Introducing New Application Directory and App Profile Pages

In the nearly two years since Facebook Platform opened to developers, over 52,000 applications have gone live in the Application Directory. Ensuring that applications are trustworthy, meaningful (whether for entertainment or utility value), and easy to find is paramount to developer success, user engagement, and helping the ecosystem as whole to thrive. Today, with applications of all types – on Facebook, Facebook Connect websites, mobile and desktop applications – the need for a centralized and efficient directory is growing. As part of our latest steps toward improving application discovery, we'll be launching a new Application Directory and the inaugural Verified Applications, in the coming weeks. This new directory will include several features including:

• Improved Categories: We designed the existing categories before Platform launched in 2007. It's time for a refreshed list that more accurately represents the diversity of social applications.
• Updated application Profile Pages: We are updating application About Pages to look like public Profile Pages. This includes the tabbed structure of the profile that will enable you to communicate to fans of your Profile Page in their News Feed, making it easier for you to send out updates on the latest application and community news, such as events, videos, and photos.
• Visibility for Verified Apps: With the new Application Directory, you'll also see the first of Facebook Platform's Verified Apps. These apps will be prioritized higher in the directory and will appear alongside a green check mark in the directory and a verified badge on the application's new Profile Page.
• Stream of Application Stories: On the homepage of the new directory, users will see a stream of stories that their friends are generating from applications. This stream will expose applications in a socially-relevant way and help the millions of users who visit the Application Directory each month stay updated with their friends' activity on Facebook. The stream serves as another channel for application discovery, allowing -- for the first time -- users to see what applications their friends use alongside editorial picks.

Getting Your Application Ready

You can take a few steps now to get ready for these launches:

1. Update your category and subcategory selections for your application. Navigate to your application in the Developer application and click the Edit About Page link. Then click the Application Information section, update your category selections and save.
2. Update your application's new Profile Page. Navigate to your application's current About Page and change the domain to http://www.beta.facebook.com. Click the Edit Application link and change how users will see your page. When we launch the new application Profile Pages, all users will see the new design at the same time.
3. Submit your application to the Application Verification Program, so it's included in the early waves of the Verified Apps that will get added after we launch. In the Developer application, navigate to your application and click the Submit Application for Verification link.
   (Note: The application form will go live at 5:00PM Pacific time.)

If you have any questions, ask them in our special forums. We hope you are as excited as we are for these changes!