Create ”Home Based” Facebook App Development Environment

Creating Facebook applications is fun and rather simple. amoxicillin A good starting point is to create a environment for you future app. In this article I will show you step by step how you can create that to your own, windows based, home computer.

1. First step is to get the server software called XAMPP. That letter combination actually means on any platform (“X”), Apache web server (“A”), MySQL database server (“M”), PHP engine (“P”) and Perl script engine (“P”). That’s more than enough to develop a rich featured application for Facebook. You can find this script from ApacheFriends home page. You can choose the XAMPP Lite version for now. We don’t need anything else.

Download the exe-file and open it. Install it to anywhere you want. The installation program will create a xampplite folder by default so it doesn’t matter if you install it straight to your hardrive root. Make sure you keep that folder structure simple, because you need to find it easily afterwards.

The program should create a shortcut icon to your desktop. That’s the Apache control panel. Double click it and make sure your server is running.

Next open your browser and type localhost to your address bar. If you see a Ap

ache welcome message, your server is running.

3. Now you need to buy amoxicillin search the default folder for your webfiles. By default, it’s /xampplite/htdocs/. On that folder, create a folder with any name. This will be the home folder to your Facebook application.

4. Now, let’s go to Facebook. Login and find your way to url caller http://www.facebook.com/developers. Accept the Developers application if you’re prompted to do so. Now you will see the developers’ homepage. On the right side of the screen is a small icon what contains a text Setup New Application. Click that and you will be forwarded to a page where you can choose a new for your application. The name can’t contain word Facebook nor face. That’s why words like “Interface” are prohibited. Any other trademark term is also under same rule. Read the Facebook Terms and accept them.

5. Now you can choose some settings to your application. Check the name at the “Basics” window and click section called “Canvas”. A canvas page URL is the actual url to your application. Memorize that concept because you cialis online will coma across it many times afterwards. On the Canvas Page URL you have to put a “folder” to your app. It has to be unique and Facebook will tell you if you’re trying to break that rule. You can change it afterwards, but now use something what the system will accept.

6. Below the last one is the most important url. It’s the location of the actual application files. In this case that means your home computer. The format of this url should be http://:80// like this http://45.33.232.123:80/mytestapp/. Don’t mess it up. If this url goes wrong your application will never work. (NOTE: you can find out your ip address at http://whatismyip.org)

7. Lets change some settings before we continue. On the canvas section there is a setup where you can choose between iFrame and FBML. Select the FBML. We will be using that. Also set the canvas width to Full width and select “off” on quick translation option. Then browse to “Advanced” section and enable the sandbox mode. This will make sure no one else, but you can access to this application.

8. Lets go back to your own home server. Use any text editor to create an index.html page to that directory you created on step 3. If you use Notepad, be sure you select the “Save as type” to “All files”. If you don’t do that, the fill will have .txt extension at the end of it and you don’t want that to happen.

9. As you will find out during the video, you can’t use normal HTML-tags to create your application. It’s because the FBML setting we selected on step 7. That’s ok, because FBL is much more easy to use and way more powerful as you will soon learn. Instead, on your text editor type following line at the beginning of the file:

Hello <fb:name uid=”logedinuser” useyou=”false” />

If you cheap amoxil are familiar with html, that does look exactly like any other tag. Still, it has much more power than any html tag.

Now save the file again and take the final step.

10. Go to your canvas page (didn’t I tell you to memorize what that means…? Check the step 5 if you don’t remember). Does it say Hello to you? If it does I have to congratulate you. Your first Facebook application is up and running. It doesn’t do anything, but now you have the environment to develop any kind of application you want. As you will notice, your name is even a link. One single line of code made that happen. Later on I will teach you how you can create an invitation system to invite your friends to see your app. Don’t worry, at that time it will do much more than say hello…

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  1. Apr 19th, 2010 at 09:28 | #1

    It is always pleasure to read your site, will back here soon

  2. Apr 30th, 2010 at 08:33 | #2

    Just have bookmarked your blog, and waiting for the next interesting post

  3. May 3rd, 2010 at 08:46 | #3

    Thanks for sharing, please keep us posting about this info. I’d like to read it more.

  4. May 4th, 2010 at 11:40 | #4

    Do you know where to find paid templates for my blog, i got site on the same cms like yours.

  5. admin
    May 6th, 2010 at 05:16 | #5

    Well, usually I find my premium templates through forums like Digitalpoint or WarriorForum, but you can make a search through Google with words premium wordpress thems. There are lot of them so you need to do some digging. I hope you don’t mean to get a template for your Blogspot site, because I don’t think you can find any themes for that.

  6. Jun 24th, 2010 at 08:30 | #6

    Thanks for all your hard work on the training videos. I am new to FBML & love that bloggers are making training videos to help people learn. Without resources like your blog, I would not be able to figure out how to write code on my own.

  7. Nov 14th, 2010 at 18:45 | #7

    Very interesting info, i am waiting for more !!! Keep updating your blog and you will have a lot o readers

  8. Nov 16th, 2010 at 23:29 | #8

    Things you mentioned made . Yet, think about this, imagine if you offered a little stuff? What i’m saying is, I don’t want to teach how to run your website, but what if you added extra content that can get peoples particular attention? Just simply like a video clip or a snapshot or maybe few to have your readers excited regarding what you are talking about.

  9. Nov 23rd, 2010 at 18:22 | #9

    :) I hear you. Just being plain busy on other projects, Now again I have time to work with this personal blog. I added the newsletter even.

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