Take control of the Facebook Timeline

Currently, Facebook's new Timeline is optional - but it is Facebook's stated intention to apply a Timeline to all users' accounts soon. When that happens, a notification will appear at the top of your Facebook home page: this will explain that you have just seven days to review what's on the Timeline before it goes live for all to see. Clearly, if this happens during a period when you're unable to check your Facebook account, while you're on holiday, for example, then you could return to an unpleasant surprise. Given that Timeline's activation is inevitable and assuming you want to keep your Facebook account (if not, see Step 7) - then it is better to take control right away by opting in. To do this, start by visiting Facebook's Timeline Introduction page.

We'd suggest scrolling through this page to get an idea of what Timeline is all about. Also note the green Get Timeline button at the bottom right - but don't click it yet. If you're in a hurry, then know that fundamentally Timeline is just a new way to display the content you have already added to Facebook. But by the same token - left untouched - your Timeline will contain everything you've ever posted publicly. By opting in now you'll be able to review what's what before your Timeline goes live. Bury your head in the sand and you could miss the seven-day window that Facebook will allow for editing. When you're ready to proceed, click the Get Timeline button but be aware that this sets the seven-day clock counting down immediately.

You now have seven days to review and edit the material in your Facebook Timeline. At the top of this page Facebook now shows the date when your Timeline will be published. If you clicked the Publish Now button (at the top right) now, the countdown would disappear and the Timeline would be visible to the world immediately, so obviously avoid this for the time being. Instead, scroll down the Timeline to see what it contains. Remember, some or all of what's there will be available on your public Timeline when it is finally published (whether by yourself or automatically, by Facebook). We're not providing instructions here on how to build a fancy Timeline but explaining how to remove what you don't want to appear. If you want to learn more about making an attractive Timeline, click the Start Tour button at the top right (taking care to avoid clicking Publish Now).

To return to the reviewing page, click your profile name at the top (just to the left of Find Friends). Scroll down the Timeline to review the content. Each post carries a small, grey icon alongside its date/timestamp. A padlock means the item is marked only for you, so no-one else will be able to view it even when the Timeline goes live. If the icon depicts two small heads in silhouette then Facebook friends will able to view the item; and if the icon is a small globe, then it will be visible to all-comers - friend or not. To this extent, Timeline's privacy options are no different to those applied to existing Facebook walls: to change who can see what, click an icon and choose a different setting.

However, if there's a particular post that you'd like to remove from your Timeline, then hover the mouse pointer over the top right of the item and two icons will appear - click the pencil (labelled Edit or Remove). To remove an item permanently, choose the Delete Post option (and confirm by clicking Delete Post again). Alternatively, to prevent an item being published on your Timeline - so that you're able to retrieve or view it at a later date - choose Hide from Timeline instead. If you make a mistake, click the Undo button and the item will be resurrected to the Timeline.

Now review the remainder of your Timeline, repeating Steps 4 or 5 when necessary. When you're ready - and be sure that you are, because Facebook presents no confirmation and there's no way back - return to the top of the page and click the Publish Now button and your Timeline will be live. If you'd like to restore previously hidden items to the Timeline, click the Activity Log button, click the ‘no entry' sign alongside the relevant item and choose Allowed on Timeline.

If you consider Timeline's introduction the last straw and wish to close your Facebook account then begin by clicking the small down-pointing arrow at the top right of your profile page and choose Account Settings. Now click Security on the left-hand side to see a ‘Deactivate your account' link: clicking this and following the prompts will disable your profile but won't delete your information. The option to delete an account properly is hidden: click on Help at the bottom of the page, then type delete my account into the search bar. Click on the first article, entitled ‘How do I permanently delete my account?', which provides a link to the deletion-request form. It takes two weeks for a Facebook account to be deleted, and if you log into it in the meantime the request will be cancelled, so make sure you stay away.