Major Upgrades for Facebook Fan Pages
Today, Facebook announced an Upgrade for Pages. For now, the upgrade is optional for fan pages, but it will be a requirement in the near future. Facebook also announced they are rolling out even more changes in the months to come, so check back and we will continue to update this blog article as we notice more changes.
ATTN: Fan Page Engine customers…
The width of pages is NOT going to change. Currently, fan page admins are noticing that some of their fan pages are being reduced to ~490px. This is a BUG and was not intended to change with today’s upgrade.
To upgrade, you’ll see a link at the top of your Fan Page:
On some fan pages, the Upgrade banner does not appear:
You can click here to Upgrade and/or take a Upgrade Tour all the fan pages you admin:
And now…Here’s a report of all the changes:
- Photos at the top: The most recent photos that you post to the Wall of a Page you admin, or photos you tag your Page in, will appear here. This area will not include any photos posted by people who like your Page.
- Use Facebook as your Page: You will be able to receive notifications for your Page, view a News Feed for your Page, and like and post on other Pages as your Page (see ‘Use FB as Page’ below).
- Wall filters: Pages now have two publicly visible Wall filters-”Posts by Page” and “Everyone.” Page admins will be able to view additional filters-”Most Recent” and “Hidden Posts.
- Email notifications: You can opt to receive notifications when people post or comment on your Page.
- Featured Pages and admins: You can feature other Pages your Page likes, or admins of your Page, in the new “Likes” and “Page Owners” sections on the left side of your Page (see “Featured Pages & Admins” below).
- Mutual connections: When people visit your Page, they will be able to view friends who also like your Page, as well as other Pages that both they and your Page like.
- Navigation: The content that you formerly accessed by clicking the tabs at the top of your Page can now be found in the column underneath your Page profile picture. The text in the box that used to appear in the box underneath your Page profile picture will now appear in the Info tab.
- Profile picture size: The profile picture size for Pages has been adjusted from 200×600 to 180×540.
Better Communication
Use FB as Page.
This new feature allows you to get notifications about activity on your page, see stories from pages you like in your newsfeed, and interact with other pages as your page.
Receive notifications when people interact with your page or posts.
Use the search bar to find other pages to like and comment on them as your page.
Keep up with the other pages you’ve liked through a newsfeed just for your page.
You can go back to use Facebook as yourself anytime — just click Account and select your name.
More Opportunity For Expression
Featured Pages
You can feature specific Page admins in the “Page Owners” section of your Page. To feature admins:
- Click the “Edit Page” button in the top-right corner of your Page.
- Select “Featured” from the left column menu.
- Click on the “Add Featured Page Owners” button, and select admins to feature.
Featured Admins
Your Page can “like” other Pages, and those will be shown on the left side of your Page. To feature Pages:
- Click the “Edit Page” button in the top-right corner of your Page.
- Select “Featured” from the left column menu.
- Click on the “Add Featured Pages” button.
- Click “Add Featured Likes.”
- Choose Pages you’d like to feature. Note: you need to be connected to Pages from your personal profile in order to feature them on the Page you admin.
- Click “Save.”
Featured likes will rotate on the left of your Page.
Improved Relevancy
FB announced some new features that make your Page even more engaging for users. The “Everyone” filter on the Wall provides a new way for people to see the most interesting posts first. FB also created a place for people to discover the friends and interests they have common with your Page.
Frequently Asked Questions:
NEW PAGE DESIGN
Q: Can I go back to the older version of my page?
A: No, once you have upgrade, you will not have the option to revert it.
Q: Where did my Page tabs go?
A: The content that you formerly accessed by clicking the tabs at the top of your Page can now be found in the column underneath your Page profile picture.
Q: What should I do after I upgrade my Page?
A: You may need to adjust the size of your Page profile picture.
A: If necessary, change the category of your page. You can learn more about changing your Page category here.
A: The text in the box that used to appear in the box underneath your Page profile picture will now appear in the Info tab. You can adjust this information by selecting the “Edit Info” link at the top of the Info tab.
