But the main thing is that people don’t want to sign up on every website just to use your service or to buy the product, all wanting the easy and simple login or signup process. Actually, this social login works as a login for you also it works as a signup for the third party.

Like if you want to buy any product from the Amazon or Flipkart but you don’t want to follow the signup instructions then by using your Facebook or Google login credentials you can log in to these websites and can use their services.

So, here I will guide you how you can implement the logic of the third party in your project which also helps to increase the traffic on the website.

Step-by-Step instructions to implement the Google, Facebook login on your web application :

Google Login:

The OpenID library provides a safe, elegant and easy way to login to your website without filling any registration form.

I will show you how to implement it with Google accounts, but the source code is exactly the same for other providers (such as Yahoo!), you just have to change the URLs.

How does it work?

On your website, you have to provide the google link in which user will give the details like:

1. Gives their login credentials ( or if logged then only have to give them access to use the login credentials and some personal details).

2. Give the authorization to google to give you some its personal access to the particular account.

Once the user clicks on the “Accept” the link redirects to your web-page with login details without any registration form.

Coding Part for Implementation: This code I divided into the 2 part:

Part A: The code to retrieve the user’s personal data from his account and giving the grantor permission to the user to use our website access.

Part B: Code to render the login button. When on our website user clicks the login button it generates one ID which gets added with the respective login access token. Access token changes every time but this grant id remains same for each user.

We will be using a one-file PHP OpenID library that you can download from the google and just put that complete folder in the project file. Here is login.php which where the user will be redirected to the user giving his google or facebook login credentials for the authorization.

require_once 'openid.php';
$openid = new LightOpenID("my-domain.com");

if ($openid->mode) {
if ($openid->mode == 'cancel') {
echo "User has canceled authentication!";
} elseif($openid->validate()) {
$data = $openid->getAttributes();
$email = $data['contact/email'];
$first = $data['namePerson/first'];
echo "Identity: $openid->identity <br>";
echo "Email: $email <br>";
echo "First name: $first";
} else {
echo "The user has not logged in";
}
} else {
echo "Go to index page to log in.";
}
?>

Make sure to replace my-domain.com with your domain name and the last step to render the login button lets say you given this file name as index.php.

<?php // index.php
require_once 'openid.php';
$openid = new LightOpenID("my-domain.com");

$openid->identity = 'https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id';
$openid->required = array(
'namePerson/first',
'namePerson/last',
'contact/email',
);
$openid->returnUrl = 'http://my-domain.com/login.php'
?>

<a href="<?php echo $openid->authUrl() ?>">Login with Google</a>
To test if the user logged in your application or not

session_start();
if (isset($_SESSION['user'])) {
// user logged in
} else {
// user not logged in
}

Facebook Login :

A good and easy way to deal with Facebook authentication is to implement the server side flow with the Facebook PHP SDK. Here is how you do that.

require "facebook.php";
$facebook = new Facebook(array(
'appId'  => YOUR_APP_ID,
'secret' => YOUR_APP_SECRET,
));
$user = $facebook->getUser();
if ($user) {
// The user is logged in
try {
$user_profile = $facebook->api('/me');
// Here : API call succeeded,
// you have a valid access token
} catch (FacebookApiException $e) {
// Here : API call failed,
// you don't have a valid access token
// you have to send him to $facebook->getLoginUrl()
$user = null;
}

After that, if you get the result set in the $user, it means that the user is authenticated. So here is what you can display on your page :

<?php if ($user): ?>
<a href="<?php echo $facebook->getLogoutUrl() ?>">
Logout of Facebook
</a>
<?php else: ?>
<a href="<?php echo $facebook->getLoginUrl() ?>">
Login with Facebook
</a>
<?php endif ?>

When the user is authenticated, you can make API calls with his access token

$user_profile = $facebook->api('/me');

Conclusion :

So, in this way you can allow the user to login with their social media credentials which getting popular day by day. I think it is the simplest way to implement the third party login in your website application by creating the API’s.

1. Simple yet smart design:

The interface of Facebook has made it one of the most user-friendly website. It is not confusing at all. Facebook has a to-the-point streamlined interface which helps in easy movements on the website.

The blue color theme of the website is soothing to the eyes and coming back to Facebook or sitting hours onto it never gets tiring. Facebook usage is simple yet smart.

2. Catching up is quick:

Getting started with Facebook is very simple. One just has to enter few details and there you go. Facebook provides a step by step procedure to make sure you build your profile, make your actual friends as online friends and share with you and things you like.

Facebook has a backend algorithm running helping you to find all possible people you could have known in life. In just a few clicks you find yourself talking to your nursery mate.

3. You know what your loved ones are doing:

The distance when calculated in kilometers is increasing between people. Everyone is either on the move or is settling far away which makes it impossible to know their daily happenings.

