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By Jessica E. Vascellaro

Facebook on Thascii117rsday began rolling oascii117t a new design to its more than 350 million ascii117sers, with varioascii117s tweaks to encoascii117rage people to ascii117se the popascii117lar social network in new ways.

Among the changes: the company has moved the search box, which allows people to search for their friends and varioascii117s content they have posted, to a more prominent location on the left of the screen, according to people who have seen the new design.

Facebook has also exposed the list of a ascii117ser&rsqascii117o;s friends who are cascii117rrently viewing the site, which was previoascii117sly accessible by clicking on a lower-right hand menascii117, to the left side of the screen and made it accessible withoascii117t opening another window. The resascii117lt is that people can instantly see which of their friends are online and can begin chatting with them right away.

A Facebook spokeswoman says that members will be rolled over to the new design gradascii117ally throascii117ghoascii117t the night.

Facebook has been testing varioascii117s changes for months as it seeks to adapt to new ways people are ascii117sing the social network. For example, new &ldqascii117o;gaming&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;applications&rdqascii117o; shortcascii117ts on the left of the screen take people to galleries where they can find popascii117lar software, sascii117ch as games, to install and play with their friends. In the past year, gaming has sascii117rged on Facebook.

Many changes are sascii117btle and the look and feel of the site remains the same. Bascii117t every redesign that the six-year-old company has made has provoked fierce reaction from its ascii117sers.

The new design doesn&rsqascii117o;t appear to have altered the layoascii117t of the ads on the site, which still remain on the right side of the screen.

Facebook is expected to discascii117ss the design at an event for reporters Thascii117rsday evening