Static FBML: Not Every Facebook Fan Page Needs An Application

Hi Chris – no, no required tags. In fact, if you try to include a head/body, Facebook will strip that out, since the page itself already has a head/body (the one Facebook sends with the page load.) Only thing I can think of is that maybe things are still a little wonky after yesterday’s DDoS attack on Facebook. Whaqt have you tried so far?

Hey Snipe,

First I’d like to say that you rock by helping us all out. I have been digging on the Internet for days trying to find a solution to my problem and so far, you are the only one that is offering advice that may actually work.

So here is what I’m trying to do. I have a fan page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colic-Care/104961885431, and I would like a small box on the left side of the wall that will allow people to invite friends to become fans of Colic Care. I want something like what JCPenney has on their fan page. All I have found so far, is code that is geared toward inviting people to applications. Everything I have tried from the Internet has led to blank boxes and tabs. I have removed Static FBML (from the fan page) and HTML Box (from my personal page) and would like to start from scratch. Could you possible walk me through how to do that? I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Mark

Hey, very useful post! I’m wondering if you could point me to some resources or know yourself if there’s a way to create a piece of a website inside a fbml tab in your fan page. So really just a window into the website where people could donate, join, put down their information, etc. anything you know of? Thanks!

Hi Snipe,

Thanks for the great post.

I have a doubt, I was planning to create an app to get our calendar/twitter updates to the same tab. I can create a PHP app for that, but i need to have 2 tabs with twitt/calendar updates.. How can i do that?

Thx in advance
Arun

Do I need to make a full-fledged application (vs. just use a static fbml tab) if I want this to happen:
When a user takes an action on my fan page, I want that action to post to their wall, so that their friends will see it in their news feeds.

Would making that happen require “a call to the API” and therefore needing an app?

Here’s why I want to do this:
I’m looking to do some PPC on Facebook. The only reason that I can see to take the user from the ad to my FB fan page (instead of my website) is so that -if- I succeed in getting the user to take the desired action, that I have the chance of it “going viral” via their friends seeing that action in their news feeds.

Would you be able to tell us how you handled the call to the http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/USERNAME.json since “Javascript src=”doesn’t work?

Great work, btw!

Hi KennyNegs – do you mean for the Twitter tab? That tab is actually an application, so I’m using PHP to grab the RSS feed for the Sunkist_Soda user, and than parsing it out for display.

Yep. that makes WAAAY more sense. Thanks a ton!

The more I learn, the less I’m sure that I need to be making an app.

I’m really only interested in creating a fan page that has a form for people to fill out. -IF- they do fill out that form, then I’d like for that action to be seen by their friends.

It’s more of an “awarenes cause” than it is an “app” perse. Meaning, I can’t imagine people using the app much more than one time. It will never be like “photos” where its multi-purpose and used daily.

Hi Snipe,

I have no programming background whatsoever. I want to add an FBML box to my profile. I’ve been looking at people’s feedback on how to do it but Im still lost, and way in over my head. Any way you could (or show me where) give me step by step directions on how to do it? I know its probably super simple, but it would really help!

Thanks

Snipe, I’m creating a business page for a very large company and have the basics. I’m a developer. I’ve been ALL around the world wide web trying to get a very simple basic question answered to no avail!! I see you have accomplished the feat I am trying to do.. Add the ‘Become a Fan’ button underneath the Sunkist name. HOW DID YOU DO THAT???? I can get the code, but have no idea how or where to paste this code to have it appear there on my FB business account.

Teresa – The become a fan text is there by default, unless you have already fanned the page. Try removing yourself from fans, and reloading. It appears on its own.

I have the same question as Mark on 8/7. Has it been answered?

I want to create a box that will allow me to invite people (who aren’t necessarily my friends) to become fans of my page if I have their e-mails.

