How to Enable Facebook Timeline NOW!

One of the many new features Facebook announced this week at F8 is the new Facebook timeline.

Are you one who doesn't have it, but wish you did!? Here are a few easy steps to turn the timeline on. Note, as we all know Facebook likes to change things up on us. I am not guaranteeing this will work 48 hours from now. However, it is definitely working now.

Important Reminders:

The timeline is still in beta. Expect bugs. If you are one who expects things to be perfect then you might want to wait until the general launch. However, if you're a geek like me who believes bugs only make you stronger then go for it!
Also know that only people who are also developers will be able to see your new timeline. Everyone else will see the normal profile.
You also need to have a confirmed account with Facebook to complete the steps below. This means it needs to have been verified with a credit card or some other means, etc. If you have purchased ads from them in the past you should be good to go!

1. Sign in to Facebook like you always do.

2. Enable developer mode.

Type “developer” into the Facebook search box.
Click the result that has over a million users.
If you haven't used the developer app before you'll need to approve access.

3. Create a new app

Click add new App on the top right side
Enter an App display name and Namespace. Nobody will see this but you so name it anything you want.
Agree to the privacy policy

4. You should now be in your new app's namespace you just created (congrats!)

You don't need to change anything in the main part of this page.

5. Add the Open Graph

Click on Open Graph on the left hand column

6. Define an action and object for your app.

Enter something such as “read” a “book”. I entered “learn about” and “ZoomFactor“.
Click the “Get Started” button

7. Finish setting up your new app

You can change the default settings if you want. However, it is not required that you change anything.
Simply save changes on each of the new screens that pop up.
Remember only you will see these changes so it really doesn't matter.
On the final page click “Save and Finish” to save your app.

8. Check out your new timeline!

Within a few minutes you should be able to see your new Facebook timeline on your personal profile.

Congrats!

9. Take the tour and edit away.

I suggest you take the tour and explore the timeline before you dig right in.

10. Edit your cover photo.

This is probably the first thing most folks are going to do. The cover photo is the big photo you see at the top of my page as shown below. You can easily upload a new photo or use one of the photos already in any one of your albums.

Since I was enjoying reminiscing a bit I loaded the photo from our ribbon cutting November, 2009. Hard to believe less than two years ago I was just starting on this amazing social entrepreneurship journey. Facebook, Twitter, and many other tools have been a big part of our success. The best thing the tools have done though is connect us with amazing people across the globe. Wow, I simply can't imagine my life without so many of you.

It's pretty cool we can now walk back in time and experience pieces of our journey that meant so much to us at the time. I think it will be different than the next two years as now I know there is a timeline. Will people be more cognizant of what they update, knowing it's going down in history? For those that know me, you know my answer to that question…”I am who I am.”

I had a lot of fun going back in time and viewing the first 43 friends I had on Facebook. I originally joined Facebook because my employer at the time, Sun Microsystems required us to to join Facebook for a corporate marketing leadership training event we were attending. What great reminders of how far we've come and how much this technology has become part of our lives.