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Community of the Week
This week's Community of the Week is Organic Legion. It was created by none other than Organiclegion.org as a center of information and activism concerning organic living and more.
The purpose of Organic Legion is to inform and spur people to action, and -- as it should -- the layout of the site reflects this. The clean design is cheerful, providing reflecting an optimistic view of the future and setting the tone for the content of the site. Visitors are given a complete overview of the purpose of the site, which also serves as a way to make them aware of the issues important to Organic Legion. A few very literal "calls to action" are featured on the right hand navigation area, encouraging visitors to both join the site and get active in changing the world. The tagline of Organic Legion is, in fact, "Spread the word, Change the world!"
Congratulations to Organic Legion!
Voting for your favorite community of the week will start soon, so stay tuned for more information! If you'd like a shot at our next round of rewards post an introduction that follows the guidelines we've provided.
Suggestion of the Week
This week's suggestion comes from jumpchecker who would like to see an option to add a URL as the "location" of an event while using the event page. They hypothesize that it will help keep all the important information in the header, and point out that the description can get cluttered if there's a lot of information users need to know for an event.
As always we want to hear what you think about each idea. If you've thought of a feature you'd like to see added to theSpruz platform feel free to post it in the Idea Room. Remember to make it as detailed as possible; all topics must be approved before they'll appear.
Tip of the Week
This week's tip is from The Spruz Master and shows you how to add custom smilies to your forums. It's a quick suggestion that can improve the experience for your members!
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Community of the Week
This week's Community of the Week is Web Wiz Co. It was created by The Spruz Master as awebsite design service.
Any website directly involved in an aspect of the world wide web -- be it social networks, marketing, or design -- are expected to have a good grasp on what they specialize in. This is especially true with design websites, as the design of the website is a working example of their product. Web Wiz Co does a great job presenting itself and the service it provides. The clean, sharp design helps spark the imagination of the visitor, helping them realize the potential their own site has.
Congratulations to Web Wiz Co!
There is one more week to go before the community will once again vote for the top Community of the Week! If you'd like a shot at our next round of rewards post an introduction that follows the guidelines we've provided.
Suggestion of the Week
This week's suggestion comes from Randya, who would like to see more options to display a specific number of objects on pages. Current features such as Blogs and Forums give administrators the right to decide how many blogs/forum topics to display per page, which in turn makes it easier for users to navigate the systems.
As always we want to hear what you think about each idea. If you've thought of a feature you'd like to see added to the Spruz platform feel free to post it in the Idea Room. Remember to make it as detailed as possible; all topics must be approved before they'll appear.
Tip of the Week
This week's tip shows you how to add an invite tab to your navigation area. This easy to add feature can encourage members to invite more people to your website, further expanding your user base.
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In our latest round of updates we wanted to focus on a few requests we have seen post in our forums, including being able to compose messages and send messages to more then one friend at a time, able to add embed codes from other Video websites other then YouTube and advanced search options for the Members page.
New Inbox Message Features
Next time you visit your inbox you will notice a new option to compose a New Message. Creating a new message to a friend is very easy, the send message box features real time friend searching, as you type out a name you will be given a list of friends to select from, then enter your subject, message body and click send.
When you send a message to more then one person, all replies will appear in one message thread. This makes it easy to keep track of the conversation.
Timestamps are also a thing of the past, we have replaced the Timestamps with a more localized friendly time since the message was posted.
Due to these changes, your inbox will now only display messages for the website you are on. We no longer display messages from other websites.
New Video Page Features
Previously the video page only supported adding videos from YouTube using a video page URL or uploading videos if you had an upgrade. In our latest changes we have opened up full support for embed codes. This should allow you to place a video from any video source, enjoy!
Advanced Member Search
When you visit your member search page and click on edit feature settings you have a new feature setting called Advanced Search, when checked your users will have the option to enter advanced search. Advanced Search allows people to search by age, status, and gender, with expanded support coming soon for custom member questions.
Major Features In Development
We want to give you a preview of things to come that are currently in development;
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Ning Data Importing - Due to the recent release of the Ning Archiving Tool we are using this information to build a way to import members, blogs, events, discussions and pages. We estimate this feature should be ready in the next 2-3 weeks for you to use.
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Wiki - This is the replacement to the current Knowledge base feature. As many of you know it has been a long time coming and one of those items that just had to be pushed back a few times. The Wiki is a complex feature that should have a range of uses. Estimated release date 3-4 weeks
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SPL (Spruz Platform Language) and API (Application Programming Interface) release - Opening up the platform for 3rd party developers has always been in our plan, and I am happy to report that we are closer then ever with the full release of our SPI documentation, new API interface and App Library. Estimated Release date for full SPI Documentation 2-4 weeks and our API 5-7 weeks.
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Content Settings - Content settings is a new section that will be added to the Site Settings area to give you more detailed control over your website features. Content settings will allow you to control comment box features, ability to customize the sharing and rating features on Videos, Photos Etc., member file space limit settings, and more. Estimated release date 2-3 weeks.
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Content Templates - This a progression update that is in progress now. Content templates in time will allow you to control all system text within your website. This system can also be used to change the language of system text. Part of this update also includes a new setting that is soon to be added to your site settings that will allow you to control the character set your website uses to display content.
