Indeed, you can customize both the look and the content of your Timeline to an almost obsessive degree.

For starters, you can change the “cover” photo that dominates the page, as well pick and choose your “About me” factoids, juggle your “favorites” tiles, and either highlight or hide specific Timeline posts.

Perhaps the most addictive Timeline pastime of all is adding and curating “Life Events,” such as moving to a new town, earning a degree, hitting your ideal weight, or any other pride-worthy personal milestone.

Read on for six ways to take charge of your Timeline, starting with…

1. Add or edit your cover photo

The first thing that visitors to your Timeline will see is a big, bold image that dominates the page—your “cover,” a picture that “represents who you are or what you care about” (as Facebook puts it). Think of it as wallpaper for your Timeline, as opposed to a standard profile picture of your smiling (or not) mug.

To get started, click the “Add a Cover” button at the top of your Timeline page—or, if you already have a cover, hover over it with your mouse and click the “Change Cover” button that appears.

Changing your “cover” photo is an easy way to give your Timeline a whole new look.

You can either upload a new photo or choose an existing picture in one of your Facebook albums, and you’ll also get the chance to fiddle with the image so it’s framed to your satisfaction.

What you choose as your cover is up to you, of course, but keep in mind that your Timeline cover is public, meaning anyone (even non-Facebook users) will be able to see it.

And naturally, any change to your Timeline cover will also be posted in your news feed, although you can always hide or delete the post after the fact.

Don’t want the planet peeking at your cover photo? Then simply keep it blank.

2. Update your personal info

Just below your inset profile picture on your Timeline, you’ll find a series of little factoids about … well, you.

Just change the privacy settings on your “About” page to customize which bits of personal info appear on your Timeline.

For instance, the bullet points on my Timeline include a) my job title, b) where I went to school, c) where I live now, and d) the name of my better half.

Not happy with what you—or your Facebook friends—are seeing? Then click the little “About” link to jump to your personal information page, and click the “Edit” button at the top of any section you want to tweak.

Pay special attention to your privacy setting in the top-right corner of each section; by clicking those icons, you can determine which bits of personal info can be seen by everyone, just your Facebook friends, or only you.

All done? Go back to your main Timeline page to check the results.

You can also view your Timeline as others see it by clicking the settings button beneath your cover image (it’s over to the right, marked with a small gear icon) and selecting “View as.”

3. Rearrange your Favorites

Right next to your personal information sits a row of four tiles, which most likely include items like Friends, Photos, Map, and Likes, and just to the right of the fourth tile sits a small button stamped with a number.

You can juggle, add, or delete “Favorites” on your Timeline in just a few clicks.

Click the button, and you’ll reveal even more tiles—perhaps many more, depending on how many apps you’ve installed in your Facebook account.

These boxes are your Favorites, and you can (for the most part, anyway) mix and match them as you see fit.

Just hover your mouse over a tile and click the little pencil that appears to swap the position of one favorite with another, or to delete a favorite completely.

You can also add new favorites by click the “+” button on any blank tiles.

Two favorites that can’t be rearranged or deleted are Friends and Photos. That said, you can effectively remove Photos as a favorite by changing the privacy settings of your uploaded snapshots and hiding tagged photos of you from Timeline (just hover your mouse over a tagged picture, click the little pencil icon, then select “Hide from Timeline”).

And as far as your Friends list is concerned…

4. Change the visibility of your Friends list

While you can’t eliminate your Friends list from your Timeline favorites, you can hide it from the world—mostly, at least.

Click the Friends favorite tile, click the “Edit” button at the top of the main Friends page, then choose a new privacy setting from the pop-up that appears—anything from “Public” to “Only Me.”

One thing to keep in mind: even if you choose “Only Me” as your Friends list privacy setting, anyone who visits your Timeline will still see a Friends tile with any mutual friends the two of you happen to have. Yep, annoying, but that’s the way it is for now.

