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How to Track (Manage) Your Pending Friend Requests on Facebook

Posted by Wong Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Tracking, Web Application | Posted on 30-11-2011

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If you’re on Facebook then you are well aware of this problem. Remember how we used to be able to check pending friend requests in our friends list as indicated below?

old facebook friends list

Not anymore with the new personal profile.

If you think there may be a hidden feature for this then sorry to disappoint you again. Here’s how Facebook responded about tracking pending friend requests:

cannot view facebook pending friend requests

Unable to check pending friend requests is a huge disadvantage for Facebook users, especially if you are warned for overusing the feature (sent too many requests in a short period of time), reducing the request quantity may be the way to go. Currently the only known way to track pending friend requests is by visiting the person’s profile with a ‘Friend Request Sent’ icon at the upper right corner:

facebook friend request sent

Imagine we have to memorize ALL friend requests we ever sent then return to each profile, EVERYTIME? Obviously this isn’t effective enough. Now wouldn’t it be great if there’s a list for that… that’s right, a LIST!

Recently, I was inspired by how useful a Facebook list can get, including tracking our liked pages in News Feed. So I thought why not utilize Facebook lists to track our pending friend requests as well? Of course there may be plugins or apps for the same purpose but if you are skeptical towards third party apps, Facebook Lists is a much safer method to use. Here’s how:


Step 1: Build Your ‘Pending Friend Requests’ List


1. After logged in your personal profile, go to this link: https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists

2. Click ‘Create a List’ and name it ‘Pending Friend Requests’.

create a custom list for pending friend requests

3. You won’t need to add anybody to the list yet but whenever you sent a friend request, be sure to add him/her to your ‘Pending Friend Requests’ list.

add new friend to pending friend requests list

4. From Home -> ‘Pending Friend Requests’, you can see profiles that had been added to your list. In order to follow up the list regularly, add it to your ‘Favorites’.

add pending friend requests list to favorites


Step 2: Manage Your ‘Pending Friend Requests’ List


Unlike any Facebook applications, you need to update this list manually whenever a friend request is accepted. You can easily aware who just accepted your friend requests via Facebook Notifications or email alerts. After that, remove your new friend from the ‘Pending Friend Requests’ list.

Now, what if you missed the notifications and forgot all about the list after sometimes? Fear not, there are ways you can modify the list after several accepted friend requests.

Bear in mind, the news feed of your custom list will be consisting of updates from both your new (accepted) friends and non-friends (their public stories). Therefore you need to make sure the correct profile been removed from your ‘pending friend requests’ list, but how do you determine that?


Method #1 – Update ‘Pending Friend Requests’ List in News Feed

a. Open your ‘Pending Friend Requests’ list and scroll through your news feed. Hover over the profile to reveal his connection with you: If he/she had accepted your friend request, the ‘Friend’ button will appear. Remove everyone who established the ‘Friend’ connection with you, leaving the actual pending requests remained.

remove new friend from facebook pending friend requests list


Method #2 – Check if Someone Had Accepted Your Friend Request

Instead of visiting the person’s facebook profile, you can check this within your custom list:

a. In your ‘Pending Friend Requests’ list -> ‘See All’ (upper right corner) to load the popup menu.

see all your facebook pending friend requests

b. From ‘On This List’ you can have an overview of the people you sent friend requests to on Facebook. The unanswered/unaccepted friend requests will not appear in your ‘Friends’ list. For example, if Ron had yet to accept my friend request, his name won’t appear in my ‘Friends’ list. That’s how you know if a particular friend request is still pending or accepted.

check if someone accepted your friend request on facebook via custom list

These methods can only assist you this far in monitoring current and future sent requests but not previous ones. If anybody knows how to track back old (unlisted) friend requests, be sure to drop me a message!


Now Is Your Turn…

How do you manage pending friend requests before this? Do you think it’s necessary to have a checklist for it on Facebook? Kindly share your thoughts.

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How to Add Pages You Like in Your (Updated) Facebook News Feed?

Posted by Wong Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, How To, Social Media Tool, Social Networking | Posted on 27-09-2011

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[UPDATED 14/03/2012 for adding Pages to Interest Lists within the post]

history of facebook news feed

Recently a lot of Facebook users are asking the same question:

“I can no longer view page updates in my newsfeed. How do I add pages I like into my Newsfeed? ”

Technically, the page updates are still there in your news feed, just not as easily spotted comparing to before. We all know Facebook has their very own algorithm in deciding which updates to appear in our news feed based on our recent activities and how popular is the post/page according to our interests. Even so, we still might miss out a whole lot more information from the pages we love even Facebook thinks they had it all sorted out for us.

facebook decides what we read in news feed

 

5 Simple Steps to Organize Your Pages News Feed in Facebook


Facebook agrees that ‘Lists’ is the optional way to organize what you wish to see in your news feed. Therefore, why not utilize it now to monitor on pages you really care about? Here is how you can make that happen.

1. In your ‘Home’ section, refer to your sidebar and locate ‘Lists’ -> ‘More’. Or, go to your custom lists here.

lists at your facebook home sidebar

 

2.  At the upper section of ‘Lists’, look for ‘Create a List’ button to bring up a pop-up menu. Name your list and click ‘Create List’.

create and name your facebook list

 

3.  Now you can start adding Pages (instead of ‘Friends’) to your list: look for ‘Manage List’ at your upper right corner. In the dropdown menu, select ‘Add/Remove Friends’.

add pages you like into the list

 

4.  Another pop up box will appear and at its upper left corner, select ‘Pages’ in the dropdown menu –  all pages you liked are displayed in alphabetical order. Start selecting the pages to be included in your list.

select Pages to display pages you like

 

Tips: It is overwhelming to go through the entire list if you have over thousands of pages. Therefore, use (partial or full) keywords to find the pages you might be interested. When you’re satisfied with your choices, click ‘Done’.

use search box to input keywords to find pages

 

5.  Now you can manage your list by deciding the type of updates you wish to see in your Page news feed.

types of updates for your facebook page list

Voila! Here is your very own customized News Feed for Pages:

news feed from facebook pages you like


[UPDATED 14/03/2012]

Facebook launched the new Interests Lists and no longer let users add Pages to their private facebook lists (now known as ‘Friends lists’). Therefore, after liking a Page, you should create a new Interest List for it (or add it to your existing Interest List) as shown in the screenshot below:

interest lists

Then go to this link to access all your created Interest Lists and Subscriptions.

[END of UPDATE]


Extra Tips 1: Create several lists instead of One-List-For-All


[UPDATED 14/03/2012 'merge lists' option is no longer available]

I would recommend you to create several lists for Pages You Like instead of just one that covers ALL. It would be difficult to see ALL page updates even in real time mode. Besides, you can merge the lists into one whenever you feel like it. However, the process is irreversible and the chosen list will be deleted after the merge.

merge multiple facebook page lists

Don’t worry if you do not have all the pages you want in one-go. Customize your list as time progresses, follow up on your current news feed to locate the missed-out pages and add them to your list anytime.


