Facebook's New Fan Page Design – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly!

February 10, 2011 By Tim Ware 176 Comments

Not on the HyperArts Blog? Click here!

UPDATE (Feb 11, 2011): It appears Facebook has fixed the reduced-width issue. Phew!

NOTE: Page Admins: DO NOT UPGRADE TO THE NEW DESIGN UNTIL YOU PREVIEW IT FIRST!

Today, Facebook announced the anticipated changes to Fan Pages. After a bumpy start — Page tab width was temporarily reduced to 492px, creating quite an outcry! — things seem to have settled down.

But as the dust settles, and Page admins begin to work within the confines of the new layout, one begins to see the downside to these new “improvements”…..

The Changes, as Presented by Facebook

Photos at the top: The most recent photos that you post to the Wall of a Page you admin, or photos you tag your Page in, will appear here. This area will not include any photos posted by people who like your Page.
Use Facebook as your Page: You will be able to receive notifications for your Page, view a News Feed for your Page, and like and post on other Pages as your Page.
Wall filters: Pages now have two publicly visible Wall filters-”Posts by Page” and “Everyone.” Page admins will be able to view additional filters-”Most Recent” and “Hidden Posts.”
Email notifications: You can opt to receive notifications when people post or comment on your Page.
Featured Pages and admins: You can feature other Pages your Page likes, or admins of your Page, in the new “Likes” and “Page Owners” sections on the left side of your Page.
Mutual connections: When people visit your Page, they will be able to view friends who also like your Page, as well as other Pages that both they and your Page like.
Navigation: The content that you formerly accessed by clicking the tabs at the top of your Page can now be found in the column underneath your Page profile picture. The text in the box that used to appear in the box underneath your Page profile picture will now appear in the Info tab.
Profile picture size: The profile picture size for Pages has been adjusted from 200×600 to 180×540.

Yes, there are definitely some nice new features there, but they’re offset by a number of changes that significantly diminish the control Page admins have over the presentation of Page content. And, with the termination of the Static FBML application, reduce the options of the “amateur coder.”

Email Alerts to Page Admins When There’s Wall Activity

One new feature, long desired but missing from Facebook, was a notification feature where Page admins are notified of postings on their Wall. Into this vacuum stepped a couple of services providing this, MonitorMyPage (paid) and HyperAlerts (free – I use it and love it). Well, HyperAlerts is fighting back, in an email I just received this morning, touting their notifications as superior to Facebook’s (and they actually are). I doubt MonitorMyPage will survive, though, as who’ll now actually pay for this service?

Those who admin many Pages (such as myself) can set the Notification settings from a single place. From any of your managed Pages:

Click on “Edit Page” then click on “Your Settings”;
Click “View all email settings for your pages”;
Click “Change email settings for individual Pages” under the “Pages” section;
In the pop-up window, check/uncheck your preference for each Page you admin.

Thanks to Heather Dopson!

Bye Bye Static FBML — App to be Pulled on March 11, 2011

On this blog and elsewhere we had speculated that Facebook would keep Static FBML around for a long time due to its extreme popularity and wide use by individuals and brands large and small.

Well, wrong on that! On the Facebook Developer Blog, they announced today:

With our recent launch of Requests and the support for iframe on Pages Tabs, we are now ready to move forward with our previously announced plans to deprecate FBML and FBJS as a primary technology for building apps on Facebook. On March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to create new FBML apps and Pages will no longer be able to add the Static FBML app. While all existing apps on Pages using FBML or the Static FBML app will continue to work, we strongly recommend that these apps transition to iframes as soon as possible.

This means that if you already have the Static FBML application added to your Page before March 11, 2011, it will work and your custom tabs will work.

Will you be able to add new Static FBML tabs if you installed the app before March 11? I don’t know. The limit is 10 custom tabs, but Facebook may freeze the ability to add more once the change takes place. However, they’ve only said that they’re discontinuing the ability to add the app to a Fan Page.

Cat Lee, Product Marketing Manager at Facebook, says that after March 11 admins will still have the ability to edit their custom Static FBML tabs, although she strongly recommends migrating to iFrames. (Thanks to Nathan Latka for passing this along!)

You Can’t Create a Cool Photo Tile Effect with Any Precision

When the new layout was first rolled out for Personal Profiles, users could control the order and selection of the 5 photo thumbnails, resulting in some nice effects:

Unfortunately, as Facebook states in their Help Center, they have removed this control on Fan Pages:

The five most recent photos that you have published or tagged your Page in are displayed randomly at the top of your Page. (Emphasis added.)

On Personal Profiles, those top 5 pictures appear based on the order in which you tag them as yourself. But it’s random on Fan Pages.

We decided to just turn the randomness to our advantage on the upgraded HyperArts Fan Page.

No More Top Tabs

I’m fairly sure that Page admins aren’t going to be too happy with the elimination of the 6 blue top tabs on Fan Pages, with this:

replaced with this, positioned below the Profile Pic:

As the Inside Facebook blog notes, “As tabs are no longer front-and-center, the redesign could reduce the frequency with which users visits tabs other than the default landing tab.”

And note those little gray icons, which represent the soon-to-be-eliminated Static FBML application.

Implications for the Amateur Coder — DIY Takes a Hit

What was so great about the Static FBML application is that it allowed folks with minimal skills to create their own custom tabs without having to hire a developer, or they could purchase a template and paste it into the Static FBML box and — presto! — they’d have a custom tab.

However, with the change to iFrames, users will need to be familiar with uploading HTML and CSS files to hosting servers, setting up iFrames, troubleshooting the various issues, etc. This just may eliminate the Casual Coder from the mix.

However, this may also be a boon to services that provide WYSIWYG creation of custom Fan Page tabs, such as Pagemodo, ShortStack and Lujure.

We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out….

Filed Under: Facebook Design, Platform Updates

http://www.thenewsmall.com Phil Simon

This just sucks.

Tim – you’re a smart guy. You’ll figure out a solution.

I’m calling Zuckerberg.
http://www.dietingdetails.com/ Mohamed Sanih

The new fanpage changes sucks big time…

I really don’t like the changes….Facebook just forces people to do what they want…

People should be given the option to switch over or not…Not simply force them to switch over…
http://www.faceitpages.com FaceItPages

The support for iframes is a good thing. It will allow for so much more functionality, lead capture, dynamic content, etc. We already have big plans for this. Our white label resellers are going to benefit by being able to offer their clients more functionality.
http://www.140ology.com Brian Leimone

Just checking in to see where you see the setting to set default tabs for those that are Fans. I’ve looked through the settings for a few pages that I have upgrades and all I see is the default tab for non-fans.

