Android adding Facebook Comments Widget in App

Facebook comments plugin lets users to comment on any web url using their Facebook account. Right now Facebook doesn’t provide native android support for the plugin, but we can integrate it in our app using the WebView and make it looks native. This article not only explains how to add the fb comments widget, but also covers how to load a full article, particularly when you are designing a newsfeed app.

1. Creating New Project

We’ll start by setting up basic project by adding the required files and icons. So let’s get started.

1. Create a new project in Android Studio from File ⇒ New Project by filling the required details.

2. Open app/build.gradle and add design support library dependency. This step is optional, but needed for toolbar styling.

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.4.0'

    // design support library
    compile 'com.android.support:design:23.0.1'
}

3. Open strings.xml and add the below string values.

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Facebook Comments</string>
    <string name="title_activity_comments">Comments</string>
    <string name="action_comment">Comment</string>
    <string name="action_refresh">Reload</string>
</resources>

4. Download the below material drawable icons and add them to projects res folder. These icons will be used for floating action button and for the toolbar icon.

> Comment icon (Used for Floating Action Button)

> Refresh icon (Used as toolbar icon to refresh the facebook comments)

5. Open styles.xml located under res ⇒ values and make sure you have the below styles as app might crash because of the toolbar.

<resources>
    <!-- Base application theme. -->
    <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
        <!-- Customize your theme here. -->
        <item name="colorPrimary">@color/colorPrimary</item>
        <item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
        <item name="colorAccent">@color/colorAccent</item>
    </style>

    <style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar">
        <item name="windowActionBar">false</item>
        <item name="windowNoTitle">true</item>
    </style>

    <style name="AppTheme.AppBarOverlay" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Dark.ActionBar" />

    <style name="AppTheme.PopupOverlay" parent="ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />

</resources>

6. Open AndroidManifest.xml and add INTERNET permission. You can notice FbCommentsActivity is also added here. We’ll create this activity shortly.

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="info.androidhive.fbcommentwidget">

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
        <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name=".FbCommentsActivity"
            android:label="@string/title_activity_comments"
            android:theme="@style/AppTheme.NoActionBar" />
    </application>

</manifest>

2. Loading the Article

Now we’ll modify our main activity to load a full article using the WebView. We’ll also add a floating action button which loads the facebook comments activity.

7. Open the layout file main activity (activity_main.xml) and the below code. This layout contains a toolbar and a web view to load the web page.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:id="@+id/main_content"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="@android:color/white"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true">

    <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
        android:id="@+id/toolbar"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
        app:layout_collapseMode="pin"
        app:popupTheme="@style/ThemeOverlay.AppCompat.Light" />

    <WebView
        android:id="@+id/web_view"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
        app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior" />

    <android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton
        android:id="@+id/fab"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_gravity="bottom|end"
        android:layout_margin="@dimen/fab_margin"
        android:src="@drawable/ic_insert_comment_white_24dp" />

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

8. Open MainActivity.java and add the below code. Here we are loading the firebase article url in web view.

package info.androidhive.fbcommentwidget;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.design.widget.FloatingActionButton;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.View;
import android.webkit.WebView;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    // This url contains the content of the article excluding web page's
    // header, footer, title, comments
    private static String url = "https://api.androidhive.info/facebook/firebase_analytics.html";

    private WebView webView;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.web_view);

        FloatingActionButton fab = (FloatingActionButton) findViewById(R.id.fab);
        fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                // launching facebook comments activity
                Intent intent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, FbCommentsActivity.class);

                // passing the article url
                intent.putExtra("url", "https://www.androidhive.info/2016/06/android-firebase-integrate-analytics/");
                startActivity(intent);
            }
        });

        // loading web page
        webView.loadUrl(url);
    }
}

Now if you run the app, you should see the full article loading as shown in the below image.