Extra Tips 2: Add your Facebook Page Lists to Your Favorites


All those important lists should go to a more visible area, say, your ‘Favorites’? Click at the pencil icon next to your Page list -> Add to Favorites:

add your page list to favorites

Add as many lists as you prefer. When you’re done, you can rearrange them according to your preference (drag and drop):

sort your page lists in favorites


Time Consuming if over Hundreds of Pages?


This is the pitfall of ALL list-making, but even if you have 5000 friends, I believe you would go through the entire list just to make sure your status update is going to the right group of people, right? This could be a great opportunity to better-arrange the pages you like instead of getting them all piled up for nothing. While a better alternative is on the way, this is the least we can do to organize the information we NEED, not depending solely on Facebook algorithm.

Oh, and while we’re at it, can Social @ Blogging Tracker Page be included in your privileged list too?


Now Is Your Turn…


Do you like the new changes to our Facebook news feed (excluding Top Stories and Most Recent options)? Would you prefer to have a better control over what information to read on? Do you have a better method in following up on the Pages you like? Kindly share your thoughts in the comment.

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7 Free iFrame Applications to Create Welcome Tab (Custom Tabs) for Your Facebook Page

Posted by Wong Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Web Application | Posted on 17-08-2011

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[UPDATED 05/01/2012]Note: You don’t have to worry if FBML tags are not working in some of these iframe apps because starting from 1st, Jan 2012, FBML will no longer be supported as described by Facebook here.


Recently I received emails asking about facebook iFrame applications. Most readers enjoyed the guide on how to create an iFrame tab from scratch but some are requesting for a simpler route with ready-made iFrame apps that could save time and effort, even without owning a web page!

I realized there’s a need to update my previous post about adding a Welcome tab (or custom tab) to a facebook page. Therefore, I would like to share some of my after-use experiences with these handy iFrame applications. Kindly take note these opinions are strictly my own and have nothing to do with app sponsorship whatsoever.

7 Free iFrame Apps to Create Welcome/Custom Tabs for Facebook Pages


iFrame Applications with No Banner/Footer Ad:


1. Static HTML: iframe tabs


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: Yes

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: Available

Static HTML iframe tabs layout

Static HTML is suitable for those who are sensitive with footer or banner ads. You can copy and paste your HTML code, CSS or JavaScript to the empty fields as shown. It enables scrollbars and FBML options which you can tweak for both fans and non-fans content.

In My Opinion…

The editor section is pretty straight forward. To preview your iframe tab just click ‘Save and View tab’. However there is one minor issue when I tried to insert FBML code for ‘Fans-only content’ box with ‘Enable FBML’ turned on: somehow my Facebook Share icon would not show. Unsure if it’s a bug issue on my part but in case you faced the same problem, try inserting the codes below manually in ‘Enter your content here’ box without having to ‘enable FBML’:

<div>
<fb:visible-to-connection>
Put Your Fans-Only Content Here
<fb:else>
<div id=”non-fans”>Put Your Non-Fans Content Here</div>
</fb:else>
</fb:visible-to-connection>
</div>


iFrame Applications with Banner/Footer Ad (may be eliminated with minor fee):


2. TabPress

[UPDATED: 01/04/2012] This app is no longer available.

Requirement of Coding Knowledge: Yes

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: Available

Tabpress iframe tab

Tabpress is similar to Static HTML in terms of copying and pasting the codes in the content boxes. Comparing to static HTML, Tabpress offers a more user-friendly preview bar that you may tweak between Non-Fan and Fan Content.

tabpress preview for fan and non-fan content

In My Opinion…

Tabpress kinda solved my bug issue with Static HTML as it allows FBML tags to show up effectively. Hurray to that!


3. Wildfire’s iFrames for Pages


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: Yes

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: Available

wildfire’s iFrames for facebook pages settings

Wildfire iFrame application is convenient to use but best of all, page admin can upload image files straight from its editor. This differs from Tabpress and Static HTML as both apps require user to pre-upload the images (if have) to a self-hosting or photo-hosting site, for example, a coding below is needed if you are to showcase a Welcome image:

<img src=”http://www.yourphotohostingsite.com/imagename.jpg”>

By using Wildfire iFrames, you may eliminate this coding procedure.

In My Opinion…

Unfortunately, FBML tags are not supported in Wildfire app. Wildfire’s iFrames for Pages is currently FREE but in future they might start charging. So if you’re a fan of the app, better install it now.


4. Hosted iFrame


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: Yes

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: Available

hosted iframe provides Google Analytics, non-fan and fan only content

What I love about Hosted iFrame is that it lets you add up till 5 iframe tabs to your facebook page (can be found at bottom page ‘Install Additional Tabs’). It gives you both Source and Visual preview of your content. Hosted iFrame allows Google Analytics so you may trace your page traffic. Also, it provides a special ‘Main Content’ editor box that you can create content for EVERYONE, besides the Fans-Only and Non-Fans content.

hosted iframe displays main content to everyone

In My Opinion…

The ‘Main Content’ editor is a catchy feature. For now, Hosted iFrame is free for up to 25,000 fans but do watch out as once your page exceeded 25,000 fans, your tab will show a blank screen until you purchase their paid plans. Do take note that the total fan count is determined as a total of all your managed pages that are using Hosted iFrame, so it is important to monitor your tab consistently.


For Non-Coders: Allowing Subtabs

5. Iwipa


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: No (with Media boxes)

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: Yes

Iwipa has subtabs for fans only content

I introduced Iwipa previously in 5 Ways to Create Welcome Tab (Custom & Sub-tabs) for Facebook Page http://www.wchingya.com/2010/11/welcome-sub-tabs-facebook-page.html. Iwipa provides advanced editing that benefits both coders (Source view) and non-coders (Visual). You can customize your content easily with the editor, from bolding texts to adding bullet points, pictures, video or links. Most of all, it adds sub-tabs and multiple media boxes to your iframe tab as shown below:

iwipage provides media boxes for easy drag and drop layout

In My Opinion…

Facebook users may get a little frustrated learning their way through Iwipa’s control panels, but once you had mastered it, you may enjoy some fascinating features. For example, you can customize a special note to your fans with catchy title or even a welcome video. (Paid version provides more customization and even embedding your Google Analytics code)

Note: Iwipa has a special media box that can showcase your page fans but that’s optional. If you would like to keep your fan list private, make sure this media box is not activated.


6. TabSite


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: No (Drag N Build)

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: No

Tabsite Drag N Build with media widgets

Same as Iwipa, Tabsite had also upgraded to iFrame compliant. Its ‘Drag N Build’ feature had been recently added so special media widgets such as Google Map and email form integration (MailChimp, Constant Contact and Delivra) can be added to your custom iframe tab.