Thanks!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Actually, I don’t believe that is the case. I’d interpreted something to mean that, but now my thinking has changed, unfortunately….
- http://www.shortstacklab.com Jim
  
  It’s still the same as the old version, you can set a default landing page for non-fans. Current returning fans will land on the wall.
http://www.davewooding.com Dave

I noticed the FanPage changes today … scary at first. I tried the preview and am not sure I really like it. Couldn’t find my way around very well. I kind of miss the obvious tabs along the top.

Dave
http://lujure.com Nathan

Thanks for taking the time to put this together Tim. Thank you for the “props” too! You’ve been a blast to work and innovate with!
http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon

Tim,

I can confirm that tabs are narrower…

Wow… “Pages will no longer be able to add the Static FBML app…” Just two months ago we got the impression that Static FBML was here to stay…. (http://www.hyperarts.com/blog/how-long-will-static-fbml-be-supported-by-facebook/).

That’s huge!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  I know, John. I and most all of the FB developers I know really thought Facebook would leave Static FBML alone due to its extreme popularity with both individuals and big brands. But we were wrong, eh? As I’ve said many many times, developing in the Facebook environment is like developing at the foot of a volcano. No guarantees….
  - http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon
    
    Oooo – I like that metaphor!
danny

hi Tim, if I were to use Iframe in my page, how could I do that?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Stay tuned, Danny!
danny

yeah, tabs are narrower.
- http://www.shortstacklab.com Jim
  
  Looks like this is a known bug, not a feature. Here’s the bug report: http://bugs.developers.facebook.net/show_bug.cgi?id=15156
http://www.pixelita.com Joni

It does remove the abilit to easily customize FB fan pages from the hands of the fans managing those pages and perhaps creates more of a niche market for FB page developers and designers. But still. If FB is trying to appeal to businesses, large and small, they are going about it the wrong way, don’t you think?
http://datavisualsolutions.com/ Jeff Steven s

Simply unbelievable. Talk about timing, I purchased the static FBML bible today and was excited to be adding this functionality to my business page. At least I’ll have until 3/11. I hope!

Thanks Tim for offering up an iFrames book for us newbies when it’s ready. That is really appreciated
http://www.flamingomap.com David Anthony

I’m the typical Amateur Coder you mentioned above. I got into it about a month ago, improved very quickly thanks to blogs like yours, and mostly yours really. I’m a graphic designer and was having a blast with it, I spent countless hours finding the codes that I needed, testing them, adapting them, etc People around me liked what I was showing them so much, I was already starting to build a clientele of small businesses willing to pay me to pimp their Page. It sure would have helped considering I have been without a real job for over a year. I’ve spent the last two weeks telling my wife “I’m doing great stuff on Facebook, I think that’s something I could do that would bring in $$$” It’s all down the drain now…
Between you and me, before I found out about Static FBML I always stayed away from Facebook. I always found their website (both in aesthetic and functionality) to be messy, confusing, borderline deceiving. I should have stick to my first instincts and spare myself the time and energy.
Anyway, since I’m here writing, I take this opportunity to thank you for your generosity, spending so much time helping clueless people like me thru this blog. It’s really remarkable.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  David, I’d say Don’t give up! Learn how to create iFrame canvas apps. It’s more learning, but it sounds like you’ve got time. Dive into it! We’ll be creating a great eBook on doing. But start now. Learn about Web hosting, FTP … so you understand how to create the HTML page that is iFramed into a Facebook iFrame canvas application. Plug away at it, my friend.
  
  It sounds like you’re a smart guy, certainly smart enough to get your head around this stuff. Just start experimenting.
  
  I mean it!
http://www.jennischwartz.com jenni

I don’t think the big issue is switching from fbml to iFrames. Personally I believe that the tabs are somewhat hidden and it doesn’t look like a default tab is an option. Therefore, who’s going to want to pay a design/development to create a custom tab? I always knew custom tabs were not a necessity but this change will make selling the concept a huge challenge.
http://www.alittlebranding.com Bob Strassel Jr.

Hey Tim, I was wondering lately why weird stuff was happening in Facebook.. kinda adds up. Disappointed in static FBML not being supported going forward. I think for many small businesses that used this, it seemed to level their playing field on Facebook. I think that the iframes option may offer more features, functions and the ability to customize design in pages, but the learning curve for the average user that used FBML is a little more complicated (though not impossible).

I have learned a lot of the basics of FBML that enabled me to do “cool” things and learn at the same time. I can understand where David is coming from, because in this economy a lot of us are there, or have been there. I am going to look at this as a great (though forced..) opportunity to again try to learn something new, have fun and maybe make some money.
Thanks for all of your help and guidance and I look forward to your, “Facebook iFrames Application Bible.”
http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo

I updated to the new Facebook Page layout and regret it! Not only did they mess up my Land Page reveal code image, now once a new user clicks on the Like button they are redirected to my wall instead of my email sign up page. Here is my page http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant I do not know what to do someone please share ideas on this.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Owen, Just sit tight. Facebook is aware they screwed up the Page tab widths and is scrambling to fix the bug. I would just hold tight. This too shall pass
  - http://www.socialappshq.com RG
    
    I think overall iframe apps will provide more functionality but it will be a limited experience in terms of engagement possibilities.
    
    However, if they do take away users ability to select custom tabs as default landing pages, then this is going to impact users by a whole lot. Do you know what’s the plan here?
    
    We will see how it goes!
    
    RG
    SocialAppsHQ
    - http://www.socialappshq.com RG
      
      I meant – it will impact ‘app developers’ if default landing pages are not tabs anymore
http://www.cmscustomlawn.com Matt M.

A lot of concern about FBML going away. I designed something through a program called Lujure like mentioned above in article. They have a free version and it worked great for getting around it. You can see on our fan page the difference between the 2 versions is very slight. http://www.facebook.com/cmsomaha About us is done in FBML and Welcome is done in Lujure. Just set up Lujure account, implemented their HTML widget, copied my fbml, pasted it in the widget, did some very very minor tweaking, hit save then publish. Very easy and worked great. Totally recommend it.
http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo

I get the screw up with the Tab Width but why does my reveal code not work? Now It redirects people to my wall and the way I set it up was so that folks are sent over to my email sign up. It’s really frustrating that they make changes like this. Anyways I will sit tight and see what happens. Keep being a great resource on FB stuffves!
- http://friebach-media.com Originator
  
  Ouch, yeah I got redirected to your wall. I think you have to move on to iframe pages, Timware made a easy tutorial for this: http://www.hyperarts.com/blog/adding-iframes-to-facebook-application-2010-static-fbml/
  If you need any help with it, holla!
  
