Facebook App

We just completed our Facebook Application, with help from Cliff Landis from Valdosta State University (thanks, Cliff!).

As many of you know, the LibraryH3lp widget is composed mostly of JavaScript and runs in an iframe. Facebook does not allow iframes on Wall pages, and the space allocated to applications on Wall pages is pretty narrow to begin with. It's hard to follow a chat in a widget that is too small.

So, our application shows the Facebook user your library's online or offline status, using images you provide. If you're online, clicking the image takes the user to your widget. Your widget is on a Facebook Canvas page, where iframes are A-OK, and where the widget is nice and roomy.

Detailed documentation (larger view here), with abundant screen shots:



Brief instructions, for those that don't want to watch the detailed version above:

1. Visit the app page.
   
2. Click "Add to Page" button.
3. Navigate to the Page in question.
4. Click "Edit Page."
5. Find "LibraryH3lp" app and click little pencil icon in top right
   corner. Pick Edit and then Allow.
6. Provide queue URL for your widget (it can be fully customized) and
   online/offline images.
7. Click to Allow Constant Authorization.
8. App should be in your Boxes section now.
9. Move to Wall tab if desired.

Now, if you really want your chat widget to be directly on your Wall page, you can still use a Meebo Me widget, but the user won't be able to tell if you're online or offline until they click. Meebo Me widgets are Flash applications. My wonderful colleague Chad Haefele long ago documented how to put Meebo Me widgets in Facebook. You can gateway Meebo Me widgets into LibraryH3lp queues.

With either approach, chat is one click away. Summary:

1. With the LibraryH3lp app, the user can tell if you're online or offline with no clicking. If you're online, a click takes them to a separate page containing a nice big widget.
   
2. With the Meebo Me widget, the user has to click to see if you're online or offline, but then they chat directly from the Wall tab. Caveat: requires Flash, and widgets on the Wall tab will be very narrow, which can make the chat harder to follow. It is also possible to place a Meebo Me widget in its own tab, such as "IM Your Library," where space is not so tight.
   

One more thing. Because the Facebook platform is really very locked down, we can only show visitors your presence on page load (no polling for presence changes). If you were online at their page load, and you go offline in the meantime, they'll see your newly-offline status on the widget page. If they try to chat anyway, they'll get "chat is offline" in response.

Enjoy!