In My Opinion…

You will have to customize everything in Tabsite’s own main site (login required). Tabsite gives you two free main tabs: Welcome and Drag N Build (each with subtabs). Therefore, remember to ‘Save & Publish’ every time you made corrections to your tab content. Paid account offers more widgets but it all depends on your facebook page requirement.


For Non-Coders: Easy Custom Tab with Ready Template

7. Pagemodo Pagebuilder


Requirement of Coding Knowledge: No

Fans-Only and Non-Fans Content: for Paid Account only

pagemodo pagebuilder image uploading template

Pagemodo is not affected at all by the FBML to iFrames transition as it provides drag and drop template for page admin. You can enjoy quite a number of free, sophisticated templates with easy image-uploading and text insertion.

In My Opinion…

Pagemodo is great to give fans a professional-feel of your page without having to worry much about image arrangement. Great for facebook page beginners to explore before advancing to more professional iframe tab customizations.


Bonus Tip ~


Some of these iFrame applications are using ‘Welcome’ as their tab name. You can re-name these tabs easily if you are to create a different custom tab. Just go to Edit Page -> Apps -> look for the iFrame application and click ‘Edit Settings’ -> Custom Tab Name -> change ‘Welcome’ to any custom name and ‘Save’.

change Welcome tab to any custom tab name


Now Is Your Turn…


Bottom line, there is never a ‘best’ application but only the one that suits your facebook page the most. Make sure to test the iFrame applications yourself and understand their privacy options before using. Do you happen to know any other useful Facebook iFrame applications? Do share in the comments below.


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The Scary Side Of Social Media: 6 Ways It Could Ruin Your Business

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogger Tips, Blogging Attitudes, Guest Posts, Social Media Tool, Social Networking | Posted on 04-07-2011

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This is a guest post by David Murton, a professional writer and webmaster.

scary side of social media

Image by: Lee

Social media sites can be a great asset to any company, helping them to connect with customers and build relationships with new clients. They are also great for introducing new products and posting advertisements such as slide shows and commercials. However, social media can also be damaging to a business that doesn’t handle their accounts properly or accidentally posts personal information to a public account. Safety is also a concern because social media accounts are vulnerable to hacking. Here are six ways that a social media blunder could ruin your business.

1. Hackers

Hackers don’t usually wear Halloween costumes (although some of them do), but they can be scarier to a business than any ghoulish trick-or-treater. Hackers can use programs to gain access to a company’s social media account and post information that is damaging to the company’s reputation, or use personal or financial data to commit further crimes. It’s a good practice to never login to a business Facebook or Twitter account using a public WiFi connection, because this unsecured connection makes it much easier for hackers to compromise your company’s information. It’s also important to use quality passwords and to log out of any session when using a public computer.

2. Mixing Business and Personal

Most people who handle the Facebook or Twitter accounts for their companies also have personal accounts. It is essential to make sure that business and personal accounts are kept separate, and that only business appropriate comments are made on the business’ account. It’s a good idea to only log in to the business account while at work and only your personal account at home. This will help you to keep the accounts separate and avoid accidentally posting embarrassing personal posts to a very public account. The messages spread quickly, even if they are promptly deleted. Another reason to avoid mixing personal and business social media accounts is time management. Many people who are in charge of their company’s social media accounts allow themselves ten minutes per work hour to make sure that their page hasn’t been hacked and their customers receive a timely response to any questions or comments they post.

3. Ignoring Comments

Twitter has been in use by the public for five years, and at least 106 million Twitter accounts have been created by users from all around the world. Many people follow businesses on social media websites because they want to be able to interact with owners or employees of that business. It is very discouraging to customers when they post comments or ask questions and receive no response, which in turn could lead them away from your page. Businesspeople who are in charge of social media should check each site at least once per day to make sure that there are no questions or comments that are going unanswered. Providing contact information to the customer is a great way to handle questions that you’d rather not respond to publicly.

4. Plagiarism

There is so much information on the Internet that it’s very possible for a business owner to unknowingly post copied content. Some narrow topics should be avoided because the lack of available information makes plagiarism more likely. Several online plagiarism detectors such as Copyscape are available to business owners who want to make sure that they don’t post content that has been plagiarized. Online plagiarism is a crime and it also makes the company look unethical, even if they are unaware that the content is copied.

5. Posting Too Often

Several companies have been ridiculed on Twitter because they repeatedly tweeted sales information using their company’s slogan. While it’s important not to ignore customer comments, it is equally important not to post sales advertisements several times a day. Most users get tired of seeing ads everyday and will stop reading information posted by companies who don’t post interesting or useful information. eMarketer, an advertising research company, estimates that about 88.2 million Americans will redeem at least one coupon code or coupon they found online. Targeting these online shoppers is important, but posting multiple ads per day may deter them from buying products or services from your company.

6. Think Twice, Or Three Times, Before Posting

Thousands of people read online posts at all hours of the day or night. Even if an erroneous posting is deleted quickly, it is likely that some people will have read it and may even have copied what was posted. Posts should be carefully proofread to ensure that they are error free. It’s a good idea to read the post aloud or ask someone else to read it before it is sent into cyberspace. Spell check is a good tool, but it doesn’t catch words that are used incorrectly or punctuation errors. Companies look foolish and unprofessional if their posts are incorrect or misleading, and they may lose potential customers because of a posting error. Customers love to point out any mistakes that companies have made, and, if the mistake is particularly embarrassing, they might re-post it on their own Facebook wall.

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How to Create and Add Custom iFrame Tab to Facebook Page

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, How To, Social Media Tool, Social Networking | Posted on 28-03-2011

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[UPDATED 25/12/2011] If you want to Insert your external Web Page as one of your Page tabs, now this can be done easily with ready–made custom iframe apps. This will also solve the Secure Hosting requirement for your custom apps to display properly in ‘secure browsing’ on Facebook.

Below method is ONLY useful for those who wish to create iframe application for other Facebook users to add to their Facebook Pages:

It has been almost two weeks since the official launch of iframe app, replacing the good old static FBML tabs on our facebook pages. For those who aren’t sure what is an iframe, basically it is a standard HTML tag to enable a HTML document to be inserted into another HTML page. The benefit of iframes over FBML is that it accepts a wide range of web coding (Javascript, CSS etc) that used to be non-compatible in static FBML to create dynamic content for our custom tabs. Best of all, you can even import your custom made web page to be included in your fan page! Imagine how convenient that would be for your promotional effort!

Since no more NEW static fbml applications can be added to our managed pages, it’s important to know exactly how to work from creating the app to adding it to your facebook page successfully. I will try to be as thorough as I manage:

How to Create and Add Custom iFrame Tab to Facebook Page


Firstly, you need to prepare a html page to be inserted into your facebook page. You may use Dreamweaver for the job and upload the html file to your web server so to be pulled into your fan page later. Or, we can do this the easy way with less complication via a wordpress plugin named Facebook Tab Manager. What I love about this tab editor is that it saves time and keeps the custom tab size limit of 520px wide so no resizing is needed afterward.