5. Hide, edit, or highlight Timeline stories

Scroll down below your cover photo and favorites and you’ll see the massive timeline of all your updates, wall posts, photos, and other Facebook events of note—including any messages, links or photos that your Facebook pals have posted on your wall (assuming you let them).

These are your Timeline “stories,” and they’re all neatly arranged in chronological order.

Just click the star to “highlight” a specific Timeline story.

See any stories you don’t like—say, a particularly unflattering photo that a friend tagged you in, or an annoying Farmville invite?

Or, on the flip side, are there any stories you want to highlight, such as your wedding photos, or congrats from your friends for that big promotion?

Whenever you see a Timeline story you want to promote, hide, or otherwise tweak, just hover your mouse over the story until you see the little “Edit” pencil appear.

Click it, and you’ll get a range of (varied) options; for example, you’ll may be able to hide an event from your Timeline, change its date, add a location, or delete the post altogether.

Keep in mind that the edit options vary depending on the post; for example, while you can hide a friend’s post in which you’ve been tagged, you won’t be able to delete it completely.

Some posts will also display a button marked with a star when you hover your mouse over them; click the “Feature” star to expand the item to fill both columns in your Timeline, perfect for highlighting, say, your new job, those ultra-cute snapshots of your toddler, or a litany of birthday wishes from your Facebook friends.

You can also shrink a “featured” Timeline story down to size by clicking the star button again.

6. Add some life events

A great way to make your Timeline your own is by adding so-called “life events”—anything from a trip abroad or buying a house to publishing a novel or losing weight.

To add a new life event, just click the “Life Event” button at the top of your Timeline, just below your cover photo and favorites. You’ll get a menu of options, from “Work & Education” to “Travel & Experiences,” with sub-options under each main heading. Pick the event that you’d like to add, or create your own by selecting the “Other Life Event” option.

Beware: Creating and curating your Timeline “life events” can be quite addicting.

You can change the privacy setting for any event you create, of course, as well as add a photo, a location, or tags for your friends. (For example, I went ahead and tagged my wife in the “life event” for our wedding.)

It’s also worth noting that Facebook will add certain life events to your Timeline automatically, including jobs and schools listed on your profile and even the very day you were born (yes, really).

For any of these automatic events, you can (usually) go ahead and add photos, change dates and details, or tweak their privacy settings.

With certain auto-events, though—such as the ones about your various jobs or the schools you’ve attended—you’ll have to dive back into your “About” page to adjust their privacy settings.

Looking for more Facebook tips? Click here!

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How to make your Facebook news feed default to “most recent” stories first

Tired of seeing “highlighted” stories at the top of your Facebook news feed? Here’s a browser bookmark that’ll keep your Facebook feed in chronological order.
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You can limit who sees the posts from "Open Graph" Facebook apps right before you install the app onto your account.

How to keep Facebook’s new “Open Graph” apps from (over-)sharing your activity

Want to keep your reading, listening, and streaming habits to yourself? Here’s how to stop Facebook’s new, oversharing Open Graph apps from spilling the beans.
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You can always bring the ticker come back, if you really miss it.

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Some people love it, most seem to hate it, but there was no real way to completely hide the Facebook ticker—well, until now, anyway.
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How to send a photo from your iPhone directly to Facebook

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If you haven't turned "Timeline Review" on yet, you should—pronto.

How to turn on Facebook’s “Timeline Review” feature

Facebook’s improved privacy controls let you check any photo you’ve been tagged in before it pops up on your Timeline—but you’ll have to tweak your settings first.
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How to “unfriend” a Facebook friend without really unfriending them

Want to keep a marginal Facebook pal at arm’s length without actually hitting the unfriend button? Read on for a couple of ways to do it.
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Just unsubscribe from a friend's comments and "likes" to keep random photos out of your news feed.

3 ways to declutter your Facebook news feed

Seeing too many links and photos in your Facebook news feed from perfect strangers? Read on for three ways to whip your bloated news feed into shape.
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How to control who can post stories to your Facebook Timeline—and who can’t

Don’t want any and all of your Facebook friends marking up your Timeline—or sifting through Timeline stories posted by others, for that matter? No problem.
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The post 10 essential Facebook tips and tricks appeared first on here's the thing.

