New Release! Brilliant!

Oct 23, 2006 at 4:58 PM
60 comments

It's that time again...say hello to 15, aka Stewart. As noted in our last release notes, the Stewart release is our release before the official Vox launch on October 26th. That doesn't mean that we won't continue to improve the product you've come to love -- it just means we need a new naming scheme for the next series of releases. We're really excited about where Vox is today but we're still only at the beginning of Vox's life.

Onto the highlight reel of Stewart...

Navigation Consistency
The control strip and the application strip serve to help you get where you want to go on Vox, so it makes sense that you shouldn't have to learn two different ways to navigate throughout Vox. In release 15, we've made the navigation consistent across the Vox application and control strip. We've also tightened up the application navigation and removed a lot of extra space that wasn't really doing that much for the experience (other than pushing down content). You'll also notice a little graphical flourish up on the top of the application. This release celebrates our upcoming launch, so it only made sense to incorporate Vox user Sofie's awesome little rocket into the banner.

Navigation

Some other minor changes: We've renamed "Read" into "VoxWatch" since it's more about watching stuff on Vox change rather than just reading. We've also made "My Vox Blog" and "Neighborhood" a bit more prominent and moved it from the account-centric area on the right.

Asset Page Overhaul
Yay! Asset pages! What's an asset page, you might ask? It's the page that stores your, well, media assets. Photos, videos, books, movies, audio, to be precise. In release 15, we've finally integrated some awesome features to make these pages a whole lot more dynamic.

Better navigation. Now, you can see what's next or previous and browse a whole lot easier.
"Re-Blog This" button. We're absolutely *loving* this feature. Have you ever seen an album on someone's Vox blog that you were meaning to write about? Well, with one click of the "re-blog" button, a post will be started with that asset included. This feature is available for assets brought into Vox, rather than uploaded (like your photos).
Book and Music Recommendations. Check out the recommendations -- we're amazed by how on the mark they are.
General clean-up and reorganization that will allow for better navigation.

New Themes

New Themes

1 comment

A whole truckload of banner contest winners have been integrated into release 15. Thirteen to be exact. Thanks to Lauren, Tana, Haze, S.Howell, Katy, Michael, Yasmina, Emile, Witold and Meg for their great contributions! The best part is that more are yet to come. Additionally, we've got three Halloweenish themes for you to enjoy: Day of the Dead, Haunted House and Raven.

Those are the big features for 15. You know the drill by now:

Explore.
Have fun.
Suggest feedback.
Invite Friends & Family.

And celebrate virtually with us on October 26th when we officially go public! If you're loving Vox, tell people about it on your blog. Spread the word that this is the place to be!

Thanks again for all your great feedback and making our community so great. We're totally jazzed for the big release and for all that's yet to come!

-Mena

5 people marked this as a favorite.

Tags:

release notes,
vox

Comments

[c’est top]

Thumbs up! Very proud of you guys!

[いいですね]

I like "Re-Blog This" feature!

brilliant indeed! I just jumped and *squeeled* in excitement to see all of these new features! great job guys!

Love the Vox release, but hate the re-names!

Please rename "VoxWatch" back to Read! I'm not "watching" anything, especially for things to change on Vox! (what kinda losers do we you think are.. :)). I click on Read to, um, read what others have posted based on tags. It's a Reader. Plus, it fits nicely into "Read, Compose, Design, Organize, Explore". All actions for me to take. Instead of "VoxWatch", which sounds like a bad David Hasslehoff TV series sequel that I'm afraid to click on.

And I think "My Vox Blog" is a little redundant. We're already on Vox. What other blog would it be? My MySpace blog? I think just "Blog" would be sufficiently clear, because I already know it's "my" blog. You don't have "My neighborhood", etc.

Great work otherwise. Cheers!

I agree. And I also seem to be missing something. Where are the recommendations?

[esto es genial]

ole. re-blog. very cool feature.

Awesome!

Any chance of allowing non users to comment - maybe as an optional feature that can be turned on and off? I would love to have all my friends be able to comment without having accounts!

I want to help make themes, I love making graphics. Where do I sign up?!

[c’est top]

I love "Re-Blog" feature. It's so cool!!

Carnish, if you look at asset detail for an album or video in someone's blog that they imported from Amazon, then it should have recommendations under it. I have some cases in my blog of weirdo stuff that Amazon apparently doesn't know what to do about, though, so for those there aren't any.