Add Facebook Tab Manager to your WordPress Blog


1.  Login to your blog and add Facebook Tab Manager to your plugins.

2.  Activate it and look for ‘Facebook Tabs’ at your sidebar -> click ‘Add New’. Notice that to create the iframe tab content is as easy as how you normally write a new post.

create iframe content with facebook tab manager

3.  When done, hit ‘publish’. New instructions will appear at the bottom of the post on configurations to register your content on facebook:

configuration for facebook integration tab


Customize Facebook Tab with iframe App


4.  Go to Facebook Developer and start setting up your new iframe app.

create iframe app for your facebook page at developer page

[UPDATED Image: 25/12/2011]

create new app on facebook developers

[END]

Note:

Some of you who are creating your facebook application for the first time, verification process may be required. If you had already verified your facebook account before this, you can bypass this step. Otherwise, you need to go ahead and select to verify your account with mobile phone or credit card. Or, if you are not comfortable with this step, add an admin who is already done the verification to work on the new iframe application.

5.  The ‘About’ section consists of some necessary fields besides filling in your app name. Add image to your icon and logo so it’s recognizable.

basic information for your iframe app

[UPDATED Image 25/12/2011]

Edit your app icon: Settings -> Basic -> Edit icon:

edit icon for your iframe app

[END]

Tips: Why icon/logo image is important?

‘Icon’ image will show up next to your app name when added as a new tab to your facebook page. ‘Logo’ image will appear in app directory, for example:  you can have a look at your ‘Edit Page -> App after you added it to your page :

app logo for your iframe app

6.  At ‘Facebook Integration’ section is where all the hard work landed. Here are some important fields that required to be filled correctly:

In Canvas Section:

  • Canvas Page – the base URL of your application on facebook.
  • Canvas URL – this is the URL where facebook pulls in your iframe content.
  • Secure Canvas URL – the secure version of Canvas URL with ‘https’. Basically the same info you entered in your ‘Canvas URL’.

Complicated? No worries. Refer back to step #3 above and locate the ‘Facebook Integration Tab’ in your blog and copy/paste the links given to you, for example:

Canvas URL and Tab URL given by your facebook tab manager plugin

[UPDATED Image/Instructions 25/12/2011]

Go to Settings -> Basic -> Select how your app integrates with Facebook -> Save Changes:

select how your app integrates with facebook

To create and associate a new (community) page with your app, go to Settings ->Advanced ->Contact Info ->App Page (Create Facebook Page) (optional) :

create community page for your iframe app

[END]

Below is the example of how Canvas section is filled:

canvas info for iframe app in Facebook Integration section

*Caution*:

If you are unable to see the iframe app after installed to your page (regardless if you’re in ‘http’ or ‘https’), leave the ‘Secure Canvas URL’ field BLANK. Your iframe tab should be able to work in ‘http’ (non-secured browsing) and in order to view that, you need to go to Account -> Account Settings -> Account Security -> UNCHECK Secure Browsing. This is believed to be caused by a known issue on how our custom app is not visible when viewed in secured browser (https) as described in this bug report.

The bug occurred in February and was said to be fixed in mid March, however it seems that the bug is back again recently and affecting some of my pages. Will follow up on this issue and if you know how to fix this, do share.

In Page Tabs Section:

The important parts are ‘Tab URL’ and ‘Secure Tab URL’. Both links are referring to the html file location including its file name -> Save Changes:

Information for Page Tabs

*Caution*:

Again, if your app tab is not viewable, leave the ‘Secure Canvas URL’ field BLANK until the bug issue for secured browsing (‘https’) is fixed.

So now, your new iframe app is created!


Add Your iFrame App to your Facebook Page


[UPDATED 25/12/2011]

Refer to the documentation on how you can add a page tab dialog, or the one near to the end of this post. Clearly there is no longer a view app profile page link available in Developers apps section. No idea why though. [END]

7.  Now go back to your ‘My Apps’ page and select ‘Application Profile Page’.

application profile page for your iframe app

8.  Then as how you normally add application to your page, click ‘Add to My Page’ -> then Add to the page you want:

add iframe app to your selected facebook page

9.  See that a new tab is added at your page sidebar. Rearrange the tab [#2(c)] to a preferred location or set it as your landing tab.

iframe tab successfully installed to page

*Caution*:

For some web developers who intends to import their external web pages to facebook pages, be sure to check if your page consists of any disallowed ad providers. Thanks to Kim for providing this info so not to violate facebook Terms of Use (refer to the part about ’9. Special Provisions Applicable to Developers/Operators of Applications and Websites’).

10.  You can rename your custom tab by going to Edit Page -> App -> your app name -> Custom Tab Name -> after edit, click Save:

customize your iframe tab name

 

So whenever you wish to create a new custom tab, you need to go through all the steps again to get it done. Time consuming isn’t it?

To make things easier, if I could I will try to find other alternatives or ready-apps so even facebook beginners could enjoy as much privilege without having to go through the lengthy steps. Be sure to follow close and don’t miss upcoming posts!

Updated Post to check out:
7 Free iFrame Applications to Create Welcome Tab (Custom Tabs) for Your Facebook Page.

Now Is Your Turn…


How is your experience with iframe app so far? Has it been more useful for your page or not? Do you have any special tips to add? Feel free to do so in the comments.

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How to Manage Photos On Top of Your New Profile & Facebook Pages

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Web Application | Posted on 28-02-2011

14

I’m really grateful to Are for he had posted a great question here. I haven’t actually wrote a detailed post about photo arrangements for either New Profile or the upgraded facebook page.

how to arrange tagged photos on new facebook profile

This week would be a great opportunity to go more in depth with both platforms! Truth is, we do need all the visibility we can get in facebook these days. Not to mention the ability to control which photos to show or hide from public eye.

Section #1 : How to Manage Your Photos in New Profile


It’s always important to check your privacy settings before applying any changes to your personal profile. For your new profile, all the photos appearing on top of your wall are photos been tagged by you or your friends. Make sure you are clear of the privacy setting that controls who can view your tagged photos at #2 of this post.