  @timware: Do we still have to use the “clicktohide” function trick with the new page updates?
  - http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
    
    On iframed pages, you’ll use JavaScript/AJAX for stuff to toggle between show & hide content. And with an iFrame canvas app, there’s no longer the requirement for an “activation” click to load the iframed page. It just pops in.
    - http://www.circuscommunications.ca Angie
      
      Hey guys, we found some good sample code here to start with for making a multi-tabbed page in an iFrame using JQuery.
      
      http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2008/10/how-to-create-tabs-with-css-an.html
      
      Then apply the CSS for the look you want. This allows more options & flexibility than FBML’s “click to show”.
      
      Just re-building our tabbed page right now using this method, can’t wait to show it off, though probably early next week at http://www.facebook.com/circuscommunications
- http://www.flamingomap.com David Anthony
  
  Hi Owen, not sure this will cheer you up but I see the same problem you’re having all over. First Page of a major company I saw upgraded was TigerDirect.com (they were super fast at upgrading) and their Sweepstake landing tab is messed up now. I myself picked one of my Pages to be the Guinea Pig, same problem on my Welcome tab. And I don’t know if you noticed, it gets even weirder than that: if you unlike the Page and click Like again, then and only then the reveal effect works and you stick to the tab instead of being jerked to the Wall. Anyway I could learn to live with the new layout, but just this reveal flaw keeps me from upgrading at least right away.
  - http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo
    
    I did some research yesterday after I got over my frustration and realized that FB is pushing us all towards IFrames and HTML5 type stuff. I am having my programmers take a look at how I can get the same results using IFrames.
    
    Also I read on a blog that the resizing of the width of the pictures is a bug and it will revert back to what it should be.
    
    If anyone comes up with a reveal solution for iframes please share.
Moish

Hi,
I do have a question.

If right now I have a landing tab for non fans using FBML, will it still be the landing tab after the upgrade or will non-fans go directly to the wall?

Couldn’t see it in the preview mode.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  You can still specify the landing “tab” for non-fans, under “Manage permissions > Default landing tab”
  - http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon
    
    Tim – Where would recommend finding a good place to learn about iFrames?
    - http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
      
      Well, right on this blog starting next week, hopefully. Stay tuned!
steph

Owen. mine does that too. I have it so after they click like, the nonfan blur image will change to unblurred fan only image…now they click like and are automatically directed to the wall; therefore they never get to read my unblurred image! :*( not sure what to do now. sad thing is I JUST FIGURED OUT ALL THE CODING THE DAY BEFORE THEY REDISGNED. I was so happy now…discouraged. I’m an Amature so thx to mr. Tim & his wonderfully instructed blogs I at least got that far only to be let down by FB. hmmm..Facebook.com/RDMIRONWORKS (my hubby’s biz. I’m trying to help get his name out using wonderful FB!)
steph

oh & p.s. mr. Tim….thx for not forgetting about us “little people” & breaking it down so nicely. very few ppl. take their time these days to help others so cheers to u!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/yln-myt-ywz-wsywwq-Ilan-Amit-Consulting-Marketing/154869144527971 ilan

Tim,

Does facebook remove the needs to double click in order to access the destination url? I do it in my php?
If yes, can you explain how you need to change the php?
Will they change in that you will not need the php?
reym

timware :
David, I’d say Don’t give up! Learn how to create iFrame canvas apps. It’s more learning, but it sounds like you’ve got time. Dive into it! We’ll be creating a great eBook on doing. But start now. Learn about Web hosting, FTP … so you understand how to create the HTML page that is iFramed into a Facebook iFrame canvas application. Plug away at it, my friend.
It sounds like you’re a smart guy, certainly smart enough to get your head around this stuff. Just start experimenting.
I mean it!

hi tim, when can we expect that great ebook! what’s the timetable? i can’t wait lol
http://moviehippo.net Sam

I don’t believe the changes are that bad, but I really dislike the icon of the custom FBML tabs, you should be able to choose your own.

And for the iFrames, I believe it’s a good change. It’s not that difficult either.
ofer

hi tim, thanks for that valuble info (again)
does moving to an iframe canvas means that FBJS will no longer work?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  On an iframed page, you can use straight JavaScript. FBJS won’t work on a framed page as it’s not hosted on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/moola.community Emily

how can i add an iframe to my fan page. im strugling with this. please anyone help

http://www.facebook.com/moola.community
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Stay tuned, Emily. Help is on the way
http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon

FYI – when you upgrade your #Facebook Page, your LikeBox will break. Seems like a bug that should get fixed.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  I think that is fixed now.
http://www.onechange.org/ neil

I used to like the emphasis on the top menu tabs and how front and center they were to the page, especially with how easy you could customize the tabs using FBML. Now they’ll be more hidden with less prominence along the left hand side and photo’s will be front and center, which I don’t think is as relevant for most people with fan pages.

So far, not really liking what I see from the new layout.
http://www.blackdoginternet.com/fbj/ Dave Ashton

Whoops Tim
There goes the iframe through AJAX idea. Seriously though (IMHO) this is a massive leap forward in a positive direction from Facebook. Will really sort the men from the boys for landing page development. My Joomla based welcome iframe is already up and running. No clicks for the user to see a fully featured ‘site’ with flash etc .

So far the only thing I really object to is removing the tabs and putting the options on the sidebar. I cant re-arrange them to get my landing page on the top option. How difficult is that going to make it to get regular visitors and friends to keep visiting your landing page app.

All in all I think it is a great leap forward but will take us all some time to fully weigh up the impact business wise.
http://www.pixelita.com Joni Mueller

Another annoyance right off the bat (for me anyway), what if I don’t WANT any photos displayed on my wall? I’m forced to display photos I don’t want just to not have that ugly blank wall? If you’ve clicked away all your photos, they should have the decency to just not display the empty box.

“Where are we going? And what’s with the handbasket?” immediately comes to mind!
http://www.circuscommunications.ca Angie

We’re pretty excited about all of these new features, and also very curious where things will be when (or if) the dust eventually settles.