[this is good]

Another kudos for the excellent photo view now. Love the next and previous previews of the thumbnails as well as other elements of the interface on that page being cleaned up.

I saw the next and previous feature on someone else's blog & found a really cool set of photos as a result! And I've changed my wallpaper ... great new designs. BUT I can't find that re-blog button anywhere, or the music & book recommendations. What am I missing here?

[this is good]

Oh thank god I'm not the only one that hates this.

[this is good]

I like that it's called "My Vox Blog", because then I know that link means mine, not the homepage for someone else's blog, which can sometimes be unclear if I'm just surfing around random people's Vox blogs.

I sure would like to be able to add links to websites I like in the same way I am able to sell/promote books, videos, and music for Amazon etc.

Not sure I understand that. By that logic, "Neighborhood" could be someone else's neighborhood too, right? If the design of the Vox banner is correct, every link in that horizontal stripe is *yours* -- blog, neighborhood, account, organize, etc. I think it's crystal clear to me, but I will settle for "My Blog". The "Vox" has to go! :) Unless you can argue that we can have a non-Vox blog on Vox. I have to like read that long link every time.. "My...Vox...Blog"... oh, that's my blog! Instead of just being the intuitive "Blog" - Yup, my blog.

The above was a reply to Anil's comment, but somehow didn't show up.

[c’est top]

[this is good]

I love all the new features.

One feature I would like to see is the counter. At least for the vox members. It'd be nice to see which vox member has visited your site.

Other than that, I love it I love it I love it!

[das ist gut]

Hey Voxers! GREAT JOB! You guys continues to amaze me with your great works here. And you even changed the "Dieses ist gut" into "Das ist gut"...I'm sure it wasn't just me who pointed that out. ;-) But it makes me feel like I've finally contributed something gut to Vox. The only thing that's still bugging me is the fact that people from outside of Vox are still not allowed to comment....I hope that that will change soon after the official launch. Otherwise I'm <3ing it!

[this is good]

I Am Loving the new Style!!

Sickness.

What about allowing to create an usual blogroll as is standard on other platforms.? What about allowing people to comment without them having to be vox-members? What about opening the possibility to change the themes? What about providing a little statistics-tool?

typewriter replied to wefloat’s comment:
Oct 23, 2006
Reply

I have to agree that "Read" was vastly more elegant than "VoxWatch." It's just ... clunky. It interrupts what was once a smooth ideational train of verbs (Read, Compose, Organize, Design, Explore--if that's not the proper order, forgive me; I was still getting used to it) with what I take to be a created noun. Nothing against the Germans, but why are we always trying to make English more like German by mashing our words together? "VoxWatch" made wefloat think of BayWatch; it makes me think of ManWich.

Now, what does german have to do with the ridiculous word VoxWatch?

Arvind Satyanarayan replied to wefloat’s comment:
Oct 24, 2006
Reply

[this is good]

I love the new consistency to the app and blog headers but I'm going to have to agree about the VoxWatch thing... Read seems to fit in better with the rest of the actions on that bar (plus, I'm not sure about others, but I only did Read in the Reader, I didn't listen or watch...)

On the whole, however, Vox absolutely rocks. Completely rejuvenated my blogging!

Do we just breathe our own smoke or will there be staff-statements too?

Here's my thoughts!

I would like the options to add a blog roll, and embed things into my posts. It isn't transalting my html codes properly.

I would also like to know why my tags aren't showing up in my tag cloud, and a tag I deleted, is still showing.

I prefered Read to VoxWatch.

I would like to add links and customise my own templates a bit more, and change sidebars and titles in sidebars. Also would love to be able to create my own banners.

Also, unless I am much mistaken, I have a friend on my neighbourhood, and they haven't added me as a friend. Can it be altered that when you add someone as a friend, then they HAVE to add you as a friend also? Like a security setting type thing? (This makes sense in my own head! lol)

Apart from that, I think Vox is cool! :))

[this is good]

I love the new themes but I'm going to have to get use to the other things.

I like most of the goodies, but prefered "Read" to "VoxWatch" and "My Blog" to "My Vox Blog" for many of the reasons already stated.

While, I also hope more customization of themes is coming 'round, what I would most prefer is being able to order things in my sidebar. Right now it seems there is no way to do this?

