Facebook Layout Changes Are Coming

I just received an e-mail from Facebook detailing the 2010 changes to the page layout. The most significant change will be in the form of a much smaller page canvas as the size is going from 760px wide to 520px.

From Facebook, “As part of a larger effort to improve user experience and promote consistency across the site, Facebook will be modifying Page and Profile layouts by simplifying how identity is managed and displayed.”

The other two interesting changes will be:

• Boxes will no longer appear on Pages or Profiles. This means that Pages will no longer include the Boxes tab, or the boxes that currently exist on the left-hand column of your Wall and Info tab, underneath your Page’s profile picture. You can move the content that currently exists in Boxes to a custom tab.
• Pages will no longer be able to implement iFrames on their Page. Custom/application tabs will be the exclusive integration point for applications on Facebook Pages and Profiles. All custom content will need to be in FBML on a seperate (sic), custom tab.

I’ve never been a fan of the Boxes tab because it is so non-descriptive. However, the loss of iFrames is considerable. They can be very useful in pulling additional content into pages. I am happy that you can still use them via application integration, but it adds an additional layer of complexity for small businesses to achieve content synchronization.

Facebook indicates the timing of these changes will occur near the end of February 2010. For developers you may want to check the platform road map frequently for similar updates and upcoming changes / releases.

Dennis Jenders

With nearly 15 years in the field, Dennis Jenders is a digital marketing strategist with significant experience in analytics, design, development, information architecture and market research. Dennis is a founding board member of the Milwaukee Interactive Marketing Association, currently works at Laughlin Constable and is an adjunct professor at Marquette University.

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