Now, let’s proceed with our photos arrangement in a new profile:

Creating a Profile Banner

In a profile banner, photo sequence is everything! There are many ways you can create a banner, some suggested to use app like Profile Banner but personally I prefer self-customization. I simply created a banner with the size of 485px x 68px and divided them into 5 photo strips. More about the photo size at Section #2 later, but once you got your photos ready:

1. First of all, upload your photos to your selected or newly created photo album in new profile:

upload photos to facebook album


2. When the photos are uploaded, you may choose to whether ‘Publish Now‘ or ‘Skip‘ it for later. I would go for ‘Skip’ as the news feed about your tagged photos will be updated anyway when we apply the tagging later.

request publish after uploading photos


3. Now in your album, identify your photo sequence and rearrange them if need to.

identify and rearrange the photo sequence


4. Before applying the photo tagging, do take note that the last photo you tagged will always show up at the farthest left on top of your profile. So if your photos are telling a story or been arranged to form a banner, make sure they are displayed so photo #1 is the first to be tagged, followed by #2, #3, #4 and #5 as shown below:

arrangement for tagged photos


5. To tag a photo is easy, simply go to your album and tag your photos in proper sequence. Select the photo -> Tag this Photo ->Type or Choose your own name in the box -> click ‘Tag’ -> Done Tagging:

tag the photo with your profile name


Solution: Unwanted Photos due to photo tagging by friends

Your profile banner can be easily disrupted once your friend had tagged you in another photo. Since there is no way to prevent people from tagging you, you can manage the unwanted tagged photos by:


i) Hiding tagged photo by ‘x’ (mouseover)

hide tagged photo

ii) Remove and untag photo from Wall

remove tagged photos from friends


Section #2 : How to Manage Your Photos in (Upgraded) New Facebook Page


In the most recent post about enhancing your upgraded facebook page (some new tips were added at ‘Extra Tips‘ section in that post, do check them out!), the #1 advice is to make use of the photo row to attract fans attention effectively. Unlike personal profile, these photos are not only tagged photos of your facebook page but also:

  • Your most recent uploaded photos
  • Randomly arranged

Obviously a page banner is not possible for now since we cannot control the photo sequence. Even so, there are some easy, exciting ways you can use the spot for publicity. See how my friend, Nancy is smart on making sure her business messages are sent through via the photos on her page:

make use of photos on top of upgraded facebook page

From what I see, this is by far the best way to present the photos until other methods come around. Without further ado, let’s see how we can learn from Nancy in controlling our photos on top of our fan pages:

1. Create and optimize your photo size to approximately: 97px (height) ×68px (width). (Photo sequence is not an issue here.)

2. Use photo editor such as Pixlr or Photoshop, even your very own Paint (Windows 7 version) to create the photos (more image editing app suggestions refer to section (b) of this post). Make sure the photos are striking enough to capture attention, better with a call to action like ‘Click Here’.

3. When you’re done designing your photos, upload them to your facebook page. Notice you can see them on top of your facebook page as soon as they are uploaded:

example of striking photo to attract clicks

4. When your fan clicks at the photo, it will appear as a slideshow. Add image caption or URL that explains your promotion in details:

add caption and URL under the photo

5. If you had added other photos after this, you can still grab the first spot on the left via tagging. Go to your album and select the photo you want to place #1 -> click ‘Tag this Photo’ ->Type or select your page name in the drop down menu -> click ‘Done Tagging’ :

tag the photo with your facebook page name

6. Look! The tagged photo will appear just where you wanted it to be (so far only works on #1 photo from the left):

tagged photo is back on top of the page

You can add as many photos you like to your facebook page and apply tagging whenever necessary. Of course, you can always ‘hide’ other photos you uploaded so only the default ones are showing on top of your facebook page. Most importantly, use your creativity and make sure each click-through is worth it for your fans.

Now Is Your Turn…


Have you discovered any smart ways to control photo arrangement on both your new profile and facebook page? What other ways you can suggest so page admin can make full use of their photos? Be sure to share your brilliant ideas in the comment below.

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7+ Major Tips in Enhancing Your Upgraded Facebook Page

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking | Posted on 14-02-2011

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Three days ago, facebook announced an exciting news about Page Upgrade! Some of the most desired features are finally included such as page notification, ability to comment as the page profile and many more! I can’t wait to share with you what I love about the new facebook page:

 

#1  Latest Photos Arrangement to Grab Attention

 

recently added and tagged photos of your facebook page

Clearly, the new profile launch was preparing us for this evolutionary change for facebook pages. Now your page is also featuring 5 photos on top of your page, displaying the most recent photos or the ones you’ve tagged your own page in. Fans photos are excluded here.

tag your own facebook page in photos

Notice that the photos are randomly arranged after each click-through. It is difficult to maintain the photo sequence to create a large banner as how we normally do in new profile. However, since the removal of the ‘information’ box and latest status update on top of the facebook page, admin will need all the visibility he/she can get to grab fans’ attention. You should work out a method on how these photos can better assist in promoting your business without having to worry about photo sequence. This is something I intend to look further into.

 
Updated & Recommended to Read: How to Manage Photos On Top of Your New Profile & Facebook Pages
 

#2  Extra Length in Naming and Tab Descriptions

 

A lot of people see the new tab arrangement at the sidebar as a bad thing due to less visibility and click-through rates comparing to older design. After exploring them, I found there are hidden blessings within. Here are a few important tips about tab control:

a) Default Landing Tab STAYS
This could be the biggest concern of all, but good for facebook, this option stays for good.

default landing tab stays in upgraded pages

b) Extra Spaces in Naming your Customized Tabs
Remember how we used to complain not having enough space in naming our tabs? Now you can have at least two rows of eye-catching description for your customized tab! That’s a welcoming improvement in tab visibility at the left column.

description for customized facebook tabs

c) Edit and Hide Excessive Tabs
Unlike Merged pages, you can edit and hide your app tabs at will! Just click ‘Edit’ -> drag and drop the app tabs to arrange their order:

control tab arrangement via edit

To have a less distracting sidebar, it’s advisable to keep only the important tabs in sight. Remove the unwanted tabs by clicking ‘Edit’ -> click ‘x’ next to the app to hide it:

hide excessive tabs except wall and info

Remember, sometimes less is more.

 

 

#3  Improve Page Interaction with Page Notification & Admin View

 

most engaging post is favored in upgraded page

Wall Posts are no longer arranged in chronological order, instead two new filters are given for viewing: ‘Everyone’ or ‘your page name’ (posts by admin only). By default, ‘Everyone’ will show fans the most engaging posts on your page. The good side is fans are encouraged to participate often for visibility. The downside, new posts are struggling to reach the top. Even popular posts may lapse over time. For example, Christmas or new year wishes may stay on top of your page due to >100 comments by fans, but it doesn’t give much significance in value or info-sharing. This is another concern we need to work on in page engagement.