Like it or not, your Facebook wall is about to get the Timeline treatment. Don’t let the upcoming change to your Facebook profile catch you by surprise.

Once you’ve learned the basics and snagged some must-know security tips, be sure to learn how to limit who can browse stories posted by others on your Timeline—or how to block second-hand Timeline posts altogether.

Also this week: everything you need to know about mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, taking a “Quick Look” at files on your Mac with the spacebar, and how to set up multiple iCloud accounts on a single iPhone.

How to control who can post stories to your Facebook Timeline—and who can’t
Don’t want any and all of your Facebook friends marking up your Timeline—or sifting through Timeline stories posted by others, for that matter? No problem. Read more…

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The post Prepping for Facebook Timeline; mobile hotspots explained; “Quick Look” for Mac (week in review) appeared first on here's the thing.

These Open Graph applications (which, include apps from the likes of Hulu, Spotify, The Washington Post, Yahoo! News, Urbanspoon, and more) can “seamlessly” share you most recent app activity with your Facebook friends after a single click of the “Add to Facebook” button.

Of course, if you’re eager to show the world that you’re, say, reading up on the Kardashians on Yahoo! News, they hey—go for it.

But if you’d rather keep your reading, listening, and streaming habits to yourself, here’s how to stop Facebook’s new, oversharing Open Graph apps from spilling the beans.

You can limit who sees the posts from “Open Graph” Facebook apps right before you install the app onto your account.

Muzzle an Open Graph app before it’s installed
The first (and luckily, not only) chance you have to keep an Open Graph app from sharing all your activity on Facebook comes as you’re installing the app itself.

During the installation process, you’ll see a pull-down menu that lets you choose how far and wide you’d like your app activity to be spread—from “Public” (meaning everyone and anyone, even non-Facebook members) to “Only Me.”

Select “Only Me” to keep an Open Graph app from sharing any activity at all, or pick a Friend List like “Family” or “Close Friends” to keep your activity in a tighter circle. You can even choose to share with only a few specific friends by selecting “Custom.”

Once you’re satisfied, go ahead and click the “Add to Facebook” button.

You can always go back a change the sharing options for an Open Graph app—or just delete the app completely, if you wish.

Tweak Open Graph app sharing settings in your Privacy Settings
Did you already grant an Open Graph app permission to share your activity with the Facebook masses, or are you simply not sure who can see what? Never fear—there’s an easy way to change the sharing settings for an Open Graph app, even after you’ve installed it.

• Go to the top-right corner of any Facebook page, click on the little downward arrow (it’s right next to the “Home” link), select Account Settings, then click the Apps link in the left column.
• Now, see an app in the list that’s been posting a little too much activity to your Facebook Timeline? Click its “Edit” button along the right side of the page.
• Find the section labeled “App activity privacy,” then check the pull-down menu to the right. Don’t like what you see? Then click it and section a new option—again, anything from “Public” to “Only Me.”
• From here, you can also revoke the app’s permission to post anything to your Timeline at all (click the “X” next to “Add app activity to your Timeline” and/or “Post to Facebook as you”), or you can zap the app completely by clicking the “Remove app” link.
• All done? Click “Close.”

So, are you comfortable with “Open Graph” apps sharing what you’re reading, listening to, and watching on Facebook?

The post How to keep Facebook’s new “Open Graph” apps from over-sharing your activity appeared first on here's the thing.

You didn’t think the year would end without one more big change on Facebook, did you?

Meet Timeline, which (like it or not) turns your old Facebook wall into a visual representation of your life, complete with all your posts and literally starting from the day you were born. Find out what you need to know about Timeline, along with 5 key privacy tips.

Also this week: Check out our 2011 holiday shopping guide, featuring everything from iPads and Roombas to digital photo frames and pocket-sized video projectors. We’ve also got apps and online services for keeping you organized during the holiday rush, as well as bargain gift picks and 10 tech-minded gift card ideas.

