Huddler

November 12th, 2009 Huddler Platform Version 2.4 Release

2009-11-12T19:30:42Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Polls
Activity stream enhancements
Industry Insider bug fixes
Back-end software changes

User-Facing

Polls

Polls are now available for all users to create and vote upon
Polls can be added on any new forum thread by the original poster
The poll includes a poll title, up to 10 choices, the ability to have a single-choice or multiple-choice voting option, and an expiration date for the poll

Activity Stream enhancements

User and brand page activity stream templates have been updated. When a user or brand rep participates in a thread, the action item will specify when the user last posted in the thread rather than displaying the thread starter and the last poster.
Bug fix: Summary view was occasionally failing to update recent content for a subset of users. This bug has been resolved.

Industry Insiders bug fixes

Bug fix: Activity stream on brand page was not properly displaying old threads which had been recently tagged with the brand tag. This bug has been resolved.
Bug fix: "Is this your brand" standard banner was not being suppressed for signature-file only brand reps. This bug has been resolved.

Administrator-Facing

Bug fix: Clicking the name of a forum in the Discussion Forum admin tool did not pre-populate the content fields.

Previously, clicking the "pencil" icon pulled up the existing data appropriately, however, clicking the name of the forum did not.
This has been fully resolved

Bug fix: Featured Item tool was pulling in home page description content from last post occasionally for featured threads.

This has been fully resolved.

November 2nd, 2009 Huddler Platform Version 2.3 Release

2009-11-02T22:04:25Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

User-facing modifications and back-end software changes to Activity Stream
Granular forum permissions and admin-facing Discussion Forum tool
Bug fixes
Back-end software changes
Email template changes

User-Facing

Modifications to Activity Stream

All content in activity stream fully displays in reverse chronological order
Main link for forum content goes to first new post (for logged in users)
Additional action links for forum content link to "First Post" and "Last Post" in forum
IE6 aesthetics have been modified
Post edits are now fully suppressed in Summary View
Tagging updates are now fully suppressed in Summary View
Activity Stream settings are remembered when navigating back with browser's back window

Granular forum permissions have been added

Forum permissions can be set to limit user groups who can start new threads, reply to threads, view the forum name, and view the forum content

Moderator-Facing

Discussion Forums tool is available to site admins to create and edit forums

Site admins can now add forums, edit forum names, reorder and delete forums
Currently this will be limited to creating public forums

Bug fix: HTML entities no longer display in Featured Items (admin-facing)

Previously, HTML entities were being pulled into Featured Item content
This has been fully resolved

Bug fix: Images are now detected by the Featured Items tool (admin-facing)

Previously, the first image in the original post of a thread was not being automatically detected by the Featured Threads portion of the Featured Items tool
This has been fully resolved - the tool will automatically detect and select the first image in the original post after the thread has been search indexed (estimated time is 5-10 minutes from posting)

October 21st, 2009 Huddler Platform Version 2.2 Release

2009-10-21T22:45:43Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

New site-wide activity stream displaying recent content from all around the site
Industry Insiders feature release
Private content email subscriptions added
Back-end software changes

User-Facing

New activity stream displays content from around the site.

Variations on the new activity stream display on the home page in place of the Recent Discussions and subscription modules, and on a user's profile in place of the former activity stream, and on the new brand pages in the new Industry Insiders feature
A beta version of the activity stream is available to logged-in users as an alternative to the "classic" All New Posts page
Content is pulled in from forums (like new threads and posts), products (new additions to the site and new reviews), Wikis, and user profiles
Content can be narrowed down at any time to view a subset of those content groups
Content can also be viewed either in a detailed view or in a simplified summary view
Some action items can be expanded to display more information - for example, in the expanded view of a thread, you might see excerpts from the most recent few posts
From the home page, logged in users can filter to view all recent activity on the site or just their subscriptions
Icons identify content types
User, timestamp, number of replies, views, and other stats are displayed accordingly with different action items

Industry Insiders feature released to give our communities access to representatives from their favorite companies and professionals being discussed on site. Additionally it's a great opportunity for generating revenue.

