If you have a website and a Facebook page, it makes sense to link the two together. Facebook makes this very easy with their popular Facebook Like Box.
But there’s a small bug in the display of the Facebook Like Box that I’m surprised Facebook haven’t fixed yet.
Firstly, What is the Facebook Like Box?
Even if you are unfamiliar with the name “Facebook Like Box” I can almost guarantee that you’ve seen one before.
Here’s what a Facebook Like Box looks like:
These are often used in sidebars on websites and enable you to click “Like” right there on the website, and you will now like that company on Facebook. This is a simple online marketing step for any business that has a Facebook page, because it is enables your website visitors to easily connect with your company, and join your Facebook followers.
The Weird Little Display Bug
On the Facebook page where you get the code for your Like Box it recommends a minimum width of 292px. The plugin actually works for widths smaller than that, but for this exercise I’ll stick with the recommendations.
Here’s the little display bug: If you already like the Facebook page, then the formatting messes up. It adds add extra line of photos, with just a single photo, and then the normal footer gets pushed out of the bottom of the iframe.
To demonstrate, here is what it looks like if you don’t already like the page:
And here is how it messes up if you do like the page:
So one extra photo appears in a row on it’s own, and the bottom of the photo is cut off. And the normal “Facebook social plugin” footer disappears too.
No Fix Unfortunately
There’s no easy fix unfortunately. If you are an intense perfectionist who can’t stand the thought of things not quite looking right, then you could possibly build your own plugin using the Facebook API. Or just breathe, and choose not to sweat the small stuff.
I have tried adjusting the width of the plugin, but it seems to have this little display bug no matter how skinny or wide you make it. From my experience, this little bug has been there for at least two years now, so it doesn’t appear to be high on Facebook’s list of things to fix.