One thing we were excited about was using the photostream as a sort-of banner as many of us had previously experimented on our personal pages.

While the 5 most recently updated photos are being displayed, it seems that they are in a totally random order. Are we alone on this?

Our page is
http://www.facebook.com/CircusCommunications

P.s. Thanks Tim for the quick post!
- http://www.circuscommunications.ca Angie
  
  Whoops.. nevermind I totally swooped by that section! Hopefully they’ll fix this, or we’ll have to get a little more creative to work with that randomness in a fun way!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Yes, I noticed that those top 5 pics are arranged randomly and can’t be controlled by the order in which you’re tagged, as with Personal Profiles. I talk about this in this post, above. Weird that they kill an avenue for creativity!
  - http://www.social3i.com Michael Neu
    
    You can still be creative, just a little harder. Add some cherries and create a slot machine on page reloads.
- http://www.shortstacklab.com Jim
  
  Agreed- the pics are random. To quote a FB engineer from the PDC program: “This is expected behavior”. Not my favorite!
http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo

Facebook fixed the bug with the layout of the images on my Landing Page. Is this just me or are others seeing their images align properly?

I tested the Reveal Code, that one is still not working, it is still redirecting folks to my wall.
http://www.pixelita.com Joni Mueller

I just went ahead on one of my pages and created palette colors that would display along the top. Since I can’t have what I want (which is nothing), I decided to play their game. See that here.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ConAffetto-Designs/161679650513725

It’s the best “quick fix” for my own situation that I could come up with.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Nice! As mentioned above, we went in a “goofier” direction: http://www.facebook.com/HyperArts …. It’ll be fun to see the solutions that come out of this. I actually kind of like the lack of control….
  - http://www.flamingomap.com David Anthony
    
    Not bad! Feels a bit like in front of a slot machine at the casino. Except I’m not looking for all 777, I’m looking for H-YP-ER-A-RT-S. Refreshing your FB Page is what I’ll be doing for the rest of the day… Wonder if I printscreen the winning combinaison, you’ll send me a free copy of the iframe tutorial I know you’re working on? Don’t bother, I’m kidding and I’m guessing you’re swamped!
http://www.heatherdopson.com Heather Dopson

Tim-

I just wanted to let you know there is a quicker solution to turning off all notifications (or some) is you manage multiple pages.
From any of your managed pages, click on “Edit Page” and then on “Your Settings.”
Click “View all email settings for your pages.”
Once there, click on “Change email settings for individual Pages” in the Pages section.
A pop-up will open where you can check/uncheck all of your pages.

Much quicker than going to each page!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Awesome! Thanks so much, Heather. I’m going to modify this post and, natch, give you credit. Really appreciated. Cheers!
  - http://www.heatherdopson.com Heather Dopson
    
    You’re very welcome. I have taught 2 classes now on the changes and have been studying them fervently to help everyone out. Thank you for your shout out in the blog, I truly appreciate it!
http://www.shortstacklab.com Jim

Hey Tim, thanks for the comment-

There are a ton of people out there that are going to have trouble making tabs (FBML, iFrames or otherwise) now. That is why we developed ShortStack. We wanted to level the playing field between giant business with tons of fans and the little guys.

It’s a bummer that a lot of people are going to have a harder time building tabs now because of the switch to iFrames but we’re prepared (we’ve built the platform with iFrames in mind)
http://www.percipo.com Mehran

Hi guys,

Does anyone know what happened to the list of people who “liked” my page? Where do you find that in the new design?

-m
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Under the Fan count in the left column, click “people like this” and you’ll get the familiar popup dialog.
  - http://www.percipo.com Mehran
    
    hi tim, i’m sorry but i can’t find the fan count! it’s an app page that has been also our fan page. would that be different?
http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo

I am waiting for someone to post the iframe version of the FB reveal code. I am looking forward to that
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Here’s an example, Owen. On one of our test Pages:
  http://www.facebook.com/hyperarts1?sk=app_133505843381295
  
  You know it’s a “true” iFrame because you can view the iframed page by itself. Just right-click and select one of the “View this frame” options.
  - http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo
    
    Is it meant to go to the wall after clicking like? I ask because it did go to the wall.
http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware

@Angie: Thanks for passing along the jQuery code for multi-tabs!
- http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo
  
  @Angie if you can implement the Reveal Code with your IFrame, you would have essentially solved the issue we all are facing with it redirecting back to the wall after the Like button is clicked instead of the second page in the reveal sequence
http://MLMDreamSaver.com Vicki Berry

I went ahead, since it would be forced by Mar 1 anyway, and”‘upgraded” one of my pages, although I really miss the top row of tabs. They are so obscure in that tiny font to the lower left now! I’m sure for the most part they’ll never be noticed, and I like to put valuable content there. Oh well, I know FB will do what they will do, sigh!

Thanks for all the great info!
Vicki
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Yeah, that left nav looks pretty weak compared to the top tabs. I’d love to know the real reasons why they went to this approach. I’m sure there’s a logic that, if explained, would make sense.
http://kennethhood.com Ken Hood

Tim- my new iframe test app/tab shows up fine when “logged in” but not when “logged out” of facebook. And I tested your Reveal tab in your sandbox while logged out… it doesn’t show up either. I cannot find anyone mentioning this, so I must be a dummy. But I called a couple friends and they can’t see them either. Ideas what I’m doing wrong? I am *assuming* that an iframe tab can be viewed by non-logged in users, correct?
- http://www.bonghit.com Tim Ware
  
  It’s a known bug that FB is working on, Ken.
http://kennethhood.com Ken Hood

Ooops- meant to put a link for my tab: http://www.facebook.com/KenHoodTV?v=app_191990024161831
Susana

Great read…one thing I notice you don’t mention is the fact that unless you are signed in as your personal profile when you fan a page you will not increase that fan pages numbers. I noticed today that fans that came over to my page and “like” me and were signed in as their fan page profile didn’t make a difference in my numbers only those who were signed in as their personal profile counted…don’t know if this is a glitch that facebook will address or if this is the way it is. Either way, right now it is a pain!
http://friebach-media.com Originator

It looks that sometimes the iframe tab is not showing up, just blank page. You have to refresh it and it will show up. FB bug?
- http://www.bonghit.com Tim Ware
  
  Yes, FB bug. I believe they’re aware of it, although I can’t find the bug report.
ofer

ok.. reading all the comments again and agian, checking all the links, I have a few dummy questions, i hope you can answer me:
1.once and if i get the iframe canvas app. running, how do I add it to my page?
2.am i actually building a web site and simply dispalying it thru the app.?
3.do i need to put any code or links in the app. ? (like working with the fbml), meaning, do i need to go to edit app. and link the iframe, or something like that?

i hope i made myself clear, but i kind of feel like SOUTH PARK character ‘towelie’ : “I have no idea what’s going on”
Dan

How do we go about implementing Facebook functions in an iFrame, such as the Share button or a Suggest to Friend Tool?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Some features are available as XFBML which is the FBML you can use on non-Facebook pages which is what the iFramed pages are. Other features can be programmed using PHP and the Facebook SDK.
  
