FBML Essentials

FBML Essentials

by Jesse Stay
Released July 2008
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449379421

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Book description

Do you have an idea for a Facebook application? With FBML Essentials, you'll learn how to build it quickly using the Facebook Markup Language (FBML) and other easy-to-use tools in the site's framework. If you can develop a website with HTML, writing a Facebook application with the help of this book will be a breeze.

Of course, Facebook is not just another website. Any applications you write for it will have a potential audience of 16 million dedicated users. It's not just another social networking site, either. Under the surface, Facebook is pretty sophisticated, with a development toolkit that includes it's own modified version of HTML -- FBML -- to customize the look and feel of your Facebook applications.

With FBML Essentials, you not only learn how to get started with this toolkit, you also get a complete reference on every FBML tag Facebook has ever written, with examples of how each tag works and advice on the best ways to use these tags in your code.

This book includes:

  • A walkthrough of a sample Facebook application
  • Design rules for using images, CSS, JavaScript, and forms
  • Specific chapters on tags -- authorization tags, logic tags, user/group tags, profile-specific tags, and more
  • Messaging and alerts using FBML
  • Creating forms with FBML
  • Facebook navigation
  • Notifications and requests
  • Dynamic FBML attributes, including MockAJAX
  • How to test your FBML code
  • A chapter on FBJS, Facebook's version of JavaScript

If you want to try your hand at writing a Facebook application, you have a willing audience, an easy-to-use toolkit, and the perfect guide to get you started. FBML Essentials will help you take your idea from conception to working application in no time.

