Why does the first post on a profile seem to be missing?

PostSnag can occasionally miss the very first post on a profile on your first scan of a freshly opened page. Right after you navigate to a profile, that top post can appear on screen before PostSnag has fully finished starting up there, so the earliest capture attempt sometimes catches everything except it. Scrolling it back into view or rescanning almost always brings it in.

This is a normal side effect of how any browser extension attaches to a page that's still loading, not a sign anything is wrong with the profile or the rest of your capture.

Why this happens

When you open a profile page for the first time in a session, Facebook can render that top post very quickly, sometimes before PostSnag has fully finished starting up on the page. PostSnag is built to handle this: it briefly holds onto the first batch of data it sees as the page loads and goes back through it once it has finished starting up, which covers the large majority of cases. On an especially fast-loading profile, though, the timing can still be tight enough that the very first post finishes rendering and slips past before that catch-up happens, so it needs a second look.

This is specific to a fresh page load, the moment right after you open or navigate to a profile. It is not something that recurs throughout a normal scroll, and it doesn't affect posts further down the feed, which load well after PostSnag has finished starting up.

A few situations make this more likely to notice:

• Clicking straight from another Facebook page, for example from a search result or a shared link, rather than opening the profile fresh, since the page can start rendering before you'd naturally expect it to.

• A fast connection, somewhat counterintuitively, since the page has less time overall before that top post lands on screen.

• Opening a profile you've never captured before, since there's no previously saved data to fall back on while the first pass catches up.

What to do

1. Let the profile page fully finish loading before you start scrolling. Watch for the cover photo, name, and first post to all be visible; if you clicked through quickly from another page, give it a second or refresh once first.

2. Scroll from the very top of the profile, rather than starting partway down the feed, so the first post is the first thing on screen as you begin.

3. If the first post still seems to be missing from the Collected count, scroll it back into view again. A second pass over the same post is usually enough for PostSnag to pick it up.

4. If it's still not showing up after that, rescan the profile from the top. PostSnag recognizes posts it already captured by their own post link, so a rescan fills gaps instead of creating duplicates.

5. Export to your dashboard again once the post appears in the Collected count, so the synced copy on your dashboard includes it too.

How to avoid it

Give a freshly opened profile a moment to finish loading, cover photo, name, and first post all visible, before you start scrolling, rather than scrolling the instant the page appears. If you arrived by clicking through quickly from another page, a single refresh before you scroll removes most of the timing risk. Always start your scroll from the very top of the profile rather than partway down, so the first post is the first thing PostSnag has a chance to read.

[Screenshot: The panel's "Scanning Profile" line right after a profile page finishes loading]

Common questions

Does this happen on every profile I scan?
No. It's most likely right after opening a profile for the first time on a fresh page load. Rescanning a profile you've already loaded once doesn't carry the same timing pressure.

Will refreshing the page cause PostSnag to lose posts it already captured?
No. Posts you've already captured stay saved in your browser. Refreshing just gives the page, and PostSnag, a clean start before you scroll again.

How do I know if the first post actually got captured?
Scroll it into view and watch the panel's Collected count, or check for it after you export to your dashboard.

Does this affect Pages and group member profiles the same way?
Yes. It's tied to a fresh page load finishing, which applies the same way to a personal profile, a Page, or a member's profile opened from inside a group.

Is there a way to guarantee the first post is always caught?
Letting the page fully load before scrolling, and starting from the very top, catches it in almost every case. A rescan resolves the rare miss.