  We’ll be having tutorials on this blog on various cool stuff to do using iFrames. Stay tuned….
http://steven-dean.com Steven Dean

Thanks for the information there. Haven’t really done anything with my Fan page since the change. I figure they might be still doing some tweaking since FaceBook is always constantly changing. Im not all that familiar with HTML or FBML myself but im trying to teach myself a little bit so I can get a real Fan Page Up and running thanks for the insight here.

Steven Dean
Dan

I’m also experiencing a shorter tab width with an iFrame tab. My static FBML tabs are still 520px but my iFrame tabs are only 504px… Is anyone else noticing this?
- http://www.davegallant.ca DaveG
  
  Hey Dan,
  
  I’m noticing the exact same thing. I upgraded one of my pages to the new format, set up the ifrrame app with a 520px landing page.
  
  It displays a scrollbar at the bottom of the page, and is slightly cut off, about roughly the amount of px you said.
  
  Is this part of the FB Bug?
http://thegetsmartblog.com/ Bridget

In the old page format you could move the tabs around so your most important custom tabs were showing have you found a way to do this with the new page design?

Or do you just have to make sure to delete a tab, add a new one, and then bring in your old tab after that if you want the new one to show up?

It sounds like I am talking in tongs here.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Below the new left-side navigation, click the “More” link, then click “Edit” …. Then you can just drag and drop each page section to wherever you want it EXCEPT to the top, as that’s reserved for Wall. Cheers!
  - Craig
    
    Tim – I have the same question and was happy to see that there was a solution! I was using the delete and re-add a tab. I went to my page and I only have a few tabs – so I don’t have the “More” link. Therefore I don’t have the “Edit” capability – is this a bug???
    
    Thanks, Craig
    - Craig
      
      Looks like a bug! I just added more tabs (links) to my page to cause the “More” link to appear. I then click on the “More” link and indeed got my “Edit” capability! I then re-arranged everything and then removed the extra links!
Jack

Perhaps I’ve overlooked the discussion of this matter already, but why do visitors to my fan page no longer see the 6 thumbnails of other ( non mutual ) fans?
ofer

hi to all,
can any one please refer me to the php code to creat the canvas app.?
i have created the app, but cant seem to get it working.
Craig

I love the new “use facebook as page” option! I really don’t want a presence on facebook except for my page. I’ve noticed that if I close the browser and then reload the browser, it reverts back to my personal account, not my page. I don’t log out – just shut down the browser. This happens on IE, Firefox and Chrome. Does anyone know if this is by design or a bug? I would really like to keep it to my page unless I specifically want it to revert back.

Thanks, Craig
http://kennethhood.com Ken Hood

Dave I just read on the fb Dev blog that there is an iframe bug forcing to 512px… they are working on it
- http://www.davegallant.ca DaveG
  
  Great, thanks Ken! Save’s me a lot of work for myself and my clients.
http://www.theartisticblog.com/ Mike Maliska

The only technical problem I seem to be having with the new format is viewing my page for non-facebook users or users that are not logged in yet.
If I set my fan page to display only post from my page then if a non-face book user goes to my page they see all the contain. However if my page it set to show “Everyone” post then the wall just hangs trying to load the contains. This is true for my badges on my website linking back to my page.

Has anyone else seen this problem?

The other preference problem I have is that I do not have an option to show the posts in chronological order.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  A known bug, Mike. Here’s a link to the Facebook blank tab when user isn’t logged in issue.
  - http://www.theartisticblog.com/ Mike Maliska
    
    Thamks Tim!!!
http://www.davegallant.ca DaveG

Hey Tim, on a side note, thanks for providing us developers with such great information. Between you and Snipe.net, you’ve made my life so much easier!

Cheers,
Dave
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  It’s my pleasure, Dave. Yes, Snipe.net is another great resource. I’ve certain availed myself of their expertise on occasion!
zonk

You can help me to solve my problem.

I created a facebook application at:
http://apps.facebook.com/MY_APP

code for index.php:
————————————————-
<style type="text/css"> # wrapper { width: 520px; margin: 0 auto; border: 0; padding: 0; position: relative; } # {non-fans width: 520px; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; } </ style> <div id="wrapper"> <fb:fbml version="1.1"> <fb:visible-to-connection> <img src="http://domain.com/MY_APP/images/appcover.jpg"> <fb:else> <div id="non-fans"> <a href="page.php"> <img src="http://domain.com/MY_APP/images/appcover2.jpg"> </ a> </ div> </ fb: else> </ fb: visible-to-connection> </ div>
————————————————–

how to redirect my index.php to about.php
http://apps.facebook.com/MY_APP/about.php

because I get an error as below when accessing the application directly without going through the fan page.
====================================
App Temporarily Unavailable Runtime errors: fb: visible-to-connection: Required fbml_env var missing: "profile"

Please help me.
Thank you.
Jorge

Hello,
thanks for the thorough review you wrote.

I’ve been browsing some examples of the new Iframe tabs and me I’ve noticed that there are two different types of tabs:

1) Those let you right click and see the source of the frame (http://www.facebook.com/carrcomm?sk=app_192959650715391)
2) Those that are fully integrated with the facebook interface like yours (http://www.facebook.com/HYPERARTS?sk=app_126026510774735)

What is the difference between these tabs?

I followed the tutorial on facebook developers blog getting a tab like number 1.

Sorry for my english
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  You can click inside the “RE HyperArts” tab and view the iframe source.
  
  I have noticed some page tabs that claim to be iframes but really don’t seem to be, as right-clicking them doesn’t provide an option to view the framed page.
  
  I think these are instances where the developer created an “iframe” canvas app, but then didn’t actually make it an iframe, but just a Facebook-hosted canvas page.
ikelleigh

Tim thanks for this helpful information. More than what Facebook itself seems to be providing in its own dev pages.

