How to Build a Facebook App for Your Page
The following steps will take you through the process of creating an app for Facebook Messenger. However, there are several other products you can choose for your app. The following steps also require that you have a Facebook page set up.
What Is a Facebook App?
Developers build most of the common apps you’ll find on Facebook, via the Facebook Developers platform. Thousands of third-party apps are available to use via personal Facebook account that help connect you with other products and services. Select the blue Create App ID button when you’re done. For this particular tutorial, we will Skip the scenarios. For the purpose of this tutorial, we’re going to select Messenger. A GET request will be sent to your webhook. If you set everything up properly, your webhook settings will automatically be saved. An app (not to be confused with the similarly not-quite-a-full-application called an “applet”) is not really an application in the sense that Mac and Windows computer users know the term. Rather than installing a computer application (also known as software and programs) from a disk or a download onto your computer’s hard drive, you would use a Facebook app by running within your browser a— which takes up no space on your computer. For example, if you’re using an app to play Scrabble with a friend on Facebook, Facebook stores each move you make on its servers, not locally. The page updates when you log in again or otherwise refresh your browser. This is the core difference between a Facebook app and a conventional application.
What Is the Facebook Developers Platform?
Facebook launched the Facebook Developers platform in 2007, providing a framework that developers can use to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. This meant that apps could share user information with outside applications via an open API (application programming interface). The Facebook Developers platform provides a set of APIs and tools that enable third-party developers to integrate with the open graph — whether through applications on Facebook.com or external websites and devices.
Why Would You Create a Facebook App?
You might be wondering, what can your business use a game like Scrabble for? Very little, but games are not the only use of apps. Any entity that wants its name shared across a social network can use an app to generate brand recognition. Consider this scenario: You own a restaurant with its own Facebook page. Many people post mundane comments on the page’s posts, and that’s about it. The page has a fan base, but not very many customers feel encouraged enough to “like” it. Now imagine the page having an app that lists menu items — complete with photos that users can select and share. Instead of offering your fans boring status updates or links to your blog, an app can let that them share a more eye-catching view of what they just ate in your restaurant. It’s both easy and fun for fans to use, and in this way, you harness the value of social marketing.
Using the Facebook API
The Graph API is the core of the Facebook Developers platform, enabling developers to read from and write data into Facebook. The Graph API presents a simple, consistent view of the Facebook social graph, uniformly representing objects in the graph (e.g., people, photos, events, and pages) and the connections among them (e.g., friend relationships, shared content, and photo tags). Along with the application directory, this is the most powerful aspect of the Facebook platform for developers. Two features that Facebook developers often use to broaden their audiences are app invites and posts to newsfeed stories. Both tell Facebook users which of their friends participate in the app. An invite is an explicit question targeted at friends of the app user’s choice. On the other hand, the newsfeed option simply lets others know that a friend is using an app. Getting a user to send out invites is more difficult because such invites aren’t always welcome. However, if a user sends them to those who might be genuinely interested in the app, this can lead to signups. With the right incentives, marketing, and branding, apps on Facebook can spread like wildfire. Follow the instructions below to learn how to build your first one.
