Debugging URLs with the Facebook URL Linter

A primary design goal of the Open Graph protocol — which enables any Web page to become a rich object in the social graph — has been to make it simple for developers to integrate it into their Web pages. But, as with any coding, syntax errors can and do occur. To help you debug your URLs, we've released the Facebook URL Linter.

You can use the Facebook URL Linter with many types of URLs, in addition to Open Graph protocol pages. Try the linter on our homegrown examples or on some pages in the wild.

At this time, the linter returns warnings for any issues it encounters. In the near future, the linter will start returning errors. These errors will cause the Like button to stop working on your page.

We also plan to add Open Graph protocol type metadata suggestions, and a lot of helpful messaging. If you have any feedback, we'd love to hear it on the Developer Forum. Make sure to put linter somewhere in the post, to help us find it.

This week we've also added Open Graph protocol markup to every public Page on Facebook. This makes it easy for anyone to know that Starbucks is a company, the White House is part of the government, and Weird Al is my favorite musician.

Lint away!

Paul is a lint-free, white and nerdy hacker on the Platform team.

Note: In case you were wondering, the Facebook URL Linter's name hails from the original lint UNIX program.

Connect With Us: Facebook Developer Garage London - Special Edition

We're in England for Facebook Developer Garage London – Special Edition, taking place Monday, June 21st.

Facebook CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will connect with European developers and share his thoughts on Facebook Platform. He will be joined by:

• Mike Vernal, Engineering Manager of Facebook Platform
• Ethan Beard, Director of Facebook Developer Network
• Joanna Shields, VP, Facebook EMEA

And these tech leaders:

• Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish, Co-Founder and CEO
• Olivier Abecassis, eTF1, CEO
• Riccardo Zacconi, King.com, CEO
• Gustav Söderström, Spotify, VP Products

If you're unable to join us in person, tune into our live stream:

Live video chat by Ustream.

The fun begins at 2 PM GMT. We hope to connect with you in person or online.

Julia, who manages developer events worldwide, is excited for tea and biscuits at today's Facebook Developer Garage

Reminder: Upgrade to New Data Model by June 30

In April, we announced a new data model to provide users with greater transparency and control of their information. As part of this feature, all applications that require more than a user's basic information will need to request explicit permission for additional data. The deadline for upgrading to this new data model is June 30, a little more than a week from now. Starting June 30, all applications and websites integrating Facebook will be upgraded to the new data model automatically.

In addition to providing greater control to users, this change also helps application developers. When you upgrade your application to the new data model, all requested permissions are presented in a single dialog rather than a sequence of separate dialogs. Based on our testing, this improves conversion rates by 28-41% for applications that require extended permissions like email address or stream publishing.

To upgrade your application to the new data model, visit the Developer application. Find your application and click the "Edit Settings" link, then click the "Migrations" tab. On that tab, enable the "New Data Permissions" feature. Check out the complete upgrade guide for details.

Bret Taylor is Facebook's Chief Technology Officer.