Deeper Application Engagement on Facebook Pages

We wanted to give you some details on what the changes to Facebook Pages announced today means to you and how your applications can benefit from them.

The user profile design we launched last year fueled applications that provide rich, engaging experiences. As the new Pages design moves closer to user profiles, you will have similar application integration points to drive user engagement and distribution while helping businesses build their presence on Facebook. Available today are profile boxes and application tabs that fit within the new tab structure on Pages (which includes Wall, Info and Boxes tabs). Here are some of the most important highlights on how these components work on Pages:

• Profile boxes: Profile boxes that fit in today's wide (380 pixels) and narrow (200 pixels) columns on a Page will continue to work with the new Page design; these boxes will appear on the Boxes tab. Page owners can choose narrow column boxes that are up to 250 pixels in height for the Wall and Info tabs.
• Custom application tabs: Applications can now offer a rich experience through full-width tabs. Moreover, as Page owners can link directly to an application tab, we expect new opportunities for you to design tabs suitable as engaging marketing campaign destinations.
• Boxes tab: Like we did with user profiles, application profile boxes will get migrated to the Boxes tab on a Page. Page owners can select which tabs fans and non-fans initially see when they visit the Page. The default option for non-fans is the Boxes tab since many Page owners have invested time and effort to customize the applications that best represent them (the default tab for fans is the Wall tab).

What’s Next?

In the coming weeks, you will see more ways to gain distribution as you help businesses share content. We will enable applications to integrate into the Publisher on Pages and to use Feed forms to publish stories. Meanwhile, applications on Pages should continue to use feed.publishTemplatizedAction to publish stories to a Page's Wall and into the News Feed of their fans' friends.

To learn more about how to make sure your application works for Pages, read the release notes for the new Facebook Pages design. Also starting today, Page owners can begin interacting with the new design and deciding how to transition their Pages. Similarly, you can test your application by visiting any Page for which you are an admin. In about one week's time, we will migrate all Pages to the new profile design.

We'll keep you updated as the new integration points come online. Keep an eye on this blog and the Platform Status Feed. If you have any feedback, visit our Developer Forum.