A: You should ensure that your email notifications settings are correct. You can view and adjust these settings by selecting the “Edit Page” button in the top-right corner of your Page, and then navigating to the “Your Settings” tab.
Q: How do I control which Photos appear at the top of my page, and in what order they appear?
A: The five most recent photos that you have published or tagged your Page in are displayed randomly at the top of your Page. As a Page admin, you can prevent specific photos from appearing at the top of your Page. Remember: This row only contains photos you’ve posted or tagged your Page in; photos from people who like your Page won’t show up here.
Q: How do I prevent a photo from appearing at the top of my Page?
A: To prevent a photo from appearing at the top of your Page, move your cursor over the photo and click the “x” that appears. You will then be given the option to hide the photo. People will still be able to view the photo on the photos page, but it will no longer appear at the top of your Page.
Q: How do I unhide all the photos I’ve prevent from appearing at the top of my Page?
A: Select the “Edit Page” button from the top-right of your Page, and then select the “Profile Picture” tab. From there, you can select the “Unhide All” button that appears next to “Row of photos at top of profile.” There is no way to unhide individual photos at this time.
Q: How can I proactively moderate content posted on my Page?
A: You can add comma-separated keywords to the “Moderation Blacklist” in order to prevent them from appearing on your Page. You can add keywords to the blacklist from the “Manage Permissions” section, available after selecting “Edit Page”. When people include blacklisted keywords in a post and or a comment on your Page, the content will be automatically marked as spam. Wall posts will be moved to the Pages Spam filter, which is hidden from public view. Comments will appear in grey to admins, but will not appear to the public.
To unmark a Wall post as spam, click on the Spam filter to locate it, move your cursor over the post and click on the “X” that appears. You can then select the “Unmark as Spam” link. To unmark a comment as spam, locate the comment on your Page, move your cursor over the comment and click on the “X” that appears. You can then select the “Unmark as Spam” link.
Q: Why are some comments on my Page appearing in grey?
A: To help display only the most valuable content on your Page, automatic spam filters mark comments that have been detected as spam. These comments will appear in grey to admins, but will not appear to the public. Please keep in mind that comments that include keywords you have added to the “Moderation Blacklist” will also appear in grey. You can learn more about the “Moderation Blacklist” here.
To unmark a comment as spam, locate the comment on your Page, move your cursor over the comment and click on the “X” that appears. You can then select the “Unmark as Spam” link.
Visit the FB Help Center to Discover even more:
-Using FB as the Page you admin
-How to receive notifications as a Page admin
-How to change the category of your page
-Provide feedback (i.e. report bugs or submit feedback).
—
(sources: FB Help Center, FB Pages, Celebs on FB fan page)
Let us know if you notice any changes not listed above.
About The Author
Related posts
Hi there,
I came to this page on the request of a consultant. She mentioned that I should look for the "Developer" Fan Page Engine, but so far I've been unable to find this. Can you suggest what she was talking about?
Thanks
hi guys. Can you tell us *when* your site will be in compliance with the iframes? Will you be showing us how to use it without the fbml tabs, since those are gone now? Looking forward ! Thanks
I already own rights to the regular package and want to upgrade to the developer package before the price goes up. However, I want to be sure of what I am purchasing first. With FB throwing this whammy on us - and I am sure they are not done yet - does the purchase price include lifetime upgrades to the software - like this iframe business? I had planned on getting the developer license anyway, and I don't want FB throwing a monkey wrench into my plans for my new venture.
BTW - your iframes tabs look great. I just don't understand WHY FB is going to be heading in that direction. Looks like I am going to have to hit the books hard and learn that too! I like to learn the engine of what runs my sites, so
Andrea
If you are logged in as your fan page, you cannot view or add apps that do not already come with your fan page. It prompts you to switch back to yourself.
However you can still go to the app's profile page (if you know the url) and view the wall, photos etc, but you cannot then click on the 'go to app' button.
