It’s a new day and age, and here we are—faced with yet another Facebook update! If you were unaware, Facebook recently released the latest model of garb that its profiles will be wearing. The Facebook Timeline extends from personal profiles all the way to business pages, causing a lot of designers around the world to groan with excitement: A lot of changes must be made, which means more work, but also more gigs. So, if you’re in the same boat, and aren’t quite sure how to make the most of the new layout, stick around! We’ll be covering the basics below, starting with:

  1. The Cover Photo: Perhaps one of the most easily noticed elements of the new layout is the giant cover photo. This is the image that rests just above the wall of posts, which serves as the preliminary view your readers will get a peep at. This huge photo is something we’ve all been waiting for, but that doesn’t mean it won’t take some creativity to get right. Try to sum up your business or profile in one, concise image here. Don’t waste words—metaphorically speaking—and remember that this isn’t just a profile picture. This is a real chance to say something about your business or profile without saying anything at all. Product shots, anyone? Or at the least, just come up with a cooler logo banner.
  2. Posts are Different: One of the services we offer with our company is called social media revival. We focus on creating posts and content for our users, most of which we strictly control. Sadly, the new Timeline doesn’t allow us quite that freedom. The system now uses a sort of “best of” mechanic which samples our recent posts and comments, highlighting a few here and there before cementing them into place for all eternity. In other words, this really sucks. The only way we know to combat this is to comb through the content that Facebook highlights, and remove the posts that we don’t think are quite front-page material. It takes a lot more effort, but as we peruse and improve, the whole system gets better at identifying what we want to show off. Again, it’s a little more work on our end, but the end result really is quite clear and cool.