Third party developers for the facebook f8 platform have been asking for test accounts for some time, and now the facebook team have finally listened to the users and created them. This may not seem such a big deal to many but there have been cases where developers have set up accounts in fake names for testing or development purposes (rightly needed to develop their applications) and then have been banned by facebook for breaking the terms of service. Sometimes developers have even lost control of their application that they have developed because their account was shut down.
This is great for the developers but also for the facebook community as it says that facebook is listening to their developers and users. It took them a few months but better late than never!
If you are a developer, here are some details to get you started (from the facebook developer forums:
"You can now make officially sanctioned test accounts
Full details are posted on the wiki here: http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php?title=Test_Accounts&action but here is the short version of the important parts:
To make a test account, register on Facebook as you normally would. Then, when logged in to the test account, go to this URL: http://www.facebook.com/developers/become_test_account.php
A few important things to note:
- Test accounts won't be able to see real Facebook users and vice versa. You can make an existing account a test account, but if that account is friends with a real account, each user will disappear from the other’s list of friends.
- Our customer support team won't disable test accounts for being fake, but test accounts may be disabled for violating any other reason that a real account would be disabled.
- Only real accounts may be listed as application owners. In other words, you may not list a test account as the developer of an app."
Facebookster - Need a Facebook application? Well you've reached the right place. Usually in typical companies you will find information about structure, policies, and ideologies. At *Facebookster*.com we focus on one thing: *Get it done*.
www.facebookster.net
Facebookster - We can provide a full range of facebook application strategy,design, development and marketing for your business. Our service offerings will allow you to maximize and leverage the facebook social graph of 32+ Million users.
We have been providing new media strategy, consulting and development for Fortune 100 Clients & Start-ups for several years. Our team of consultants, project managers and programmers are intimately familiar with the DNA of facebook and how to build an application that meets your business requirements.
www.facebookster.com