Last Thursday, Facebook unveiled a major upgrade to fan pages. Users were -- and still are -- able to view their fan page(s) in preview mode, to understand the changes, before officially upgrading. Of course, sometime around March 11, Facebook will upgrade all pages automatically. I was initially a bit concerned about this upgrade as I control several fan pages, and let's face it, Facebook hasn't always been the most "user-friendly" social network. But I gave the upgrade a test run in preview mode and was pleasantly surprised. Here are some reasons I recommend upgrading your fan page(s) now:
- New, neater design: The left sidebar is now packed with relevant info such as all tabs (e.g. Wall, Info, Photos, etc.), a cleaner space showing the total number of "likes," and a more prominent area to display favorite pages ... Feature photos sit at the top of the page. In other words, there's space for five photos at the top of each fan page, just like the new profiles. This is extremely valuable space and should be used to showcase recent business photos. You can even create a panorama with the five available spaces ... In case you haven't noticed, pages closely resemble the recent profile upgrade.
- Notifications, yes, NOTIFICATIONS!: Admins can now receive notifications when fans comment or post. This is a major improvement!
- Like and comment on other pages as your page
A couple cons to be aware of:
- No new Static FBML: Facebook has decided to do away with Static FBML. This is very disappointing for admins that like to create custom tabs (and have mastered Static FBML) for landing pages. FBML tabs that were created before the upgrade shouldn't be affected, but you won't be able to build a landing page with Static FBML going forward. Do not fear, though. There are other options: Check out http://www.pagelever.com.
- The editable text area beneath the default photo is no longer available. I was kind of bummed to see this disappear because I once used that area to offer extra links to fans. Now fans have to click on the info tab in order to see my websites.
Here's a screenshot of the fan page upgrade (click to enlarge):
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| http://www.facebook.com/mindstirmedia |
Hi J J
ReplyDeleteYou might be interested in this:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=169836446397977&sk=app_4949752878
I set up my landing page as an Iframe app, and have got several people to add it to their pages. I guess you could do the same and get your authors to add the Mindstir media link to their pages?
I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
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