You're
probably asking yourself ‘what in the world is a Facebook Sandbox page' (as
dubbed by Jim Belosic of Short Stack). No it's not your kid's
favorite play thing at the park. A Sandbox in the Facebook realm is a Facebook
Page where businesses can install and test their Facebook apps.
These Facebook pages are kept from fans and clients using a creative,
non-relevant name.
As a
Facebook Page manager for clients you will find many benefits of a Sandbox, or
Test, page. A Sandbox page gives you the opportunity to view the Facebook App
in real time where it can be approved or edited without Fans having to see all
the ‘bloopers.' Here are five reasons why as a Facebook Manager you will thrive
from a Facebook Sandbox page.
Avoid errors. Bloopers make you and your client
look bad. With a Facebook Sandbox you and your co-workers can really see your
Apps drafted on Facebook. Here, any grammatical or spelling errors can be
picked up before publishing your work on the clients actual Facebook Page.
Not all browsers are created equal. At Hudson Horizons, we use PC's with
multiple browsers from Safari to Chrome.
We check and double-check that all of our Facebook Apps and sites work on all
possible browsers. When you use a Facebook Sandbox Page you can do just that.
Don't forget about mobile browsers!
Broken link = broken app. Your Facebook App needs to be perfect. It cannot have any broken links
or images. Managers and team members should take some time to check all the
‘clickables' on the Facebook App to ensure they work properly and lead the user
to the correct site on the web.
Perfect for practicing. A Facebook Sandbox page gives the
page manager time and space for practicing the App's posting and sharing
functions. Test the App on all browsers, click everything and see how it will
appear on your Timeline once shared. I would also recommend involving other
team members to test these functions - the more eyes that glance over a project
the more errors will get picked up.
No more ‘white-label' service. Most generated Facebook Apps have a ‘white-label' service on third party apps so users can't see or customize the backend of the
product. This is great for the designers who don't want their Apps ‘remade,'
but for the Facebook Page Manager it's troublesome. The Facebook Sandpage
eliminates this issue by providing trial and error space the Facebook Page
Managers' needs.
Creating a
Sandbox Page or a test page as we
call them at Hudson
Horizon's is a simple and great tool for Client Facebook managers. You
create a test page just as you would create any Fanpage; besides it is simple
and it's free. How do you check for errors on the Facebook Pages you manage?