Facebook tries to simplify Connect implementations

Facebook is trying to make it easier for Web publishers to hook up their sites to the company's Connect data portability system.

To pave the way, Facebook released on Wednesday a developer tool designed to simplify the process of setting up Connect in an external Web site.

Called Connect Wizard, the tool walks Web publishers through three steps to implement Connect, which lets people sign in to external Web sites with their Facebook login data.

Connect can also let Facebook members port to other Web sites content from their profiles, like basic personal information, photos, notes, friends lists and status updates.

"From making the registration process easier for users, to bringing friends together, to gaining distribution from sharing back to Facebook, there are many benefits that come along with Facebook Connect, and we're focused on helping you optimize your website and service to provide a more social experience for users," wrote Facebook platform engineer Alex Himel in an official blog post.

Along with Connect Wizard, Facebook also unveiled Playground for Facebook Connect, a section on its developers Web site with Connect-related code samples.

In a separate but related announcement on Wednesday, Facebook released another developer tool called Translations for Facebook, designed to simplify and automate the translation of Web site content.