On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages will get a new design. Here is a helpful video from the Social Networking Academy, and a list of what changes are coming your way.

1). Cover Photo – Some interesting restrictions have been placed on what you can and can’t have on your cover photo;
Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
  
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section. 
  
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features. 
  
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”.

2). Your Profile Picture which will initially be the top part of your avatar, must be square and at least 180px wide

3). You Can No Longer LAND on a Custom Tab!!! Welcome pages and tabs still exist, but you can no longer default to land on any tabs. As with the timeline on your profile your photos and apps show in the central section in boxes, which means we can add a nice looking graphic to our Welcome pages and tabs to encourage people to click on them. Here’s what FB say about the central boxes;

Photos, likes and apps are now at the top of your Page. Photos show in the first spot, but you can change the order of everything else so people see what matters most. You can show a maximum number of 12 apps, so make sure to put your most important ones first.

I have to say I’m really disappointed that you can’t land on your custom landing tabs anymore, but somewhat relieved that we still have them!

4). You Can Pin Posts to the Top of Your Wall!The main design is the same as your profile page so as with that you can now add posts at different dates in the past, you can feature your post by clicking the star so it covers the width of your page, or you can hide it from your page altogether, but the really cool feature is being able to pin specific posts to the top, kind of like a ‘sticky’ post in forums.

5). There’s a brand new admin panel from which you can see your notifications, new likes, insights and the new private messages that people can now send you from your page! From your admin panel you will also see the Manage button which gives you access to the main editing section of your page (Basic Info, Manage Permissions, Apps and so on). Not much has changed in there apart from the Manage Permissions section which no longer has the default landing tab section! – Boo!

Also from the admin panel, you can access Facebook ads, a function to share your page and to invite friends, plus access to Facebooks help section.

6). New Message Feature! I mentioned above messages, well now your fans can message you directly! The messages will show within your admin panel and you can respond from there.

7). Tab Pages are now BIGGER! I believe the official size is 760px, I’ll keep you posted!

8). You will AUTOMATICALLY get the new design on March 30th. So jump in there and make the most of it, because it’s coming whether you like it or not!

The RSS Basics
If you are new to the terms RSS or news feeds then you are in the right place, read on and find out a little more about them and how they may offer you or your business a new way of communicating.

RSS Feeds or news feeds are growing quickly and have become a major part of the Internet but many users don't understand what they are. They allow people to see when their favourite websites have added new content without actually having to go to that website, this can be done through simple, often free pieces of software named RSS readers.

The term RSS is short for "Rich Site Summary" but many people now refer to it as "Really Simple Syndication". It was mainly used by news groups and sites to quickly share and broadcast their news with people. This proved to be a huge benefit as not only could they reach a huge audience quickly, they found that user's integrated feeds into their own website, this has been shown by the success of the BBC news feeds.

How to start using RSS feeds for your self?
In order for you to receive the latest news on topics of interest to you, firstly, you need a newsreader to be able to view the RSS feed. There are many to choose from, some Internet browsers such as Firefox (our favourite at Blueprint IT) have a built in RSS reader but there are many stand alone pieces of software which are also free that will enable you to receive the latest news. We will use Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 as examples because they are very simple to use.

Once you have chosen your newsreader your ready to pick up news. Simply choose the websites with your favourite information on and if they have a news feed then all you have to do is subscribe to it (this is almost invariably free). You can subscribe to any RSS feeds by clicking on the orange RSS feed button symbol, this will allow you to receive all the news from that feed. Alternatively, some websites may not provide you with the RSS feed button but may provide you with a link, simply copy and paste this link into your news reader and you will be able to pick up the feed.

The RSS Feed will present you with a page full of news from the website that you chose. You have the option to subscribe to the RSS Feed, this will act like a bookmark that will let you visit the page at any time.

Alternatively, if you decided to use a standalone RSS Feed reader, you will automatically download the latest news through the software each time you open it.

There are many benefits to RSS Feeds to both business owners, customers and general internet users, it's just a quick and simple way to share or view news from your favourite sources with the minimum of effort.
By: Rob Jones