I really like Vox a lot. I just wish the replies were threaded like Livejournal. For instance, you will receive an email that I left this comment, but if you were to reply to it - I wouldn't receive an email letting me know. I wish something like that would be implemented in the future.

Indiana replied to Papi Chulo’s comment:
Oct 24, 2006
Reply

Thanks, I was lost on that also until i noticed you specifically mentioned Amazon, turns out if i learn to pay more attention when reading details, i wouldnt of got lost in the first place. Same thing with the re-blog.

Yup I agree with this too!

[this is good]

LOVE re-blog and recommendations- great ideas... I, too, prefer "read" to "vox watch" and "my blog" to "my vox blog." But Vox keeps getting better w/ each version... hope the official launch goes smoothly!

[this is good]

Fabulous!!

And totally off topic, have you seen the VOX Pumpkin at <a href="http://richardallen.vox.com/">http://richardallen.vox.com/</a>??? SO CUTE!

http://richardallen.vox.com/

Ooops!

[this is good]

Fabulous!!

And totally off topic, have you seen the VOX Pumpkin at http://richardallen.vox.com/??? SO CUTE!

[this is good]

Love, love, love the new themes...and thanks for adding the Halloween themes...now start working on Xmas themes..tee hee!! =)

mariser replied to Dieter Petereit’s comment:
Oct 24, 2006
Reply

I agree with everything Dieter Petereit is suggesting, but especially being able to have a blogroll. or several. please do it!

Good work!

See the Chicago Tribune column on the Vox launch

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0610230269oct24,0,1587533.column?coll=chi-business-hed

When I click "view all tags" on any account, it doesn't show all - only the ones that appear in the sidebar on my main blog page.

My 'tags' are not working properly AT ALL either. Matter of fact, it is showing tags that I didn't even create.

Adding photos from flickr, istock or videos from youtube and maybe ifilm will also import the tags of that asset as well. Usually when I use one of these services to import an asset, I just remove all the tags and add my own.

The tags issue where it's only displaying 20 on your "view tags" page is a bug and will be fixed for the next release. Thanks!

Day of the Dead theme! AWE. SOME.

Has anyone else noticed probs with the comments page - that the vox logo and assocated text float over the comments box area, the "this is good" link, or sometimes over other peoples comments? Can't say this is true as of this very minute (I'm not seeing it with this comment post) but it was as of 1a PDT 10/24/06.

Any updates to Safari compatibility for compose feature?

I am only seeing public tags now, as opposed to all my tags... humpf.

Also, am I the only one who has trouble clicking in the comment boxes to type a reply? I tried to comment on here loads last might and had to keep hitting refresh.

I gave up eventually, I have managed to comment on here just after hitting refresh half a dozen times! (Please say its not just me!!)

I agree... "voxwatch" has to go, "read" was cleaner, and better.

I'd like more choices for my layout, as in, the order of the sections I want to display, and the icons that are used to show an mp3 or mpg file, etc.

Also, in Firefox for the Mac, the text gets cut off on the right-hand side, and gets really weird as I'm posting or commenting. It's hard to explain, it's as if the last few characters go invisible or bunch up as I type . I'll post a screenshot so you see what I mean.

Here's another issue, the spacing around bolded, italicized, or hyperlinked text. Note thhe bold phrase and the tight spacing around it. Again, this is with Mac OSX in Firefox.

Also, can we edit collection names, please?

I have seen random bolding of text while on Firefox on my OS X machine on web sites other than Vox. I would blame the browser renderer on that. With regards to it happening in the Composer/text entry windows, that is really weird. I would suggest that you provide feedback via the feedback form (link below or use this one if you can't find it). I noticed in your first screenshot that the spacing between the period and the Sign Out link was also off. Have you tried clearing out your cache as you may have an obsolete CSS file lurking around? It may also help Team Vox to include the version of Firefox that you are using.

Ive had that problem off and on, its like something is stopping the cursor from going to the comment box. Although usually mine clears up after 1 refresh.

Something Else replied to jodipodi’s comment:
Oct 26, 2006
Reply

It's not just you. I sometimes have trouble being able to type in the comment box, or check 'this is good'. Usually I just give up.

The themes look great but I wish I could change mine. I go to the Design page and the themes are missing. That section is completely blank. And I can't add photos from my library to my posts.