For users of the TourCMS tour operator ecommerce platform

Changes to Facebook Pages (Feb 2011)

Following on from the recent "Profile" update Facebook is now rolling out a very similar design for "Pages". The changes include adding the row of photos at the top of the Wall, new controls for choosing whether to post to the page as yourself, or as the page and a relocation of the "App Tabs" from the top of the Page to the left hand side, underneath the profile picture.

The transition should pose no problems for users of TourCMS Facebook Tabs, however when initially previewing the TourSift page with the new design Facebook had incorrectly named the "Tours" tab "TourCMS". Simply removing the tab and immediately re-adding it in the page settings fixed this (you do not need to contact us to set up the tab again, your settings will be retained).

If you are a page admin you can preview or upgrade to the new design now, all pages will be automatically switched to the new design on March 1st 2011.

The TourSift page has been updated so you can see the new Page design live.

Paul

Tags: apps, facebook, tabs

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul on February 11, 2011 at 6:19pm

One other thing I didn't mention earlier, the paragraph of text that used to be displayed under the main picture on your profile is now only displayed if a user goes to your info page, so you may want to add some of that text to the top of your TourCMS Facebook Tab - just fire an email to support if you'd like that.

For an example see Whistler Tasting Tours: https://www.facebook.com/WhistlerTastingTours?sk=app_161934890497276

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Permalink Reply by Daniel A Buitron on February 12, 2011 at 10:21pm

Hello Guys,

I offer lodging and tours to Colombia. How can I add an accommodation section on my Facebook like you have on the TourSift page?

Thanks!

Daniel

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Permalink Reply by Paul on February 13, 2011 at 1:23pm

Hi Daniel,

We have apps for "Tours" (the one you have on your page), "Accommodation", "Activities" and "Book". We have several apps as Facebook no longer lets users edit the text on a tab themselves, so we've tried to cover all bases.

When added each app will just list all of the Tours/Hotels you have listed in the Marketplace, however we can load a separate config file for each tab that you add. So, for example we could load a config file for an "Accommodation" tab which only returns products you have loaded as type "1" in their Marketplace settings, and then tweak the settings for your existing "Tours" tab to list all products _except_ those loaded as type "1". This way anything you have loaded as an accommodation would be listed under the "Accommodation" tab, anything else would appear

More complex setups are available, effectively each tab is a separate "Tour Search" using our API: http://www.tourcms.com/support/api/mp/tour_search.php

Please do fire an email to support if you wish to make any changes to your Facebook tabs.

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Paul on February 21, 2011 at 5:56pm

Another change I have just spotted, Facebook now allows you to set a custom name for your tabs. You are now no longer restricted to "Tours", "Accommodation", "Activities" and "Book" - you can edit the tab name to be whatever you'd like. This should be particularly useful for those running non-English language Facebook pages.

We will update our documentation We have updated our documentation to reflect this. If you already have a tab installed that you would like to rename here's how:

Head to the "Edit" section for your page
Go into "Apps"
Click "Edit settings" for the app that you wish to edit, enter the Custom Tab Name and click Save