3. Adding Facebook Comment Widget

9. Create a menu file fb_comments.xml under res ⇒ menu and add the below menu option. This menu is used to add the refresh icon to toolbar.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_refresh"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_refresh_white_24dp"
        android:orderInCategory="100"
        android:title="@string/action_refresh"
        app:showAsAction="always" />
</menu>

10. Create a new activity named FbCommentsActivity.java and add the below code to its layout file (activity_fb_comments.xml)

<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:fitsSystemWindows="true"
    tools:context=".FbCommentsActivity">

    <android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme.AppBarOverlay">

        <android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar
            android:id="@+id/toolbar"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="?attr/actionBarSize"
            android:background="?attr/colorPrimary"
            app:popupTheme="@style/AppTheme.PopupOverlay" />

    </android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior">

        <FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
            android:id="@+id/webview_frame"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="match_parent">

            <WebView
                android:id="@+id/commentsView"
                android:layout_width="match_parent"
                android:layout_height="match_parent"
                android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal" />

            <ProgressBar
                android:id="@+id/progressBar"
                android:layout_width="30dp"
                android:layout_height="30dp"
                android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
                android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
                android:layout_gravity="center"
                android:layout_marginBottom="10dp"
                android:indeterminateTint="@color/colorPrimary"
                android:indeterminateTintMode="src_atop" />

        </FrameLayout>
    </LinearLayout>

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

11. Open FbCommentsActivity.java and do the below changes. This activity contains necessary functions to load the Facebook widget plugin in WebView.

Below is the actual HTML & JS of Facebook comment widget.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head></head>
<body>
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script>(function(d, s, id) {
  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6";
  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>

<div class="fb-comments" data-href="https://www.androidhive.info/2016/06/android-firebase-integrate-analytics/" data-numposts="5" data-order-by="reverse_time"></div>
</body>
</html>

package info.androidhive.fbcommentwidget;

import android.net.Uri;
import android.net.http.SslError;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.Message;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar;
import android.text.TextUtils;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.webkit.ConsoleMessage;
import android.webkit.CookieManager;
import android.webkit.SslErrorHandler;
import android.webkit.WebChromeClient;
import android.webkit.WebSettings;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebViewClient;
import android.widget.FrameLayout;
import android.widget.ProgressBar;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class FbCommentsActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    private static String TAG = FbCommentsActivity.class.getSimpleName();
    private WebView mWebViewComments;
    private FrameLayout mContainer;
    private ProgressBar progressBar;
    boolean isLoading;
    private WebView mWebviewPop;
    private String postUrl;

    // the default number of comments should be visible
    // on page load.
    private static final int NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS = 5;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_fb_comments);
        Toolbar toolbar = (Toolbar) findViewById(R.id.toolbar);
        setSupportActionBar(toolbar);
        getSupportActionBar().setDisplayHomeAsUpEnabled(true);

        mWebViewComments = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.commentsView);
        mContainer = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.webview_frame);
        progressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressBar);
        progressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);

        postUrl = getIntent().getStringExtra("url");

        // finish the activity in case of empty url
        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(postUrl)) {
            Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "The web url shouldn't be empty", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
            finish();
            return;
        }

        setLoading(true);
        loadComments();
    }

    private void loadComments() {
        mWebViewComments.setWebViewClient(new UriWebViewClient());
        mWebViewComments.setWebChromeClient(new UriChromeClient());
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setAppCacheEnabled(true);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setDomStorageEnabled(true);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setJavaScriptCanOpenWindowsAutomatically(true);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setSupportMultipleWindows(true);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setSupportZoom(false);
        mWebViewComments.getSettings().setBuiltInZoomControls(false);
        CookieManager.getInstance().setAcceptCookie(true);
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 21) {
            mWebViewComments.getSettings().setMixedContentMode(WebSettings.MIXED_CONTENT_ALWAYS_ALLOW);
            CookieManager.getInstance().setAcceptThirdPartyCookies(mWebViewComments, true);
        }