Page Notification:

This is remedied by the new page notification:

 

a) Email notification: Go to Edit Page -> Your Settings -> Tick the box for ‘Email Notification’ -> Save Changes. You can also change email settings for individual pages here :

change email settings for individual pages

 

b) Red on-site alert: You will have to ‘Use Facebook as Page’ (Logged in as Page Profile) in order to see them:

use facebook as page

Then you can see page notification updates:

page notifications for fans activity

And it works for photo comments too! Hurray!

page notification for photo comment

 

Admin View:
Page admin can easily view the ‘Most Recent’ posts and ‘Hidden Posts’ (Spam filter) via Wall -> Admin View option at the sidebar.

admin view for most recent posts and hidden posts

 

 

#4  Separate Business Interactions from Personal Profile

 

The upgraded page solves the biggest concern in separating personal life from business contacts. You can now do the following via identity switch between a personal and a page profile:

switch between personal profile or managed pages

What you can do OUTSIDE managed pages:

  • Post comment as your business page without status-tagging feature.
    to comment and like as the page profile
  •  

  • A whole new section of news feed for your liked pages (or once known as ‘favorited pages’):
    news feed of your favorited pages

 

What you can do INSIDE managed pages:

  • Page activities (‘recent activity’) are showing up on your page Wall
    page commenting on other pages shown as recent activity
  •  

  • Find out mutual connections (mutual fans count) between other pages and yours in Recommended Pages:
    recommended pages and mutual fans count
  •  

  • You can even choose to post as your personal profile by Edit Page -> Your Settings -> Untick ‘Always comment and post on your page as Your Page Name‘:
    comment as the admin profile in managed page

 

#5  Effectively Build Relationship with Other Pages via ‘Like’ & ‘Feature’

 

A page can finally ‘like’ as a page itself. There are two ways you can do this:

a) When logged in as your personal profile: click ‘Add to my Page’s Favorite’, OR

b) When logged in as your page profile: click ‘Use Facebook as Page’-> go to another page -> click their ‘Like’ button on top.

Best of all, you can decide which of your favorited/liked pages are showcased at your page’s sidebar: Edit Page -> Featured -> Select the number of pages to be rotated randomly:

showcase your favorited pages

You can feature your own page admins too if like (but DON’T if you are separating business from personal life):

feature page admin

 

 

#6  Limitless Counts to Change Page Category

 

It used to be troublesome to request for a page category review from facebook. Now you can manually select the accurate group and category for your facebook page from Edit page -> Basic Information -> Category -> and see the immediate change after that:

select and edit your page category

immediate change of your page category

And there is no limit of how many times you can change page category.

 

#7  Better Moderation to Reduce Spam via Moderation Blacklist

 

You can now add keywords in the ‘Moderation Blacklist’ to prevent spams from appearing on your wall or comments: Edit page -> Manage Permissions -> Moderation Blacklist:

moderation blacklist to control spam on page

 

It’s great to see facebook is learning from their lessons with New Profile and merged facebook places/fan page by allowing ‘Preview’ before forced implementation. Page admin can switch back to public mode anytime if not satisfied, but NEVER after confirming the page upgrade. All facebook pages will be auto-updated starting March, 2011. Might as well get adapt and be ready for it.

 

Extra Tip:

 

Not sure if you noticed but Managed Pages is gone from our profile account. You can still reach your managed pages via this direct link or via Discover Facebook Pages -> Pages I admin.

 
Updated 01/03/2011:

We can now change ANY app tabs to our desired names. Go to Edit Page -> App -> select the app you wish to rename, click Edit Settings -> notice a new option ‘Custom Tab Name‘ is given! Key in the name and ‘Save’.

edit your facebook page app tab
 

Some page comments may appear in GREY, which means they had been marked as spam by facebook and visible to page admin only. Release the legitimate comment by clicking ‘x’ -> Unmark as Spam so it is visible to all.

legitimate comment marked as spam
 
Updated 02/03/2011:

You’re gonna love this! Facebook is giving us back the ‘Most Recent’ posts option on our pages! Hurray! The previous ‘Admin View’ is now switched to ‘Hidden Posts’ (also known as Spam filter).

new wall post options on upgraded page
 

NOW IS YOUR TURN…

 

So I’m eager to hear what you think about the new upgraded page? What is the biggest gain for you and what previous options you’d like to keep unchanged? Share your thoughts in the comments.

 

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2 Excellent Facebook Page Apps to Get Email Notifications (2011)

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, How To, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Web Application | Posted on 09-02-2011

12

It has been four months since we talked about how to receive email notification for facebook page updates. Up till today, this feature remains unavailable on facebook. Apart from regular checking, page admin can only rely on third party applications to monitor upcoming posts and comments from fans.

I had previously introduced Page Notifier and Fan Page Notifier to monitor page activity (read this post to learn more about them). Page Notifier’s free version provides one-time-scan per 24 hours. As much I’m satisfied with its results, I longed for more scans in a day. As for Fan Page Notifier, the last time I got an email notification from it was end of December 2010. Not sure why it stopped. I went back in and updated my subscription recently, we’ll see how it performs few days later.

It’s absolutely fair to have limitations when using a free application, I understand that. In fact, I appreciate the app developers for trying to make our lives easier with these nifty facebook applications. Still, it never stops me to source for better alternatives, which is why I’m thrilled to introduce you these two new, free facebook applications that made my page monitoring a lot easier starting 2011:


#1 Hyper Alerts


Hyper Alerts won me over with its tag line ‘The Feature Facebook Forgot’ (how true is that!). It’s currently in public BETA (FREE) so definitely worth a try. The setup is almost instantaneous, start by registering yourself with an email:

registration for Hyper Alerts

Then, decide how you wish to add your facebook page to be monitored:

Option (1): Add Alert by URL
- All you need is to type in your facebook page URL -> Add, and you’re set. You don’t need to add this app to your facebook page at all! Plus, you can even monitor other fan pages you like but not under your administration.

add facebook page alert by URL

Option (2): Add Alert from your Facebook User
- This option, on the other hand, requires authorization to access your facebook account. The purpose is to retrieve all facebook pages you are currently managing with your profile so you can select multiple facebook pages at once.

Normally I would go for option (1) since no strings attached (less privacy concern). But in order to receive instant email notification for new posts and comments, I was requested to connect my facebook page with the app anyway with option (1) :

add Hyper Alerts to get immediate email notification for your facebook page

So bottom line, you have two choices based on your alert frequencies:

  • If you refuse to allow Hyper Alerts to access your facebook account, you need to settle with either one of these alert frequencies: Hourly, Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
  • If you prefer to receive email notification ‘as soon as possible’ for new posts and comments,  it’s a must to add Hyper Alerts to your facebook page (authorization required).

