Many of you have asked, “What will happen to our custom Facebook welcome pages and apps when the change to Timeline is made on March 30?
True to form, Facebook is doing away with what they call “canvas apps” or “tabs” as it did away with FBML when it introduced iframes. What does this mean for your business page? According to Facebook:
- Canvas apps and tabs (commonly known as default landing pages or welcome pages) will NOT be automatically transferred into Timeline apps
- Pages will no longer be able to use canvas apps as the default landing tab that users first see when they visit
- Timeline “covers” may not display calls to action or references to Facebook features such as “Like this Page”, purchase or pricing info such as “40% off” or “Download at our website”, or contact information such as web address.”
- Yes, you will need to have your canvas apps redesigned for the new Timeline format.
There is some good news about the change. You will still be able to add tab applications to Facebook pages, four of which can be displayed directly under your cover photo to showcase your best content, including contests and likes. (Well, the “Photos” tab is stationery, so you actually only have 3 editable tab positions). And, there’s a drop down menu on the fourth tab that allows you to edit what tabs people see. To rearrange them, click the drop down button on the far right tab. Anything available in the drop down menu can be pulled to the front.
The boxes used to promote apps are improved as well; instead of a few words on the left of your page, you can now create images up to 111px x 74px to promote your tab app.
Even better, there is now more real estate on tabs. Page tabs used to be 520px wide, and now have been updated to 810px.
So while there are no more custom landing pages with interactive content, there are many features that make Timeline a better experience for your users. And isn’t that the key?