Chapter 12. Customizing Facebook and Adding Applications
Facebook is a pretty polished-looking site, and it wants to stay that way. Unlike MySpace—where you can customize just about everything on your personal page—you can’t go hog wild changing the way Facebook looks. You can adjust only the layout of your Home page and profile ever so slightly. But you can do something much cooler than, say, changing the background color of your profile page: Facebook lets you add applications—tiny programs that run inside Facebook.
Second only to the friend-to-friend interactions Facebook tracks for you, applications are one of the main reasons for Facebook’s explosive popularity. Why? They’re fun! And they can be useful, too. Applications let you do everything from silly stuff (like “spray painting” on your friends’ Walls or sending your friends virtual potted plants that grow a little each day) to useful things (like creating a terrific-looking resumé from right inside Facebook). If you can imagine it, somebody’s probably created an application that lets you do it.
Facebook granted programmers free access to the Facebook platform (the code they need to write things for the site) in May of 2007, meaning that anybody with the programming chops and the desire could create an application. Since then, the number of applications has skyrocketed to over half a million, according to Facebook. Read on to learn how to find and install the best of the bunch.
Modifying Your Home Page and Profile
Facebook gives you a few modest ways to customize the layout of your Home page (Viewing Your Facebook Home Page) and profile. You can:
Display more menu options on the left side of your Home page. Simply click the More link at the bottom of the menu. (If you change your mind, click the Less link that appears at the bottom of the new, expanded menu.)
Tip
Facebook Applications: An Overview explains how to add applications to this list by bookmarking them.
Hide news of certain friends’ activities. Your cut-up friend from Biology class just threw another virtual pig at you (it’s the 369th, but who’s counting?) and your commitment-phobic ex is raving yet again about the diamond ring he just bought—for somebody else. Let’s face it: Some news is just plain annoying. To hide news related to a certain friend or Facebook application (Facebook Applications: An Overview): On your Home page, head to the right side of any story in your News Feed and click the Hide link. When you do, you’re given a chance to tell Facebook to quit displaying news about the friend or (if the news has to do with your friend using a Facebook application) to quit displaying news related to the application. Whether you click “Hide [friend’s name]” or “Hide [application name],” the news item disappears and Facebook stops displaying similar items.
Tip
Facebook remembers which stories you hide and fine-tunes your News Feed accordingly. If you really dig a certain story, click the Like link that appears at the bottom of the story to tell Facebook to display more of that kind of news.
If you have a change of heart and decide you want to see news about a certain person or application again, scroll to the bottom of your News Feed and click the Edit Options link. In the dialog box that appears, click the Add To News Feed button next to the people and applications you want to see again.
Create tabs on your profile. Your profile always displays the Wall, Info, Photos, and Boxes tabs. But you can add a tab or two to help you organize the stuff you do most of on Facebook, like keeping track of all the events you plan to attend or using a specific Facebook application. To add a tab, click the + tab and, from the pop-up list that appears, choose the tab you want to display on your profile.
Change the way Facebook displays some sections of your profile. Facebook lines the left side of your profile with a handful of sections such as Information, Friends, Photos, and Notes. Depending on the section, you can:
Change the way the section looks. To change which or how many friends appear in your Friends section, for example, click the pencil icon and choose from the pop-up menu that appears.
Change the order of the sections. Maybe you spend a lot of time tweaking your photo albums on Facebook and want your Photos section at the top of the left side of your profile where you can see it immediately when you display your profile. To reposition a section, mouse over the section’s heading (your cursor turns into a four-headed arrow when you’re in the right spot). Then just drag the section to where you want it.
Delete the section. To remove a section from your profile, click the pencil icon and choose Remove Box.
Facebook Applications: An Overview
Facebook applications are small programs that run inside Facebook. They’re similar to web browser plug-ins (like video players) in that they let you do a little something extra that you couldn’t do before you installed them.
If you’ve had a chance to put Facebook through its paces, you’re probably already familiar with the site’s built-in applications, which include Groups, Events, and Photos. But people who aren’t on the Facebook design team—folks known as “third-party developers”—have written about a bazillion others, such as iLike (which lets you add music clips to your profile) and Weekly Schedule (which lets you coordinate a graphic version of your schedule with your coworkers’ or friends').
Note
Because built-in Facebook features including Notes, Links, Photos, Videos, and Gifts are technically applications, you can customize them the same way you customize any other application (see Adding Applications). This is good to know if, for example, you accidentally delete your Photos section from your profile and want to get it back.
Most third-party Facebook applications are humorous time-wasters, like the ones that let you spray-paint graffiti on someone’s Wall or hurl virtual sheep at your friends in lieu of a sedate poke (Poking). But you may see more serious-minded, business-friendly applications now that Facebook’s enormous (and growing) membership is attracting high-dollar advertisers. Professional Profile, for example, lets you post and edit your resumé on Facebook, then track who views it. Workin’ It offers a list of job openings you can comb through and helps you get word of your job search out to all your Facebook friends.
Facebook applications are super easy to find, install, and use. The only downside to using them is that you automatically grant the application’s developers access to your profile, which poses a security risk. Flip to Applications and Privacy to learn more.
Tip
If you’re interested in creating a Facebook application of your own, check out http://developers.facebook.com for details on Facebook’s development platform. (You can also get to that site by scrolling to the bottom of any Facebook screen and clicking the Developers link.)
Finding Applications
To get a general overview of the kinds of applications that are out there, on the left side of your Home page, click the Applications link. Facebook displays the main Applications page, which lists your applications at the top followed by applications your friends have used recently, applications your friends have installed, and applications sorted by category. If an application’s name piques your interest, click it to find out more (if Facebook takes you to an "Allow Access?” screen, click the application’s name to go to its Page).
