Facebook has finally ended all the rumors and has set a date to change the Facebook pages.  You have the option to change your page now, but by March 11, 2011 all pages will be changed to the new page.  I just go ahead and change it now and have the fun of being an explorer (smile).  That is at least my mindset.  Here is what I found so far:

1)     You can show off your latest photos that you posted to your wall or that you tagged your page in on a nice picture strip. The photos from your fans will not appear in here.  If you don’t like a picture, you can just roll over it and “X” it.  This will hide the picture from view.  I really like this feature: it is more colorful and gives me the opportunity to show off some of my affiliations and certifications in a very prominent place.  It really catches your eye, doesn’t it? 

2)      The “edit page” button is now on the right side.  I looked for it (smile).

3)      The navigation is not on tabs anymore, but on the left side, just like in the profile.  It should be intuitive, but people got so used to the navigation being on top, that this will be a change to get used to.

4)      Facebook gives now two wall filters: you can show posts by your page or the top posts by everyone.  That way, you can show the most interesting stories first.  Page admins have two more filters: most-recent and hidden posts.  You can set the default filter under edit page. 

5)      You can now use Facebook “as a page.”  This is a great feature to give your page more exposure.  Normally, you would visit and comment on other pages as you, but now you can do it “as your page.” This means, that the link, Facebook adds when you comment will not lead back to your profile, but to your page.  Can you see the possibilities? 

Additionally, you can get notifications for new posts and new comments via email with this feature.  That is a great addition. 

Here is more you can do:

-          See activities from pages you like in your news feed

-          Like other pages as your page

Just click on the “Use Facebook as ‘your page name’” button on the right side to use this feature.  If you want to switch back to just you, go to account and select your name.

6)      You can feature the pages that your page likes in the featured pages section on your left side.  You can edit this section through “edit page” > “Featured” > “Add featured pages” > “Add featured likes” > “Save”

7)      You can also feature admins of the page.  This works the same way then the pages you like, you just click on the “Add featured page owners” button instead of the “Add featured pages” button.

8)       The profile picture is now only 180 x 540 px, instead 200 x 600 px.  So, if you have a banner in that size as your profile picture, it might get cut.

9)      You can change the category of your page.  Just follow these steps: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=19873

10)   The info box that was under your picture is not there anymore.  Instead, the text is now displayed in your info tab. 

11)   There is now a “moderation blacklist” in which you can add keywords that you don’t want to have on your page.

12)   The FBML application will retire March 11, 2011.  For everybody who has the FBML app installed, it will continue to work.  For those who want to install it, you better do it now, because after March 11, 2011 it will not be available anymore.