Last week, Facebook converted all fan pages to the new Timeline layout that they have been talking about for some time. There are mixed feelings about the design, and how it will even work with corporate and non-profit sites, as it seems to be targeted towards the personal Facebook page. But be that as it may, it is here now for our fan pages, and we have no choice.

With Timeline comes many new features and the moving around of the old ones. A big feature of the new look is what Facebook calls the cover photo, an almost 900-pixel-wide photo that sits at the top of your fan page. You have probably seen some great examples of cover photos in use. And you’re probably excited to get working on yours, too. As you start to plan your attack, please keep these things in mind.

A Good Example

If you ignore it, it will not go away. The cover image is live now. Even if you haven’t set one up yet. There is now a space at the top of your fan page (in case you haven’t visited it in a while) and it’s waiting for your creativity. People visiting your fan page have probably seen cover images on other pages and are wondering where yours is. Why don’t you set apart some time this week to get it done?
Your cover image is not your profile image. It may be tempting to put up a huge image of your logo or even the front of your church. Your profile image is for things like that; who you are or how people recognize you online. Your cover image, however is your chance to get a bit creative and show things that interest you and your organization, or maybe what you care about.
Hold on….There are some rules. When designing your cover photo you may be tempted to use that space as more than a photo. Some have wanted to use that prime real estate for information or links to their other Social Media sites. According to Facebook’s guidelines, this type of cover photo is not allowed. Be sure to check out the rules before investing time or money into that cool new look.
Looks Good-- But Not Allowed

So, when designing your cover photo, or having a designer do it for you, keep in mind these guidelines as well. They may just save you some trouble. Have you added a cover photo already? Post a link below. We’d love to see it!

» Comments (3)

How to Reset Firefox

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Len Mason

So, somehow, my Firefox browser got hijacked by a Russian search engine company. They became my homepage, they added themselves to my drop down of search engines, and they even rewrote some files in the Firefox config to become the default search engine when I typed a phrase in the URL field. I guess that’s one way to get your name out there. And I won’t be sharing their name so you won’t be tempted to check them out. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you!

But let’s say it has. Or let’s say you have been tinkering around in Firefox and have changed a lot of settings and just want to go back to simpler times, when Firefox was fresh out of the box. Well, you can! Here’s how for PC.
Make sure Firefox is closed. You will not get the desired results if a browser window is open while following these steps.

Click “Start” and then “Run….”
In the dialogue box, type, “firefox -safe-mode,” making sure that there is a space after “firefox.” This will put Firefox into Safe Mode, which temporarily disables all custom settings, themes and extensions.
Choose the items you want to restore and reset by checking the boxes.
To make these changes permanent, click “Make Changes and Restart.”