Paradox Designs

Facebook is launching a new design, one that has been in development for several months. Some people may already have it, others may not. But either way, if you have a facebook account, you need to know the ins, outs, changes, bugs and other things that the new design brings.

Getting it

Facebook claims they are launching the new site tomorrow. I don’t know if this means they are forcing the new design on everyone then, or putting a button at the top telling people about it or what. But if you don’t have the new design (You would know if you did), you can enable it by going to http://www.new.facebook.com. You should see the new facebook site load. This is now what facebook will look like for you.

Most obvious changes

The biggest changes you will notice from the front page is the complete lack of a left column. It has been completely removed. The right column is still there, but the style has been changed a bit. But without the left column, how will you get to your applications? The applications menu has been moved to a more prominent menu. If you havn’t found the menu named Applications, you should find it, and then click on it. Presto, dropdown of all your applications. Use them, and they appear in a special group on that list called Reciently Used. Some applications also appear on the right hand menu under the bookmarks group.

You will also notice on the right hand side of the menu bar there is a search box. Next to the search box is a padlock icon and a home link. Home is the front page (duh). The padlock controls privacy options. It will open a menu with account settings and privacy options. As of this writing, the account settings goes to an older interface, and the privacy settings are the same as they always were.

Finally, at the top of the newsfeed, there is a jumping off point for you, complete with links to various applications, including photos, videos, links, notes, and a logout button.

Profiles

Go ahead and click your name at the top of the page, that will take you to your new profile page. First, you should notice that the newsfeed is very big on your page. It is designed to allow you to update your feed very quicky, with stories of anything you may so choose. You can post links, etc. This now replaces your Wall. People can post to your wall/newsfeed, and it will appear as a regular story. You have the option to control how posts, not only those from users, but all posts, appear on this. Mouse over an entry, and click the pencil icon. It will let you toggle between a one line view, and a multiline view.

But you may be asking, how do i gather attention to my favorite old profile box. If the application has been updated, you can add its box to your main page (herein referred to as the wall) by visiting the boxes tab, clicking the edit link, and selecting Move to Wall tab. The boxes in the left column can be customized as well, depending on the options they present. The first one you may want to customize is the one displaying your networks. You can make it show your website, your contact info, etc.

You may also want to enter a bio. There is a slot for that.

You can also make applications have whole tabs themselves. Click on the + tab, and you will be presented with a list of applications you can add as a tab. Click one, and it appears as a tab. You can click the edit icon and change the name of the tab, as well as delete it.

Bugs

Tabs are not working as well as they should be for me. I click one, and it changes the page, but i get a never ending loading animation. Facebook has been informed about this, and they hopefully will fix it soon.

All in all, it seems to be a very nice release, and will give much more customization options. I have covered very little, so feel free to explore around. After all, its your facebook page, not mine.