Create a Facebook Application With PHP

By Justin Laing
2008-01-07


Hello Facebook!

Let’s create a really simple first application that just says hello to the current Facebook user. Here’s the code for the Hello Facebook! application:

<?php
/* include the PHP Facebook Client Library to help
  with the API calls and make life easy */
require_once('facebook/client/facebook.php');

/* initialize the facebook API with your application API Key
  and Secret */
$facebook = new Facebook(YOUR_API_KEY,YOUR_SECRET_CODE);

/* require the user to be logged into Facebook before
  using the application. If they are not logged in they
  will first be directed to a Facebook login page and then
  back to the application's page. require_login() returns
  the user's unique ID which we will store in fb_user */
$fb_user = $facebook->require_login();

/* now we will say:
  Hello USER_NAME! Welcome to my first application! */
?>

Hello <fb:name uid='<?php echo $fb_user; ?>' useyou='false' possessive='true' />! Welcome to my first application!

<?php

/* We'll also echo some information that will
  help us see what's going on with the Facebook API: */
echo "<pre>Debug:" . print_r($facebook,true) . "</pre>";

?>

So what happens when a user hits the Canvas Page URL (from the example it would be: http://apps.facebook.com/makebeta/)? The require_login() call will produce a screen like this for the user:

If you change require_login() to require_add() the user will get a page that looks like this:

After the user logs into or adds the application they will get the canvas page with the “Hello…” text. It should look something like this:

Tutorial Pages:
» Facebook Is The New Black
» What Will I Learn?
» Getting Started As A Facebook Developer
» PHP Facebook API Client Library
» Creating Your Application Profile And API Key
» Hello Facebook!
» Facebook Markup Language - FBML
» Facebook API REST-based Interface
» Resources and Further Reading


Originally posted on Makebeta

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