Facebook Homepage Redesign Puts Search Front and Center

by Clint Boulton

To celebrate its sixth birthday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg touts the social network’s 400 million users and promises changes to the homepage.

For those of you who aren’t already switched over to the redesign, take a long look at the current look of the homepage. The News Feed, Photos, Pages, Status Updates and other options live on the left. The News Feed commands the middle menu, with search almost an afterthought at the top right-hand corner, sitting atop ads.

This is what the new Top News section looks like. Mathew Sanders took the pic. Note how the search toolbar, which has been improved to surface friends users interact with most frequently, has been moved to the top menu above the News Feed.

When you receive a Facebook notification, you’ll see a red bubble appear in the left-hand corner near the search bar, which is now in the top menu.

When you click on the icon, you’ll see a drop-down menu with your most recent notifications.

What the new birthday section looks like.

The image shows how the Groups section looks in the new Facebook redesign (thanks again to Sanders).

Users will find personalized updates from applications in the Applications and Games dashboards, where news items will appear alongside applications in the dashboards.

Facebook’s revamped homepage also boasts a new photo dashboard (pic by Sanders), where users may browse recent photos of their friends.

The company also fortified its photo uploader, making it easier to use and faster. Once users install a new plug-in, they will see a photo browser appear in a dialog box on their screen. Choose the photos you’d like to upload and click the “Use Selected Photos” button when you’re ready to upload.