Apologies that all my posts seem to be about Facebook lately, but this one really needs flagging up. In yet another sweeping change, Facebook has announced that it will, as of this week, be removing the handy sidebar boxes from all profiles. The “Boxes” tab, boxes on profiles and Pages, and application info sections will be going away. Additionally, all profile and Page tabs will be resized automatically to 520 pixels wide beginning the week of August 23. What does this tab width change mean? If you’ve created a custom tab, you need to change the width to 520 pixels. With all the FBML custom tabs brands are employing, this change affects more pages than you might think.
Regarding the profile boxes, a Facebook spokeswoman told AllFacebook.com: “These boxes will be removed, just as they will be from profiles, and so the page owners will need to move that info to the info page or a custom tab.” Why they are doing this, they haven’t told us, except this rather gnomic declaration on http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/399: “These updates are designed to simplify navigation for users, reduce complexity for developers, and enable us to build the next generation of tools for growing your business with Facebook.”
These profile boxes were very handy places to keep essential information, such as your House Rules (why there are important) and summary brand info which you wanted to be instantly available to your fanbase as they landed on your page.
It wasn’t entirely clear which bits would be left and which removed, so AllFacebook kindly did some checking back with Facebook moguls, and I’ll republish their findings here:
Example 1: On the Coca-Cola fan page, the “House Rules” box on the left-hand panel of the Wall tab will no longer be supported.
Example 2: The privacy policy on the AT&T Facebook page – currently in a box on the left-hand side – will no longer be displayed in its current format.
Example 3: The TOMS Shoes Facebook page will keep the image that says “With every purchase. TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for one”. A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed that this was in a description area rather than a box and would not be going away. She added that Tom’s also had this information on the “Welcome” tab, which was an FBML tab, and would remain. (This last example will also be impacted by Facebook’s simultaneous change of panel width to 520px wide)
It’s not a popular move, and one that I suspect will take many Page owners unawares, but then, when did that ever stop a Facebook change?