Facebook Pages How to prepare for the upcoming design changes

January 2010

Overview of Changes Timing: Late February

▪  As part of a larger effort to improve user experience and promote consistency across the site, Facebook will be modifying Page and Profile layouts by simplifying how identity is managed and displayed.

▪  Changes to layout:

▪  Tab width changing from 760 to 520 pixels

▪  Pages will no longer be able to implement iFrames on their Page. All custom content will need to be on a separate, custom tab, which you can add using FBML or a custom application.

▪  Boxes will no longer appear on Pages or Profiles. This means that Pages will no longer include the Boxes tab, or the Boxes that currently exist on the left-hand column of your Wall/Info tab, underneath your Page's profile picture. You can move the content that currently exists in Boxes to a custom tab.

Key Facebook Terms Tabs, Boxes, FBML

Tabs Tabs help organize the content on a Facebook Page. By default, every Facebook Page has a Wall and an Info tab (which cannot be removed). You can built a custom tab by adding the FBML application to your page and entering FBML code into it, so that it will display your custom content.

Boxes Small, moveable application Boxes found on the Boxes tab and on the left-hand column of a Facebook Page’s Wall/Info tab.

FBML Customize a rich, interactive experience on your Page using Facebook’s version of HTML. You can embed Flash animations or add a comments box to your custom experience (more info found on http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/ and http:// facebook.com/facebook-widgets/). The FBML tab can be as wide as 520 pixels and has no restrictions on height.

Get ready 3 easy steps

▪  Page Admins will see a preview of what their tabs will look like after the design change, at least 2 weeks prior to launch.

▪  Getting ready is simple:

1)  Adjust your tab widths

2)  Remove all Boxes (if applicable)

3)  Create custom content in FBML on a custom tab (optional)

Sample preview of new 520px width on a Page that hasn’t adjusted its tab widths

Adjust your tab widths

Currently 760px

Currently 760px

520px

520px

Step one

▪  Make sure all tab content will fit within 540 pixels

▪  Includes native tabs (Wall, Info, Events, Photos, Video, Discussions, Reviews, etc.) & custom tabs

Remove all Boxes Step two (if applicable)

▪  Click “Edit Page” and ensure that you have copied the code for any/all FBML boxes.

▪  Remove all Boxes from your Boxes tab and Wall/Info tab (underneath page profile picture) by clicking “Edit Box” and then “Remove Box.”

▪  Once your Boxes tab is empty, navigate to another tab and the Boxes tab will disappear.

Note: If you choose not to remove any Boxes, all Boxes and the Boxes tab will simply disappear the day of the product change.

Remove all Boxes

Move content to a custom tab Step three (optional)

▪  Move deleted content from Boxes to a new tab on your page by adding the FBML application to your page.

▪  Click “Edit Page,” locate the FBML application, and “Application Settings” to be sure the application is configured as a tab. If some of your Boxes were custom applications (not FBML), make sure that the Application Settings enable the application to appear as a tab, then follow the same steps above to convert that application into a tab.

▪  Click “Edit” to paste the code from your Boxes into the new tab. Adjust the code to arrange your content within the new 520px tab width.

Appendix

iFrames Preserving iFrames (on a custom tab)

▪  If you currently use an iFrame in your page and must preserve the content of one or more of your iFrames:

▪  Create a wrapper application that lives on a canvas page. This application can have iFrames since it sits on a canvas page.

▪  Have this light weight application include the image of what you want to display, with an “Activate” button.

▪  Link the “Activate” button to the canvas page wrapper application.

▪  More information here: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Fb:iframe

Helpful Links ▪  FBML: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878

▪  Visit that link, click “Add to Page,” and then select the page to which you’d like to add the application.

▪  More information about the changes: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Roadmap_Profile

▪  iFrame information: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Fb:iframe

▪  Building a custom application: http://developers.facebook.com/get_started.php

Additional questions? Contact your Account Manager