Gorges Blog » Social Media

Fast Custom Facebook Tabs for your Business Page

Alex Michaluk — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:45:01 +0000

This year Facebook scrapped their markup language FBML and introduced iframe Tabs for pages. Although there has been a lot of grumbling from the Facebook community, this is good news for web developers, as it allows them to work outside of Facebook in any framework once they’ve done a little bit of setup.

Finding straightforward explanation of how to immediately dive in proved to be a bit painful – most of the tutorials I found seemed to be aimed towards clients or casual Facebook users rather than developers. I thought I would compile the information I found useful in quickly making custom tabs for Facebook pages.

First of all, even though they still use the term tab, what we are talking about are the links in the left column that fall under Wall. A standard first custom tab to add is a Welcome tab.

I originally tried using an existing app (Static HTML frame tabs) which worked fine, but had two major disadvantages. One was that you could not assign a custom icon, and the second that it could only be used to create one link. This could be handy for a quick and easy custom welcome page, but most likely a client is going to want more than one custom tab.

I won’t cover signing up as a developer, but basically it involves creating a Facebook account and being assigned as an admin to an existing business page, or creating your own. You will also need to be confirmed via a text to your mobile phone or by entering a credit card.

After you’ve done this, you can head on over to http://developers.facebook.com, and hit the Apps link, and then the + Create New App button:

Create a name for the app:

This will create an app with an app ID (which you will need later).

For now, you can just upload a 16×16 icon that you would like to appear to the left of the link on your page.

Now, click the On Facebook link in the left column.

Enter the Tab Name (This is the name of the link as it will appear on your page) and the Tab Url.

The Tab Url is a link to a file hosted somewhere else that will be placed in the iframe (more on constructing this later)

After saving, click View App Profile Page in the left column

Now you can click Add to My Page , and then select the page (for which you are already an admin) that you wish to add it to.

Now, if you navigate to the page you’ve added it to, you will see it as a tab in the left column:

Hit the Edit button below the tabs to rearrange the tabs, but note that Wall and Info will always come first.

To make this new tab the default landing page of your site, click Edit Info at the top of your page.

Now click Manage Permissions and then choose the Default Landing Tab from the dropdown. Note that fans and admins of the page will always be directed to the wall – this default landing page only applies to anonymous users or non-fans.

Finally, a note on creating your content for the iframe. I initially ran into some problems with scrollbars appearing both vertically and horizontally in the frame – the solution was to include two Facebook scripts and apply a little bit of css, all of which you can see in the basic template below. You’ll need to modify the height, add your content, and also include your app id in the bottom script.

That’s all you need to do.

Intern Creates Smart Phone App

Matt Clark — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:56:02 +0000

Patrick presents his iPhone and Android apps for the New Roots Charter School to the GORGES staff.

We recently hosted a student intern at the GORGES offices. Patrick Putnam is a student at the New Roots Charter School, and joined us for his Intensives Week program, supervised by his teacher Sarah Rubenstein-Gillis.

We recommended that he try to create a mobile phone app that could be used by students and staff at New Roots. Patrick came up with several features that would be useful to have on a mobile app, for example the school academic calendar, map directions, website links, and accessing an online system so students can check assignments.

After an intensive week (now we know why they call it that!), Patrick created working prototypes that run on both iPhone and Android devices. He based his solution on the GORGES mobile framework we have developed that is in turn built on top of a leading mobile development platform. The prototype has the calendar, map, and links features, and features Patrick’s photography in the splash image.

Every few weeks we host “GORGES University” where one of us shares some new knowledge or tidbits during a brown bag lunch meeting in our office lounge area. This week Patrick presented his project, followed by an equally-lively discussion about mobile technology.

We have enjoyed having Pat with us for his program, and GORGES will support his iPhone app store submission when the app is finalized.

Our hats are off to Patrick for his successful internship!

How to Use Social Media in Your Business and Get the Results You Want

Christopher Grant — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:09:18 +0000

Is your social networking strategy working for you?

Social Media is changing the way marketing is done. Customers, potential customers and competitors share information every day through different Social Media channels to create new business and cultivate relationships. Many businesses—from start-ups and entrepreneurs to well-established companies—are creating increased returns and finding new customer leads from social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

What do these businesses share in common? They use social media tools to generate the kind of exposure that converts relationships to prospects and prospects to sales.

This can be your success story, too.

Give us a call to find out how we can help!