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The post What you need to know about Facebook’s new Timeline; 2011 Holiday Gift Guide (week in review) appeared first on here's the thing.

That said, there are dozens of Timeline options you can tweak, especially when it comes to privacy. Read on for six ways to wipe—or at least hide—updates, photos, activity from your apps (like Spotify or Yahoo! News), or any other Timeline posts that you’d rather not show off to the world. And if you’re worried about Facebook friends (or frenemies) marking up your Timeline, don’t worry—we’ll cover that, too.

Use the filter in the new Activity Log to sift through all your old Facebook posts.

1. Check out the privacy settings in your Activity Log

One of the new tools you get along with Timeline is the Activity Log: a giant listing of all your old Facebook posts and activity, organized by date. You’ll also see icons that tell your the privacy setting for each post and whether a given posts shows up on your Timeline.

Of course, going through all your old Facebook posts can be a daunting task, particularly if you’re an active Facebook user. The good news, though, is that you can filter your Activity Log to see only a certain kind of post—for example, just photos, or only posts from others that you’ve been tagged in.

To use the filter, click the drop-down menu near the upper-right corner of the page (it should be labeled “All”), then select an option.

So, let’s say you’ve found a photo of you misbehaving at a company office party back in 2006. Want to hide it from your Timeline? Click the little gray circle at the right, then select “Hidden from Timeline.” Or, if you want to zap the photos completely, select “Delete Post.”

You can change the privacy settings for specifics post from the Activity Log.

You can also change the privacy settings for any post—or at least those that you posted to Facebook yourself. Just click the privacy icon (which may look like a little globe, a pair of heads, or a padlock, depending on its current setting) and select a new option, ranging from “Public” to “Only Me.”

If you can’t change the privacy setting on a particular post or photo, it’s probably because the update was posted by one of your Facebook pals—and no, you can’t delete or change the privacy settings of someone else’s post. That said, you can at least remove the post from your Timeline; just click the gray circle.

Related: 6 ways to lock down your Facebook account

2. Change the privacy settings for all your old Facebook posts in one fell swoop

Not relishing the thought of poking through the privacy settings for each and every one of your old Facebook posts? I don’t blame you. Luckily, there’s an easy way to change the privacy settings for all your Facebook updates at once: here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

Keep your “social” apps from telling on you in your Timeline by tweaking their global posting settings.

3. Put a lid on your “Open Graph” apps

Facebook recently launched a new class of so-called “Open Graph” apps—that is, apps that tell the world what songs you’re listening to (in the case of Spotify), what articles you’re reading (like the Washington Post or Yahoo! News), and even your latest triple-word score (in Words With Friends).

All the activity recorded by your social apps gets dutifully reported in the News Feed, the Facebook “Ticker,” and now the Timeline, with your most recent listens, articles, and game scores popping up at the very top.

OK, but what if you don’t want Timeline blabbing about, say, your love of ABBA? No problem.

1. Go back to your Activity log, click the “All” button in the top-right corner to access your filters, then select “Music.” (Other options include “Games,” “News,” and “Video.”)
2. A bar will appear at the top of the page labeled “Music,” with a gear icon to the right. Click the icon.
3. Next, a series of “social” activities will appear, from “Playlists Created” to “Top Songs.” Just uncheck the activities you don’t want showing up in your Timeline—or uncheck them all, just to be safe.

Bonus tip: You can also keep your social apps from telling on you by tweaking your application privacy settings; here’s how to do it.

See something you don’t like in your Timeline? Just hover over the post and click the “Edit” button.

4. Click the “Edit” button on anything you don’t like

So, you diligently tweaked your privacy settings and scoured your Activity Log, but you’re still seeing items popping up in the Timeline that shouldn’t be. Now what?