For now, I don’t think HyperAlerts is capable of notifying new photo comments (within photo albums) but only updates from the page wall (UPDATED: Now upcoming photo comments will be notified):

hyper alerts email notifications


What I love about Hyper Alerts:
It’s always a courtesy to ask if user wants to add the application to their facebook account. Even if we are not ready to allow access for Hyper Alerts, it still gives us other options – that’s thoughtful. I love how a user can opt-out of ‘Own Content’ so only fans posts or comments are notified, reducing the noise in our inbox. Not to mention, the ability to monitor other pages we like is a bonus!

scanning frequency and options for hyper alerts


#2  MediaFeedia


MediaFeedia is actually a facebook management tool and ‘fan page notifications’ just happens to be one of the offered features. Similar to most web applications, you need to register (either via facebook connect or email address). Then, you will be asked to import your facebook account to select the pages:

select the facebook page you wish to monitor in mediafeedia

Once confirmed your page selections, go to Fan Page Notifications -> Start Monitoring -> type in your email address to receive page alerts. The maximum number of email addresses you can enter is three:

start monitoring your facebook page by updating email address

This is how mediafeedia email notification looks like in your email:

email notification by mediafeedia

Mediafeedia includes updates from the page admin him/herself. By clicking at ‘Comment’ you will be redirected to your facebook page to reply and view the complete conversation:

new comment alert responding to fans posting


What I love about MediaFeedia:
I have started using MediaFeedia since early January, I must say this application is exactly what I was looking for to improve my page monitoring with Page Notifier. The scan results are very similar to Hyper Alerts’ but with extra features such as post scheduling and email invitation to other admins.

add admin to monitor your page alerts in mediafeedia


Hyper Alerts and MediaFeedia are both showing profile thumbnail in their email alerts. I find that a significant ‘visual’ improvement for page notification apps, also a good way to get familiarized with who our fans are via their profile image.


Now Is Your Turn…


How do you monitor your page updates? If you have been using other facebook page notification apps, how would you compare them with Hyper Alerts and MediaFeedia? Kindly share your thoughts in the comment.

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3 Ways to Add Google Map (Business Location) to Your Facebook Page

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Web Application | Posted on 25-01-2011

9

The incident with merged facebook page and Places has temporarily subsided, thanks to the much-requested ‘unmerge’ button. I didn’t get to explore how the Places page work but as much the Bing map looks attractive on the merged pages, there are numerous reasons why a business owner should think twice before merging.

Last Saturday, I had a light bulb moment when one of the page members wrote:

how to add google map to facebook page

Although this has nothing to do with a Places page, but undeniably the idea of inserting a Google map into a facebook page is a great alternative! That way page admin can still use an interactive map to guide fans to their business premise without having to worry about page layout and losing landing tab setting due to the merge.

There are several ways to do this but personally I prefer facebook applications over manual HTML embed. I am anticipating for iframe app facebook promised to release in 2011 which will make dynamic content (like Google Maps) to be embedded a lot easier. Until then, here are some facebook applications you can use without having to worry about manual coding at all:


3 FACEBOOK APPS TO EMBED A GOOGLE MAP


#1  BlockWild Map

-[01/04/2012] Does not support Secure Browsing

blockwild adds Google map into your facebook page

BlockWild Map lets you add a ‘Map’ tab indicating your business location within a facebook page. No HTML code required. All you need is to fill up your business name and address, the map tab will be up and running:

fill the location and event details for blockwild map facebook app

Notice that you can even announce local events for your business with details such as description, duration, image gallery etc. Fans can interact with you about the event via facebook comment box, or share it with their Twitter or Facebook friends (social buttons available). Since there won’t be any notifications you should check on new comments regularly. To access the complete map, fans can close the event box anytime by clicking at the purple-circled ‘x’:

example of event and share buttons


I love how the tab is named ‘Map’ to suit perfectly for its purpose. However, if I have a customized Google map to highlight special routes or places nearby, I will need more control over the map and how it is displayed. That’s when Contact Tab comes in:


#2  Contact Tab


We first heard about Contact tab from my introductory about facebook page engagement tools (app #13). Back then I didn’t go deep with the Map feature but today, you will see how easy it is to embed a customized Google map to your Contact tab. I’m using First World Hotel, Genting Highlands as an example:

1. Learn how you can customize your Google map here:

2. Once your map is ready, look for the option ‘Link’ at the upper right corner and click at it for the HTML code:

get the embed code from Google Maps

3. Next, locate the ‘Contact’ tab on your page wall -> Edit Application:

edit application in Contact Tab

4. Paste the HTML code you copied from the map and paste into the iframe box at the lower part of the Contact Tab -> Save Application:

paste your Google map code to Contact tab

5. After been asked to ‘click to view map’, your fans can use the tools (red-circled) to move around the map, or zoom in/out at will:

your business location is shown on contact tab Google map


I love how Contact Tab is capable of adding a customized Google map, but if only other mandatory fields such as email, website and address can be opted out. The word ‘Contact‘ may not be obvious for fans in finding the map so you may like to mention/add a link to it from your Welcome tab or Info.


#3  Placewidget

-[26/03/12/]no longer available

Placewidget is also using Google map so if you had claimed your business on Foursquare, you can add this application to showcase the map. But unlike Foursquare main site, the map is non-interactive, merely an image file. A click at it will bring you to Foursquare where you can then explore the map thoroughly.

google map on foursquare by placewidget


We don’t know how long we get to stay in the old page format, but until facebook team improvises the Facebook Places for merging, page admins will have some options to show their offices via Google Maps for now.


Now Is Your Turn…


Is adding a Google map or Bing map essential for your business page? Shall the settings for default landing tab and tab-positioning be maintained in the new facebook page layout? Love to hear your thoughts in the comment.

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How to Become a Social Networking Magnet

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogging Attitudes, Guest Posts, Social Media Tool, Social Networking | Posted on 18-01-2011

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The long awaited week has finally arrived! *Drum roll* Let’s meet our honorable guest of the month – Chris Garrett! Chris had influenced me a lot about the importance of authority blogging. I’m proud to have him here for the first time and talk about how to become a social networking magnet. The stage is yours, Chris!

When I coach my consulting clients the conversation always comes around to networking. I would say having a strong network is vital to any business that wants to succeed online, and is certainly a vital asset for getting ahead in your career today.

We have all these tools, but still people struggle to make good connections.

People say to me “Chris, how do I reach influential people?” or “Chris, how can I get better opportunities to come my way?”, and most popular, “Why is my network not growing?”.

There is a simple answer to ALL of these challenges.

Want to know what it is?


The Simple Networking Secret


People have networking, and especially social networking, backwards!

Somehow people have gotten the idea that we should seek the benefits before putting in any value of our own. That we can take, take, take before we give.

Think of the most selfish, self-centred and greedy person you know. Do YOU find that attractive? Would you want to recommend them to others?

No?

Rather than think what your network can do for you, why should THEY have you in THEIR network?

How do you look from THEIR perspective?

See how simple it becomes when you turn the equation around? OK, so what you need to do become simplified, it doesn’t necessarily become easy.


Add Value Without Taking


When you start networking with a ‘take’ mindset you turn people off.

Instead you should be building up your value to them.

Ask how you can help. Share what you know. Introduce people without asking for anything in return.

Get known as useful and generous.

What happens is more people want to get to know you, people feel like someone they can introduce to others, and most of all you build a positive reputation.


Summary


Instead of seeking out people who can help you right now, or trying to get on the radar of influential people, work on being the most useful, approachable and well-connected person in your niche. Become known for making great contributions and introductions. Over time your reputation will spread and networking will be a matter of responding to invitations rather than hunting down prized contacts!