Facebook here bridges this gap and lets people share about their trips, family functions or even their thoughts. It has helped people to stay connected irrespective of the place they are.

4. Facebook is engaging:

Facebook provides you so many options to choose from.

You like music-get updates about it; you like football- get updates about it and so on.

Facebook has people from almost all field of interest sharing their knowledge thus engaging each one of us every time.

5. Facebook is free:

Who doesn’t like anything that is free? Facebook helps us to connect with the world and that too free of cost.

6. Variety of entertainment:

Facebook gives us features to experiment with videos, pictures etc. and that too from all area of interest. It has a large number of games starting from arcade to action to puzzles and etc.

7. Helps to blow your trumpet:

Yes, you heard me right. A recent survey said that 34% of people use Facebook to show off their life and its happenings.

It helps you flaunt your achievements to the world which may even include your school topper who teased you far bad marks and today is less successful than you are. I mean who wouldn’t like to teach him a lesson.

8. Its all in your hand:

Facebook lets the user have all the control of their account. If you don’t like a person, you can block him.

You can say no to a friend request. These all features give a sense of security to the user allowing him to come back again to Facebook.

9. It also provides information

More than half of the people are active users of Facebook and mostly the people comprise of Youth.
They not only use Facebook for sharing pictures or interacting with people but also consume relevantly
news and information from it.

Any incident that happens gets posted on Facebook within minutes and that is why people always rush to check their feed for any such information.

10. A platform for advertising

The fact that Facebook has a mass audience and a lot of users have not gone unnoticed by advertisers
and marketers. They’ve started to use this platform to promote their brands and products, but the
competition is high and to stand out they come up with great ideas and videos that are very appealing to
the viewers.

11. Lifts up your mood

There are a lot of people who use Facebook to lift up their mood or feel better about themselves.
Checking on to your older posts, talking to people who are geographically far away from you, checking
your feed for random posts are some of the reasons that make people use this social media platform.

12. You rarely miss out an event

Even if you couldn’t go out and attend some event or party, that doesn’t mean you missed out on what
happened there.

People literally update every minute of what’s happening on their profiles, so that people can see it and have virtual “fun”, and that is what people get addicted to, checking on others!

Well, this was all about Facebook addiction, hope you liked it. Do provide me with your feedback in the comment section below.

On Tuesday night, the world’s largest social networking site launched a new page called Facebook for Business. The how-to page guides businesses on how to best use the site’s pages, ads, deals, social plugins and sponsored stories.

The page was added to Facebook after Google not only asked businesses to wait for a more robust version of Google+ to be released, but kicked out some companies that set up accounts on their own.

“I do think there’s some urgency there (for Facebook) to jump on it before Google gets its act together,” said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Yankee Group. “Facebook has a huge lead with consumers, so where can Google effectively compete with Google+ businesses. If Facebook gets a jump (in the business market) now, that puts them in a leadership position.”

Help small businesses

A Facebook spokeswoman said the new how-to page focuses on helping small businesses make their way in the new social world. “Facebook (for Business) allows small businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships and amplify the most powerful type of marketing – word of mouth,” said Carley Lake, a spokeswoman for Facebook. “We created Facebook.com/business to make it even easier for people to reach these objectives and grow.”

At first, Google said it expected to release a business version by the end of this year. Just days later, Google said it planned to soon pick a few companies to participate in a field trial of a business version of Google+. And then last week, Google changed its stance once again by announcing plans to push out a business version for everyone to try in the next few months. Kerravala said there’s a very good business case for companies to get involved with social networking, though none of the top sites have made it easy to do.

In conclusion

Internet marketers can use Facebook to grow their business. Facebook provides a huge opportunity for businesses and being one of the most visited sites on the Internet, you should use it to your advantage. Make sure you follow the Facebook advertising guidelines and use the right strategies to win prospects and customers on this huge social networking site.

Souce : Computer World

Facebook has really redefined the way people use social networks. It has eventually become everything more than a social network.

It helps you not only connect with your friends but also creates a huge knowledge pool and discussion forum using the vast number of features it provides. Well, in this article we will tell you a few interesting facts about Facebook and it’s users.

1. There are over 700 million plus registered users on Facebook of which 300 million logins for at least once almost daily.

On an average, each of these 500 million users spends at least 4 minutes on Facebook every day (per user). This also makes Facebook one of the busiest websites in the world.

2. Over 50 billion photos and 10 million videos are uploaded to Facebook each month. Images alone consume hard disk storage space as much as 25TB of storage space every week. This entire thing became so humongous that Facebook redesigned their image storage system.

3. Facebook acts as a free yet effective invitation partner for over 5 million events that are created every month.

4. Facebook promotes active discussion and sharing of thoughts between millions of users daily with the help of more than 45 million active user groups that exist on the site. Isn’t this great?