Here’s a simple solution. Hover your mouse over the Timeline entry that you’d like to hide or delete, and click the “Edit” button (it looks like a little pencil) that appears. A menu of options will appear depending on the type of post you’re dealing with; for example, you can delete one of your own posts entirely, or (in the case of “social” apps) hide any further “recent” activity (basically a shortcut to tip No. 3 above).

At the very least, you can hide almost any given post from your Timeline—that is, except for those about your various jobs (although you can always tweak your “Work and Education” privacy settings) and your birth.

5. Turn on the Timeline (a.k.a. “Profile”) Review feature

You can’t keep your friends from tagging you in their own photos, but you can keep those photos from popping up in your Timeline.

All you have to do is activate Facebook’s Timeline Review feature, which lets you review and approve (or not) any photos, updates, or any other posts you’ve been tagged in before they appear in your Timeline.

If all this sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking about Profile Review—and yes, it’s exactly the same feature, just with a new name.

Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to activate Timeline Review.

Don’t want to see posts like this on your Timeline? No problem.

6. Prevent some—or all—of your Facebook friends from posting stories to your Timeline

Thanks to Timeline Review, you can get a heads-up before a post you’ve been tagged in appears on your Timeline. But the feature won’t be able to stop random Facebook friends from posting, say, a rambling message or an off-color photo directly to your Timeline page—that is, unless you’ve tweaked a few key privacy settings.

Here’s how to control who can post to your Timeline—and more importantly, who who can’t. As a bonus, you’ll also learn how to determine which of your Facebook friends gets to view stories on your Timeline that were posted by others.

Have more questions about Timeline and your privacy? Let me know!

The post 6 privacy tips for locking down your Timeline on Facebook appeared first on here's the thing.

Like so many things on Facebook, “Timeline” isn’t optional—and indeed, it’ll radically change the way your Facebook wall looks and feels.

(Um, weren’t we just getting used to the last redesign?)

The good news, at least, is that you’ll have at least a week to get used to your new timeline before it goes public, as well as tweak, hide, or even delete any chapters in your life that you’d rather not relive.

Read on for seven things you need to know about your new (like it or not) Timeline on Facebook, starting with…

Your (soon-to-be) new Facebook profile, complete with the jumbo "cover photo."

1. What is Timeline, anyway?

Timeline is actually just one part of your soon-to-be-new Facebook profile, which includes something called a “cover photo” (a large, prominently displayed image, chosen by you, that’s supposed to be “a unique photo from your life”); a row of four thumbnailed tiles that represent your friends, photos, a map of all the places you’ve been, and your various “likes”; and modules for your “social” apps like Spotify, Yahoo! News, and Words With Friends. (Here’s how to turn off these social apps, which display everything you’re doing on the Facebook “ticker,” for good.)

Related: 5 privacy tips for locking down your Timeline on Facebook

The Timeline sits just to the right of your big “cover photo,” and it is what it says: an expandable timeline of years, months, and days. Click a year and a month, and your Facebook page will jump down to that point in your “timeline,” displaying all your Facebook posts, photos, events, and other activity during that period.

2. Your profile page probably hasn’t been Timeline-ized … yet

If you visit your Facebook profile right now, you’ll probably see your old Facebook wall, more or less unchanged. That’s a relief, right?

Sooner or later, though, someone at Facebook HQ will pull the magic switch, and your profile will be “Timeline-ized” whether you like it or not.

(Of course, if you want to switch to Timeline right away, you can do so by visiting this page and clicking the “Get Timeline” button at the bottom.)

You can review all the events in your Timeline using the new "Activity Log," which only you can see.

3. You’ll have a week to review and tweak your new Timeline

Facebook will give you a seven-day “review period” before publishing your Timeline to the world.

That means you’ve got a week to scour your Timeline, check the events that are listed, pick over the privacy settings for each event (just click one of those little privacy icons to make a change), or delete any events that you’d rather not see listed.

One handy feature for reviewing your timeline is the “Activity Log,” a for-your-eyes-only listing of any and all Facebook posts relating to you. From the Activity Log (which you can access by clicking the “Activity Log” button just below your cover photo), you can see the privacy settings for each event on your Timeline, as well as “star” any important events (like a wedding or a new job) that you want to feature, or delete anything you’d rather forget.

