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Facebook Launches Profile Redesign Preview, Sandbox
May 23rd, 2008
The long-awaited Facebook profile redesign sandbox is now live! Starting today, developers are able to begin the process of modifying their applications to fit the updated Facebook profile integration points. Here’s how to get started:
- Check out the new version of your Facebook profile page in the sandbox.
- Developers who are ready to start testing need to download the new PHP client libraries.
- A test application, Mr. Smiley, is accessible here - click here to see the source code and learn how to work with all of the new profile integration points.
Facebook Pete Bratach says the following parts of the new profile are stable and ready for development:
- New Feed story sizes and types – including the template bundles
- Adding application tabs, and how application tabs function
- Publisher integration
- Setting up the new “main profile section” and adding those to profiles
- Application info sections
Facebook says it will be a few weeks before the redesign is launched to users. Developers can report bugs with the new profile to Facebook in the “New Profile” section in Bugzilla.
What do developers think of all the changes? Here are some recent reactions from the Developer Forums:
- First thing I noticed was that it didn’t work at all in IE6. Hopefully that will be addressed. - sweetsteve
- My initial impression is not a happy one. I feel like the layout has lost structure and even personality. - haiku2u
- I have a flash game ready for that tab, lets do this - breads
- is it just me or is there a pattern of squelching of apps on facebook in general? - hg++
- Looks like a pretty cool design to me. I like the expanded wall idea and getting rid of the ‘badges’ that no one cares about on people’s profiles. - andy
- Looks like the narrow profile is going to be smaller than it is now. Going to have to go and resize very single profile image in all my apps and reset every profile. - tomkincaid
- it seems to me that funwall / superwall will be completely killed. - textron
Clearly, the Facebook profile redesign is going to have a massive impact on applications. Which applications do you think will thrive in the new environment?
For more details on the new integration points and what they mean for developers, check out our interview with Josh Elman and Ruchi Sanghvi, the Product Managers in charge of the Facebook profile redesign.
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May 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
[...] Inside Facebook gathered some preliminary opinions from application developers on the new design. Although a few expressed some enthusiasm and appreciation for the redesign, a great deal more have expressed some nervousness. I’ve spoken with a few developers (note: I work for a company that is developing Facebook apps) and the overall feeling is that applications are going to be hurt by the redesign. With applications off the landing profile page, users will be less inclined to look at or use applications on their friends’ profiles. This makes it harder for small budget application developers to break through in an already shrinking Facebook application market space. [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Is the link to the new profile sandbox - http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php
broken for other people ?
May 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I think the thing that struck me the most was the lack of structure-no border or such. (But that could be my firefox, it can get glitchy sometimes). Overall, I wish they would add more of a border…it just feels to open. That and I hate the new wall.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
[...] everyone is now well aware, Facebook launched its sandbox last Friday for developers to start modifying their applications to fit the new Facebook profile [...]
July 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
[...] will be able to start exploring Facebook in the new layout starting the week of July 14. Unlike the developer sandbox, which has been restricted to only allow access to the new profile page, starting next week all [...]