Facebook Connect FAQ
 

Posted below you will find a link to an FAQ that should answer all of your main questions and concerns.

We hope that you will enjoy this new feature and welcome your feedback!

FAQ

Why are we doing this?
Our aim is to make it easier for new visitors to join our community and to make it easier for FlyerTalk members to share their FlyerTalk experiences with their Facebook friends.

How do I sign up?
If you don't have a Flyertalk account, or if you do have a Flyertalk account and aren't already logged in , click on the Facebook Connect button at the top of the page. This will send you to a Facebook page where you will be asked to log in to Facebook (if you aren't already) and ask you to confirm the connection. After you have confirmed, you will be brought to a page that will ask you to create a Flyertalk username. If you already have a Flyertalk account, enter your username and password on this page to link your accounts.

For users who have a Flyertalk account and are already logged in, click on the Facebook Connect button. This will bring you to the same page mentioned above that asks you to log in to Facebook (if you aren't already), and ask you to confirm the connection. After this is done, you will be brought to a screen where you will be asked to verify your Flyertalk password. (We do this to make sure you're really you!)

After your accounts are linked, you will be able to manage your Facebook Connect settings from MyFlyerTalk. The link to do so will be on the bottom of the left nav. In there, there are 3 settings. Here is a brief rundown as to what these do:

New Thread Feed - If this is set to 'yes', every time you create a new thread you will be asked if you want to post a link to the newly created thread from your Facebook Wall.
New Post Feed - If this is set to 'yes', every time you create a new post you will be asked if you want to post a link to the newly created post from your Facebook wall.
New Album Feed - If you is set to 'yes', every time you create a new album you will be asked if you want to post a link to the newly created album from your Facebook wall.

* Note to FireFox users: Due to a recent change in the Facebook API code, the above features don't currently work in Firefox and IE. It is not believed that this was done on purpose, and we expect that the Facebook team will be fixing this shortly. We decided to leave these features in the product because they still work in other browsers, specifically Chrome and Safari, and we believe they will once again work on FF soon.

Do my Flyertalk username and Facebook username have to be the same?
No, they can be completely different.

What about my passwords? Can they remain different?
There is no link between your FlyerTalk password and your Facebook password. If you link your FlyerTalk account to your Facebook account, you will be able to log in to FlyerTalk by signing in to Facebook, but no password information is shared between the two sites.

If I change my password on one site, does it affect the other?
Nope. Both passwords exist independently of one another.

Can you see my passwords?
Never. Both Facebook and FlyerTalk store only hashes of passwords, and never the passwords themselves. We also never share those hashes.

How much of my FlyerTalk posts and account information will be shared with Facebook?
By default, none. If you choose to, you can have FlyerTalk post updates to your Facebook profile when you create a new thread or reply to an existing thread. Other than that, we send none of your account information (email address, password, profile data, etc.) to Facebook.

How much of my Facebook account information and posts will be shared on FT?
None. Nothing that you do on Facebook will be posted to Flyertalk, and Facebook doesn't send us any of your personal information.

Can Facebook users who do not have a FlyerTalk account post on the forums?
Only if they register with FlyerTalk, either by creating a regular FlyerTalk account or through Facebook Connect.

Can Facebook users who do not have a FlyerTalk account view posts and threads in private forums?
Absolutely not. If a FlyerTalk user posts a link to a private forum on their Facebook account, anyone following that link will be denied access unless they have a FlyerTalk account with the appropriate permissions.

Can Facebook Connect users be banned if they break the forum rules?
Facebook Connect users are subject to the same rules as regular users and are subject to the same penalties.