Related: How to control who can post stories to your Facebook Timeline—and who can’t

A week after Timeline is switched on for your account, Facebook will push it live whether you’ve reviewed your events or not. You can go ahead and click the “Publish Now” button if you’re ready to go.

Are you kidding me?

4. Your Facebook Timeline extends all the way back to the day you were born

Nothing much about the prying eyes of Facebook surprises me anymore, but I was a bit stunned (and a tad creeped out) to turn back the pages on my new Timeline and find the following (and very first) entry: “Born on June 16,” complete with an icon of a little baby.

Indeed, Facebook went ahead and added entries for my first day of high school, my college graduation, and even my first job—events, of course, that pre-dated Facebook itself.

Again, you’re free to delete these “life events” and any others from your timeline. On the other hand, you’re also free to festoon these events with photos, comments, “likes,” you name it.

Which leads us to…

5. Tweaking your Timeline can get addicting

You know those folks on Facebook who love to post updates about every little thing, from what they had for breakfast to freshly-printed sonograms? Well, for them—and even you or me, potentially—Timeline is sure to inspire a whole new level of oversharing.

Related: 6 ways to take charge of your Facebook Timeline

That’s partly because of the new “Life Event” button, which lets you add important (or not-so-important) milestones in your life to your timeline in just a few clicks.

You can add "life events" for just about anything, from weddings to what you had for breakfast.

Just click the “Life Event” button, select a category (from “Work & Education” to “Travel & Experiences”) and pick an event—and we’re talking everything from “New job” and “New child” to “Weight loss,” “Quit a habit,” “Got glasses,” “Took up a hobby,” “First kiss,” “Changed beliefs,” “Bought a car,” and … well, pretty much anything you can imagine.

Once you create a new “Life Event” for yourself, you can add a location, tag the people you were with, mark the exact date, upload a photo, and even write up a quick summary of what happened.

You can also create custom events for absolutely anything you want—including, indeed, what cereal you had this morning, along with what it looked like, who you ate it with, and whether you liked it.

Oh, boy.

6. You can quickly view you Timeline as others see it

Just below your cover photo and immediately to the right of the “Activity Log” button, there’s a small gear-shaped icon; click it and select “View as” to see your timeline as others see it, including any specific friends or the public at large.

7. No, you can’t go back to the look of your old Facebook Wall

As I mentioned above, Timeline is one of those Facebook features like those “Highlights” in the updated News Feed, or the much-hated “ticker” in the upper-right corner of every Facebook page—that is, you can’t just turn it off or revert to the old look. Or at least, not yet.

So, what do you think of Timeline—love it? Hate it? Just wish Facebook would stop changing things? Let me know!

The post Facebook’s new Timeline feature: 7 things you need to know appeared first on here's the thing.

But while Facebook’s improved privacy controls (which went live last summer) won’t stop your fellow Facebookers from tagging you in photos and posts, you’ll at least get the chance to approve—or not—any tagged snapshots before they pop up on your Timeline.

It’s a welcome change, but you’ll have to turn on Facebook’s “Timeline Review” setting for the feature to work. Here’s how to do it.

Note: Did you come here looking for “Profile Review”? If so, you’re in the right place. Facebook renamed the former Profile Review feature as “Timeline Review” when it launched Timeline in late 2011. 

• Click the little downward arrow in the upper-right corner of any Facebook page, then select “Privacy Settings.”
• Head for the middle of the next page and click the “Edit Settings” link next to the “Timeline & Tagging” heading.
• Select the “Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline” on the pop-up window that appears, choose “Enabled” from the pull-down menu, then click the “Back” button.
• Finally, click the blue “Done” button.

Now, any photos or posts that someone else tags with your name will appear in a “Pending Posts” tap along the top of your profile page, where you can give them your stamp of approval—or a thanks, but no thanks—before they appear on your timeline.

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