Introducing...Sharing Foals and Calves 2.0

The Sharing Foals and Calves Organization has decided to skip 'upgrading' the Facebook Groups due to their unsuitability and various bugs associated with the upgrades.  Instead, the team has created the next generation of  stand-alone, Facebook-connected Link Sharing Environments.

 Here's how to join up!

In a move which will forever change the landscape of how FarmVille Links are shared among members, the Sharing Foals and Calves Organization has launched Sharing Foals and Calves, The Website.


Located at http://www.SharingFoalsAndCalves.com, this Link Sharing Environment (LSE) is based on traditional Bulletin Board Forums.  Where before they had separate groups for each type of sharing opportunity, now there's a single location containing multiple forums, including news items, discussions, and traditional link sharing forums: Foals and Calves, Trees, Sheep, Farmers Unlimited and the newly launched "Pigpen".  One-stop shopping has never been easier!


In order to join the new Sharing Foals and Calves, members must register and authenticate to the site by connecting via Facebook.  Anonymous stand-alone registrations, widely known as a detriment to online forums, are not permitted in the new environment.


In order to get started, potential members must go to the Facebook-enabled application to authenticate to the website.  The link to get to the Facebook application is located here: 


http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=182070105177419

Once you've arrived at this page, it's strongly recommended that you "Like" the application page.  While they're not hung up on the number of "Likes" this receives, performing this act provides some important benefits to members, including the ability to quickly locate the page in Facebook and to receive administrative announcements and other important information via your Facebook newsfeed.


From there, simply click on the Go to App button and it will take you to the website.  What you'll see isn't much, but there's some information which is publicly available for folks to read, including our New Member Information and FarmVille News.


At the very top-right of the web page, you'll see an area that looks like this:

To register (and to log in after registering), click on the Facebook icon.  Clicking on anything else simply won't work, because we require Facebook-connected accounts.


Once you do that, the process of authenticating will start.  A dialog box outlining standard Facebook API requirements appears for your authorization, exactly in the same manner you'd authorize any other Facebook application:

Please note that while the application dialog box asks for many permissions (like any other application on Facebook), the application nor the site itself will never, ever auto-post anything to your wall.  Like all other apps and pages in Facebook, a wall-post is created one time when you "Like" the application page, and again when you authorize the application.  This is done automatically by Facebook and is not under the control of SFC.  If you allow "Likes" and Application Activity to be viewable on your wall (you can block these, FYI), those one-time entries will be viewable by anyone who can see your wall.


These permissions are the standard permissions which the site application and Facebook require for authentication and normal use of the LSE.  This allows you to share some posts from the site, "Like" other posts, synchronize on-site statuses with your Facebook status and more.


Once you've clicked on the Allow button, you'll be brought to a page on the website itself, which asks you for two pieces of information.  You MUST complete your registration by providing this information.

First, you're asked to choose a display name.  The site suggests using the same name as you're known by on Facebook - it just makes things easier for everyone.  However, if you're determined to change that, you may do so by altering the information in the form to something of your choosing.


Secondly, you're asked to provide your Facebook URL.  This is publicly-available to anyone you haven't blocked, and can be obtained by clicking on your own name in the upper left hand corner of your Facebook page (as you would do to view your own wall, for example), and copy the address from your browser bar to this part of the registration form.  They generally look something like this:

After you've entered the required information, simply click on 'Create New Account' and you'll be brought to the home page where you'll see forums for Link Sharing, New Member Information, General Discussions and other areas of interest to the FarmVille Community.  We strongly suggest taking a look in the New Member Information area where there are tutorials on navigating the site, posting link shares, and more, including several videos on how to accomplish these things.


Note:  If you don't provide your Facebook URL and click on "Create New Account", you'll be brought back to this same screen the next time you log on.


If you're looking for access to specialty areas other than Foals and Calves, simply drop a note to the Group Admins in the "Contact the Admins" area and let us know to which areas you'd like to be added.  Members are usually added to the appropriate areas within a few minutes, but there can be some delays depending on the availability of an Administrator, site maintenance, etc.


The Sharing Foals and Calves Organization considered many options as a response to the issue of Facebook making so many changes to the group application, and after careful deliberation we've decided that an environment with only an arm's length relationship to Facebook itself provided the most benefits to members.


In the new site you have an opportunity to create and promote your own blogs, upload photos, customize your own on-site profile and much more, as well as a unique search feature where you can search for the exact links you're interested in.  While there are certainly some trade-offs in moving to this new environment, we feel that the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages of using the new Facebook Groups application.


There will undoubtedly be a learning curve for many members, and the Group Admins stand by to assist everyone in making this important transition.  Like any major change, this has brought up some questions which are addressed in the Frequently Asked Questions section, located on the site itself and visible to all.


You are cordially invited to come join us in this leading edge move toward more productive and safer link sharing!


Happy Farming,


Farmer Brown
SharingFoalsAndCalves...dot com. :-)