Chris Garrett is a blogging and internet marketing consultant. He is co-author of the famous book ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income and the founder of Authority Blogger course. Learn more about Chris Garrett and his blog here. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter @chrisgarrett and facebook too!





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10 Social Media Apps to Watch in 2011

Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Tracking, Twitter, Web Application | Posted on 11-01-2011

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You should know by now how much of a facebook fanatic I am.  Since last year, I have not been blogging much about other social media apps except facebook. Well this week, I decided to do them justice by introducing you some of my favorite social media applications that got my attention long before 2011. Some of them may not be new to you, but they are all ‘love at first sight’ to me.

10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS TO WATCH IN 2011


If you are expecting something grand, complex then it’s not the purpose of this post. These social media tools impressed me with their simplicity and best of all, they are cost free.

Twitter:


#1  Formulists


formulists to track interactions and expand your network

I remembered how tedious it was to group all my twitter contacts MANUALLY into Twitter lists. When I first heard about Formulists I was overjoyed! It is exactly what I needed to manage and reach out to other Twitter users based on our recent interactions, direct or indirectly. For example, I have an auto-updating list for ‘Thanks-For-Listing-Me’ generated by Formulists. Not only I can return the favor, knowing which lists I belong to but at the same time getting to know these kind people better:

formulists to see who added you to their twitter lists

Formulists also gives you filtering options such as bio and location so you can better customize your lists for targeted contacts. This video explains it all:

Remark:

What I love is you can keep your lists in Formulists even though you deleted them from your Twitter account, a good way to refer back or exchange lists whenever necessary. Formulists provides a sidekick account if you used up all 20 twitter lists (limit) but till now I have yet gone into that so unsure how that works.


#2  Mentionmap


mentionmap to show your connections with other users

Fear not, you’re not in Charlotte’s web but a twitter conversation web to show you relevant people to follow on Twitter. Back then it was all about people and location search, now Mentionmap makes it ‘visually’ capable in discovering who our friends talk to recently and how we can expand our network through these potential contacts.

Remark:

Best of all, no Twitter authorization is required to compare your map with friends’, something a lot more relevant comparing to Twitter’s very own app called ‘Who to Follow’.


Blogs:


#3  Apture


Apture to encourage social sharing with facebook and twitter buttons

Apture is a must-have if you are all about twitter and facebook sharing. Besides the catchy Twitter and Facebook share buttons, the search bar is equally impressive by offering results from your blog and Google. Your readers don’t have to leave your site in searching for ideal content. It works the same when someone highlight any phrases within your blog post,  just click ‘Learn more’ and the search results will show up before you :

Apture search bar imports results from your site and media files

Remark:

Apture bar occupies the top spot of a blog. However, it moves following the reader’s scroll bar to encourage social sharing after reading! Pretty neat, huh?


#4  Hellobar


Hellobar to display site announcement or shoutout

I was having my regular blog visits when I found this app on a friend’s blog. It is no Apture but a ‘notice’ bar for specific call to action.  Let it be a simple greeting, your latest blog post (via RSS setup) or even your latest tweet. Unlike Apture, it sticks on top of your blog and doesn’t move along with the scroll bar.

hellobar manual and feed control panel

Remark:

All is well except newly registered users may wait a day or two before you’ll get the Beta key emailed to you.


#5  BlogPulse


blogpulse to track branding and subject matters to you

BlogPulse is all about discovering what’s hot and what you think matters in the blogosphere. You can find out who wrote about your brand and offered a link love! For instance, Evelyn mentioned my site in her post last year which I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t check with BlogPulse. I hurried over for a comment, praying she wouldn’t mind my delayed thank-you. Imagine how many more blogs had slipped under my radar!

blogpulse to discover who linked to you

Remark:

BlogPulse can be very helpful for bloggers. Apart from Google Blog Search we need a focused tracker that not only about hottest trends but to discover potential bloggers we can network with.


Forums, Discussion Boards:


#6  Omgili


Omgili search engine for forums

Someone said to me earlier that forums are outdated. I don’t quite agree with that. Forums may not be the mainstream but they have their own impact in shaping a community. Forums are ideal for detailed, in depth discussions. We should not neglect them when it comes to brand-monitoring. Omgili is perfect for the job in discovering what people are saying in message boards, discussion threads about any topics at all.

Omgili track discussion threads and forum mentions of your brand

Remark:

Forum used to be the major ground for bloggers to interact with one another. Thanks to Omgili, I was able to track a discussion thread in which my Twitter account was mentioned. When participated in the discussion, I remembered how forum is still playing the role in building trusts and knowledge-sharing among the members. You’ll never know who you end up meeting with along the path.


Expanding Social Connections:


#7  Rapportive


rapportive displays social media profiles of the sender's email

Rapportive is a nifty tool that shows you more than just a plain email address. Based on the sender’s email, Rapportive is capable of pulling in gravatar image, LinkedIn profile, Twitter updates, Skype account and many more. You can follow up (I prefer not calling that ‘stalking’) your potential clients/readers closely on various social media sites. If you wish to check on other recipients in the same email, just hover your mouse over the recipient’s name or email address will do.

Remark:

Absolutely loving it! Highly recommended if you are hoping to extend your social network in 2011!


#8  Qwerly


qwerly search engine for people on social web

Qwerly helps you to discover where your Twitter friends are ‘hanging’ on the social web. Type in the twitter username like this ‘@wchingya’ and it will give you an overview of who your twitter contact is and how you can connect with him/her other than Twitter. Exactly why it is referred to as the ‘whois for Twitter’.

Remark:

verify profile on qwerly

You can verify and claim your profile by signing in with your Twitter account. It’s that simple to claim your vanity URL with Qwerly.


#9  About.me


about.me to create a custom profile

Props to Mari Smith for this handy tip. About.me is a custom profile and a dashboard for your personal analytics based on your social accounts like Twitter and Facebook. Create an account via your email then select your username. Add in as many personal details so others can reach you from your about.me account. It gives a huge interface up to 1680×1050 pixels but it’s advisable to keep the size optimum. Feel free to check mine out.

Remark:

It’s all about SEO benefit, whether you’ll be using the analytical tracking or not. I’d love to grab my vanity URL whenever I can. Another thing I love is other people can reach me by ‘Email Me’ button without having to disclose my email address publicly at all!


#10  Wordle


I HAD to include Wordle because it’s so much fun!  Wordle is basically a toy to generate word clouds based on the URL you provided that contains RSS feed. A good way to find out what is the site mainly about. See how it describes my blog, do you think it’s accurate?

wordle for social @ blogging tracker

Remark:

Its visual effect is compelling! You can randomize, change the fonts or colors. So much you can do with it, it’s time to get creative with your site.


Now Is Your Turn…


What is your favorite social media tool of all time? Which application above you’d like to try best? Tell us.


SPECIAL GUEST NEXT WEEK!~


Don’t forget we have a special guest blogger next week to talk about social media for the first time on Social @ Blogging Tracker! Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it. :)

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