Users who are representing commercial interests within the community need to be recognized as such. This way, their biases can be known to the community, but also they can be recognized for being authorities within their respective industries. This type of structure participation for companies provides mutually beneficial value for users (getting "Insider Information") and for companies (understanding how and where they're being discussed within these influential communities.)
Each brand/company associated with a product existing on the site will have a brand tag and brand page.
The brand page will include an activity feed of content related to this brand from all around the site; this will include recent community reviews about their products, threads and Wikis tagged with their brand tag or any related product tags, etc.
A basic page will be displayed for brands who are not officially enrolled in the program
When a brand enrolls and elects to have an upgraded brand page, they can choose to display a banner on their page, contact details (contact name, email, URL); their most popular products will automatically be displayed on the page
Brand reps can join the site and have their accounts affiliated with the brand - this will incorporate all their site activity on the brand page's activity stream. Reps can also upload an additional profile picture as well as their name on the brand page.
Reps can also have a special signature file which will set them apart in the community indicating that they are brand reps. The signature file can have a small logo, up to 4 links, and 150 characters of plain text. A brand can select to upgrade to use this signature file, without upgrading to a full Industry Insiders brand page

Private content subscriptions are now included in email digests

In this release, users with access to any private forums will now receive updates via email for any of their subscriptions. As with other subscriptions, these will follow the user's global email preference

Product ranking improvements

Average star rating calculations and the overall product rank calculations within that category have improved significantly
Ranking should be much faster, based on new reviews and review edits
Users will be able to better sort by rating

Forum expansion/collapse preferences are now saved as a user setting

This is now a user setting saved based on user ID
Regardless of what browser/computer the user is using, their setting will be saved

Moderator-Facing

There were no major moderator-facing changes this release.

September 30th, 2009 Huddler Platform Version 2.1 Release

2009-09-30T19:13:04Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Forum nav menu enhancements
Bug fixes

User-Facing

Forum navigation/jump menu enhancements:

Forum nav menu will now pop up the page, rather than down in the bottom page placement.
Forum nav menu will now open with the user's forum location highlighted.
Forum nav menu will now size dynamically to be only as wide as the longest sub-forum listed in the given area, rather than maintaining a static width
Forum nav menu will now highlight the selected forum when the user mouses over it.
Forum nav menu will now have a down carrot symbol next to it indicating that it is a menu.
Forum nav menu will now have a button to return to forum home.
Forum nav menu will now have a button to return to current forum - in some locations, this command will default to load one level up the crumb trail.
General forum nav buttons, i.e. More Forums, All New Posts, and Mark Forums Read will highlight with a grey background behind the clickable area.

"View First Unread," "Subscribe" and "Advanced Reply" buttons have been slightly enlarged for greater visibility
Image light box performance has been tweaked
Bug fix: Manage Email Preferences link in emails was not linking properly. This has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Wiki pages which had not been previously created were not displaying properly. This has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Signatures could not be fully deleted on the on-profile editor. This has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Image uploader on product pages in IE6 was "popping under" the page. This issue has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Uploading images with duplicate file names was causing the image uploader to "pop under" the page. This issue has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Some pixel trimming was occurring on Forum Nav buttons. This issue has now been fully resolved.

Moderator-Facing

Users' Community Profile and avatars are can now be moderated directly from the user's profile page
Bug fix: Wording in Flagged content emails has been updated to reflect reason specified by reporter
Bug fix: Grey screen was being presented when featuring a review on the home page using the product page tool. This was a result of an inconsistency between the new admin tool and the on-site tool. This has now been fully resolved.
Bug fix: Grey screen appeared when deleting the first post of a thread. This issue has now been fully resolved.

September 10th, 2009 Huddler Platform Release

2009-09-10T17:50:27Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Redesign of forum navigation tools and forum jump
Ability for PayPal integration
Enhancements to newsletter email system
Bug fixes

