Facebook now lets publishers push Instant Articles from any CMS

Publications can now push Instant Articles directly to Facebook from a favorite content management system (CMS).

Without ever leaving a CMS like WordPress, Facebook is letting publishers push content directly to Facebook. It has also released the documentation to make that possible (spoiler: it’s a bunch of HTML5).

The idea behind Instant Articles is obviously more content on Facebook, but the documentation provides much more control. Things like auto-play can be controlled, and publishers can add interactive maps to an article. Today at TechCrunch Disrupt,  Facebook’s VP of Ads & Pages Andrew Bosworth hinted at better performance for Instant Articles, too:

We saw a behavior on Facebook where they’re clicking on the news and it takes 8 seconds to load. You have to wait for content. We’re trying to work with publishers to give them a way to deliver their content, a great user experience, and ads so they can get paid for what they do.

Instant Articles is basically an RSS grabber, but the tools allow for finite control via Facebook. With a few code tweaks, a static bit of media may take on a new life via Facebook, and all links relate back to the publisher’s website so no traffic is jeopardized.

In addition to releasing tools for all publishers, Facebook says it has “over a dozen additional partners” joining its Instant Articles program.

➤ Publishing Instant Articles Directly From Your Content Management System [Facebook]