Facebook Timeline is live Thursday for all users to access. The website gives users seven days to become accustomed to the new format and to see how it affects privacy settings.

The new Facebook offers drastically different changes from any other switch before. We offer you the top six important things to know when switching to the new Timeline format and how to protect your information from others.

6. Digital Scrapbook

The emphasis with Timeline is on photographs. Timeline presents your Facebook in a digital way from birth to present and is organized like a scrapbook. Each user can choose a cover, either a picture from their album or a design, which will be prominently featured as a header for your entire page.

5. Personal Biography / Timeline Menu Bar

Facebook is now organized like a personal biography in the form of... a timeline. Information such as when you were born, when you started a job and when you were married (or divorced) are organized graphically and can be found by scrolling down deep into your past. The Timeline Menu bar that floats along the side of the screen allows you to add events.

4. How to Fill-In Your Life

You can add events from a broken bone to a messy break up and add details and pictures to illustrate your history. On your Facebook you will see Status, Photo, Place and Life Event. By selecting Life Event you have the option to add an event related to Work & Education, Family & Relationships, Home & Living, Health & Wellness and Travel & Experiences. These events will then show up on your timeline.

3. Special Features: Map, Likes, Notes, Subscriptions

The new map features allows users to show friends where they live, but also where they have been. You can add photos, stories, home and work, and life events by tagging them to a location. Likes, Notes and Subscriptions are also prominently featured at the top of a user's screen.

2. Feature, Minimize, Delete and Hide Events

You can feature or minimize events on your timeline (which will visually make them look larger or smaller) by clicking the star in the upper right hand corner of the event. If you select the edit button (which looks like a pencil), it will give you the option to delete a life event or hide it from your timeline.

1. Privacy Worries

Exploring your Timeline may come as a surprise. Information that you may have thought was previously hidden or could not be seen may suddenly be available. Be sure to check your privacy settings (which can be found in the menu bar at the top). You can change what information is visible to other users. In order to verify that your Facebook looks how you want it to for your friends and family, be sure to view your profile as someone else. You can check what your profile looks like to someone else by selecting the wheel icon next to Activity Log and selecting view as. With the new Facebook Timeline, a wealth of information from your past may now be organized and available to your friends.

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