Facebook's Hated Timeline

[Bigaldoc]

Many, if not all, of Facebook's users have been griping and complaining ever since Facebook changed from its "Wall" to something called "Timeline."

Initially, I was open to it and have used it for some time. BUT, it is VERY difficult to read because of its two-column display and I've now gone back on a campaign to find some way to get the old "Wall" back, in spite of Facebook's claim that it can't be done.

There is a lot of garbage out there, including many Facebook pages, that claim to do the job. But, in my geekness, I think that many of those might be dangerous and have avoided all such claims. Today I found on CNET a link to addons for both Firefox and Chrome that will restore the old Wall. I cannot find any way to do so in IE.

I've been running it all day today and don't seem to be having any problem.

Hide Facebook Timeline with a Firefox add-on | How To - CNET

[Bigaldoc]

Just a followup to add that I've now been using this addon for about three days without a problem. I've tried as many things on the old Wall as I could, such as changing birth date, schools, etc. and not had any problems.

It is possible to disable it in Firefox, Tools, Add-ons and you then return to the dreaded Timeline. I've disabled and re-enabled it several times without problems there either.

A nice fallout is that it eliminates the Timeline from not only MY page, but all those whose pages I look at (i.e. friends that I KNOW have the new Timeline).

Worth a try in my opinion.

PS: It's also interesting that I was making a "tutorial" of sorts for some of my less-geeky friends on Facebook. I tried to include the name of the addon author's web site (http://timelineremove.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and Facebook will not allow the inclusion of that name - it's BLOCKED !!! I wonder why ?!?!?! (I had to resort to timelineremove dot com)

[DaveA]

Thanks for the link. There is a BIG IE logo and that is a link to add in for IE.
Works Great.
Thanks Al.

[Bigaldoc]

Thanks for the link. There is a BIG IE logo and that is a link to add in for IE.
Works Great.
Thanks Al.

VERY interesting, Dave! Post back with how it works, please!

I never went down to the bottom of the page, since the link for Firefox was up top, staring at me. Since you posted this, I went back and downloaded the IE and Chrome ones too but haven't tried them.

I don't have much addon experience with IE as the only things I've added there are WOT and an ad block thing I found.

[Bigaldoc]

Thanks for the link. There is a BIG IE logo and that is a link to add in for IE.
Works Great.
Thanks Al.

Please tell me what you did to get it to work, Dave. I'm stumped. The IE one was in a Zip file so I extracted the lone file, an .exe, and ran it. IE's list of addons looks like it's installed but I still get the Timeline there.

What'd I do wrong?

[DaveA]

Al,
All I did was click on the IE icon while in IE9 and let it download and install. Then closed IE and restarted, and IE asked if I wanted the add in to be enabled.

[Bigaldoc]

Thanks Dave, but it didn't work that way in XP and IE8.

I don't know if I'll bother trying again since I don't really care about IE.

[Bigaldoc]

Well, I tried one more time, Dave and still no luck. This time I rebooted the machine rather than just closing IE and restarting.

This is what I see in the Addon window of IE8:

2012-07-30_211212.png

But, when I then open my Facebook account, a test account I keep for such purposes, this is what I see. Obviously, still the Timeline:

2012-07-30_211414.png

If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks...

[DaveA]

It may be that since you are running IE 8, and it MAY not be supported.
Here is a shot of my FB page.

[Bigaldoc]

That's gotta be it, Dave, although I'm quite surprised that IE8 wouldn't be included. Especially since the BHO entry shows in my IE8 addon list. Oh well...

(PS: Nice shot of a young dude !!!)

[Bigaldoc]

FYI Dave (and others?). I sent an email to the author yesterday asking about IE8. Not confident he will respond, but I don't have another machine with IE8 to try it on.

[Bigaldoc]

And finally (for now)...

I got around to firing up my Win 7 laptop with IE9 and Dave, you're obviously right. The addon works like a charm. I did get a popup bar at the bottom of the screen asking me if I want to ENABLE that addon and when I did, my Facebook Wall is back.

So, unless he answers my email above, I'll have to assume that the addon doesn't work with IE8 for whatever reason. Maybe somone will come along who knows how to fix (hack?) something to change this behavior...

[DaveA]

Well that is some good news for those NOT using IE 8 and before.

[Bigaldoc]

Because I'm a tinkerer and hard-headed, I hate to lose a "battle."

In all the Googling I've done on this subject, I've seen a bunch of You Tube "tutorials" on how to remove Timeline in IE. More than one indicate that the BHO works for IE 7. There were mentions of changing the User Agent string to IE 7, so ...

Admitting I'm in uncharted waters for me, I downloaded and installed Bayden Systems - UAPick. Pretty easy to call up its menu while in IE 8 and change the UA string. Templates are provided, so it required no "programming" on my part.

Unfortunately, after trying IE 7, IE 9, and a couple of Firefox entries, Facebook still shows the Timeline. So, I guess I'm defeated in this one.