Hello,

I am trying to create a preview of the wall on the boxes page which is where i want non fans to land. My first thought was to put a Fanbox widget into a fbml box, but facebook seems to strip out he javascript, so my next option seems to be to strip out the java script myself and use fbml…but i am not familiar enough with fbml to a)make that work or b) know if it is even possible.

My page http://www.facebook.com/bmoreconnected definitely includes this preview feature in my ideal world, but i don’t know if it is possible? Is it, and if not using a fanbox then how?

Hi Andy – To my knowledge, this just isn’t possible – also, it’s not really necessary, since the “Become a fan” link that Facebook includes is all the way at the top of the page, impossible to miss. I find with Facebook, a lot of what I’d like to do isn’t possible, so it requires a different approach. You might try a graphic that suggests people fan the page, or reminds them to, but to my knowledge, there is no way to put a “become a fan” workin functional widget in an FBML box.

Hey Snipe,

Mark here again, from the Aug 7th request/post. If you search JCPenney on Facebook and look on their wall, they do exactly that. On the left side of the wall is an image that allows users to select their friends and invite to become a fan. This was the functionality that I was hoping you could help me with. I’d like to do the same thing that they do. I guess that Wes from the Aug 15th post was looking for the same thing. Any help on how to duplicate what JCPenney did would be great.

Thanks again,

Mark

Mark – please give me a link to the fan page – when I search on JC Penny, I get nothing relevant.

Hey Snipe,

Here ya go:

http://www.facebook.com/jcpenney#/jcpenney?v=wall&viewas=0

Thanks,

Mark

@Andy Ellis
The code for a “fanbox widget” is for use on websites OTHER THAN facebook. It is for getting people already at your site to also become your facebook fan page fans. So yes – you are correct – the fbml box is stripping out the javascript. You can do the JS equivalent by learning fbjs – there’s no shortcut here – you’re just going to have to learn it.

@Mark & @Wes
If you want it to show up on your wall tab, then it will have to be added to the wall as a box. To add as a box, it must be an application. So you are going to have to learn how to create an application. In your case, a simple fbml box will not be enough.

Its not the become a fan functionality that i am trying to acheive, what i want is the ability for people who land on boxes to see the topic of the daily discussion on the wall…I speant some time working on it and have a solution i am going to try to implement tonight that simply uses an rss feed…it requires more day to day tasks on my part but it solves he problem while i am learning a more automated approach…thanks for the help!

Andy – As I said, I don’t think you can do this through a static FBML box, since the code needs to access the API in order to get a list of your friends, to populate the box. JC Penney is using an app for their widget box.

This information will definitely change my life. I can’t wait to put it into use.

Thank you for sharing. Also, your Facebook Sunkist page is an absolute gem!
.-= Robyn´s last blog ..One more Ottawa anecdote =-.

I was pretty stoked to read this post – it was right in line with what I’ve been telling folks the last few weeks after finding out how to use the Static FBML app. Stoked and a little smug until I read the last line and realized that “any jackhole who knows basic HTML can handle themselves”. Oh well, I guess I’m a Jackhole with some cool custom content for my FB page.

Just busting your balls a little Snipe – great write up and dead on in terms of how the FB really shines with some basic old school HTML. I think that many of the current current platforms are the same – who would have thought I’d need to sharpen up my low rez image vectoring skills to make a Twitter background? HTML for FB. LinkedIn is even more basic and limiting. Take care – ben

Hi,

I am a newbie and non-programmer (like Anna on the 14th, who didn’t get answered). I’ve gotten to the point where i have an FBML Tab on my page, but that’s it. When I click on the tab I don’t get any place to type any code, just a blank white area that doesn’t accept any keystrokes (the space underneath does look for a second or two like something is going to happen, but nothing does). The only thing I can do is to click on the pencil to the right of FBML and be allowed to “delete” the FBML Tab, which I’ve accidentally done several times.

Is this what Facebook developers bug#6377 is – and is it still unresolved?

Thanks in advance

- Tom