Can I unlink my Flyertalk and Facebook accounts?
Yes, you can. However, if you created your Flyertalk account through Facebook Connect, then you will have to update your email address first. Since Facebook doesn't send us any of your personal information, the only email address we'll have on file will be a Facebook proxy address, and after you unlink your account that won't work. Since you won't be able to log in through Facebook anymore once your account is unlinked, you'll also need to provide us with a password. As of right now, all users will be required to change their password when they unlink they're accounts, even if they didn't create their account through Facebook Connect. This is simply because we don't have the ability to tell if the password hash in the database is the hash of a real password, or a random dummy password that was generated for a Facebook user. The link to unlink your accounts is in MyFlyerTalk.

What are the security concerns for FlyerTalkers by integrating with such a large site?
Since Flyertalk and Facebook won't be sharing any information, there should be no security concerns. Facebook is a large company with an excellent reputation for security, which is why we are comfortable using it as our third party authenticator.

Who do I contact if I am experiencing problems with Facebook Connect?
Problems with Facebook connect can be addressed in the Technical Issues forum.

Can we completely opt-out of this Facebook Integration?
Yes. You can disable Facebook connect in the site Options.

How about putting this at the bottom of the page istead of the top so it doesn't waste "useful" space? As it is, with everything on the top of the page (huge banner, ads, etc), posts don't even appear without scrolling down, and if you start adding all the social networks, posts will be even further shufled down.

Surely the most "FAQ" right now is how to get rid of this nag line.

Seconded.

Yes, I'm reading this to find out how to get rid of this thing that's wasting space in my browser. Can't you put it somewhere else so it's not on every flyertalk page?

-David

If you don't want to see this new "enhancement" and you're using FF...

get the ....... Plus Element Hiding Helper add-on and add this line to your Preference file:

We need a way to say "I have seen this nag line". I don't WANT everyone from Flyertalk to see my FB page, nor do I need my FB friends to read my FT posts...I don't want or need my entire life to be connected by 1 click. Facebook already has some massive security problems, and we don't need those being spread. Please allow us to shut this function off for our FT accounts.

(emphasis mine)

Riiiight! FTers should feel as comfortable with your chosen third party "authenticator" (whatever it means) when its founder claims "Privacy no longer a social norm" in January 2010.

ETA:
Another fun read: Lyons: How Google & Facebook Violate Your Privacy - Newsweek.com

Don't worry.... the FAQ covers this:

+10

THANKS! This gets rid of the whole thing.

If you liked that tip, try hiding these elements:
And, add this to your regular ....... blocking rules:
Together, these will get rid of the huge banner section, and add about another inch available to display real content.

Yep.. great. I'm now ahead as a result of this facebook enhancement!

I've been looking for a new definition of idiotic. Thanks FT/IBB.

:rolleyes:

where is the FAQ about it autoclicking/redirecting? i dont like stuff appearing in my history when im not clicking on it. every time i load a page?

I'm not a techie....what is FF? Don't know if I'm using it. I want to get rid of this Facebook banner.

Great improvement.
Thanks, LRD!
and thanks, IB, for doing the dumb link to FB, causing me to read this thread and learn how to block the filler. :D

I received a PM that my little fix breaks the "airport code lookup" quick-link. If you don't use this feature then there's no need to change anything.

However, if you do use the "airport code lookup", you may want to replace the above Element Hider statement with this one:

Thanks again, LRD. Having "flyertalk.com##div.tborder" in preference/filter now allows Airport Code Lookup AND takes out FB Connect. ^

Thanks for taking time find the fixes for us. :)

ETA:

Just spot a new issue with this new statement. It would interfere with features/links under Profile. I'll stay with the original suggestion for now ;)

That's a bad joke. FaceBook has a long history of privacy/security issues as well as a major lawsuit over stolen software.

The FaceBook connection should be at the bottom of the page where the Bookmarks (Digg, StumbleUpon, etc.) are located.