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Table of contents

  1. FBML Essentials
    1. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
    2. Foreword
    3. Preface
      1. The Facebook Platform Emerges
      2. FBML
        1. Developer Guidelines
      3. Useful Resources
        1. Tools and Documentation
        2. News and Information About Facebook Development
      4. Is This Book For You?
      5. Some Terms You Should Know
      6. Conventions Used in This Book
      7. Using Code Examples
      8. How to Contact Us
      9. Safari® Books Online
      10. Acknowledgments
    4. 1. “Hello Friends”
      1. The “Hello World” for Social Development
      2. Step 1: Set Up a Facebook Developer Account
      3. Step 2: Add the Developer App
      4. Step 3: Set Up the App
    5. 2. HTML Design in a Facebook Environment
      1. Forms in FBML
        1. The <form/> tag
          1. FBML-Specific Attributes
          2. Example FBML
          3. Rendered HTML for Single Instance of Tag
          4. Additional information
      2. Images in FBML
      3. CSS and DOM in FBML
      4. JavaScript in FBML
      5. Other Things to Consider
        1. User IDs and FBML
        2. Public Canvas Pages and SEO
        3. The <fb:is-logged-out/> tag
          1. Example FBML
          2. Rendered HTML for Single Instance of Tag
          3. Additional information
      6. Hosting
      7. The Facebook Platform Architecture
    6. 3. FBML Reference
      1. Facebook FBML Test Console
      2. Authorization Tags
        1. The “User” Authorization Tag
          1. <fb:user/>
        2. Authorizing by User Agent
          1. <fb:user-agent/>
        3. Canvas Page Authorization Tags
          1. <fb:is-in-network/>
          2. <fb:if-can-see/>
          3. <fb:if-can-see-photo/>
          4. <fb:if-is-app-user/>
          5. <fb:if-is-friends-with-viewer/>
          6. <fb:if-is-group-member/>
          7. <fb:if-is-user/>
          8. <fb:if-user-has-added-app/>
        4. Profile and Facebook Page Authorization Tags
          1. <fb:visible-to-owner/>
          2. <fb:visible-to-user/>
          3. <fb:visible-to-friends/>
          4. <fb:visible-to-app-users/>
          5. <fb:visible-to-added-app-users/>
          6. <fb:visible-to-connection/>
        5. Logic Tags
          1. <fb:if/>
          2. <fb:else/>
          3. <fb:switch/>
          4. <fb:default/>
        6. Random Logic
          1. <fb:random/>
          2. <fb:random-option/>
        7. Messaging and Alerts in FBML
          1. <fb:error/>
          2. <fb:explanation/>
          3. <fb:success/>
      3. Profile-Specific Tags
        1. <fb:wide/>
        2. <fb:narrow/>
        3. <fb:user-table/>
        4. <fb:user-item/>
        5. <fb:subtitle/>
      4. Users, Groups, Events, Networks, and Applications
        1. <fb:name/>
        2. <fb:pronoun/>
        3. <fb:profile-pic/>
        4. <fb:eventlink/>
        5. <fb:grouplink/>
        6. <fb:networklink/>
        7. <fb:application-name/>
      5. HTML Display and Navigation
        1. General HTML Display Tags
          1. <fb:title/>
          2. <fb:iframe/>
        2. Page Navigation Tags
          1. <fb:dashboard/>
          2. <fb:action/>
          3. <fb:create-button/>
          4. <fb:help/>
          5. <fb:header/>
          6. <fb:mediaheader/>
          7. <fb:header-title/>
          8. <fb:owner-action/>
          9. <fb:tabs/>
          10. <fb:tab-item/>
          11. <fb:share-button/>
          12. <fb:page-admin-edit-header/>
        3. Creating Forms With FBML
          1. <fb:editor/>
          2. <fb:editor-buttonset/>
          3. <fb:editor-button/>
          4. <fb:editor-cancel/>
          5. <fb:editor-custom/>
          6. <fb:editor-date/>
          7. <fb:editor-divider/>
          8. <fb:editor-month/>
          9. <fb:editor-text/>
          10. <fb:editor-textarea/>
          11. <fb:editor-time/>
          12. <fb:captcha/>
          13. <fb:submit/>
          14. <fb:typeahead-input/>
          15. <fb:typeahead-option/>
          16. <fb:friend-selector/>
          17. <fb:multi-friend-input/>
        4. Dialog Boxes in Facebook—The Facebook “Pop Up”
          1. <fb:dialog/>
          2. <fb:dialog-content/>
          3. <fb:dialog-title/>
          4. <fb:dialog-button/>
          5. <fb:dialogresponse/>
        5. Embedding Media With FBML
          1. <fb:photo/>
          2. <fb:mp3/>
          3. <fb:swf/>
          4. <fb:flv/>
          5. <fb:silverlight/>
      6. Virally Promoting Your App With FBML
        1. Request and Notification Tags
          1. <fb:notif-subject/>
          2. <fb:notif-page/>
          3. <fb:notif-email/>
          4. <fb:request-form/>
          5. <fb:multi-friend-selector/>
          6. <fb:req-choice/>
          7. <fb:request-form-submit/>
        2. Feed Forms
        3. The Wall
          1. <fb:wall/>
          2. <fb:wallpost/>
          3. <fb:wallpost-action/>
          4. <fb:attachment-preview/>
        4. The <fb:add-section-button/> Tag
          1. <fb:add-section-button/>
      7. Miscellaneous Tools for Rendering Data Using FBML
        1. <fb:time/>
        2. <fb:fbmlversion/>
        3. <fb:redirect/>
        4. <fb:board/>
        5. <fb:comments/>
        6. <fb:mobile/>
        7. <fb:google-analytics/>
        8. <fb:18-plus/>
        9. <fb:21-plus/>
        10. <fb:is-it-christmas/>
        11. <fb:is-it-april-fools/>
        12. <fb:rock-the-vote/>
      8. Dynamic FBML Attributes
        1. Visibility Attributes
        2. Mock AJAX
        3. Data Access for JavaScript and Dynamic Rendering in FBML
          1. <fb:js-string/>
          2. <fb:fbml/>
          3. <fb:ref/>
    7. 4. FBJS Reference
      1. Introduction
      2. General Information
      3. Event Listeners
      4. AJAX
      5. Dialogs
      6. Visualization
      7. Conclusion
    8. Afterword
    9. Index
    10. About the Author
    11. Colophon
    12. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly

Product information

  • Title: FBML Essentials
  • Author(s): Jesse Stay
  • Release date: July 2008
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449379421