Try it with the app I've created above. The app's profile page is:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=182882261740702
Em
The new FAN page changes are definitely noticeable. I experienced it before coming here to see if anything was posted as I wanted to be sure there wouldn't be a negative impact to my FAN pages. Thank you for summarizing the changes, and I'm glad I came here to read your post. There are several issues that I've noticed with the new implementation by FB:
It seems that the default page is not being displayed as the default for FANs. I've checked the settings and the FBML page is set to be the default. However, the wall is being displayed to FANs instead of the FBML page.
For non-FANs, the reveal page is displaying (although being cropped on the right hand side as noted above as a bug). When the user clicks the "Like" button, then the wall is displayed instead of the default FBML page that is specified in the settings. So, like the paragraph above, the default FBML page isn't being displayed.
Another thing I've noticed is that for non-FANs, when they arrive at the FAN page, the reveal page is displayed. However, the user can actually click the wall link and bypass clicking the "LIKE" button. I thought the whole purpose of the reveal page was to hide the wall content until a user selected "LIKE"?
I just upgraded and my landing page that I set up with Fan Page Engine, page named (Hello), is too big now. As you mentioned this wasn't suppose to happen.
Other than that, thinks are okay, but I didn't get to look around very much. http://www.Facebook.com/JoinCoachFreddie
Coach Freddie
I switched one of my fan pages over, and I kind of like it. One of the best parts is being able to view a separate feed for the business side of things.
Also good to be able to visit the page as "you" instead of a page representative/admin - and post as you might normally- when there are multiple admins to a page.
Although the side link is gone, I don't think it's a huge deal- you can just link on your wall more frequently (and hopefully to new content!)
So far, so good.
Hey Audrey, it looks like FB was listening to all the requests from fan page admins, after all. Surprise, surprise.
I just read the facebook developer blog, they mentioned that the we will no longer be able to add the static fbml to our pages, can you address this issue? Thanks. "With our recent launch of Requests and the support for iframe on Pages Tabs, we are now ready to move forward with our previously announced plans to deprecate FBML and FBJS as a primary technology for building apps on Facebook. On March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to create new FBML apps and Pages will no longer be able to add the Static FBML app. While all existing apps on Pages using FBML or the Static FBML app will continue to work, we strongly recommend that these apps transition to iframes as soon as possible. Lastly, we want to be clear that our deprecation of FBML does not impact XFBML, such as the tags that support social plugins."
Yes as of 3.11.11 you will not be able to add a NEW FBML application to your page, however if you already have it installed by then you will see no change. It will continue to function just as it does now.
That being said, things are going to start moving over to iFrames which we have found to load much slower and be really glitchy thus far. We hope this improves in time for our launch of our 2nd version of the Engine which will support iFrames...
Hope this helps!
Hi David...
Do I understand that the fan page engine package will begin to create our pages as iframes?
Or will this be a new product?
If our package upgrades automatically, will there be any difference in the way we add the code to our fb fanpages?
Thanks for your help
Worse changes I've ever seen. The top two most important things you need to help promote your business are now gone:
1. Location
2. Business description
3. Web site address
Why would I ever pay for an ad now???? Bad move FaceBook!!
Hi there,
I came to this page on the request of a consultant. She mentioned that I should look for the "Developer" Fan Page Engine, but so far I've been unable to find this. Can you suggest what she was talking about?
Thanks
hi guys. Can you tell us *when* your site will be in compliance with the iframes? Will you be showing us how to use it without the fbml tabs, since those are gone now? Looking forward ! Thanks
I already own rights to the regular package and want to upgrade to the developer package before the price goes up. However, I want to be sure of what I am purchasing first. With FB throwing this whammy on us - and I am sure they are not done yet - does the purchase price include lifetime upgrades to the software - like this iframe business? I had planned on getting the developer license anyway, and I don't want FB throwing a monkey wrench into my plans for my new venture.
BTW - your iframes tabs look great. I just don't understand WHY FB is going to be heading in that direction. Looks like I am going to have to hit the books hard and learn that too! I like to learn the engine of what runs my sites, so
Andrea
So with FB no longer allowing the FBML application on new pages, that means no more page customization? It was the customization that made their ad platform worth while. So no more landing pages then for businesses looking to maximize their presence? This seems totally ridiculous!
