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Most Facebook users probably have one or two page elements or features that annoy the hell out of them.
This can be a small recent change like the top posts feature that promotes some posts and modifies the timeline by doing so, or something bigger like the new photo viewer interface or the highly annoying Facebook Ticker.
Tools like Social Fixer, a web browser add-on for Chrome, Firefox and Opera, have been created to provide users of Facebook with options to customize features on the site. The better ones even add new features to the social networking site that make life on the site a lot easier.
Social Fixer, previously known as Better Facebook, introduces dozens of changes and feature additions to the Facebook web page. The majority of changes can be activated individually which leaves it up to the user to make a particular change on Facebook or add a feature to the site.
The approach makes more sense than just applying a bunch of changes to the site automatically that you may not need or want.
When you install Social Fixer in your browser you are asked if you want to start with a minimal version or the complete package. The minimal version makes only slight changes to Facebook and keeps most features deactivated. It is recommended to start with that as it gives you more control over the whole process.
If you are in a hurry, select complete and disable features afterwards that you don't require.
If you have selected minimal, open the extension's options that are displayed directly on the Facebook page to modify Facebook page elements selectively. The program runs a setup wizard after installation which informs you of the core features that it provides.
The program lists dozens of preferences in the options. Take a look at the following screenshot that is highlighting the options in the Firefox web browser.
The extension even comes with a search to find options quickly. Options are displayed in groups like layout, display, chat or theme that all display multiple preferences.
Here is a list of some of the options that the extension offers:
Those options are just the top of the iceberg. Social Fixer is a handy extension for Facebook users who want to modify the Facebook page to their liking. It is particularly effective in removing annoying page elements like Facebook Ticker but also useful if you want to read all news and not just top news or want news filters to filter news by contact or keyword among many other things.
Social Fixer is available on the project website for all supported browser versions. It is also directly available on the respective add-on repositories.
An alternative is the userscript Facebook Fixer.
Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.
Wow what a possibility’s I am flabbergast. I have to take a long hard look at this one.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for this; very useful I have just installed SF, choosing not to have the Control Panel at top left, to save space. But I didn’t realise it would then disappear! It it now just a single line above posts on my profile page, and the little spanner icon at the left end is not ‘live’. Is there any way to get Control Panel back, so that I can choose the ‘top left’ option?
Cheers, Alison
You could try and uninstall and reinstall Social Fixer. I have not used it in a while and cannot remember unfortunately how that worked.
Yes, this is what I’ve had to do. :/