6. Demographics: Almost One-Thirds of the total Facebook Population are school or college going. The age group that uses Facebook the most is 35 – 45 years.

7. Facebook’s Application Development Platform has turned many ideas into businesses and young people into entrepreneurs. Over 80% of Facebook users use applications made on the Facebook App Platform.

8. Facebook has a unique provision called Facebook Connect that lets you use Facebook’s code to create an authentication mechanism for your website. Over 15K websites have implemented Facebook Connect since it’s inception. More about Facebook Connect.

9. Just like other web-apps. Facebook is also available on Mobile. And it is a genuine fact that people using Facebook on their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than the desktop version users of Facebook.

10. The reason why Facebook has a color theme of blue is that Mark Zuckerberg suffers from red-green color blindness. Also the fact that the color blue is labeled with trust and security, the two aspects that are very vital to get people to share their personal information.

11. Even though the competition against Facebook is growing, it’s still not going downhill. In fact, the user base of Facebook grows by eight people per second!

12. Forget users, as of now there are more than about 2 million advertisers on Facebook! The cost-effectiveness and popularity of Facebook made it one of the most popular online advertising platforms in the world.

13. USA and Canada have the most active monthly users on Facebook. For an average user, Facebook earns approximately
5.85 dollars from these two countries making them a very important market for this social media beast.

A lot of US-based companies and recruiters prefer to look up to your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other profiles and blogs before hiring you to get a better picture of who you are and can know deeply about you.

“Almost all employers do some form of background screening because they have to avoid negligent hiring,” says Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence, a consumer-reporting agency. “An employer has an obligation to make the best effort to protect their employees and customers when they hire.”

And now the Federal Trade Commission has decided that companies that research how you spend your personal time and what your passions and hobbies do not violate your privacy.

The agency recently investigated Social Intelligence, which scours the Internet for the information, pictures, and comments you freely share with the world and sells it to your potential employers.

The FTC found the company compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In other words, the Internet is fair game.

“When someone puts their public life out there publicly, it’s there to be evaluated,” says Kim Harmer, a partner at Harmer Associates, a Chicago-based recruiting firm. “You find out lots of things about people just by Googling them.”

You can breathe a sigh of relief about those party pictures plastered all over your Facebook — most employers and consumer-reporting agencies will look past them, unless, of course, you’re underage.

“I look at their Facebook and see how they approach what they put on it,” Ms. Harmer says. “Is it immature? Appropriate or inappropriate? I’m not judging their activity but looking at how they communicate what they do and their thoughts and their judgments to the public as a reflection of what they will do with clients and team members.”

These methods that employers use to find out more about the kind of people they are hiring has generated a new and personalized way of getting into the lives of the people you are employing, but then again, it is not violating their privacy.

It is an obvious fact that each time you post any picture/video on a social media platform or share any information about yourself, it is not only so that you can see it.

It is there for the world to see, and there is hardly any privacy to it and that is what the employers use to their advantage. Although they look up to your profile, there is no misuse of any of the information to which they have access.

Mr. Drucker only searches for what the companies direct him to find and stays away from giving employers information that might be considered discriminatory to the hiring process.

Employers, for example, cannot legally make hiring decisions based on race, religion, marital status or disability. But they can make decisions based on whether or not they like your attitude or your ethics.

A Social Intelligence report to a company would include racist remarks, sexually explicit photos or videos, or flagrant displays of weapons or illegal activity, Mr. Drucker says. And your decision to post a naked picture of yourself might not go over well with a potential employer.

“That might not be relevant to the job, but an employer gets to determine if that’s the kind of person he wants representing his company, ” Mr. Drucker says. “We don’t make the decisions. We just generate the reports.”

He says he has been surprised by how many racist comments and flagrant displays of drug use people post online. “It’s not just smoking marijuana.

It’s snorting cocaine, talking about doing Ecstasy on Twitter or a forum or message board, showing it in photos or video-sharing sites,” he says.

Some companies are mining photo- and video-gathering sites using the facial-recognition software. If you were among those rioting in the streets of Vancouver after the National Hockey League championship, for example, a potential boss could find you the same way the police tracked down those responsible for some of the bedlam — in the pictures.

“We are going from the Web being a place of extraordinary anonymity to a place where your every movement could be traced if someone’s taking pictures of you and posting them,” says John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement consulting firm. “Job seekers need to be careful because of that,” so they don’t make a mistake and lose a job as a result, he says.

They also need to know that not all companies use reporting agencies like Social Intelligence. Some take a hodgepodge approach to mining your data.

Create a positive online presence by putting you are execute upon a site with your domain name or getting it on forums of charitable organizations that you support.

Souce: WSJ