Some of the important features of Invoicera are mentioned below. There are many, many other features which the software has but I think these are by far the most important to me as a Facebook app developer.

Multiple language and currency support – this feature helps you to create and send invoices to your clients in their respective language and currency. You can create invoices in 11 languages and also prefer the currency for your clients in which you want to invoice them.

Send invoice to multiple contacts – you can send invoices to more than one by adding multiple contacts as secondary contacts. For multiple businesses this feature is a major plus.

Recurring Invoicing into Auto Billing – this is very helpful when you have to send the identical invoices to the same clients at specific intervals.

It is an absolute delight using Invoicera a site which is very neat and quick. The site has an easy set-up and simply requires fill-up all essential information in no time. Moreover, it took mere minutes to figure out how to use the application. I found its user interface the most intuitive of the other similar application which I compared prior to choosing Invoicera.

After reading so much about Invoicera, I have an idea about the most obvious question in your mind right now, the pricing. Its basic plan is absolutely free which is introduced to test the functionality of the application but it has certain limitations. The paid plans of Invoicera start from $9.95 while the other two packages would cost you $19.95 and $49.95 respectively. If you would ask me to choose the best plan I would say I found that I got the most bang for my buck out of the $9.95 plan.

It has been an incredible experience using Invoicera, though you could find other alternatives in the market but none of them can beat up Invoicera in functionality, excellent support and competitive pricing. So if you are a freelance Facebook application developer such as myself, I would certainly recommend you try this software out.

1) Can they be trusted? As I mentioned, this is the most important aspect of a hosting company (at least for me) as I always look for a host with the best reputation. There is no better endorsement then word of mouth, so ask around to see who is satisfied with their current host. There are many hosting forums out there like webhostingtalk.com so once you narrowed down your search to a few companies, take a few minutes to sift through some of the threads and see what others are saying. I also recommend you go for a managed VPS host (Virtual Private Host) for your Facebook application. A VPS has all the benefits of a dedicated machine (but without the expensive price tag).

2) Support – usually this goes back to item 1 as most people gage their satisfaction of the hosting company based on the support they receive. Most hosting companies provide 24×7 ticket support these days (if the one you found doesn’t have it, don’t bother). You want your hosting company to go above and beyond when you open a ticket so if you receive poor service drop your host immediately as it’s usually a bad sign regarding the stability of the company. As I mentioned before, you will also get an idea of the type of service from the forums.

3) Price – This really depends on your needs. Many starting Facebook developers don’t have the resources to splurge on a fancy managed dedicated machine on say Rackspace (which can set you back a few grand a month!) I would start with the cheapest VPS plan at first, since you will not need many resources when building and testing your Facebook application. As you release your app into the wild, it’s important to make sure you monitor the performance and increase your resources as needed.

4) Scalability – as your app generates more buzz and users you will need to scale your hosting provider to cope with the demand. Depending on how heavy your Facebook app on the hosting resources you will need to add more and more resources to your VPS plan to handle the new loads. Eventually if your app becomes really successful (somewhere around 100k daily active users) you will have to switch to a dedicated hosting solution, simply because VPS resources are still shared with other sites on the same machine so they are limited in what they can provide. This is why I always recommend you choose a host that offers a VPS AND Dedicated hosting so that when the time comes you can make an easy and smooth transition without any downtime and without having to switch companies (which can be a real headache.)

All in all you need to be very selective in the hosting company you choose. If you really want to know I use a company called Knownhost for pretty much ALL my hosting needs (even this very website is hosted with them). IMHO they are simply the best when it comes to hosting Facebook apps and websites, and I know this may be a shameless plug, but I am so pleased with the service and the quality I have no problems telling everyone how good their services really are, I even recommend them to all my clients and friends. Bottom line is that you need to make sure you do your due diligence when picking a host, especially for something important like your very own Facebook Application.

Freelancer.com Facebook projects

Freelancer.com Facebook latest projects

We are proud to launch our very own FBReview Toolbar. The FREE FBReview Toolbar offers you exclusive facebook goodies and access to your facebook account. Stay connected to Facebook even when you are not on facebook. The FBReview Toolbar also offers you Twitter connectivity and quick access to all your favorite Zynga games! Instantly access Mafia Wars, FarmVille and much more directly from your browser. But wait the best is yet to come. We’ve decided to offer exclusive offers and tools ONLY to people who download and install our toolbar!

