All Facebook Pages get Timeline
All Facebook Pages are getting a mandatory Timeline update today. I have confirmed with Facebook that the update process has started, though the company couldn't give me a time for when it will end. Late last month, Facebook announced Timeline for Pages and started offering the update to Page administrators. While Timeline is mandatory, Page administrators have had about a month to curate their Page and were able to push out Timeline at any time they wanted. Today, that time is up.
As I warned everyone yesterday, all remaining Facebook Pages that haven't upgraded to Timeline will get it starting at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM PST).
I contacted Facebook this morning with the following questions:
Is the update still happening at 11:00 AM PST? Will all Pages get Timeline immediately at this time or will the rollout happen throughout the day? Will there be an announcement when the update starts? Will there be an announcement when it is done? Is there a date for when Timeline will be pushed to all profiles?
"The update will start at 11am PST today and it's rolling out throughout the day," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "Don't have a timeframe to share on when everyone will have it."
I will try to get an update from Facebook when all Pages have Timeline. If you see confirmation of this, do let me know. Update on March 31: "This is now complete," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
Here are the features Facebook wants to highlight in Timeline for Pages:
- Cover Photo: Businesses and organizations can now add a cover photo to the top of their Page.
- Friend Activity: When someone first visits a Page, they may see friends' recent posts spotlighted as friend activity. People will also see how many of their friends are connected to a Page.
- Larger Stories, Milestones, and Page Timeline: The new Page design allows Page owners to tell stories through bigger photos and milestones that can include a date and other content.
- Pinned Posts: Organizations can pin a post to keep a story at the top of a Page for up to seven days.
- Admin Panel: The Admin panel is a new way for Page administrators to track their performance and to respond to private messages from people (Facebook started testing Private Messages for Pages two months ago).
- Activity Log: Page administrators have access to a log of their Page activity, including tools to easily highlight, hide or delete posts and change the date of a post.
If you are a Page administrator, you can see tips from others about moving to Timeline on this thread: Facebook Marketing Solutions. You should also check out facebook.com/about/pages and the new eight-page Facebook Pages guide (PDF).
Two months ago, Facebook started rolling out Timeline to all its users. Facebook has yet to give a date for when Timeline for profiles will be pushed out to everyone. There are fewer Pages than there are profiles, and the backlash from users is greater than it is from businesses, so the company is taking more time with the Timeline update for profiles.
Update on March 31: Facebook confirmed with me that all Facebook Pages have been upgraded to Timeline.
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