Facebook Platform Updates, SSL, and WPBook
Road to nowhere (Photo by Matthew Connor, cc-by-nc license)
Back in January, I got an unexpected flurry of WPBook support requests, and ultimately discovered they were the result of Facebook’s decision to allow people to browse Facebook in HTTPS mode.
As part of that change, Facebook introduced some new settings: “Secure Canvas URL” and “Secure Tab URL,” which would enable https connections throughout your Facebook application.
WPBook mostly worked with these two variables properly set (thanks to cshiflet for this patch).
Now, however, Facebook has announced they will require ALL apps to support https:
Today, we are announcing an update to our Developer Roadmap that outlines a plan requiring all sites and apps to migrate to OAuth 2.0, process the signed_request parameter, and obtain an SSL certificate by October 1.
What will this mean for WPBook users?
Unfortunately, my guess is that many WPBook users are not prepared to install an SSL certificate and accept https traffic on their blogs. (SSL certificates typically require that your blog have a unique IP address and cost extra at shared hosting facilities).
If you are unable to install an SSL certificate for your blog, and enable https based browsing of it, you may be unable to use WPBook after October 1, 2011 (or whenever Facebook decides to actually enforce this migration step).
More to come as we get closer to that date.
