Facebook has become even simpler to use. You can now download the Facebook Toolbar to show on your browser while you surf and work online. The Facebook Toolbar lets you know which of your friends are online and sends alerts regarding how many messages and other notifications you receive. You can also update your status directly from the toolbar and reply to messages quickly and easily making your Facebook use more in line with your other activities.

Getting the Sidebar

Once you’ve installed the Facebook Toolbar, you’ll see your mail and notifications update easily in the toolbar at the top of your browser. By clicking on the envelopes for your messages you’ll be taken to your Facebook profile to read and respond to the mail and alerts. The toolbar also lets you see the latest updates from your friends along the side of your browser by selecting the series of arrows on the far left side of the browser.

Leave the updated status messages of friends visible to stay in touch while you take care of other tasks online as it will update periodically with new status messages as your friends update. This is an easy way to get updated in a matter of minutes without logging into Facebook directly. You also have the option of replying or “liking” the messages from the toolbar application.

Downloading the Facebook Toolbar is simple.

· Visit the Facebook Toolbar download page to download the toolbar or download the Mozilla Firefox add-on page for the Toolbar.

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· On either page, you’ll be prompted to “Download Facebook Toolbar” with a large button.

· Click the button and the download will automatically begin.

· Once downloaded, your browser will need to close and then restart.

· When restarted, the toolbar will be visible at the top of your browser although the bar might have question marks instead of actual numbers for the messages and alerts. This is because you must sign into the toolbar to make it functional.

· On the far right of the toolbar is a “Sign in” button. Click on that button and grant the program permission to access your profile.

· Once you are signed in, the toolbar becomes active and you can post status updates and check your messages, updates and alerts directly from the bar while involved in other online activities.