No you will be able to customize them even more now Rick...only difference is it will have to be using iFrames instead. Visit our Facebook page at www.FB.com/FanPageEngine and look at the "Engine" tab and the "Free Training" tab. These are both custom iFrame tabs, and you can see how nice they look. Hope this helps.
It's change for the good.... generally I like what they are doing.
It's definitely turning it into a much more friendly marketing environment whilst still making it usable and friendly.
@Mark - you're right! Improved Relevancy, More opportunity for Expression, and Better Communication!
So now they are random on the top? No way to do the photo hack displaying the extended picture across the page (as on personal profiles?) is this for pages only (the random thing). Nice to see that as Facebook gives, they also take away (as usual).
@Getty - There are definitely positives and negatives with the recent upgrades. It'll take some getting used to, but so far so good.
@Getty - There are definitely positives and negatives with the recent upgrades. It'll take some getting used to, but so far so good.
What about the notice that FB is getting rid of our ability to make new FBML tabs?! Is FPE going to make it possible for us to make iframe tabs?... Please say yes!! lol
As long as you already have the FBML app installed on your page pre- March 11 it will continue to work just as it does now. We also have our version 2.0 launching where we will be introducing iFrames so you will have options...but either way you will be fine.
The iframes version will basically be the same. You will just connect to our site from Facebook...choose which page you want to customize, build it and hit publish and it will automatically publish to the page. No need to copy and paste anymore. Very easy!
As long as you already have the FBML app installed on your page pre- March 11 it will continue to work just as it does now. We also have our version 2.0 launching where we will be introducing iFrames so you will have options...but either way you will be fine.
The iframes version will basically be the same. You will just connect to our site from Facebook...choose which page you want to customize, build it and hit publish and it will automatically publish to the page. No need to copy and paste anymore. Very easy!
If you are logged in as your fan page, you cannot view or add apps that do not already come with your fan page. It prompts you to switch back to yourself.
However you can still go to the app's profile page (if you know the url) and view the wall, photos etc, but you cannot then click on the 'go to app' button.
Try it with the app I've created above. The app's profile page is:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=182882261740702
Em
The new FAN page changes are definitely noticeable. I experienced it before coming here to see if anything was posted as I wanted to be sure there wouldn't be a negative impact to my FAN pages. Thank you for summarizing the changes, and I'm glad I came here to read your post. There are several issues that I've noticed with the new implementation by FB:
It seems that the default page is not being displayed as the default for FANs. I've checked the settings and the FBML page is set to be the default. However, the wall is being displayed to FANs instead of the FBML page.
For non-FANs, the reveal page is displaying (although being cropped on the right hand side as noted above as a bug). When the user clicks the "Like" button, then the wall is displayed instead of the default FBML page that is specified in the settings. So, like the paragraph above, the default FBML page isn't being displayed.
Another thing I've noticed is that for non-FANs, when they arrive at the FAN page, the reveal page is displayed. However, the user can actually click the wall link and bypass clicking the "LIKE" button. I thought the whole purpose of the reveal page was to hide the wall content until a user selected "LIKE"?
Why are my posts not listed in "most recent" order. It is key for promoting my business to have interactions/posts in order. (What's new etc....)
How can I do this?
Thanks so much.
What about tab sizes? People are saying it's gone to 492 px now.
Hey RK, check out the second paragraph and image. The reduced pixel width was a bug, but it has been fixed.
Hey RK, check out the second paragraph and image. The reduced pixel width was a bug, but it has been fixed.
I just upgraded and my landing page that I set up with Fan Page Engine, page named (Hello), is too big now. As you mentioned this wasn't suppose to happen.
Other than that, thinks are okay, but I didn't get to look around very much. http://www.Facebook.com/JoinCoachFreddie
Coach Freddie
I switched one of my fan pages over, and I kind of like it. One of the best parts is being able to view a separate feed for the business side of things.
Also good to be able to visit the page as "you" instead of a page representative/admin - and post as you might normally- when there are multiple admins to a page.
Although the side link is gone, I don't think it's a huge deal- you can just link on your wall more frequently (and hopefully to new content!)
