Posts Tagged FBML
The Future of Static FBML Custom Tabs, Now that Facebook is Moving from FBML to iFrames
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML, Web Coding on August 20th, 2010
Yesterday, August 19, 2010, Facebook announced that in the pursuit of simplifying and standardizing their platform, they would be moving away from FBML and towards iFrames, both for canvas applications and Page tabs.
Facebook Static FBML, an app that allows those with minimal coding experience to create their own custom tabs, may be a victim of this change, as well as those amateur coders and the FBML Entrepreneurs who love them.
Facebook's Announcement of the FBML / iFrame Change
Namita Gupta wrote on the Facebook Developer Blog:
We are also moving toward IFrames instead of FBML for both canvas applications and Page tabs. As a part of this process, we will be standardizing on a small set of core FBML tags that will work with both applications on Facebook and external Web pages via our JavaScript SDK, effectively eliminating the technical difference between developing an application on and off Facebook.com.
Facebook's Previous Advice about Moving your Deleted Boxes Content to Custom Tabs? Forget about it!
Back in February when Facebook was letting everyone know that they would soon be getting rid of both the boxes Wall sidebar and the Boxes tab, it advised: "Create custom content in FBML on a custom tab (optional). Move deleted content from Boxes to a new tab on your page by adding the FBML application to your page."
Well, that was then and this is now. Now it appears they're saying something very different.
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News Feed Optimization and Effective Facebook Posting
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on July 14th, 2010
You may or may not have heard of NFO. It's similar to SEO, but specific to Facebook. "News Feed Optimization" refers to the strategy for posting content on your Facebook Page, with the goal of having it show up frequently in your fans' news feeds. While similar to the principles behind Google's search engine, Facebook's news feed takes into account several different factors based on your fans, their friends, their interests and more. Or in their words, "affinity, edge, and decay."
These three factors are part of "EdgeRank" the algorithm revealed by Facebook at their developers conference f8, in April 2010. Digital marketer Chris Sietsema blogs here about these three important pieces that together will determine the visibility of your content on Facebook.
via Teach To Fish Digital
Facebook: The Most Common Static FBML Problems & Their Solutions
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML, Web Coding on July 12th, 2010
In the course of posting so many Static FBML tutorials on our blog, and then responding to visitors' questions in the comments, I now have a good idea of what are the most common problems people encounter when either adding Static FBML to their Fan Page or trying to get the tab to look and function as they wish. So I've put together this list of common questions and my answers.
NOTE: Check out our popular Static FBML Tutorial and, if you don't see a solution here or you want more detailed information, check out our Static FBML FAQ which also has links to all our Static FBML tutorials.
NOTE: When I refer to "FBML box" I mean the box/field where you put your CSS/HTML/FBML content:
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FBML Examples from the HyperArts Fan Page
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML on July 12th, 2010
We asked our fans to share links to their favorite FBML examples, and here are a few that we liked and wanted to share. I am going to highlight the "best practices" of Fan page development (BP) that are demonstrated by each example, and also my suggestions for improvements (TRY THIS).
See You There Invitations
(shared by Judene McCalla)
- Best Practice: This simple landing page tab welcomes users to the business page and describes the company and its services/products.
- TRY THIS: Your landing page should explain what your purpose is here on Facebook, and encourage people to become a fan by offering some information or community service or even a product of value. Tell us, what is this Facebook Page all about? What value are you offering to your fans?
- BP: A second tab serves as a mailing list sign-up, a great way to add subscribers to your email newsletter list.
- TRY THIS: Keep it simple and combine these two tabs into one. You can add your mailing list email-form to the welcome tab and make it easy for new visitors to get all of the information in one place.
Tutorial: Embed a Photobucket Slideshow in your Facebook Static FBML Fan Page
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML on July 8th, 2010
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to embed a Photobucket slideshow in your Facebook Static FBML fan page. We've recommended Photobucket in other blog posts as a great option for hosting images online, specifically "activation" images that Facebook requires to load Flash, YouTube videos and Flickr galleries. Photobucket also offers a great selection of ways to display your slideshow. And they look great on a Facebook fan page!
Embedding a Photobucket slideshow in your Static FBML tab uses the same FBML tag that's used when embedding YouTube videos or slideshows, Flash (SWF) or Flickr galleries.
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You Can't Import RSS Feeds into Static FBML Tabs - but you can add RSS Tabs
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML on July 7th, 2010
I've been asked a number of times if it's possible to import RSS feeds — Twitter, Blogs, etc. — into a Static FBML tab. Well, the answer is "No"! You need to use a scripting language — PHP, ASP — to parse an RSS feed, and Static FBML boxes cannot parse any scripting languages, period.
Given this unfortunate (but understandable) fact, how can you add blog feeds, Twitter feeds or other feeds to your fan page? There are basically 3 choices:
- Third-Party Applications, such as Involver or Social RSS;
- Facebook's "Notes" application;
- Custom canvas page application.
How Social Media Changed Our Business
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on July 6th, 2010
We have been thinking a lot about "social media strategy development" lately, and it feels like a short moment of reflection is in order...
2009 was all about preaching the values of social media. We attended a lot of social "meetups" to meet peers in the industry and learn how people were using social networks in new and interesting ways. We pitched grand social engagement strategies to potential clients.
What did we learn? Convincing people that the social web was the new frontier was not difficult. We had examples, case studies and passion for the cause. But once we had the converts, how could we help them learn to help themselves? I often felt like the proverbial fishing teacher...I wanted to teach my clients to fish on their own, to see them take control of their own online communities and blog with fervor! But at the end of the day, after hearing all of the typical excuses ("we don't have the time" or "we don't know what to say") I was reluctantly handing out the fish.
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Add a Contact Form to Your Facebook Static FBML Tab using Allforms
Posted by timware in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML, Web Coding on June 2nd, 2010
In researching the best options for online form-creation services for Facebook Static FBML tabs, I determined that the two best were, in my opinion, JotForm and Allforms.
Although JotForm offered the most attractive interface for form creation, the most flexibility for design, and more features, I liked Allforms because it supports form validation, as well as CAPTCHA. And, if you're comfortable working with CSS and HTML, you can do further customization of the Allforms form you create.
Another plus is you can create a form with HTML and CSS and use Allform's free service to create just the form processor. Pretty cool....
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FBML Tutorial Videos
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing, Static FBML & FBML, Web Coding on May 21st, 2010
We have been asked lots of questions about FBML and developing custom tabs for Facebook Pages. Often they are the same basic questions and we are happy to answer them...But sometimes telling you how to do things is not nearly as effective as showing you!
Here are some videos that show you set-by-step instructions for optimizing your Facebook page and custom FBML tabs with video, music, photos and more:
How to add FBML to your Facebook Page
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Facebook Contest: Free Consulting and a Special Offer!
Posted by Analisa in Social Media / Inbound Marketing on April 22nd, 2010
Hello Friends and Fans (and now, Those Who "Like"),
We are having another Facebook contest, and would like to invite you to enter to win 30 minutes of Facebook consulting time with Analisa, our Social Media manager. With all of Facebook's new changes, the Open Graph and the buzz around custom FBML pages, you probably have some questions. Your free half-hour phone call can cover any topics you choose that are relevant to Facebook, for example:
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Static FBML Code Templates for Sale!
