Step 1: Plan your page

Since today Facebook Fan pages can have vanity urls too. Meaning instead of the ugly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-long-name-you-chose/the-id-facebook-gave-you

you could have:

http://www.facebook.com/yourchoiceofname

In order to set the Facebook vanity url for your fan page, there are several things which need to be in place first.

• You need to be admin of the page in question
• It seems you also may need a verified account
• You need to know which name you want for that page. Because once you have set it, you can never change it.

Facebook lists the following restrictions:

• • Create a username that is as close as possible to your public figure or business name (e.g. AshtonKutcher, PizzaHut).
  • If you own the rights to a given name, make it your username so that others cannot obtain it.
  • Usernames can only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9) or a period (“.”).
  • Choose a username you will be happy with for the long term. Usernames are not transferable.
  • Your username must adhere to Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

Step 2: Choose your vanity url

For choosing your pages url, visit http://www.facebook.com/username/. You will see something similar to this:

This means, that I have set my personal username and in the bottom you do find the “Set username for your pages”. Click on this and you will see a new selection: 

Now, if my page for the Global Business Women had enough fans, I could now choose to enter a name for them and show you the rest. ;)

Step 3: Setting the URL

I will follow with more information once I have a page over 100 fans to check how this goes ;)

Further information from the help entry from Facebook:

• Infringement:
  If you wish to report that someone’s username infringes your rights, please fill out our username infringement form. The form is located here.
• I am an authorized representative for a public figure, brand or business and/or hold the rights to a trademark name. My username was claimed by another user. What can I do?
  If you wish to report that someone’s username infringes your rights, please fill out our username IP infringement form.
• What is the process to request removal of an unauthorized Page of a public figure, brand or business?
  If you wish to report that someone’s username infringes your rights, all you need to do is fill out our username IP infringement form here.
• Will usernames such as “flowers” or “pizza” ever be available for Facebook Pages? Can I sign up on a waiting list?
  At this time, generic words are not available as usernames. Facebook encourages all users and Page administrators to create a username that closely matches the true identity of their name or business.

Note: For a vanity URL, you now only need 25 fans. Please note that all entries into the database with more than 25 fans will be removed.

Starting today, you can have a vanity Facebook URL for your Facebook Fan page. At least that was the idea when I went to bed yesterday – only to find out this morning, that you actually need 100 25 fans to do that.

Many pages have enough fans, but others don’t. Instead of trying to ‘suggest’ them to your friends I thought it might be easier to start a small “help a friend” project. Goal: Get over 100 25 fans to be able to claim your username.

How to add your own pages

Adding yourself is simple. Use this form and enter your information. After some minutes, this list will automatically display your entry. Be fair and not only add yourself but follow others as well. ;)

As noted on the form, the listing here will be at my discretion, anything looking suspicious or too spammy will be removed by me.

How to help others

Go take a look at the facebook fan pages listed at the bottom of this entry and choose the ones you find good and add yourself as a fan. Once the goal of 100 25 is reached, the owner should be able to claim the username and you can remove yourself again.

In search of enough fans …

Moved Permanently

The document has moved here.