Can't checkin to Facebook Places by post to api?

Question

I am trying to build an app where I let my registered user be able to check in to places on Facebook Places. I however for some reason can't seem to make this work. I assumed this is possible with the Api as write functionality has been added to it, but I couldn't find an clear explanation on the web. this is what I currently have, after I have asked the user for permission to publish checkins and for user_checkins.

<?php

require("src/facebook.php");


$facebook = new Facebook(array(
'appId'  => 'xxxxxxxxx',
'secret' => 'xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx',
'cookie' => true
));



# see if active session
$session = $facebook->getSession();

if(!empty($session)) {

try{
$uid = $facebook->getUser();


$api_call = array(
'method' => 'users.hasAppPermission',
'uid' => $uid,
'ext_perm' => 'publish_checkins'
 );
 $can_post = $facebook->api($api_call);
 if($can_post){



 $facebook->api('/'.$uid.'/checkins', 'POST', array(
   'access_token' => $facebook->getAccessToken(),
   'place' => 'place_id',
   'message' =>'I went to placename today',

   'picture' => 'http://www.place.com/logo.jpg',
   'coordinates' => array(
    'latitude'  => 'lattiude',
    'longitude' => 'lattitude',
    'tags' => $uid,
   )
  )




 );
 echo 'You were checked in';
} else {
 die('Permissions required!');
}
} catch (Exception $e){}
  } else {
# There's no active session,generate one
$login_url = $facebook->getLoginUrl();
header("Location: ".$login_url);
}

?>

The code works when I change it 'checkins' to 'feed'. Is there something wrong with my code or am I trying to do somethign that isn't possible (or do it the wrong way).

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I already spent quite a significant amount of time trying to fix this, but I just can't seem to make it work.

Best regards,

Marcus Joe

Answer 1

Your answer is almost correct.

$facebook->api('/'.$uid.'/checkins', 'POST', array(
'access_token' => $facebook->getAccessToken(),
'place' => 'place_id',
'message' =>'I went to placename today',
'picture' => 'http://www.place.com/logo.jpg',
'coordinates' => json_encode(array(
   'latitude'  => 'lattiude',
   'longitude' => 'lattitude',
   'tags' => $uid),
 )
)

Notice that for coordinates you have to supply a json_encode variable. Hope that helps someone.

Answer 2

Just an update From Facebook:

NOTE: Publishing a Checkin object is deprecated in favor of creating a Post with a location attached.

You can check out how to create a Post with a location (or a Facebook Place id) here: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/api/user/#posts