Since Facebook came on board as a Windows Live partner, we’ve been seeing some questions come through about the Facebook web activity in Windows Live. Here are our tips for a few that keep cropping up.
Q. I added the Facebook web activity. Why don’t I see Facebook updates from my friends on Windows Live Home?
You’ll only see Facebook updates from people in your Windows Live network who’ve also added the Facebook web activity. The Facebook web activity, like all web activities on Windows Live, is a way to push information about what you have done on other websites out to the people in your Windows Live network, not to pull in information about your friends’ activities — that's what the "What's New" feed is for. Updates about your activities appear on your Windows Live Profile; people in your network will also see news about your Facebook updates in their view of Windows Live Home.
Q. When I add the Facebook web activity, which types of Facebook updates will come over to Windows Live?
Depending on your privacy settings in Facebook, you may see updates about your status messages, photos, videos, links, and notes (but not your comments on those items).
Q. I wasn’t able to add Facebook as a web activity. I keep seeing the same error, saying that Windows Live can’t add this web activity, or can’t get my information from Facebook right now. What’s the problem?
This web activity is working for most people, but a limited number of people have run into this issue. We’re working to isolate and fix this as soon as possible. If you are one of the unlucky ones who can’t add Facebook yet, we apologise for the delay.
Q. I added the Facebook web activity, but I don’t see all of my Facebook updates on my profile.
Give it a little time. How long depends on several factors, but it typically takes about an hour for Facebook updates to appear on your Windows Live Profile.
f you’ve already waited awhile, and you still don’t see any updates, the problem may lie with your privacy settings on Facebook. Facebook doesn’t currently allow us to share certain information with Windows Live users unless you are using the default privacy settings on Facebook (“Everyone” for notes, photos, and videos; “My Networks and Friends” for status and links). If you’ve never changed any privacy settings on Facebook, then you shouldn’t have a problem, but if you have restricted access to some of these items then they may not come over to Windows Live. To ensure your Facebook privacy settings will work with the Facebook web activity on Windows Live, here’s what to do:
For status and links
1. On Facebook, point your mouse at Settings, and then click Privacy Settings.
2. Click Profile.
3. Look for “Status and Links,” and set that to either “My Networks and Friends” or “Everyone.”
For notes
1. On Facebook, point your mouse at Settings, and then click Application Settings.
2. Next to Notes, click Edit Settings.
3. Under “Who can see your Notes?” select “Everyone.”
4. Or, if you don’t want to set ALL notes to Everyone, you can change settings for a particular note only. When publishing the new note, set the privacy setting for the new note to “Everyone.”
For photos and videos
1. On Facebook, point your mouse at Settings, and then click Application Settings.
2. Next to Photos, click Edit Settings.
3. Set this to “Everyone.”
4. Or, if you’d like to restrict access to most albums, but you want to share a particular album on Windows Live, go to your albums page, click “Album Privacy,” and set each album you want to share to “Everyone.”
5. When uploading a new video to Facebook, set the privacy settings for that video to “Everyone.”
If anything else should come up, feel free to drop us a note below, we do check back regularly to answer whatever questions we can.
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