FF=Firefox

I don't want to get into a discussion of the risks (or benefits) associated with having scripting links to Facebook (or Google, or any other site), but I'll just say that if one wanted to be extra careful, the following addition to your ....... Plus filter rules might be appropriate:

If fact, one might even consider the following:

My oh my the FB attempt at world domination has arrived here. :td:

Security and other legitimate privacy concerns aside, more is not always better. This move will lead the masses (if that) to FT and so the gates to hell have been opened. This is not good.... :mad:

There is a difference between security and privacy, and we don't believe either are violated with out implementation of Facebook Connect. We send none of your personal information to Facebook, and Facebook sends us none of your personal information to us.

However, if you do have security or privacy concerns, I encourage you to not use Facebook Connect on this site.

We have the ability to enable that, but since we haven't tested it, we haven't turned that on. Down the road, it is something that we can examine.

With this implementation of Facebook Connect, we do not display a link to your Facebook account anywhere on this site.

I'd prefer to not have Fan pages. They cannot be hidden with security. I don't need people I don't know seeing anything about me.

I want a flag to opt-out and make that stupid banner go away - its taking up valuable window space :(

For those of us using IE and not FF can you please please move this to the bottom of the page -

I dont want Facebook connect and dont want to be bugged about it every page of FT

People using Admuncher - you too can remove the banner.

Open Admuncher and go to the "My Filters" tab. Add a new filter with vbnexus as the keyword, and select "remove tables with text".

Admuncher also works with IE, Opera and Chrome.

Thanks ... not happy that I have to add software to suppress something they are pushing in my face everytime I use FT. :mad:

Install IE7 Pro and turn on ad blocker.

http://www.ie7pro.com/

Does this new banner have anything to do with why clicks on FT threads/pages are now making calls to Google.com ? Obviously I can't redirect that to my localhosts file as with the other junk calls.

And thanks to the poster for the ....... filter. No more Facebook junk.

Well IB, so far no one posting on this thread is happy w/ your decision. There's also another group not happy either.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni/...m-account.html

Cheers.

I'm on an IMac and use Safari. As of today, when I click on FT and then click on a thread, I cannot use my back button to return to the main forum. Is anyone else having that problem? I get frozen in that thread and have to sign out. Any suggestions?
Don't like the Facebook idea either and will not use it.

Than you should have no problem with me asking you to remove it from EVERY PAGE I LOAD FROM FLYERTALK, since you don't gain anything from me telling you who I am on Facebook...

I don't understand why Flyertalk/IBB would WANT to use Facebook connect. Facebook eventually just wants all BB systems to go away, and for everyone to use FB. Why would you make it EASIER for them?

Same here in Firefox on Win7. You have to click back TWICE, which is more than annoying! The fix suggested above using Ad Block Plus doesn't help.

GET RID OF THE ANNOYING FACEBOOK HEADER!!! :mad::mad::mad:

I am another one who isn't convinced on how useful this new enhancement is going to be; I would have rather kept my FT and FB identity separate.

A lot of people who are on Flyertalk don't do Facebook.

This is pure brilliance IB. ^

You really are making people search for the means to circumvent you enhancements. It is good to make people motivated. I got rid of FB now to figure how to take only one step back for each step forward.

While I am not opposed to the addition of this function in and of itself (unlike most of the other posters here, apparently), I do have to echo this point: I don't think it will find much use here.

The vast majority of FlyerTalkers seem to prefer to remain anonymous and not maintain any links between their FT identity and real world identity, unlike many other forums out there, where members' real names and locations are openly shared. While some of my coworkers know I participate here, they don't know my handle and so can't specifically pin me down to anything I might say here. And I think I've done a pretty good job of obfuscating links to my real name on FlyerTalk, at least in public view. I think most people are in a similar situation, and so a link between an anonymous username and your Real World identity (mandatory on Facebook) is really not something I'm interested in, despite using both heavily. I suspect most others are in the same boat.

But for those who would enjoy this functionality, I don't have any problems with having it here. And you can even leave the banner up for a day or two, but do pull it down once members have had a chance to see it--maybe leave a little "Connect" logo in the same area as the login details, but the full banner could get a bit obnoxious.