I’ve recently been trying to wrap my head around iFrame apps on and have been pretty successful with some of my tests so far.

I do have one question that maybe others have noticed. Is there a way to make an iFrame app auto-expand vertically? It seems to be stopping at the browser height which causes the vert scroll to appear, when then shrinks the width causing the horizontal scroll to appear. So far I haven’t really seen any ideas of how to fix this and wonder if it’s a bug with Facebook.

It sure was nice that they gave us the opportunity to bug test for them eh?
- http://www.twitter.com/robgee Rob Gee
  
  You just need to add the “FB.Canvas.setAutoResize()” funtion in your code:
  
  <div id="fb-root"></div> <script> window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '123456', status : false, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML });
  FB.Canvas.setAutoResize(); };
  (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); </script>
http://www,odyssey.org.uk/ Sebastien Powell

Hiya,

thanks for the informative article

Just wondering – do you know how to set the Static FBML tab as the default landing page on the new Pages? We’ve just created our Page here: http://www.facebook.com/odysseycharity

I’ve looked around but can’t seem to find the way to do it?

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks,

Seb
Jonathan

Okay…what am I doing wrong? I’ve got a new iframe based tab working fine in Chrome. The canvas page and the “tab” app are working fine. In IE (I’ve checked all versions), the canvas app works fine, but the “tab” is totally blank. What’s interesting is that not only is the tab area blank (the 520px wide area), but also all of the right side column stuff (ads, etc) that are served by Facebook are also missing. Firefox has the same problem as IE. Also of note, even in the canvas page for the app, the right side column stuff is missing for IE and Firefox.

The “app” right now is just one word of text. I’ve tried it as a .php file and an .html file. Figured I’d make it as simple as possible to try to figure out the problem. I’m guessing it’s how the file is served. I have the permissions as open as possible.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
JMR
http://www.reverbnation.com/sunstormone Nick Nicholson

As a musician that uses FB to connect with fans, I am concerned about the apps we typically use that are in boxes on the left – specifically the music player app, that people see regardless of which tab they might be on. The ability to play our tracks (and purchase them) should be prominent everywhere on the page, as it is now. If they screw this up, then my FB fan page will just be a link to our external websites. And Myspace, which is much more artist friendly.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  I would suggest creating an iframe app that has your MP3 files, videos, whatever OR just adding one of the existing apps for musicians. MySpace is certainly more artist friendly, but probably a big chunk of your potential audience is on Facebook.
http://djnovajade.com Tera*

how do I view all of my fan page users without having to scroll in the little box via the “People Like This” link beneath the # of people who like it?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Unfortunately, clicking “people like this” is the only way, Tera.
Brad

Hi Tim, thanks so much for all of your great support, much appreciated!

Okay, the new Facebook Platform for Pages seems to have some bugs. First of all, the reveal tab strategy doesn’t work properly. After clicking like to reveal the content the page redirects to the wall tab which defeats the purpose of the whole strategy (this occurs randomly about 50% of the time).

The other problem is that the custom pages seem to show up inconsistently (I added 4 seperate static fbml pages all with the exact same code). One page was squashed, one was stretched and two were perfect???

Have you experienced these problems with the new platform?

Thanks Tim! )
- http://www.Facebook.com/HYVAssistant Owen McGab Enaohwo
  
  @Tim has anyone tried to implement what you talked about by using Iframes?
- http://www.criusonline.com Peter Canale
  
  Brad, I spent a bunch of time on getting my reveal iframe program working last night and it seems to be working fine for me.
Axel

Hi
Im having problems of activate the new profile layout on my fanpage.
In administrator mode, all looks fine but for all the “fans” and for myself its still the old design.

Ive looked everywhere for the “upgrade box at the top” but found nothing. Is there an other way to find or force this option?

Thanks in advance!
http://clikbrix.com Erik Goldhar

Hi Tim,

I was really excited about the 5 top photos coming to Pages. It took me forever to finally realize that the can’t be “Set” the way they can on Profile Pages as you have mentioned.

We are in the QR Code business so we decided to show a Rainbow Gallery of our Realtors QR Codes – take a look and show them some love – http://on.fb.me/i4CQrd.

I would love to see some examples of unique uses given the pics will always rotate.

Thanks,
Erik
http://jonashastings.com Jonas Hastings

Being new to the facebooks apps, I am trying to set one up for testing in order to add a tab to a fanpage. From what I have followed on fb’s getting started one needs to create an app. The problem I am having is to get the app or tab on a page the app must be submitted, and in order to do this one must have 10 monthly users. Is this correct or am I missing something. Also am I wrong in assuming any page one is an admin on and wants to add a custom tab you would have to create a new app and get 10 monthly users for every app created?
http://www.socialappshq.com RG

You can set the default tab by following the instructions here -
http://www.socialappshq.com/help/change-default-landing-page-for-facebook-page
http://www.blackdoginternet.com Dave Ashton

@Jonas. You do not need any monthly users to be able add your application tab to a page, or submit to the App Directory. Once you have set up the app iframe canvas and tab correctly in the application edit/setup screen you must then view your applications profile page. Its one of the options on the right when you have saved your app settings.

From the profile page in the left column there is an option to “Add to my page”. When you click this a list of the pages you administer appears and you have a choice which pages to add your new iframe app to.

Hope that helps
Cheers
Dave
ofer

hi Tim, thanks to you and mr. Ken Hood iv’e worked out the iframe canvas app.(finally), so thanks again.
I have one question : being a facebook page designer, having the need to set up multiple applications, is there a limit on the number of applications i can creat?
should I maybe set up the app. thru my clients account and then have access to it via page admins?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Whatever app you’re an admin for will show up here:
  
  http://www.facebook.com/developers/
  
  I’m unaware of any limit on the number of apps you can have. There may not be a limit.
Leo

Do you have any idea how I can change the order of the tabs/apps in the new Facebook Pages layout? I can’t seem to drag and drop like in the previous layout. The Facebook Pages manual says to click Edit, but there isn’t any link called that and Edit Page doesn’t present any options either!

Thanks in advance!
Leo
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Click “More” at the bottom of the list of “tabs” in the left column. Next to “Less” you should see “Edit” so click that. Then you can drag and drop but, like before, nothing goes above Wall and Info.
  
  However, there IS a bug I’ve seen where if you don’t have enough visible “tabs” to cause the “More” link to appear, you also don’t get the “Edit” link, so keep that in mind.
  