More Details about the FBReview Toolbar

How does it work? simply complete a form with a few ads you would like to test and select your targeting info, hit “Play”, and the tool will automatically mix and match ads with various targeting options to create as many ads as you want. No more clicking through the Facebook interface all day doing the same thing over and over.

PHPDesigner – A free PHP editor which you can use to put your app together

PHP Client Libraries – These are required to interact with Facebook Platform, in this page you can find several official, unofficial and third-party client libraries for various platforms.

Facebook’s API Test Console – Use this tool to experiment with functions and responses, and see what content Facebook Platform makes available.

The Facebook Developer Forums – This is probably THE most helpful tool you can find.  The Facebook Developer Forums are filled with helpful suggestions and thousands of other programmers.  You can post any question you have and you will usually get a reply, either directly from Facebook or other programmers.

Facebook’s FBML Test Console – With this you can experiment with FBML.

Facebook’s Feed Console – Use this tool to register a new template bundle on behalf of any one of the applications you own.

Application Demos – This section holds a variety of Facebook Application demos in various languages and platforms.

I will be updating this section constantly.  If you think I missed something feel free to post it in the comments.

Next (and this is the hard part) is to come up with an idea for that killer app.  If you have already have an idea, that’s great, you can start building the application.  If not, I suggest you look at the various application reviews and browsing the Facebook application directory. 

I understand that not everyone can build an application from scratch; after all it’s not easy if you don’t have a programming background.  However, I believe that with a bit of effort, and the will to learn, almost anyone can put together a simple application.  Although, if you don’t have the time to give it a shot, but you still want to have your own Facebook application, you’ll may want to visit our application outsourcing section.  Here, you’ll be able to find out about paying someone else to build your application for you.

You will also need to familiarize yourself with several key terms.

•    API – Stands for Application Programming Interface. The API defines is responsible for the methods through which you can interact with Facebook. If you are not familiar with the idea of an API, please read about it on Wikipedia or on Digital Web
•    FBML – Facebook Markup Language is a custom markup language based on good ol’ HTML. It’s  used to define the pages in your application.
•    FQL – Facebook Query Language is basically SQL for Facebook.  FQL is a query language for cases where there are no helper methods in the API, or FBML Tags to get your application to do what you want.
•    Canvas Page – This basically your applications page on Facebook.  Using canvas pages, you can embed pretty-much any functionality you want into Facebook.

There are a few things you will need to get before you can start as well.  First you will need to find somewhere to host your application.  The type of host you choose is really up to you but, I recommend JustHost.com for hosting Facebook applications.  JustHost provides excellent customer services and the most bang for your buck and you can now get 20% off your hosting package if you use coupon code JHSL20.

A more detailed walkthrough of how to build a Facebook application will be posted soon.  If you wish to contribute please let me know.

For outsourcing purposes, I always use a website called vWorker (it used to be called Rent-A-Coder).  I have been using them for years and find the right programmer at very competitive prices.  Here’s how it works.  You can put out a free, no-obligation bid request and programmers on the site place their work bids.  The great part is that programmers will find you and will bid on the project much like an auction to give you the lowest price.  This way you  will be able to bring your Facebook application to reality in a very cost-effective fashion. 

The coders are rated based on their previous performance and it’s uncommon to ask to see their work portfolio and examples of Facebook Applications they already made for someone else.  You can also issue an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) if you want to protect your application idea.

After you receive bids on your request.  You can choose the right coder for the job.  I always look for coders with high rankings. All the coders on Rent-A-Coder are ranked on previous jobs they did by previous buyers, so this gives you a good indication on which coder can do the job. I tend to avoid coders with small or no rankings even though most of the time their bids are lower. Rent-A-Coder also acts as an intermediary between you and the coder.  You don’t pay the coder upfront for the project, but rather you place the funds into escrow on Rent-A-Coder.  The coder won’t get paid until you are satisfied with the final product, at which time you instruct Rent-A-Coder to release the funds from escrow to the coder.  If there are any problems with the project Rent-A-Coder will act as a mediator between the two parties.

As I have mentioned, I have used Rent-A-Coder on numerous occasions in the past few years and I am really pleased with the services they can offer.  This way you can have that amazing Facebook Application and you can start earning money from advertisements on your application.

If anyone wants to post their programming services, please contact me or submit them in the comments sections.