Do you have an idea for a Facebook application? With FBML Essentials, you'll learn how to build it quickly using the Facebook Markup Language (FBML) and other easy-to-use tools in the site's framework. If you can develop a website with HTML, writing a Facebook application with the help of this book will be a breeze. Of course, Facebook is not just another website. Any applications you write for it will have a potential audience of 16 million dedicated users. It's not just another social networking site, either. Under the surface, Facebook is pretty sophisticated, with a development toolkit that includes it's own modified version of HTML -- FBML -- to customize the look and feel of your Facebook applications. With FBML Essentials, you not only learn how to get started with this toolkit, you also get a complete reference on every FBML tag Facebook has ever written, with examples of how each tag works and advice on the best ways to use these tags in your code. This book includes:

• A walkthrough of a sample Facebook application

• Design rules for using images, CSS, JavaScript, and forms

• Specific chapters on tags -- authorization tags, logic tags, user/group tags, profile-specific tags, and more

• Messaging and alerts using FBML

• Creating forms with FBML

• Facebook navigation

• Notifications and requests

• Dynamic FBML attributes, including MockAJAX

• How to test your FBML code

• A chapter on FBJS, Facebook's version of JavaScript

If you want to try your hand at writing a Facebook application, you have a willing audience, an easy-to-use toolkit, and the perfect guide to get you started. FBML Essentials will help you take your idea from conception to working application in no time.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 5 Ratings

Totally obsolete - 2009-10-29
Reviewer Rating:
Today (October 28, 2009) I have received from Amazon this book and the book Facebook Cookbook by Jay Goldman.
These two books might have been perfect in an earlier time but today they are utterly useless. The facebook interface has totally changed from what is described in those two books. I am a very experienced programmer (Java, C, C++, Objective C, HTML,PHP, Javascript , CSS and more) but here I am totally lost!

FBML Essentials - 2008-10-09
Reviewer Rating:
Since its inception, Facebook has been a cultural phenomenon. Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of Facebook like sites have sprung up in a very short time. To say the least, social networking has changed the way that we use our computers and the way we spend our free time.

I picked up a copy of FBML Essentials mainly because I was curious. I had heard that FBML was quite easy to learn, that essentially if you had worked with HTML or XHTML you already had good foundational knowledge.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. FBML Essentials provides everything that a programmer would need to make a new Facebook application. The author takes the reader right from setting up a designer account at Facebook through creating specific bits of code.

I began reading the material but quickly decided to play around a bit. At first, I simply replicated the code bits in the book. Very quickly, I began seeing how I could create my own applications using this information.

VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! - 2008-09-04
Reviewer Rating:
Are you an experienced developer who wants to get started in the new world of Facebook development? If you are, then this book is for you. Author Jesse Stay, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that is intended to be your guide to perhaps the most important and basic components of the platform: FBML.

Stay, begins by showing you how to create an entire simple application by using FBML by itself. Then, the author covers a few things to be aware of when designing your Facebook application in FBML. He also covers the details of FBML, every single tag available, and how each tag works. Finally, the author discusses FBJS: Facebook's own set of Javascript libraries.

The intent of this most excellent book, is to get you to the point where you, as a Facebook developer, can decide when FBML makes sense for your application. But, more importantly, this book helps you determine when you are better off using the Facebook API.

First Book I've Bought Because Of A Negative Review - 2010-01-29
Reviewer Rating:
I purchased this book after reading a review calling this book "Totally obsolete". That reviewer has lost credibility with me, but I will admit there are portions in the book that restrict it to a period of time in the past (I feel authors should avoid referencing the future with expectation, unless they are planning a revised edition to follow those dates). This may be what the one reviewer focused on while ignoring the real context of the book. There is also a major resource link referenced I found not working, but these types of things are beyond an author's control (unless they are controlling that domain... hmmm...).

Anyway, except for a few things that date the content of this book I found it to be a solid addition to my reference library and as I begin to develop Facebook Applications it will be one of my resources to help me determine the best development route (FBML vs API).

I do appreciate the author's interests in reviews of his book and in truth it was his statements (not solely the negative review) that encouraged me to purchase the book for a closer look.

To quote Rodney Rumford; "Jesse has given you the direction to properly use FMBL with this great book. Use it often and it will save you hours of frustration." I have to agree.

Excellent Resource - 2009-01-20
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great little book. Stay has put together a solid reference that exceeds what is available at the facebook developer wiki while at the same time not going overboard with lots of unnecessary extras. This is FBML with a little bit of context. Not much more or less. A great launching point for anyone who would like to tap into the largest global social network in existence.

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