This box is probably not your friend. You go and spend the time conceptualizing the ultimate page to run on your Facebook page, that will completely captivate your audience. You spent time reading about FBML, and how it differs from HTML. You went and tried to create a static page, that would enable you to actually do business on your Facebook page.
And now you’re stuck with this grey box next to your page. Yuck.
If you are going to build custom pages on Facebook, it’s time to start thinking like a developer. You can’t think, “I’m going to build a page”, but rather, “I’m going to create a Facebook App.” It’s a hard transition, and one that throws people for a loop. Especially if you’ve been in web development for a while, but not in the programming world, you hear the word “App” and cringe. For Facebook, the term is a little more interchangeable.
In order to build a good custom page, you need to bite the bullet and verify your Facebook account with a mobile telephone number. Without doing this, you cannot become an app builder. (For those that think they are tricky, Google Voice numbers don’t work. Sorry, they want the real mobile number, tied to a carrier.) Once you are verified, you can start building Apps.
Before creating your custom page, you need to create your Privacy Policy, and your Terms of Service. I can hear you already, saying, “But I just want to build a simple web page!” It doesn’t matter. You need these two things created. Luckily, there are some decent example ones out there, if you search for them. You’ll also need a server to host these on. Facebook won’t accept your uploads; you need to be able to reference them via url. So, if you’re thinking that Facebook is going to be your only webpage, you are going to need a backup page, to run your app and these files.
Ok, so you’ve built your two text files, and now you want to start building your page. (Yes, please. That’s what this is about, right?) Using whatever building tool you want to, whether it is Dreamweaver, Amaya, or a simple text editor, go ahead, and get your page built, so that it can run on its own. You are going to do NO CODING on the Facebook page. (Very different from the old FBML you spent hours learning.) Your app needs to be able to run completely independent of Facebook.
Don’t worry about coming up with a fancy name for it, since Facebook only wants to see it as an “index.” file. You are going to tell Facebook where to find it on your server, and it will create the an iFrame for it. You log into developer, and create a new app. It’s here where you will assign it a name, give it 2 graphics, (one 16×16, the other 75×75) and enter in the relevant information from your server.
Then, all you have to do is go to the actual app, and click “Add App to Page”. Presto, you’ve got your custom website on your Facebook page. This entire process for someone with experience takes several hours, and for people who have never created a webpage, days of learning, so unless you have the time, it would probably be easier to ask a professional.