  I’ve filed a bug report on Bugzilla about this.
  - Leo
    
    Thanks Tim, I just noticed that bug too. I added a few more apps like Notes, Links etc. until more came up and then I was able to rearrange. Much appreciated!
Leo

Also, one of my Static FBML icons is green, while the other is gray. Any idea what that means?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  There’s always been some randomness in how Facebook presents the icon for Static FBML. That’s all I know.
  - Leo
    
    Ahh I thought so, there didn’t seem to be any logical reason. Thanks again.
Tolu

hello.

Thanks for the review on the new features in face book pages.
I need to know where “suggest to friends” is in the new upgraded version. I’ve been looking all over for it.

Would appreciate a response.

Thank you again
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  It’s in the right column, below the Admins area which is at the top of the right column.
ofer

hi tim, could you please address my questions?(#19)
http://kennethhood.com Ken Hood

Hey there Ofer… I’m guessing that Tim is in crunch mode trying to come up with all of these answers… let’s give him some time (said in love w/big smile)….

I did ask this very same question in the dev blog on Facebook and it was ignored by their staff. It was also asked by another developer and it was also ignored.

So I’m *guessing* that there is no answer… yet. Trust me… we all need to know this and I’m sure we shall find out soon.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Thanks Ken. Yes, when folks get impatient with me because I don’t immediately answer their questions (and especially considering the huge amounts of $$ Facebook pays me , it sort of cracks me up. But, as you know, I do my best.
settie

How do I change the icon on the new Static FBML buttons? They are grey. I noticed another FB business page had custom icon buttons. I’d like to make those as well.

Thanks!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  You can’t. That’s a Facebook app over which you have zero control.
  - settie
    
    But other FB business pages have small graphics instead of the generic grey. How do they have, but other’s don’t?
    - http://www.davegallant.ca DaveG
      
      That’s mostly because some other FB biz pages have using the FB canvas app as their landing page, instead of the static fbml app. You can add an icon to the canvas app.
ofer

hi tim, i’m terribly sorry, didn’t mean to get impatient.
just my stress over the whole thing i guess.
please accept my apologies.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  No worries, man. You were one of the milder cases
  
  Hopefully I answered your question to your satisfaction.
- settie
  
  Thanks so much! I appreciate the responses. Still prefer the tabs at the top. Oh well. At least I have time to catch up and learn the new.
http://kennethhood.com Ken Hood

Tim – dude- most of us know how hard you work for free on behalf of all of us. And everyone should know… I don’t get paid to be your defender. (Besides- you don’t need one)

Seriously- thanks for everything you do for the community… I think many of us would love to have a “Tim Appreciation Day” to say thanks.

And a plug… if you need advanced ‘hands on’ help… offer to pay Tim for it (now everyone will get mad at me- sorry). I paid last spring for Tim’s help and got more than my money’s worth. It was a lifesaver. (Yes Tim you may quote me on that anytime).
- http://www.davegallant.ca DaveG
  
  Agree with you 100% Ken. Very grateful for what you do for us Tim…
http://www.twitter.com/AndyCronin Andy

Hi Tim. Nice post!

1 part bothered me though: “You Can’t Create a Cool Photo Tile Effect with Any Precision”. You still can, just not the same way as you would have in a Profile page. Check these Pages out:

http://www.facebook.com/trixanpet?v=wall
http://www.facebook.com/trixanbody?v=wall

The trick is to use images that don’t matter what order they are displayed in. I can’t wait to see more examples like this (or until Facebook allow admins to choose the order of the 5 photos again).

Cheers.
Andy
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Thanks Andy! What I *meant* to say is that you can’t create a Photostrip design that depends on a fixed ordering. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the random nature of the ordering is actually kind of cool and really not all that restrictive. As you say, it just calls for a different approach.
  
  Your examples are excellent. I just did a very comprehensive article on the new Page layout for the Social Media Examiner, which posts on Monday. I wish I’d known of your examples because I definitely would have used one. Very nice!
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Hey Andy, if you cleaned up these pages along the lines I describe in my recent post about a Pages contest, one of these might be an example I’d use in an upcoming, pretty high-profile blog post.
  
  Clean up the navigation, and convert your Static FBML tabs to iframe tabs. To create a single iFrame app, you can use our iFrame Page Tab Creator Tool, TabPress.
Mun

Hello Tim, thanks a lot for your explanation.

I’m prety new in these issues but I manage the fanpage of the municipality where I work. Since I switched to the new fanpage, nothing is working (or almost nothing).

I can’t add links, it won’t let me publish, only straight messages or updates.

I also can’t access to the friends of the page or to the edit page.

I have absolutely no idea whom to ask or how to solve this. Whatever help you can give me it will be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot
Mun
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Hi Mun: As I mentioned in my email to you can arrange a one-hour consultation with one of our resident experts here at HyperArts. We’re all in the SF Bay Area and the consult can be done by phone.
  
  We can review your code, help you troubleshoot issues, and answer any questions you have.
  
  It’s really a huge timesaver for you. Contact us for details.
Tolu

oh. i apparently had to select use facebook as an account owner not as page. not sure i like all the curves and turns of the new facebook but guess we’ll have to survive.

Thanks for everything. Good job you are doing here.
http://www.missarnoldpalmer.com Teressa

How do I require people to “LIKE” my page before they can click on all of my tabs?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  You can’t do that, Teressa.
http://www.facebook.com/manchesterlibraries Sue Lawson

Thanks for this really helpful post. We’re having fun with the new top images on our Manchester Libraries page, will be using the iframes tutorial this weekend.

Has anyone any idea how long we can keep using our existing fbml tabs after March 10?
Sue
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Beautiful graphics on your Libraries page, Sue! And nice use of the Photostrip! Thanks for sharing this.
  
  I recommend everyone click on Sue’s Manchester Libraries link!
  - Sue Lawson
    
    Gosh – thank you – and thanks for fixing the link! Glad you like the graphics – some people think they’re a bit ‘out there’ but we like them and they make people smile. We really appreciate your kind comments – thanks. Back to the PHP tutorial now…
    - http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
      
      I forgot to answer your question about how long FBML tabs will be supported. Well, Facebook says they’ll continue to support existing installs of Static FBML and FBML applications, and will allow users to edit their existing tabs. I would suspect they’d also allow adding new Static FBML tabs until a user reaches the max of 10, but as a precaution, I’d advise Page admins to add all 10 now and edit them later.
      
