Facebook Cookbook - Jay Goldman [51]
FBML Test Console
Found at http://developers.facebook.com/tools.php?fbml, the FBML Test Console lets you choose where your FBML will occur (narrow profile box, wide profile box, canvas, email, notification, request, feed title, feed body, and mobile) and lets you enter some FBML that will be rendered from the logged-in user’s perspective (and shown in HTML source form).
Feed Preview Console
Found at http://developers.facebook.com/tools.php?feed, the Feed Preview Console is a really quick way to preview what a given story will look like in a user’s News and Mini-Feeds. This is critical to making sure your feed items will make effective use of the social graph, so spend time in here tweaking to get them right.
Discussion
All three consoles use the Facebook session from your browser, so they’ll work from the perspective of the logged-in user. If you want to see how different code will be seen by different users, use more than one browser and log into test accounts in the others (see Creating a Test Account). It’s pretty easy to tweak the code in your main account and then copy and paste it into the console in other browsers to double-check.
Developer Forums: Help!
Problem
I’ve been through this book and I’ve read through the Wiki, but I’m really stuck and nothing is working. Help!
Solution
Gotham has the bat symbol, Metropolis has Superman, and we have the Developer Forums. Whether you’re really stuck or are a super-talented dev master with knowledge pouring out your ears, the Forums are a great place to meet other developers, ask questions, and get help. You’ll find them at http://forum.developers.facebook.com.
It’s also worth checking to see when the next Facebook Developer Garage is happening near you, since these events are like being in the middle of a real-world forum with real people who can answer your questions (and who you can then buy drinks for!). Keep an eye on the Developer Garage Calendar at http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Garage_Calendar.
Discussion
Don’t forget to contribute back to the community! If you ask a question in the forums and get a helpful answer, make sure you come back when you’ve grown your developer chops and help out others who are just finding their footing. Also, if you’re new to the world of online forums and discussion boards, spend a little time looking through the forums before you post to get a feel for the right tone and content, and to make sure that no one else has already asked your question and received an answer.
Facebook Bug Squashing
Problem
I’ve found an honest-to-goodness bug in Facebook Platform. Now what?
Solution
Platform bugs are actually very rare, so first off you should pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Then you should hit up the Facebook bug tracking system at http://bugs.developers.facebook.com/.
Discussion
The Facebook bug tracking system is really Bugzilla with a prettier face. For those of you not familiar with Bugzilla, it’s an open source bug tracker developed by the Mozilla Foundation and used by them to track defects in all of their products. It’s not the most intuitive application but it is incredibly powerful, and Facebook has done a good job of cleaning up the user interface while still maintaining the irreverent humor Bugzilla is known for (try doing a search that returns no bugs).
One of the most powerful tools within the system is the ability to save searches, and you’ll find that your shiny new Bug Tracker account comes with a predefined “My Bugs” search, which is accessible in the footer of every page. Once you’ve done a search, you’ll find a “Remember search as” option at the bottom of the page,