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Inside Facebook

Platform Update: Custom Date Format, Prohibiting Photostrip Manipulation

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 07:41 PM PST

This week’s Platform Update on the Developers Blog included the release of a new customizable date format for applications, and the explicit prohibition of apps the violate the Facebook Platform Policies by allowing users to manipulate a friend’s Photostrip. It also included reminders about several other recent releases and announcements, including iframes for Page tab applications, iframe age range objects, and JSGameBench for testing browser performance.

Developers can now use the Graph API to set a custom date format for their applications. The string &date_format=[format] uses a PHP date function-format.

For example, to modify the time format of an Event, developers would call:

<?php     $date_format = "F%20j%20Y,%20g:i%20a";   $graph_url = "http://graph.facebook.com/331218348435&date_format="     . $date_format;    $event = json_decode(file_get_contents($graph_url));    echo '<pre>';   print_r($event);   echo '</pre>';  ?>

Instead of using ISO-8601 formatting or a UNIX timestamp, this example prints start_time and end_time in the string format:

 [start_time] => March 14 2010, 9:00 pm  [end_time] => March 15 2010, 12:30 am

This change should clear up some of the complications and confusions Facebook has had with date formatting. It recently fixed a number of bugs and moved to a timezone-less UTC format for Events.

Facebook also clarified its policy on applications that manipulate the Photostrip of recently tagged photos that is present on both user profiles and Pages. Applications such as BannerBuzz and Profile Banner that facilitate the spammy practice of tagging a friend in multiple photos  in which they don’t appear in order to turn their Photostrip into a continuous banner violate the Facebook Platform Policies, and are “subject to enforcement”.

Developers sometimes operate in a policy gray area by taking advantage of new features in ways that aren’t explicitly prohibited. These developers need to carefully weigh the risk of having their applications shut down when considering how to allocate production resources. They should also create contingency plans for how their apps could become more policy compliant in preparation for being given a short deadline to change or be removed from the Platform.

On a lighter note, the Developers Blog unveiled a finished logo (seen above) for Operation Developer Love, Facebook’s campaign to improve its relationship with third-parties working on the Platform.

Highlights This Week From the Inside Network Job Board: Ubisoft, NaturalMotion, Bulbstorm & More

Posted: 12 Feb 2011 12:00 PM PST

The Inside Network Job Board is dedicated to providing you with the best job opportunities in the Facebook Platform and social gaming ecosystem.

Here are this week's highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at Ubisoft, NaturalMotion, Bulbstorm, Nextive, Digital Chocolate,Disney, and 6waves.

Listings on the Inside Network Job Board are distributed to readers of Inside Facebook and Inside Social Games through regular posts and widgets on the sites. Your open positions are being seen by the leading developers, product managers, marketers, designers, and executives in the Facebook Platform and social gaming industry today.

søndag den 13. februar 2011 at 07.21