If you’re looking for a specific application or type of application, type a word or two into the Search box at the top of any Facebook page and then hit Enter. Then, on the left side of the search results page that appears, click the Applications link. Click an application’s name or its View Application link to learn more about it. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, click the Application Directory link at the top of your search results to go to a page where you can use the left-hand menu to narrow your search results by category.
Adding Applications
You have to install Facebook applications before you can use them, but installing them is a snap. After you find an application as explained in the previous section, click its name to head to its Page an then:
Click the “Go to Application” button. When the application appears, follow the instructions to start using it.
In the confirmation box that appears when you start using the application, click Allow. Doing so gives the application access to everything you-related in Facebook (including everything in your profile and the names of the folks you’ve friended), but if you want to use the application, you don’t have any choice.
If you want, add the application to your Home page. If you think you’ll be using the application frequently, this is a great way to keep it handy: Click the Account link at the top right of your screen, then click Application Settings. In the list that appears, find the application in question and click its Edit Settings link. (If you don’t see the application, choose different options from the Show menu near the top of the page until you spot it.) In the dialog box that pops up, click the word “Bookmark” and then turn on the “Bookmark [Application Name]” checkbox and then click Okay. Voilà—Facebook now includes a link to that application in the list that appears on the left side of your Home page (you may need to click the More link to see it).
Using Applications
The way you use an application and the things you can do with it depend on the application itself. There are also a variety of ways to open an application so you can use it. The most reliable route is to head to the top of your screen and click Account and then click Application Settings. On the screen that appears, click the name of the application you want to launch and Facebook whisks you to its main page. (If you don’t see the application you’re looking for, try selecting a different option from the Show drop-down menu near the top of the screen.)
There are also a few other possibilities: If you’ve bookmarked an application as explained in the previous section, you can click its name on the left side of your Home page to open it. When you add some applications, they add sections to the Boxes tab of your profile, so you can head there to open them. And if your friends use an application, you’ll see it listed in their status updates from time to time. Wherever you find an application’s link, as soon as you click it, Facebook displays the application, all ready to go.
Troubleshooting Applications
If an application doesn’t behave the way you expect it to, you’ve got a couple of options: delete it (see Deleting Applications) or check to see if it has a Help or Frequently Asked Questions page. If there’s no Help page, or if the FAQ doesn’t answer your question, you can contact the folks who created the application. Here’s how to check for a Help page and contact an application’s creator:
At the top of any Facebook screen, click Account and then Help Center. Alternatively, scroll to the bottom of any Facebook screen and click the Help Center link.
On the left-hand side of the Help Center, click “Games and Apps”.
In the “Applications by External Developers” list, click the name of the application you need help with.
On the Help page that appears, read through the suggestions.
Tip
If there isn’t a help page for the application, or if you read the help page and it doesn’t help, you’ve got one more option: At the top right of any Facebook screen, click Account and then click Help Center. In the “Facebook Applications and Features” section, click Application Support, then “Bugs and Known Problems”. The “Bugs and Known Problems” pages may give you some insight into the cause of your application woes; if not, head back to the application and see if you can track down a contact email address. (If the application’s problem is that it won’t display properly, try searching for its Page in the Facebook Search box, as described on Adding Applications.)
Controlling Where Applications Appear and Who Knows You’re Using Them
Facebook lets you decide whether or not to display an application on your profile. You might want to do so for a couple of reasons: To let your pals know you’ve installed it (good for spurring an impromptu hand of virtual poker, for example), or to keep track of your applications yourself. You can also tell Facebook whether or not you want the site to announce what you do with the application on your Wall and in your friends’ News Feeds.
To change where an application appears and who gets to know you’re using it:
At the top right of any Facebook page, click Account and then Application Settings.
On the Application Settings page that appears, find the name of the application you want and click the Edit Settings link to its right. If you don’t see the application, try selecting a different option from the Show drop-down menu near the top of the screen.
In the Edit Settings box that appears, tell Facebook where to display your application and who to tell about it. The options you see depend on the application, but most offer at least two options—Box and Tab—along with a Privacy setting. Tell Facebook to add a Box for the application, and it appears in the Boxes tab of your profile. Tell Facebook to add a Tab for it, and when you go to your profile you can click the + tab to create a special tab just for that application.
Note
Not all applications offer additional settings, but some do. If you see an Additional Permissions tab, click it. Doing so lets you control what the application can do with your profile info and what kinds of extra things—such as links and even other applications—the application can display on your profile.
Deleting Applications
If you decide you don’t like an application or just find it takes up too much real estate on the Boxes tab of your profile, you can delete it quickly and easily:
At the top right of any Facebook page, click Account and then Application Settings.
On the Application Settings page that appears, find the name of the application you want to delete and click the X that appears to the right of the application’s name.
In the confirmation box that appears, click Remove.
If you change your mind and want to use the application again, simply reinstall it (Adding Applications).
Tip
To hide an application without deleting it, edit your application settings. Adding Applications shows you how.
Applications and Privacy
Before you can install an application, you have to agree to give that application’s creators access to all—yes, all—the personal info you’ve typed into Facebook (that’s what the “Allow Access?” box is all about—see step 3 on Deciding What Applications Can Access (and What They Can Blab)). What’s more, Facebook isn’t responsible if these folks use your personal information for nefarious purposes, lose it, sell it, or write it across the sky in 200-foot-high letters. That’s a scary thought—especially if you’ve added your home address, credit card info, or other super-sensitive details to your Facebook account.
Chapter 13 discusses privacy in detail, and you really, really ought to read it. But the upshot is this: When deciding whether you want to share your info, think about how much sensitive stuff you’ve typed into Facebook, how bad off you’d be if it fell into the wrong hands, and how useful you find the application you want to install.