        // facebook comment widget including the article url
        String html = "<!doctype html> <html lang=\"en\"> <head></head> <body> " +
                "<div id=\"fb-root\"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = \"//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.6\"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script> " +
                "<div class=\"fb-comments\" data-href=\"" + postUrl + "\" " +
                "data-numposts=\"" + NUMBER_OF_COMMENTS + "\" data-order-by=\"reverse_time\">" +
                "</div> </body> </html>";

        mWebViewComments.loadDataWithBaseURL("http://www.nothing.com", html, "text/html", "UTF-8", null);
        mWebViewComments.setMinimumHeight(200);
    }

    private void setLoading(boolean isLoading) {
        this.isLoading = isLoading;

        if (isLoading)
            progressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        else
            progressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);

        invalidateOptionsMenu();
    }

    private class UriWebViewClient extends WebViewClient {
        @Override
        public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url) {

            String host = Uri.parse(url).getHost();

            return !host.equals("m.facebook.com");

        }

        @Override
        public void onPageFinished(WebView view, String url) {
            super.onPageFinished(view, url);
            String host = Uri.parse(url).getHost();
            setLoading(false);
            if (url.contains("/plugins/close_popup.php?reload")) {
                final Handler handler = new Handler();
                handler.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                    @Override
                    public void run() {
                        //Do something after 100ms
                        mContainer.removeView(mWebviewPop);
                        loadComments();
                    }
                }, 600);
            }
        }

        @Override
        public void onReceivedSslError(WebView view, SslErrorHandler handler,
                                       SslError error) {
            setLoading(false);
        }
    }

    class UriChromeClient extends WebChromeClient {

        @Override
        public boolean onCreateWindow(WebView view, boolean isDialog,
                                      boolean isUserGesture, Message resultMsg) {
            mWebviewPop = new WebView(getApplicationContext());
            mWebviewPop.setVerticalScrollBarEnabled(false);
            mWebviewPop.setHorizontalScrollBarEnabled(false);
            mWebviewPop.setWebViewClient(new UriWebViewClient());
            mWebviewPop.setWebChromeClient(this);
            mWebviewPop.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
            mWebviewPop.getSettings().setDomStorageEnabled(true);
            mWebviewPop.getSettings().setSupportZoom(false);
            mWebviewPop.getSettings().setBuiltInZoomControls(false);
            mWebviewPop.getSettings().setSupportMultipleWindows(true);
            mWebviewPop.setLayoutParams(new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
                    ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT));
            mContainer.addView(mWebviewPop);
            WebView.WebViewTransport transport = (WebView.WebViewTransport) resultMsg.obj;
            transport.setWebView(mWebviewPop);
            resultMsg.sendToTarget();

            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public boolean onConsoleMessage(ConsoleMessage cm) {
            Log.i(TAG, "onConsoleMessage: " + cm.message());
            return true;
        }

        @Override
        public void onCloseWindow(WebView window) {
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        if (!isLoading) {
            getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.fb_comments, menu);
        }

        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        if (item.getItemId() == android.R.id.home) {
            onBackPressed();
            return true;
        }

        if (item.getItemId() == R.id.action_refresh) {
            mWebViewComments.reload();
        }

        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }
}

Whenever you want to load the Facebook comments for any url, just start this activity as below by passing the url in intent data.

// launching Facebook comments activity
Intent intent = new Intent(MainActivity.this, FbCommentsActivity.class);

// passing the article url
intent.putExtra("url", "https://www.androidhive.info/2016/06/android-firebase-integrate-analytics/");
startActivity(intent);

Run the app and click on FAB to load the Facebook comment widget.

Ravi Tamada

Hi there! I am Founder at androidhive and programming enthusiast. My skills includes Android, iOS, PHP, Ruby on Rails and lot more. If you have any idea that you would want me to develop? Let’s talk: ravi@androidhive.info