Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Quick guide to Facebook Timeline for bands

Part 80

  I am sure by now you have come across the Facebook timeline. Weather you like it or not, you need to be aware that at the end of March all pages will change over to timeline. Now this will give you few weeks time to get the page sorted. You can try it out and when you do this, every one else will see your old page. This is actually good move on Facebook's part, it gives us time to make everything look the way you like, with in the limits of Facebook. Any landing page, through Reverbnation or other, will be no more in use. Every one who visits your page, will land on the timeline first. I had a chat back in January with a good friend of mine who works for Facebook. As most of us, I was complaining why do they have to change things. He made a good point by saying “look, every time there is some changes people give out about it, but a month down the line they don't even remember the old one”. I must say, he definitely hit the nail in the head when it comes to me :-D. So the change is coming weather we like this or not. So lets look what you can do.

  The first thing I would put some thought in to is the new cover photo. This is a larger photo at the top of your page. This picture should be 851x315 pixels. If you try any other size photo, it will give you grief, take my word on this one;-). But here is Facebook guidelines for the cover photo:

     “Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not     contain:
  • Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"
  • Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About section
  • References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
  • Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends"
  You still have the your Profile picture (180x180 pix), which over laps the bottom left corner of your cover photo, this is something to keep in mind while choosing the cover photo.

 Below the cover photo you have Tabs, that you can rearrange, except the photo tab, which is set by Facebook. On the right hand side there is an expand button. If you click this all your tabs will show up. On every individual tab there is a picture of pen on corner, if you click this, you can choose to replace the tab with other tab from the list.
To the left of the tabs and right under your Profile picture is space for a small description. Also here you can place a web link, if you wish to do so. Below this is a link to your About page that has all your band details, bio and contact info.


  Now below all this is the timeline, that can be bit confusing at first, but lets try to break it down. Left hand side we have the usual post form, where you can write your posts and post pictures. I think this part is clear enough. Below this we have your posts. The posts have few new options. On the right hand top corner you have a star and a the usual edit pencil. If you click the pencil, a drop down menu opens up and you get option to pin the post. This will bring the post to the top of the page for up to seven days. I think this is cool option. If you click the star, your post gets highlighted, which means it will become double the width of the other messages, but it will go below the sticky stuff on the right hand of your timeline. By sticky stuff I mean the friend activity and the Resent posts by others. The Friend activity will show your fans who else of their friends like you and if they have interacted with your page. And the resent posts by others is, well... resent posts by others on your page.


  Below all this the timeline divides everything in chronological timeline by past few months and rest of the year, hence the name Timeline, gripping stuff I tell ya;-)

  Anyway. This is the basic stuff to get you up and running. Once you have everything looking the way you like, you can make the page public and you are all sorted for the 31st of March. Just keep in mind, once you make it public there is no going back. If you want more detailed information, the web is full of aticles and blog posts on the subject. I would recommend you to read http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-timeline-pages-guide-2012-03
or http://www.slideshare.net/RootMusic/timeline-for-facebook-pages
And as usual, if you have any trouble or need help, just Email me at jpkallio@hotmail.com and I'll do my best to help you out.
J.P.








Glory to the World - Single - J.P. Kallio

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