So far, so good.
Hey Audrey, it looks like FB was listening to all the requests from fan page admins, after all. Surprise, surprise.
I just read the facebook developer blog, they mentioned that the we will no longer be able to add the static fbml to our pages, can you address this issue? Thanks. "With our recent launch of Requests and the support for iframe on Pages Tabs, we are now ready to move forward with our previously announced plans to deprecate FBML and FBJS as a primary technology for building apps on Facebook. On March 11, 2011, you will no longer be able to create new FBML apps and Pages will no longer be able to add the Static FBML app. While all existing apps on Pages using FBML or the Static FBML app will continue to work, we strongly recommend that these apps transition to iframes as soon as possible. Lastly, we want to be clear that our deprecation of FBML does not impact XFBML, such as the tags that support social plugins."
Yes as of 3.11.11 you will not be able to add a NEW FBML application to your page, however if you already have it installed by then you will see no change. It will continue to function just as it does now.
That being said, things are going to start moving over to iFrames which we have found to load much slower and be really glitchy thus far. We hope this improves in time for our launch of our 2nd version of the Engine which will support iFrames...
Hope this helps!
You guys ROCK!!!
Thanks, Nick!
Hi David...
Do I understand that the fan page engine package will begin to create our pages as iframes?
Or will this be a new product?
If our package upgrades automatically, will there be any difference in the way we add the code to our fb fanpages?
Thanks for your help
Worse changes I've ever seen. The top two most important things you need to help promote your business are now gone:
1. Location
2. Business description
3. Web site address
Why would I ever pay for an ad now???? Bad move FaceBook!!
That is not true Dennis...those things still exist in your information section. You may have changed your business category somehow, but I assure you these things are still in place because I just set ours up again yesterday with some updated information.
@David....I do realize that these things still exist, but I want my landing page to be my wall because of the nature of our business and also want business description and web address easily accessible for the viewer. One click is always better than two or three to get you to the same place in navigation. I have checked out the FanPageEngine page and there is no way to get to your web site fromn the landing page, unless I completely missed it. Facebook is moving things around to get you to have to buy more ads for better exposure and to keep you on Facebook.
Dennis, you can always get to most pages websites by visiting the "info" tab. That is the main source for that type of info. We do not lead people away from Facebook on our page until we absolutely have to as we are offer Facebook driven products so this makes sense to us. If you want to lead people directly to your wall, that is great you just leave that as your default landing tab. But if you ever plan on running ads, this is not a good idea because people will land on your page (wall) and most likely have no idea what you are about...and in most cases not stick around to find out...
@David....I do realize that these things still exist, but I want my landing page to be my wall because of the nature of our business and also want business description and web address easily accessible for the viewer. One click is always better than two or three to get you to the same place in navigation. I have checked out the FanPageEngine page and there is no way to get to your web site fromn the landing page, unless I completely missed it. Facebook is moving things around to get you to have to buy more ads for better exposure and to keep you on Facebook.
I have to agree that the space right under your profile pic was prime real estate for a clickable link to your website and address/phone etc - right there, easily seen anytime anyone was on your page. This may be especially important for a local business that wants people calling/coming to their brick & morter location.
Without having to click back to your info page.
I also really don't like FB deciding which are the most interesting things to show on your wall - again - if you are announcing tonight's events, etc you should be the one who decides what is showing on your wall and in most places probably want it to be chronological.
Thanks for such detailed explanations - and the heads up on the page size issue.
You're welcome, Kathy. Feel free to ask any questions (here or on the fan page wall), report any findings we didn't post, and share this article with your friends. We're here to help everyone. ~Chance
You're welcome, Kathy. Feel free to ask any questions (here or on the fan page wall), report any findings we didn't post, and share this article with your friends. We're here to help everyone. ~Chance
Profile pic is 180 x 540
When creating your new profile picture image, make sure you reserve a 180x180 px box to display for your thumbnail.
[...] days ago, Facebook introduced Major Upgrades for Fan Pages. One of the major upgrades is a new layout for Fan Pages, and this layout is very different than [...]