Okey, so I have a business Facebook Page like many others. And I want to customize it like many others have. But Facebook (henceforth FB) documentation is really bad.
So I go and edit my page and there I find Facebook Static FBML application. So far, great, and I can even use standard HTML to edit it. And then there is also FBML which I can use to make more advanced customization, like show something for people who "Like" and something else for others. Pretty straightforward. But then i notice that Facebook is deprecating FBML and recommend me to use JavaScript SDK and Social Plugins.
So what does this mean for me? Can I customize my site this way or not?
The documentation for JavaScript SDK and Social Plugins is worthless and very general, how do these apply for my Page customization?
But Facebook Static FBML application it self is an application i guess. Will it work in the future?
What is the best way to customize my FB Page and add tabs and so on?
What should I do?
ANSWER (for lazy people):
While Facebook Static FBML application might be working in the near future, it seems like building applications yourself is the right way to go.
Build an application: http://www.facebook.com/developers/createapp.php
Also you do not need the FBML since you can do all that is needed with the graph-api.
Graph-API doc: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/api
Also, by using the iframe canvas when building apps this allows you to host your page tabs where ever you want allowing you do use any coding language you want.
Related
In FBML they have this fb:wallpost tag which I can use to display a wall post, but they said it's deprecated.
Is there any other alternative to display a facebook post with full features such as comment and like button ?
Indeed, the fb:wallpost FBML tag made the rendering of a wall-style post possible. The FBML purpose was to emulate the native Facebook rendering on your own app. Here is what they offer now:
You can use our JavaScript SDK and Social Plugins to embedded many of
the same social features which were available in FBML.
Many of the same, but not all of them. And particularly not an alternative to fb:wallpost.
Let's say that what they supply instead hasn't really the same purpose that had FBML. It's not about UI anymore. Now, it's not Facebook which is helping you to render the existing content, but it's you who helps Facebook to increase its traffic when your app brings social interactions. If we look at what they provide, we've got only interaction enhancers like: follow, like, comments, recommendations, login, registration.
We understand that they don't want us to make a dupe of their content, but they favor further social activities.
Their political consulting change and you have to do with it.
By the way, it's not worth to look for plugins or templates that you might find on the net (or even to make your own), because it's forbidden to reproduce one's design. Speaking about that: Before you go ahead and copy Facebook's look, be aware of any legal implications. Anyway, you can still find some nice ways to display the API's content.
I realize there is already a similar question, but there aren't any good answers.
I looked all around the facebook developer app, and there isn't an automated way to do this.
Please help!
If your app is an iframe app, fbml will NOT be parsed by facebook. So you can't use fbml in an iframe app. The only thing you can use in iframe apps is the XFMBL or serverfbml version which only supports a little subset of the fbml tags.
See here and here for more details on xfbml and which tags are supported (fb:tabs is NOT)
So I would rather use jquery UI tabs or something similar and customize it to have the facebook look'n'feel if I wanted tabs in my application :)
I think the problem might be that you cannot use the legacy FBML anymore for new apps. At least that is what I am told.
You might check this developer page and see if the rabbit hole opens up any more for you.
The Like Button seems like a very specific, and not very elegant in my opinion, solution to allowing users to post a web page to their Facebook profile. You have two options: 1) Use the iFrame solution, which allows very little flexibility in functionality, integration or appearance or 2) the XFBML solution which requires loading the entire Facebook javascript SDK just for one little "share this" button.
Is the Like Button the only way that is currently supported by Facebook to allow sharing of content to a user's Facebook profile? It seems to be the only method mentioned anywhere in the Facebook developer documentation, and I've had trouble finding any alternatives elsewhere on the internet.
There was a service called Facebook Share:
http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=<your url>&t=<your title>
I guess it's still working but I'm seeing people having troubles using it and Facebook is forcing developers to use the Like Plugin.
Now:
Most likely your visitors will have the Facebook JS Library cached on their browsers
Facebook uses CDNs and their servers are super fast
Even if it doesn't fit in your design, don't forget that users are used to it
You can create a Facebook Application and use the Graph API but it's way more complicated
Don't use their services!
Actually, Facebook share is the simplest and most natural solution to share content on your FB profile.
You may want to read this article.
As you probably already know (or read quote at the end of this post), Facebook is deprecating FBML in favor of iframes for developping applications.
I am currently launching a new browser plug in and need a landing tab on my facebook page with personalized install buttons and all the useful features one can wish to have on a fan page.
However, I cannot use an iframe in my page because Facebook forbids it (see SO related question here) and I am told not to use FBML because it is being deprecated.
Question is the following: What should I use then ?
(I did ask my question on the fbexchange website but got no answer so far (posted 3 days ago))
Quoted from http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/fbml/
We are in the process of deprecating
FBML. If you are building a new
application on Facebook.com, please
implement your application within an
iframe, using our JavaScript SDK and
Social Plugins. While there is still
functionality that we have not ported
over yet, we are no longer adding new
features to FBML.
Although Facebook are deprecating FBML they will continue to support it for applications that are currently built with it. What they mean by deprecation is that they will not allow any NEW applications to use FBML come 2011. You have two choices as far as I can see:
Facebook have confirmed that pages will have iFrames when FBML is deprecated. So you can wait for this change to happen and then use your iFrame.
Make your application with FBML NOW and it will be fine, however, obviously this is not a good long term solution.
If your launch is imminent then my advice would be to bite the bullet and create both the iFrame and FBML version and simply switch when iFrame's become activated for pages.
This should no loner be an issue -- iFrames are now supported on Page tabs:
http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/462/
Okay since I have little experience with this stuff and the Facebook documentation is very scattered, I figured I would ask StackOverflow.
I am making an iFrame Canvas Facebook application using FBJS and some PHP. I would like to make a Dialog box that displays a form for the user to enter some information to then be sent on to a database. I know how to program a good chunk of it but the main problem arises in just getting the dialog WITH the form up on the page. What would be the best way of doing so?
Thanks in advance!
I've been developing Facebook apps since almost the beginning, and yes, the current documentation is very scattered! First, you should be using FBJS in an iframe app. FBJS was designed for use in FBML apps (non-iframe based). The only place you have to use it is in a Page tab. Unless you mean the Facebook javascript API.
You didn't mention what dialog you were trying to create. Here is a link to Facebook's "dialogs". http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/dialogs/
But I don't think that is what you are looking for. If you are trying to post to someone's wall, then this is the link you want. Scroll down to the "Dialog" section. http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/javascript/
But if you are just trying to prompt for information and save it, you can use plain javascript and html. You can even use libs like jquery, prototype, etc.