IFrame application to buy tickets - facebook

So I am planning to develop an IFRAME facebook app which lets users buy tickets from Facebook using our website.
Basically I would like to know whether its possible to do what I have in mind.
Each event posted in our website has a specific link associated with it and we already provide a facility whereby event organizers can integrate our app into their website using an IFRAME.
Now I would like to know whether it is possible to have the same concept applied on a Facebook App. Each event will have its own EventId and I do not wish to have all events listed on our App. Each promoter that has his own Facebook page will be able to integrated the APP and will only see his events. Is this possible since you need to bind your Facebook to a specific URL?
Thanks

Yes! This is possible. What you'll need to do is have a tab application that the promoter installs on their page. Each promoter installs the exact same application so you only need to have one.
When the app is loaded within the page, it will receive a signed_request parameter. You'll need to decode it first, but once you do, you'll be able to see where the app is running because the signed_request will contain the page_id. Once you know what page is displaying your application, you'll be able to display appropriate content.

Related

Facebook app id for website social plugins

I have like/share buttons on my website and am not currently using an appid. Finding information on whether this is a necessity for the above configuration is difficult to confirm. When going through the Facebook app "create" forms, I'm really confused by a lot of the requirements as it seems to be more focused around actual apps rather than websites, which login via fb etc.
In the past I have created an app for one of my other websites and I don't believe there was any verification/submission process at this point (about 2-3 years ago). Reviewing my old app configuration now I can see that it is not "live" - does anyone know whether Facebook implemented this submission process in the last couple of years, and then de-activated any live apps that were created prior to this?
I now want to setup a new app for my new website and I'm unsure what the different 'action types' mean and what I would need to simply use like/share buttons on the website. Could someone give me a quick run down of what I'd need and what they are?
Any other info/tips people can provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm finding that the like/share DO still work without the app, but sometimes the share button doesn't work properly (I have a feeling this is something to do with the app).
Thanks
If you are just using the Social Plugins, you don't need to have a Facebook App ID.
If you want more integration, it will be required. Creating an App ID is like registering your App, wether an iOS or Android App or just a website, so that you can make Graph API calls for it.
The easiest way to register your website is to go the quickstart: https://developers.facebook.com/quickstarts/?platform=web (or https://developers.facebook.com/apps). There you can type a name and follow the steps.
You can then follow the "Sharing best practices" (https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/best-practices#tags) on how to use the App ID. For example, by including an fb:app_id meta tag on your pages.
There is a review process, since last April, but that is only needed if you use permissions for your App. If you just use the plugins, that is not needed.
Can you explain more what is exactly not working?
Update
The time you create a page the Facebook crawler does not know yet what the Opengraph data for that one is. This will happen after the first share, but if you want to ensure it is correct from the first share on, you can force a re-scrape.
This section explains how that works:
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/opengraph/using-objects#update
When an app triggers a scrape using an API endpoint This Graph API
endpoint is simply a call to:
POST /?id={object-instance-id or object-url}&scrape=true

Am I allowed to make an app that allows users to like Facebook pages?

I want to create an app that simply allows a user to log in, touch a like button, and then the app logs them out. I am wondering if this type of app would be allowed by Facebook, since the main functionality is all Facebook related. The app would be used by business to help them increase their Facebook page following. Is this allowed?
Yes, you are. Pratically every like button you see in blog posts and product pages in online stores works like that (except for the logout).

How to get app title/link directed over to a website?

You know the publishing apps on Facebook: "Published via ____".
I've see a few times where when you click on the app name, it goes directly to the provider's website? (For example, if I clicked on it, it would direct to www.mywebsite.com)
For the life of me, I can't figure out how they make that work. Can't find a setting in the developer app.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
This is just done via a facebook page or application. If you create the facebook application, and post content via the application, it will automatically show the "Published via ..." at the bottom.
What it does is redirect you to the application page (so FB can track the number of clicks) then it will auto redirect to the website url page specified in the application settings.
Here is a tutorial

Facebook Application - Like Button

I'd like to develop a Flash/Flex based application that I'll integrate withing my Page on Facebook.
I've seen on many applications that in order for a user too see more stuff on the application, user first of all has to click LIKE button on my page.
I've searched but couldn't find right thing I've been looking for, probably I don't know how to search for it correctly.
Maybe you could help me out to find right source for that.
I don't think Liking the app really matter.
What you might be looking for is authorization from the facebook users. For instance if your app need to post status update on the user's wall, you'll need to get authorisation from him/her first.
You should probably read this (rather generic) intro on facebook's developer website:
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/canvas/
This might be a helpful read too:
http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/116/
Finally, haven't done it in AS3 but apparently Adobe has an as3 version of the facebook sdk available:
http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/inspire/november2010/articles/article6/index.html
http://code.google.com/p/facebook-actionscript-api/
what you are reffering to is liking a page beofore being able to interact with an application that has been embedded into a page. A page tab app.
You need to parse the signed_request that facebook passes to your application and once you have parsed it you will be able to see if the user has liked your page or not.
Here is a link to some more information about singed_requests

Is it possible to enforce initial configuration of a page app?

I'm attempting to develop my first Facebook app that is designed to allow clients of our website to sell tickets to their events from their Facebook page as well as from our website. So when the administrator of a Facebook page adds our app as a page tab, I need to be able to find out who they are so I can load the relevant event data. There also needs to be additional include/exclude configurations and various other options, which will affect the behaviour of the app.
So my question is how is this situation best handled? When playing around with a basic sandboxed app, I seem to be able to just add the app directly to a page; there is no prompt for configuration, and I can't see any way of defining custom properties.
Is the 'edit_url' property the only way to achieve this? If so, is there a way of automatically directing the page admin to this link upon initial use?
Decoding the signed request recieved in your page will give you more insight.
From this you can retrieve page admins' UID's.
You'll need to manage the rest on your side...
In order to get the user id the user will have to grant your application basic permissions.
I'm currently doing a somewhat similar app and, just like Lix said, I used the signed_request variable to detect the page where the tab is installed. Then, based on the page's ID, I retrieve the proper content.
To also give your users an admin page, add a Page Tab Edit URL in your app configuration where you can redirect your users to a custom panel where they can edit their app.