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SPONSORED LISTINGS
New Guidespot Features Released TODAY 6.30.09
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- July 01, 2009
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Guidespot is integrating new features into the site today at around 3:30pm ish Mountain Daylight Time, and we wanted to give you a heads up on what to expect. Sometimes we have a release with new features that you might notice more, and other times, they are little tiny things that are not as noticable, but still make a big impact. Check out this guide to learn how your experience on the site will be improved. There are a ton of new goodies. We want your feedback. Remember, this is your site, we are here for you. So tell us what you like and don't like! Thanks for your amazing guides and contributions.
New Homepage Look & Feel
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I am looking forward to seeing it.
New Homepage to Match New Header
You will find most of the same options and highlights… just a tad different and snazzier feel. Notice the cool new scrolling feature, where you can toggle between the Fresh guides and the most Popular guides.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
.jpg "aliciak")
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I really like the “_ guides and counting” feature.
.jpg "Elisa")
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I agree with Alicia about the “guides and counting” feature, and I also like that you can switch between “popular” and “fresh.”
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http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pnina Tornai Wedding Dress http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pnina Tornai http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pni
More Responsive Flyouts on the Carousel
The carousel is the row of guides on the top of the homepage. They used to be kind of sticky when you pointed to them and a flyout popped out… We have improved the efficiency, and it is now less sticky with the flyouts.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
.jpg "Hi Liner")
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I like it. The stickiness was lame city. Being unsticky is way cooler.
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it was lame city… now it is like I heart NYC.
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http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pnina Tornai Wedding Dress http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pnina Tornai http://www.pninatornaiweddingdre… Pni
New 404 Error Page
We were going to use the option below, but we have decided to brand the 404 page so it matches better with the site, and has long-term shelf-life. We love Gillian, but we think this is better for our marketing. Stay tuned for the bestest 404 page in the universe in the near future…
OLD… This Has Actually Been Changed: Hopefully you never see it, but if you do, we tried to make it entertaining. You can thank Guidespot author, GillianS!
.jpg "ElGuapo")
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What’s it going to say? Our old 404 error on GiveForward.org used to say “here are some puppy dogs to cheer you up”. It was kinda funny, but probably kind of annoying if people saw it all the time..
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I’m partial to Twitter’s Fail Whale. It’d be hard to beat that, but I know Guidespot can.
.jpg "AlexandraF")
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yea, what alicia said!
Improved Headers
New Universal Header
No more flash on homepage, and now, just a snazzy new header with handy tabs. Notice we changed the word Spots to Local. You will also notice that we changed Create a Guide to Write a Guide. To access your profile, simple click on your name (when signed in) on the right side of the header.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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yeah, the whole site looks much cleaner..
.jpg "Coffee Slut")
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Clean as a whistle!! love it, love it, love it!! ;o)
.jpg "ethwiny")
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I <3 the Local tab. I really do.
Categories is Now Browse Guides
We want readers to be able to see more of your authored guides. We implemented this word change to encourage more discovery on the site, within various categories.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
One Search Bar
Just like Google, enter what you are searching for, and in what city. Hoping this will create a better experience for users who are trying to search for your guides.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
.jpg "Elissa")
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love this one.
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Glad to hear… thanks E!
.jpg "Susie")
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Sooo much better! And yes, the example will really help people.
New Friend Us and Login Options
This does not take up as much room, and still proves it’s purpose in a sleek yet self-explanatory way.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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The use of the space is a nice addition.
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I got excited to be a friend and realized that, of course, I already am. :) I like it!
New Footer
We tried to make the footer more user friendly, and linked to common areas such as the Guidespot FAQ and Guidespot Blog.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
Category Page Changes
We added a category drop down to this page in place of the guide type to encourage more discovery within the various types of guides.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
A little treat… A fun guide about Awkward Family Photos
Improved Guide Pages
Overall New Feel to Guide View Page
Lots of new goodies here… Give us your input… Bring it on here. Notice that we no longer really distinguish regular guides from community guides. (red or green guides). Our goal with the new style changes was to focus more of the user’s attention on your content within your guides. Did it work?
Notice the header of your guides now has a different way of representing the activity of the guide.
Do you like it?* Give us your input:
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It might just be my browser (firefox) but the guides are no longer in two columns-just one big loooong column. Although, when I go into edit mode they jump back to two columns. Wierd, no?
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@ethwiny, By chance, do you have Skype Add-On on your computer as well?
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Can you send me a screenshot darling, and the browser version you are on? You on a mac or pc? Thanks W!
Discussions v. Comments & User Controlled Comment Viewing
We did some name changing. There are two ways to interact via commenting on a guide. 1. You can make a Comment within a guide, on an individual guide element. 2. You can Discuss an entire guide. We implemented this change to improve the user experience, so the users could see that there were two ways to comment and give their opinion about their own, or other author’s guides. Like it?
Users now have the option to expand or collapse the Comments within a guide, based on their preference.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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Yes, I like this distinguishing.
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I concur with aliciak.
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Discussions are definitely very engaging, which I like!
New Popular/Fresh Guides and Sharing Options on the Side
Ever since we implemented the popular guide feature into Guidespot, it has been a huge success… So, we made it better looking, and implemented more filtering options.
The Sharing options for stumbleupon, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Digg, and Delicious have been moved into the same area. You will also notice sharing options on the bottom of the guide.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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I like the fact that there are now thumbnails to go with the guides— probably will make people click on them even more!
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We hope so… we want more views to your guides!
Moved and Jazzed up Guides We Think You'll Like
This will always be inside EVERY guide created. We did this to help your readers find more guides on Guidespot that we think they might find interesting.
We recommend that you still include links inside your guide to other guides on Guidespot… Some users like to do this so that they get more views on their guides, as well as keep fans on the site in general. Your guide, your rules!
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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nice. would still love a feature that would allow us to put little guide-links with icons like these within our own guides
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So does this mean we don’t have to include the three links anymore? Also, can this be left to the author for formatting? It is non-editable and kind of sticks out.
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Great feedback everyone! @elissa everyone loves your idea about an thumbnail with links to guides on guidespot. Thank you.
New Guide Layout View on Bottom of Guides
A few things to notice and give us your feedback on:
1. The sharing options and email/print etc. options have been moved to the bottom to encourage more sharing.
2. About the Author has been moved to the bottom. where there is a larger author photo, as well a link to the author’s profile page. Users will also see other guides by the author.
3. Category Exploration was moved and jazzed up to encourage users to click around to other guides within Guidespot. Notice how the categories in the guide are on the top with an RSS, and that the additional categories are below.
Do you like it? Give us your input:
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I like this. I like this a lot.
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I might change my mind in the next 10 minutes, but I’m not loving having the “about the author” block floating at the bottom of the page— it makes the page seem “bottom heavy,” if that makes any sense
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The Designers delivered & chatted with me. We are working on a way to get two-column guides into 1 column. It’s planned 2 redesign the guide layout in the near future, including the “about the author.”
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