Pure Protential Musings: 111006 - Installing three Facebook content tabs, step-by-step

Here is Part 3 of putting up a Facebook page, content tab install and content, step-by-step

Woe, oh woe, is me; I just put up a business page in Facebook. It may be easy for some, but it was an effort to me.

Part 1 was the easiest part. You just use the Facebook tools to create a business page. Part 2 was selecting content tabs. This is Part 3 of the account for the trials and tribulations of generating a Facebook business page. The discussion here is about installing special "tabs" and installing content in them for a business page in Facebook. While this section is highlighting business pages, much of the apps discussed will apply to any personal page too.

Additional edit: Here is a summary of the stories in this thread:

As described in the previous article, I had selected three content tab managers for the content I wanted to install. The reasons behind that selection are covered in Part 2 of this series. All but one of the solutions discussed here, require you to edit as the admin from a personal account. I will discuss that more later.

app link word of social

Word of Social app
The first tab to enter content I want to discuss is Word of Social. This is by far the easiest to use of the tab app products I tried for a person that does not coding. You do not have to go to the third party site to do your edits and updates. It includes an html editor, and allows you to edit the code. The editor leaves some to be desired, but it is pretty simple and does not confuse a less technical user with options they probably do not understand. It allows you to create a landing page for both the fan and non-fan. It loads pretty fast and is very popular. The app owners show a positive effort to maintain and assist their users.

Actual url of app I used to install app

I found it hard to find the correct app and its link from the Facebook app search. It appears to me that there are a lot of scams going on. Scammers often take a good name, and try to pretend they are that group. They trick the user into installing their app instead of the real one, then taking advantage of everyone. For that reason I included the current app link in this article. I covered some of the pitfalls of installing an app in part 2 of this series, so I will not repeat it again in this segment.

Non-fan welcome page option that appears

The word of social page offers to install the app when you first arrive in the app landing page on your first visit. If you install it, it is also operates as a "like" and the content will change to a support information content. This demonstrates how a person could properly use the non-fan and fan page very well.

app add tab options on left side

If you do not see this, or do not want to use it, you can use the add app on the left navigation tab area.

When you install, by the non-fan link or the "add to my page" link, it will check to make sure you are a Facebook user, and if you are not logged in, require that you log in so it can install it. It will then requie you accept the risk of installing an app and the fact it will need access to your data to function, and make you agree to any terms of service issues (TOS).

Next it will then ask you to select which business, product, community, or other type specialty page you administer that you want it to install the app. You can also share, get updates, contact the developer, and so on from these navigation tabs.

edit info appears under your page name

Now you need to return to the business page with your personal page option selected. You are now the admin for the app installed on your page. Go to the business page and click the edit info tab immediately under the name of your business page name. The snapshot to the left is what my edit info tab looks like.

Once you select this, you will be presented with a series of options tabs. When it first appears manage permissions will be highlighted. Click on apps to be tab to be presented with the apps loaded for this business page.

You will probably have to scroll near the end of the list of apps to find the appropriate app that you are going to work with. Facebook installs a number of apps that they think most people like and use by default. You will need to get display the ones you installed. The three I installed are shown in the screen shot below.

The list you see will undoubtedly be different. Perhaps because you have yet to install these, or perhaps due to different choices in app programs you want to use.

Click "use this tab." Answer any questions involved including security. Then click "edit settings." Change the tab name to what you want to display to inform your visitor what content will appear when they click the tab link.

Return to the page by clicking view page on the top right. If it does not appear, then click on your admin name at the top right. This will return to your personal page. You will then need to navigate back to the business page again. Some apps have a limit display option in the setup. Since this is a business page, you will probably want to select to display the page to everyone in the privacy selection.

When you are back on your business page, you will see a new tab for the app. Select that tab. You will then see the content for that tab with a box "edit page" hovering over the content. At this point, you probably do not have any content, so it will probably only have a white, blank background behind it.

Click edit page, and you will see the content entry page and its options. A non fan tab content is for people that have not subscribed in some way to your business page. They are people who have "liked" your business page yet.

The fan content is for your visitor that has subscribed. You can enter the same data, or have it be different. You saw an example of the different fan and non-fan operation when you installed the app.

Using only an image is a simple process. You just make an image and save it in jpg, gif, or png format no larger than 520 pixels in width. You can have a fan and a not a fan image, or a fan image and html or iframe content, or whatever. The combination you chose is up to you. You just change the content accordingly. The iframe gives more control over the content. However, it is more complicated and, as such, is not covered in this discussion.

