I'm writing a mobile app where I intend to allow facebook posts. Now, I'm a bit confused with what I want to do.
For authentication I need an actual app page.
Fan page has analytics and in general seems more friendly for users
So I'm debating what to do:
Just use an application page. That's what Zynga seems to be doing
Have both application page and fan page. This seems to be what some other apps (Doodle Jump) do, but I worry that it may confuse users / dilute presence by fragmenting user likes, as if you click on the link of a post ('posted by app'), you go to the application page.
The main goal of our page is communicating with users / create a sense of community.
Since choosing a custom name is a permanent decision, I would like to hear your thoughts on pro/cons of each approach.
I've gone down the route of using the appplication page as the 'fan' page, and not end up with 2 versions - because you are correct in saying you'll end up dilluting your presence. You don't want you app to produce great newsfeed stories only for them to link to a dead quiet page where as you might have a busy fan page else where.
Use an app page if you are prepared to accept its current limitations, such as:
You can't 'use' it as a page like fan pages. So you can't write comments etc using the pages identity.
Although intermitant, some autocomplete drop downs only show fan pages and not app pages. For example, if you had a app page for Acme Corp; and you wanted to update your personal profile to say you work there. When it asks 'where you work' the autocomplete searches only regular fan pages, and not the app pages.
That said, I believe these limitations will be solved eventually as Facebook align their pages. (They made it possible to merge place and fan pages for example).
Related
I've done some searching and can't seem to find an answer to this. I'd like to find out how many Facebook likes came from a specific app and not the overall fan page itself.
Set up:
I have a "fan page" for a company that I manage. This company runs promotions from time to time and usually do so through a FB app that is attached to the fan page. These apps vary in type, but usually are just a page tab app hosted on heroku with a like gate.
Obviously, a like on the like gate results in a like for the fan page. Is there any way to find out how many likes came from that specific like gate / page tab app? FB Insights shows "where likes came from" but nothing I've found lists individual apps.
Thanks in advance.
Even though from page_fans_by_like_source_unique you can get a lot of metrics, there isn't currently one to differentiate between tabs.
The approach I'm currently using, is tracking on my app side, saving the information into a database, because both like and unlike events refresh the app iframe, with a new signed_request. The logic is the one described by #dleavitt here
Sources: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/api/insights/#like_sources
I have registered an application for a website of mine. This is used for placing a like button, adding posts to visitors' streams, etc.
But this application does not show up anywhere and it does not seem that people can find and 'like' it.
So I created a page for this website/community.
Can I somehow connect these two, so that the existing 'likes', 'fans', etc. are moved to this new page? Or am I supposed to have and maintain both?
Your Website and a Facebook Page about your Website are two separate entities. Their Likes counts will be separated and there is no way to merge them.
A lot of people make the choice to only promote the Facebook Page about your Website as that allows them to share things with fans on facebook and to be visible to facebook visitors.
When making this choice, it's better to display on your website a like button targeting your facebook page instead of a like button targeting your website's url.
I don't think so and I searched it for I while cause I too wanted to connect these but did't find A way for this.
So its better to maintain them both simultaneously.
I have created a Facebook page for our business, and I created a Facebook App to get a AppID in order to use it in the Facebook plugins.
I've noticed that a Facebook App has a page which looks the same as a Facebook Page.
Which one should I use for promoting to the public? The App Page or normal Page?
You should be promoting your business page. That's what people will be searching for.
Essentially, all objects within the Facebook sphere are represented by a Page. Your app gets one of it's own which, if you were so inclined, would mean you could use it to promote your application. I would also recommend locking down your application's Page so the wall doesn't get filled with spam and other dubious and possibly malicious links. You can do this in the Page settings.
Promote the normal page(www.facebook.com/pages/yourpagename). The application page is where you would promote the application you built but it sounds like you just need a appid.
A significant difference between an app page vs a normal page: the app page does not show the number of people who 'like' it. It shows the number of MAU instead.
You have to promote the normal Page. In the normal page you can add a tab that link your application.
One other bit of information: If you create an ad in facebook which links to your page then it will have a like button and will show the current number of people which like your page when it is served to people.
If you have an app then it will not have the like button, but if people use your app then when an ad is served to someone that has a friend that used the app they will see a social context in the ad 'jonny B used(or played if a game) your [app/game name]' at the bottom of the ad.
When to use which? They look the same when I click on either from their directory other than being named differently.
Applications have pages to describe them, make fans (the act of liking the application) these pages are just profiles to the application.
Applications also can have canvas pages, these aren't actually facebook pages...these are the landing pages for your application hosted on your server. Mainly you'll be asked to install the application (game) before accessing it.
Applications can be added to pages and users.
A page is a simple thing that displays information about something.
An app is something that can be installed and is more complicated and can run code as per the Facebook API.
Applications are things like games and quizzes.
Pages are for the "fans" of businesses, musicians, actors, etc.
All the information about apps: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/canvas/
Facebook Page is a like an open group. It can to used to form a group for public figure or to form some open group like "StackOverflow lovers" etc, where you a creator acts as a admin, and there are discussion boards(to discuss an issue), events(to organize an event), notes(to create some document for page), photos (to create album).
And regarding Facebook App have two things Profile page and Application page, it is a Profile page of the Facebook App which looks similar to Facebook page which gives you information about the App. Well, if you want to go to Application page Click on "Go to App".
I'm writing an iPhone application. I've seen widgets you can place on your website that users can click on to become a fan of your page. However, looking through the API or documentation, I can't find a way that you can facilitate "becoming a fan" through an application. I've spent about a day and a half pouring through the Facebook API docs and the cloud.
Has anyone else had success with this?
For example, say I was writing an app that listed cars, and I wanted to become a fan of the Delorean from within my app -- is there a way to do this?
If there is no solution, the alternative way I can think of is using a webview and linking to a page with a fan widget.
Fan'ing via the API is currently not possible.
Most probably, the reason for this is it would be to hard to avoid developers tricking users into become fans.
The only way is the Fan Box plugin. It's possible to remove all elements via CSS to leave just the button.
Most Apps either use the button or simply link to the page.