      As for support for the 10 or so useful FBML tags supported by Static FBML, Facebooks says that FBML has been “deprecated” which, in Web parlance, can mean they could stop functioning in a month or in a few years. So who knows? They all work now.
      
      If users suspect a FBML tag is no longer working, they can always check our Static FBML Bible Page where we have examples of the FBML tags. If they’re still working there, then they work. If they’re not working there, then either they’ve been killed OR there’s a temporary bug.
http://jenniferanise.com Jennifer A

Hi, just wanted to mention 2 additional features of the new Facebook Page under “Edit Page/Basic Information”: 1) You can now change which category the page is listed under (e.g. if you chose “Musician” by accident or just want to be listed as “Director” now, you don’t have to scrap the whole page, you can just switch categories).

2) For those with fewer than 100 likes, you can now change the name of the page. (Maybe you made a typo or just changed names, etc.).
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Good stuff, Jennifer. Thanks! We’re aware of the new ability to edit the custom tab name and I mentioned that in my recent Social Media Examiner “Guide for Page Admins” article, but I’d not heard that you can change your Page’s name if you have fewer than 100 fans. That’s a great feature.
http://www.facebook.com/f2f.co.il ofer

hey there,
is it just me, or is the FBML still alive and kicking ?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Yes, the cutoff for adding the Static FBML app to your Page or creating an FBML canvas app has been moved back to Friday, March 18, per my recent post.
http://Www.heatherdopson.com Heather Dopson

Regarding Static FBML- the date is now March 18th. From FB blog:”Starting Friday, March 18th, you will no longer be able to create new FBML apps and Pages wil no longer be able to add the Static FBML app While all existing apps on Pages using FBML or the Static FBML app will continue to work, we strongly recommend that these apps transition to iframes as soon as possible. Lastly, we want to be clear that our deprecation of FBML does not impact XFBML, such as the tags that support social plugins.”
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Thanks for this, Heather!
rey

Hi Tim, is this a bug or not? my iframe app is not showing as the defult page when viewed from different account even though its already set to be the default landing tab. Do you know of this strange occurence? or i just missed some steps. thanks
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  How about a URL? But, anyway, you can’t set the default tab for anyone other than a non-fan. Fans get the Wall by default. Period. And so do Page admins.
Gerard

Hi Tim,

Thanks for this very informative post…much appreciated.

One thing I didn’t see you mention here…(and I’m not really sure whether the problem is related to the recent changes made to Facebook Like pages, or whether it’s related to something else – such as a Firefox change/update) is that the styling on some of my customized Static FBML tabs are suddenly all screwey – when viewed in Firefox. IE however displays the styling just fine.

My suspicion was that FF and/or FB (suddenly) didn’t like the idea of pulling in CSS styles from an external file using the tag, which prompted me to embed all of the CSS styles into my Static FBML code…and sure enough, FF then displayed the page/styles correctly, however IE didn’t like that (which we all know was an issue with IE) and things looked all screwey in IE.

In order to make both IE, and all other browsers happy, I tried implementing browser detection/conditional commenting techniques such as the following (to help resolve the issue) but IE still seems to have an issue with it….so I’m not sure what might be wrong…or how to resolve this issue.

Is it something you’ve encountered as well?

If yes, how did you resolve it? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Gerard

 <style type="text/css"> a:link, a:visited { color: #0074A6; text-decoration: none; } a:hover { color: #0074A6; } a:active { color: #000; text-decoration: none; } </style> 
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Hi Gerard. IE doesn’t support CSS inlined with the <style> tag. So you have to use external stylesheets with Static FBML. This is another reason iFrame support is so welcomed, because you can inline styles. But, to my knowledge, all modern browsers support the call to external stylesheets.
- http://www.twitter.com/robgee Rob Gee
  
  I’ve noticed that my FBML pages have suddenly lost support for some tags.
  
  I would suggest migrating to the (much better & faster loading) iFrame implementation.
  
  The trickiest part is setting up the actual iFrame app, but once you have the hang of this, it’s so much easier.
Gerard

Looks like some code didn’t show up on my post….trying again.


bimbolera

hi,
Fan-gating using iFrame was a great article by the way(big help)! keep it up! i would to ask one thing, is it possible that once i “Like” the page there would be a popup option if i want to post it in my wall or not just like in the old FBML?
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  The XFBML Like button, which is what you’d use on an iFrame, does exactly that. When you click it, a small window pops where you can post a comment to your Wall.
Chris

Hi Tim,
Looking to add a promo code or redirect to page of my choice after a fan clicks on the ‘Like’ button. Example: http://www.facebook.com/sittercity?sk=app_11007063052 This is great, how do I do this?

Thanks
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog timware
  
  Read our post on redirecting to a different tab after someone Likes a Facebook page. That should be what you need.
http://bosch11536vsr.ch9.me/ Bosch 11536VSR

John Heywood~ A man may well bring a horse to the water but he cannot make him drink.
http://www.comforthost.net/ Tim

I have some troubles with my browsers! Someone said up here that he tried to implement browser detection but IE still seems to have an issue!
It’s really annoying cause i’ve never had such problems till now, and i guess i miss something. If someone could tell me where i’m wrong, i’ll be very thankful!
http://paintzoom-reviewpros.com Sammie

I swear, once I get the hang of a new Facebook design they change it! I wish they would leave well enough alone. I know engineering types are always looking on how to improve things, but some of us have other things to do!
http://www.besplatansport.com/ Sportovi

very helpfull article, thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for such a fantastic blog. Where else could anyone get that kind of info written in such a perfect way? I have a presentation that I am presently working on, and I have been on the look out for such information
I would like to see more posts like this.

Regards.
http://twitter.com/hollywood_cat Hollywood Cat

I am new to Facebook. I created a page a while ago and can post to my page etc. I can Like other pages and write comments when I am logged in but when I go back to the page my comments are not there. My comments also have a blank thumbnail. I don’t seem to have a thumbnail on my admin account. I don’t have any other Facebook account – is this anything to do with the blank admin thumbnail?
Thanks for any help.
- http://www.hyperarts.com/blog/ Tim Ware
  
  Did you create your Page while logged in to your Personal Profile, or did you do it as a standalone Business Page? If you want the full features of a Page, you have to create it while logged in as your Profile.
  - http://twitter.com/hollywood_cat Hollywood Cat
    
    Thanks Tim. I have now linked it to a Personal Profile. Wish Facebook had clearer docs – they don’t make it easy!