The previous image is with html code visible and available for editing option. The app remembers your last settings and returns you to them. The last time I entered before taking this snapshot I was editing the html code, so it brought me back to that when I came back. You can tell because you can see html code displayed.

The app information "jumps around" the screen when you change between editor and source, and other options. This makes editing a little harder. If you are editing in html, it tries to help you, and it may get you in some trouble. It can make it hard to get the error out. It did it to me several times. When you have entered both your fan and non-fan page content, just click the save option at the bottom of the edit text box. You will return to the content behind the edit box option shown previous.

Next, you may want to make this tab your landing page for visitors. The landing page is the greeter for your business. It says hello to the established visitor differently than someone who has not said they want to come to the site. They must "like" the site to become a fan. You do this by selecting "edit info," and then manage permissions.

You can make some choices here. You can see the ones I made. I called my landing page website and have a medium profanity limit. At the time of this writing, I have yet to block anyone for bad comments, but I could add or remove them here. You specify the type of viewer allowed here as well.

At this point, your specialty tab should be fully operational. I suggest you have others come and visit the business page and see what they think.

Do not announce it yet, you have more to do.

url for tabfusion tabmaker

The Tab Fusion page
Now that you have seen the word of social, we will examine the next content tab option I selected. The link for tabmaker is shown on the right and you can just click it to go to that page. Tabmaker and its companion website option are free for up to ten different tabs as of the date of this writing.

Tab fusion is a process with two major steps. You need to generate the html code for both the fan and non-fan, and then select and install a tab related to that content. If you develop your code in a third party site or program, you need to process it on their website to make sure the code complies with how tabfusion uses the code.

url to application link

The html editor in tabmaker is more robust than word of social. You can see that by the number of options provided in the images provided. When you click an option, you get a very professional set of actions for that option. Again, you can edit both raw source or use the editor, nut the option is not two buttons here. It is either light blue or dark blue. If you see html code, you are in the code edit option. You may need to use a text editor to save the code for later use. Otherwise, you may find you have to generate it again. Some less technical users may get put off by the options because they do not know what to select. You can ignore most of the options. It will reduce the useful capacity of the content, but it will not hurt it.

When you have your code, in the tab fusion website, select the applications link. After that you select the website option. At the time of writing it was on the right side of the web page, just below the table title.

You will be presented with a tab series as shown on the left. When you first enter you will need to install to the selected page. You can install the app to any business page, or all of them. You select an icon. Select the website type, if needed. Then select the pages you want to apply the results of your selections. Don't forget to name the page tab to something you want the visitor to see and use as the tab link.

Next click pages. Two windows are given for the fan and non-fan code. If they are to be the same, just copy paste the same result from one to the other. You will probably need to use a text editor to save the html code for each option, and then copy and paste into this page for saving the content. Once you save it, you can visit your business page and see the result.

In tabfusion, you can do this for up to ten tab link and content options for each page. You just slect the icon indicated and insert the code requested.

FBML
The third app option I had selected was a simple Facebook Markup Language (FBML) tab app. It is very similar to the previous discusses except that it does not have a html editor, and expects you to do the edits through your own means. I used Dreamweaver and the copied the code into it for mine. The nice thing about this is that the edit is simple and overhead is low. No checking is done. It just tries to do it. If you break it, it is your problem. A professional would love it because it requires no real effort in a specialized editor that you have to learn. It also does not limit you in that you can edit the page as the admin, or in the the page selection display "use as Facebook page."More about that in Part 4.

Arrange the tabs and links
Now you can arrange the tabs and links so they are ordered more to your liking. On the left side under the tab links, click edit. Use the mouse to move a particular tab link to where you want it on the left. Do it again for the other links. Facebook will not let you put a special link above the info link. Once you like what you see, click the link done under the links and it will turn back into a edit link. The link locations are set until you decide to change it again.

It is still not time to announce it
There is still work to do before you announce your page. So I do not advise you to advertise or announce it until you go through Part 4.

In Part 4, I will discuss the announcing and linking options, and problems you may run into. I will also go through some of the step-by-step of some types of activities..

Additional edit: Here is a summary of the stories in this thread:

Sam Martin
Website: http://www.purepotential.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PurePotentialMusings

Pure Protential Musings

Saturday, October 8, 2011

111006 - Installing three Facebook content tabs, step-by-step - Part 3

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