Facebook® Application Development For Dummies®

Chapter 4

Targeting Integration Points

In This Chapter

• Working with integration points such as the Canvas Page, counters, and the News Feed
• Sharing with tabs or custom links
• Using the Add Bookmark button
• Keeping users updated

In Chapter 1, I discuss the concept of “fishing where the fish are.” The idea is that Facebook allows you, as a company or brand, to be where your customers are, enabling your most interested and loyal individuals to share and talk about your brand in their everyday conversations. The secret to successful development in the Facebook environment is to understand everything you can about the areas your application can interject on behalf of the user. Each of the areas that your application can participate in is called an integration point.

For instance, with some simple JavaScript, you can allow your application to share to a user's news feed. This would be an example of an integration point where your application can interject into the normal workflow of the user and his or her friends. Integration points are, quite simply, the touch points where your application can participate in the Facebook experience.

I'm going to take you through each of the possible integration points that your application can build upon, and I work with you to make your application even more useful by bringing it into as much of the Facebook experience as possible. The integration points that I cover in this chapter include the Canvas Page, Facebook tabs, bookmarks, counters, the ...