Prep for Facebook's Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks

Get ready for your Facebook past to come back with a vengeance; the social network is now rolling out its new profile layout, Timeline, to all users worldwide. Timeline is basically an online scrapbook that displays your Facebook activity in reverse chronological order going back to when you first joined the social network.

You can hide the embarrassing bits of your Facebook life before your new profile goes live, the good news is you can! Here are 6 steps to follow to safeguard yourself:

Get Timeline. There are three ways Timeline could arrive on your profile....

Hide Old Posts. If you want to get rid of an old status update, photo, article link or like, go to the post on Timeline and hover over its top right corner. Click the pencil icon and select "Hide from Timeline...."

Check the Log. If you want to keep a post on your Timeline, but don't want specific people to see it you can change an individual post's settings using your Activity Log....

Feature Old Posts. If you have a post you'd like to feature, such as a photo of a wedding or graduation, hover over the top right corner of the post again....

Set your cover photo. The top of your profile will now include a large photo called the cover photo that will be one of the first things people landing on your profile will see....

View as Public. After you've edited your Timeline, you may want to check what others will be able to see on your revamped profile....

Marko comments: Timeline will be mandatory for all Facebook users, that's what they're giving us!

(for the complete post see Ian Paul, Prep for Facebook's Timeline Layout: 6 Must-Do Privacy Tweaks, PCWorld, December 16, 2011)