All Facebook Pages were upgraded to the new design (including Timeline) on March 30th, 2012 and whether you like change or not, we want you to make the best of your business page. 

The new Facebook Pages design gives you the ability to:

• Add a unique cover photo to the top of your page
• Star stories to make them bigger
• Pin posts to the top of your page
• Add milestones to mark key events
• Arrange views and apps below your cover

What is Facebook Timeline?

It is a chronological history of your activity on Facebook.  With Facebook Timeline, you can build an interactive profile on the world's largest social network.  

Quick Guide to New Features:

Logo Image
Your Logo Image should be 180 x 180 pixels for it to show up in full and will appear as 32 x 32 pixels on Facebook feeds when you post comments, pictures etc. 

Cover Image
Every page now has a public cover image which is the first thing people see at the top of your page.  The cover image should be an engaging and unique image which, ideally, should express what your page is about.

This might be a photo of a popular menu item, album artwork or a picture of people using your product.  Be creative and experiment with images your audience responds well to. 

Tips:

• The maximum size is 851 x 315 pixels
• Your Cover Image can be changed at anytime

NOTE: Your logo will partially cover a part of your cover image so bear this in mind for the design. 

Your page's cover image should follow some simple rules.  It must NOT include the following:

• Price or purchase information, such as '40% off' or 'Download it at our website'
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address, telephone 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', 'Tell your friends' or arrows pointing to the 'Like' button
• False, deceptive or misleading information, and must not infringe on third parties' intellectual property
• Encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines

About
Under your cover image is the 'About' section which highlights the most relevant information about your business from your page's current information tab depending on what page category you have chosen.  This information can be changed at anytime by any administrator of the page.

Views and Apps
Located to the right of the About section you will see four links to different parts of your page - Views and Apps.  Click on each thumbnail to be taken to that part of your page.   

Tips:

• The default view only show the first 4 apps so make these the most important for your page  
• The first app will always be photos
• You can arrange the other 3 in any order you wish
• Visitors can see up to 12 apps by clicking the dropdown arrow to the right
• If you have built your own custom app like our 'We're Mobile' app, you can add your own custom image.

Weekly Pinned Post:
Each week you can feature 1 important story at the top of your Page by clicking on the post's edit button and choosing 'Pin to Top'.  This post will be pinned to the top and be the one of the first things people see when they visit and will be unpinned after 7 days.

Starred/Hidden Posts:
You can highlight a post on your page at anytime by clicking the star icon on the top right.  This post will then expand to full width across your page's timeline. To reverse this, just click the star icon again.

To hide a post on your page click on the post's edit button and choose 'Hide from Page'.  This post will no longer be seen by visitors to your page however it can by seen by all administrators of the page in the 'Activity Log'.

Milestones:
To highlight important moments in your business, add a Milestone from the status composer section.  Enter in the milestone details including date, image etc. and this milestone will appear full width in the correct position in your page's timeline. 

Changing Post Dates:
You can change post dates at anytime by clicking the post's edit button and choosing the 'Change Date' option.

Admin Panel:
Found above your Cover Image, the Admin Panel helps you keep up to date with your Page's activity.  From there you can view your 'Activity Log' to see all your Page's posts (hidden and non hidden), respond to private messages, use Facebook as your page, edit your page, build an audience and gain help.

Tip: To gain access click on 'Admin Panel' to right of cover image.  To hide click on 'Hide'.

Additional Help:

Learn Facebook Pages Video Tutorial

Facebook Pages Help

We hope this brief guide has helped you start to make the most of the new Facebook Page design but if you have any questions, comments or need help setting up your page the ‘Right’ way get in touch by emailing guernsey@thebestof.co.uk