Last month, Facebook officially launched its Timeline feature to the general public.  The new presentation, which takes the place of your profile page, transforms your old wall into a digital scrapbook of all your activity on the social network.

While some members will enjoy the walk down memory lane that Facebook has created, others may cringe at what the new format uncovers or how it portrays them.  Never has it been so easy to slice and dice your Facebook activity over the years, which can be particularly troublesome if the way in which you’ve used the network has changed over the years.  Those that used the social network during their college years, for instance, may have behaved differently than they do today back when it was closed environment with no grownups allowed.

While you can push off making the switch, Facebook has acknowledged that eventually all members will have to adopt of the new Timeline format.  Below are a few tips and tools that will hopefully allays some of your fears about the new feature and help make it as smooth a transition as possible.

Cover Photo:  One of the first things you’ll notice about Timeline is the huge image at the top.  Known as a cover photo, this 851x315px image is a big change from the usually rigid design folks are used to on Facebook.  This blank canvas is a great opportunity to let your personality and creativity shine through to those that view your profile– if you need some inspiration, take a look at what these folks did with their covers.

Activity Log:  Facebook has finally developed a feature that consolidates your content for easier management.   The activity log is the easiest way to control what does and doesn’t show up on your timeline.  You can go through individual pieces of content and choose whether it gets highlighted, hidden, or removed.  You can also filter what type of content shows up in the list you’re viewing if, say, old wall posts are your only concerns.  The button to the activity log is located under the bottom right side of your cover photo – and don’t worry, you’re the only one that can see your own activity log.

Fill In The Blanks:  Just because Facebook has only been around for 8 years, that doesn’t mean that’s all your timeline can cover.  If your Timeline is missing something, you now have the ability to add in content retroactively.   All you have to do is click on the clock icon when adding your content and input the date you want to use.   If you want to add content while you’re perusing your timeline, you can also simply click on the middle line and a toolbar to upload content will pop up that is automatically dated to the point in time you are currently viewing.

Life Events:  In addition to statuses, photos, videos, and check-ins, there is now a new type of content for your timeline known as Life Events.  This feature is meant to highlight events in your life that you deem as important.  So whether it’s the birth of your new child or even just a great trip that you want to be remembered, you can now easily update your timeline with a feature that gives the post the primacy of placement its due (takes up the full width of the timeline for the date you’ve assigned).

Make sure you have the time for timeline: Once you decide to start editing your timeline, you’re on the clock; you only have 7 days before it is automatically pushed live.  While that may sound like plenty of time, think about how much you’ve used the social network over the past few years.  If you’re a fairly regular user, there’s going to be a whole lot of content to cull through in order to make sure you’re portraying yourself in the light you want to be seen in.  And as stated earlier, it’s a very manual process given that content needs to be sorted through on an individual basis.