Timeline:
Create Facebook account
Research:
- Facebook Group vs Fan Page
- Static FBML application and FBML coding and begin testing of application
- Other available applications
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Group vs Fan Page
Contacted Laura @ Robinsons Bookshop (one of our suppliers, have a good working relationship) to discuss their experiences during the creation of their Facebook page including any problems encountered and things they found useful/helpful. Laura advised:
- they changed their Group page to a Fan page as advertising bots seemed to be attracted to group pages, and for some reason Fan Pages were better at deterring them.
- for any troubleshooting, if she could not get the answer from the Facebook Help pages then she used google and found the answer there.
- They used Facebook to promote their Family & Friends night which was hugely successful, she believes mainly due to the promotion on Facebook.
Static FBML app
Experimented with the static FBML application. While the information gathered on what the application could do sounded promising in reality I have found it to be very frustrating and not as easy to use as it was made out to be. I ended up consulting two friends who work in web design about this application. One helped with the differences in coding that needed to be applied to the html and other introduced me to and gave me a training session in Dreamweaver as it was believed this would be timesaving and helpful when coding for the static FBML app. This proved to be correct. They also worked out that the stylesheet needed to be hosted on the web for it to work and this was done through my server space as CSU. I made a note to dicuss with the TSC about whether our server would allow us to do this.
I ran into some more problems with the app. While the page I created in dreamweaver displayed correctly it would not in Facebook. Hosting the css stylesheet on a server and linking it into the FBML app was easy enough but it appears FBML and the stylesheet are not talking to each other properly. I consulted a friend who has had experience with the application to see if he knows of any reason why then page will not display correctly. There seems to be a little lag sometimes with FB recognising new or changed code. If the code is changed the version information in the code also needs to be changed.
Consulting my 2 friends proved to be invaluable to the project.
Sources used:
Facebook Static FBML FAQ / Tutorial
Facebook: The Most Common Static FBML Problems & Their Solutions
Static FBML: Use External Stylesheet or CSS Styles Won't Work in Internet Explorer - Useful information :
- "Your stylesheet file needs to be hosted on a Web server. If you don't have a Web hosting service or FTP knowledge, I recommend setting up a Google Sites account and creating your stylesheet there."
- "add this string to the end of your external stylesheet call to force Facebook to refresh the version it has cached (example):
<link href="http://yoursite.com/styles/layout.css?v=10.0" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
Increment the "v=" number to refresh Facebook's cached version of your stylesheet (10.0, 10.1 .... 10.9, 11.1, 11.2 .... etc.), and then save your FBML box.
If at all possible, you should choose the option to use an external stylesheet. You have much greater flexibility in applying — and making changes to — your CSS using a stand-alone stylesheet."
Comprehensive Static FBML Troubleshooting Guide - Why You Can't Add the App or Why Your Code Isn't Working
How-to Guide to create a Static FBML Landing Page for your Facebook Fan Page
5 Tips for Designing Custom Facebook Tabs Using FBML
Basic HTML code for your Static FBML pages on Facebook
Facebook Pages: FBML Examples (Part 1)
Add A Custom Tab to Your Facebook Fan Page – Starter Template Included
How to Customize Your Facebook Page Using Static FBML
Facebook Markup Language (FBML)
Facebook Moving Away From FBML - Useful information:
"We will begin supporting IFrames for Page tabs in the next few months. Developers building canvas applications should start using IFrames immediately. By the end of this year, we will no longer allow new FBML applications to be created, so all new canvas applications and Page tabs will have to be based on IFrames and our JavaScript SDK. We will, however, continue to support existing implementations of the older authentication mechanism as well as FBML on Page tabs and applications." Decided based on this information to continue using static FBML as I was unable to get iFrames to work at all on the FB page.
Also discovered that Facebook is no longer allowing FBML boxes. This is fine, it still allows tabs. With the new Facebook profile, having more than 5 tabs (all that FB allows to be visible, others are accessed via a drop down arrow) should not be a problem as all tabs are lined vertically down the left had side of the page.
Randomise your messages facebook : will not include in the FB page myself but will advise MDC of this option in case she wants to implement it at a later stage
7 FBML examples to rock your Facebook fan page. : will forward this information to MDC but will not implement it myself as I do not want to create too much work or deviate away from the brief. These are options that can be added at any stage at the discretion of the MDC and LTC.
Polls
Found the SurveyGizmo app that provides surveys, quizes and polls. Yet to have a play with this app, thought it might be best to do this with the LTC.
Info/Location tab
Due to the default info tab only allowing 1 address and 1 set of opening hours, I decided to use the static FBML app for the inf/location tab.
Other Available Applications
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Interesting information found during Module readings in INF206 that may become useful
Survival Guide: Online Social Networking by Shally Steckerl
"There is one important weakness in this new generation of collaborative social networking. If users do not trust the system to protect their relationships, then they will not use the application effectively and gain very little incremental advantage from their connections. On the other hand, too much protection limits the effective range or depth of penetration achievable within a user's extended 'friend of a friend' network, thus also limiting the effectiveness of such a network.
Somewhere between those two extremes lies the advantage of a well- utilised and semi-trusted professional social network."
"Online social networking software enables you to find quality people who may not be familiar with you or with your organisation, and creates an opportunity to connect with them and sell them on your opportunities. They may be unfamiliar with your company or business, or may not have even been looking for something.
Because you already know someone who knows them, you can feel more comfortable that they are a quality prospect. Also, because of that mutual connection, you can more easily overcome cumbersome barriers and begin a relationship with a little more trust and warmth than with a total stranger. Like 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon', social networking sheds light on the contacts you never knew you had. Here are some advantages:
You can contact people in your network to:
- Rekindle old connections
- Maximise value in your weak connections
- Build business relationships with clients or hiring managers
- Find and meet prospective jobseekers
- Grow a referral network
- Heighten your corporate and personal brand
- Make new connections and grow your sphere of influence
- Open doors to future career opportunities, increased pay or promotions
- Increase visibility, which improves influence and effectiveness internally with your organisation as well as externally.
- Find new leads for networking into companies to:
- Educate yourself and ask questions about other organisations
- Conduct competitive intelligence on companies, industries or individuals
- Make fewer cold calls and better prepare for them
- Leverage contacts you already have.
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Social Network Design: Examples and Best Practices
By Cameron Chapman
July 13th, 2009
Design56 CommentsPublishing Policy
"According to Nielsen Online, social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular kinds of online activities. 67% of the world online population are now visiting them and the time they’re spending on them is growing by three times the overall growth rate of the internet. Social networks are now visited more often than personal email is read. Some social networks have grown to such enormous proportions that they rival entire countries in terms of population—if Facebook, for example, was a country, it would be the fifth-most-populated in the world (right between Indonesia and Brazil)."
"The volume of information on a social network can quickly become overwhelming. Don’t contribute to this problem by then offering them a dozen different options for each action they might take on your site. Simplify the information and choices you give them to make their user experience better."
