing Is Optional #
You do not need to connect social media to use Vendor Spotlights.
Without a social-sharing integration, VendorHearth can still:
- Create spotlight posts
- Schedule spotlight posts
- Publish them on your website
- Use vendor logos as featured images
- Build your event’s promotional schedule
Social sharing simply extends those WordPress posts to supported external platforms.
Next Step #
Continue to Troubleshooting Vendor Spotlights for solutions to common problems with spotlight creation, scheduling, featured images, and social sharing.