Note: The editor has been updated with several fixes in this update. If you do not see the editor showing for you, that means you have a cached version of the editor in your browser that is causing this to happen, please hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and press the F5 key when on a page that should have the editor to get the latest version for you and display it correctly.
Like with any of our updates, if you notice an issue please open a support ticket to report the problem. Commenting on issues will not help us solve problems.
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Community of the Week
This week's Community of the Week is Homes for Homless Vets. The site was created by SEADOG to "Provide Homes, Services and Employment for Veterans, Disabled Veterans, Dislocated Veterans, presently serving members of the military and their families who need assistance."
A favorite quote of mine is, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Homes for Homeless Vets does just that. The site is designed to waste no time in getting to the point. Everything from its URL (homesforhomelessvets.org) to the images used engage make the visitors acquainted with its purpose. The no-clutter ensures that there is an obvious hierarchy and structure to the page.
The beauty of community websites is that they allow people to come together around a subject they all feel strongly about. Homes for Homeless Vets makes great use of the community centric features Spruz offers, drawing visitors further into the site and helping ensure it remains strong. There's no greater feeling than working with others to make someone else's life better.
Our hats go off to everyone at Homes for Homeless Vets!
There are two more weeks to go before the community will once again vote for the top Community of the Week! If you'd like a shot at our next round of rewards post an introduction that follows the guidelines we've provided.
Suggestion of the Week
This week's suggestion comes from Alyssa Alcott. She recommends that members be able to view conversations taking place between two member, ala Facebook's "wall. It's a feature she's found very useful on other websites and thinks it would make a great addition to the Spruz platform.
As always we want to hear what you think about each idea. If you've thought of a feature you'd like to see added to the Spruz platform feel free to post it in the Idea Room. Remember to make it as detailed as possible; all topics must be approved before they'll appear.
Tip of the Week
set up your forum. This is a great tutorial for anyone who many not be used to the forum system
offered by Spruz, which allows for more depth than other services but can be a bit confusing to beginners.
What's your opinion? Post a response or a tip of your own in our Tips and Tricks forum. |
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At Spruz by far our top requested feature is more themes. In fact as a social website provider you can never have too many theme choices, being able to offer enough theme variety for everyone is a huge challenge and lets face it, the look of your website is a very important part of the decision process in selecting Spruz as your home.
In order to solve this huge problem and facilitate the demand, we are very happy to announce the official launch of our Spruz Theme Hub.
The Spruz Theme Hub is a new section located on our Owners Community (my.spruz.com) that has been designed to offer some really amazing benefits for Web Designers and Spruz Creators alike.
Web Designers will enjoy;
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Centralized Theme Publishing - A Centralize place to publish your themes creations that is easy for our Spruz Website Owners to use.
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Exposure - Every time a user views your theme creation users will see who created the theme, a bio about you and your website address.
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Distribution - When a theme is published and approved, Spruz creators can preview and install the theme from our Theme Hub page or from the Theme Library that is easily accessed from within any Spruz powered website.
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New Revenue Stream - Designers can list themes for free or optionally set a purchase price of $9.95-$49.95
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Support Structure - We want to help you grow with us! We will have help resources you can access to help you improve your techniques and learn all you can about customizing Spruz Social Websites.
Designers that want to register as a Theme Designer can register for the Theme Hub by clicking the Register link located on the Theme Hub page.
Spruz Creators will enjoy;
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Selection - Variety is key, as more designers join our the theme selection will increase. The Theme Hub will feature only themes designed by 3rd party Designers, while our Theme Library will still show themes created by Spruz and 3rd party designers.
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Quality - Every theme submitted is manually reviewed for quality. Just because someone slaps together some graphics does not make it worthy of our theme hub.
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Affordability - While Designers will offer Free themes for more exposure, they have the option to set a price. We are able to set a standard of pricing that will range from $9.95-$49.95 per theme install.
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Trust - When paying for a theme from the Theme Hub or our Theme Library you make your payment on it to Spruz, and Spruz pays the designer. This helps eliminate bad theme purchases and helps keep you happy!
An Overview of Theme Hub Features;
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Only themes created by our community of Designers are displayed.
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Tag based searching that helps you find the theme that is right for you with expanded search and filtering features coming in the near future
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Preview theme feature that has a drop down of all websites you own so you can quickly preview your theme in real time before you purchase and install the theme. (Like putting on an outfit and seeing how it fits you)
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Install and Purchase themes easily within the Theme Hub for free or purchase themes using your account balance or PayPal.
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Meet the designer, each theme includes details about who made it and their bio.
Donation Element Changes
While this update will add to the number of Free themes you can install onto your website, designers will have higher quality themes for purchase. To help with this we have revamped our Donation Element and renamed it to Website Donation Fund. This element displays the last few people who donate to your website and the current fund balance. Donations can be used to purchase themes, site upgrades and other Spruz related services. Plus we cover all transactions fees!
We really hope you enjoy this update and can see the value behind it. Like with any new feature, if you encounter issues please open up a support ticket to report the problem.
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