Release Notes: Boy Howdy!

We've been listening to your feedback, and we think you'll be excited about some things we've cooked up for you in this release.  Check it out:

Custom Themes for Groups
That’s right - you can now upload a custom theme for your group!

Here’s how it works:

• You must be a host of the group to add a custom theme
• Upload the custom banner image to your own photo library
• Go to the group home and click on Settings
• Under Settings, click on Change theme
• Click on Personalized theme and choose your color palette

You’ll see a few other changes to Groups as well.  We switched around the “About this Group” area with the “Recent comments” area, so that the information about your group appears a little higher on the page.  We’ve also added a link to VoxWatch in the navigation bar in groups.

More Sidebar Content
Speaking of groups, we just added a way for you to show some of your group allegiance in the sidebar of your blog.  To add the “My Groups” module, click on the Design tab and under the "Select a layout" heading, click on the Customize your sidebars link.  Check the “My Groups” box to add the module to your blog.  It will display three of your groups according to which was most recently updated.  (The module's also got your back; it will only display your recently updated private groups to fellow members of that group.)

And now, for our most frequent feature request: a way to include links in the sidebar of your blog! 

You can now add a “personal links” module that appears in the “About me” section of your blog.  We envision this being used to display up to five other places people can find you on the web, maybe your Flickr page, last.fm profile, Amazon wish list, etc.  However, you can add in any link you’d like, up to five total.  Look for it in Account under the "Additional Links" header.

Coming soon is another sidebar module that will list unlimited links of your choosing.  We envision it as links list or blog roll, but it's your choice.  Stay tuned to the Team blog to find out when it's launched.

Recent posts on the confirmation page
Due to popular demand, recent posts are back on post confirmation pages.  We heard your feedback that you found them useful for exploring, so we’ve added them back along with the list of recently favorited media.  Happy exploring!

Supersize It: Extra Large Media
When you upload a media item, you’re going to see a new option when selecting the item size:  Extra-Large!  Selecting this option will display a larger version of the item, up to 500x500 pixels.  Like this:

New Themes
As you've come to expect, you've got new themes.  Check the Design tab for holiday themes for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Passover plus new Hanufuda designs and two themes for the upcoming Showtime series “The Tudors”.  Thanks to Akiko Kurono, Kemie Guaida, Chih-Hang Chung, Lilia, Metro UK and Showtime for their great designs.

Mo’ Beta
In our last release we told you about a way you can participate in beta testing, and we appreciate all your testing and feedback!  To follow up on some of the control strip feedback you shared, in the future we'll increase the font size on the top line of links that include “Compose”, and we’ll also alter the dropdown menus to only expand when you hover over the triangle, not when you hover over the words.

We’ve got a few new features in beta for you adventurous Voxers: 

• Change the color of your control strip (on the application side, not on the blog side):.  Just click on the tiny colored boxes next to the “Hello” and pick the one you like.
  

  Control Strip

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• Embed outside code for widgets, slideshows, etc.  To test this, look for the "Embed" button in the Compose screen.

Once you test these features, be sure to look for the beta feedback link on the control strip and use it to leave your feedback.  The best place to leave your feedback is via that beta feedback link or the general Feedback link.

To participate in beta testing, follow these instructions.

Sign Up for the Vox Email Newsletter
Did you know we send out a email newsletter twice a month?  It goes out the first and third Tuesdays and it’s a colorful roundup of recent news and happenings. 

If you’re not receiving Vox Talks and would like to, sign up by clicking on the Account link and then click on Privacy & Notifications.  Check the box next to “Vox newsletters” to start receiving them.  The next Vox Talks will be sent on Tuesday, March 20^th.

Until next time,