User-Facing

Complete redesign of forum jump tool: Previously, the forum jump tool was limited to a simple drop down menu of the forum and sub-forum listings to allow users to move from forum to forum from any thread or forum page. The new tool includes all of this same functionality, now housed in a slick nested inline menu. To access the tool, users will click the "More Forums" button at either the top or bottom of the page.
Consolidation of forum navigation tools: This release includes design enhancements to the forum navigation tools at the top and bottom of forum and thread pages. These design changes are a result of a usability study performed in the last weeks. The condensed tools move the content of the page up to display more content above the fold.
Additional displays of "Where to Buy" modules for product-related content: "Where to Buy" modules with affiliate links will now display on Wiki pages, thread pages, and review pages where relevant. In addition to providing utility to the user base when browsing product-related content, it will increase the number of affiliate links displayed to help increase site monetization.
Ability for PayPal integration: This enhancement allows for smooth use of PayPal for premium membership functionality within the platform. When premium services and memberships, or special "supporter-only" deals are established, there is a well-integrated means for users to contribute money and be automatically placed into the appropriate groups and removed when their memberships expire.
Enhancements to the newsletter email system
New greeting for logged in users: The content in the greeting module on the home page for logged in users has been enhanced to display the most recent content on the site.
New display for email verification checks: When a user has not verified their email address, they are presented with a message on site. The design of this module has been enhanced.
New display for timed messages to spur user participation: Various timed messages are displayed on a per-user basis to encourage participation. The design of these modules have been enhanced.
Last post date added to thread search results: On search pages, the last post date will now display for thread results along with reply count and start date.
Icons enhanced on product owners pages
Bug - FCK editor scroll bar cannot be dragged to move (IE8 only): The FCK editor in IE8 had a partially unusable scroll bar on inline quick replies which could not be dragged up or down. This bug has been resolved.
Bug - Cannot move past inline smilies in FCK editor (IE8 only): When inserting smilies into the editor, users could not click past the smilie in IE8. This bug has been resolved.
Bug - Issues embedding and editing embedded links in FCK editor (IE8 only): When embedding or editing embedded links there was a bug causing the tool to get stuck. This bug has been resolved.
Bug - "Please wait" barber poll getting stuck when submitting PMs with missing required content: With this bug, when a user submitted a private message without specifying a recipient or a subject line, the "Please wait" barber poll would get stuck on the page. This bug has been resolved.
Bug - Inconsistent behavior with image ordering on product pages: With this bug, there were occasional problems with changing the primary image on a product page. This bug has been resolved.
Bug - when editing My List, drop down was not pulling custom labels for Own It, Want It, Had It status: Previously, the status drop down menu did not reflect any custom labeling. The menu will now reflect the appropriate labels attached to the parent category.
Bug - issues publishing to Facebook feed from the full page editor/Advanced Reply have been resolved

Moderator-Facing

Enhancements to Spam Queue admin panel
Enhancements to spam prevention service tool for reporting false positives
New admin interface for featuring content on site: This new interface will control the featuring of threads, Wikis, reviews, users, and products. From this tool, admins will be able to feature content, arrange the order, see past lists of featured content, edit display descriptions and images for featured threads, etc. Known Issues: Currently, there is no on-site display of featured users or products, despite the ability to select these within the admin tool. Additionally, the tool is currently not fully integrated with the on-page review featuring tool. From the new admin tool, there is the option to both publish on the home page and the product page. Selecting both will allow for the review to appear on the home page, the product page, and on the full list of featured reviews. Select to display only on the home page will not feature the review on the product page or add the review to the full featured review list. This will be enhanced in a future release.
Enhancements to counter system for future stats dashboard
Small bug fix for the flagged content report

August 18, 2009 Huddler Platform Release

2009-08-19T20:18:16Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Major changes to Facebook Connect handling
Minor user and moderator interface enhancements

User-Facing

Modifications to Facebook Connect experience: users with their Facebook accounts linked now have the option to publish their forum posts and reviews without being prompted in a popover. Allowing additional site access to Facebook allows users to take advantage of enhanced interface and choose which content is published via a check box on forum posts and reviews.
"Other Threads" module added to right hand column in thread view: when viewing a thread, a new module appears in the right column displaying "Other Threads" which have been written in the same sub-forum.
Customization of Own It, Want It, and Had It terminology on a per category basis: product categories can now have customizable Own It/Want It/Had It labels; for example, on EpicSki.com, you can "Want To Go" to a ski resort or indicate that you've "Been There".
FCK Editor bug in forums fixed: with this edge case bug, occasionally when engaging a thread page prior to a full load, the FCK Editor would jump to the top left hand corner. This issue has been resolved.
Page jumping issue on thread pages in IE6 and 7 fixed: with this edge case bug, when a user had engaged the cursor in the quick reply box and used the browser scroll bar, the page would occasionally jump to the former position. This issue has been resolved.

Moderator-Facing

Enhanced Flagged Content report: moderators will now be able to "close" an issue after it has been reported; when the issue was closed and who closed it will be tracked. Any issue can be reopened at any time. Moderators also can filter Flagged Content to view only open issues.
Review deletion available: moderators now have the ability to delete reviews from product pages.
Timestamps on forum post edits no longer appearing for moderators: moderator edits on any forum posts will no longer be documented with visible timestamps.

Right on, WSJ - The Fans Do Know Best!

2009-08-19T13:45:00Z

The Wall Street Journal published an insightful article this week titled "Creating a Successful Online Community: The Fans Know Best," written by a pair of associate marketing professors. It's ultra-relevant to Huddler's business model and presents an opportunity to discuss the subjects we love most. Namely, what makes an online community successful; how brands can leverage these communities to drive awareness, customer loyalty, and sales; and best practices for creating or marketing in forum communities.

The article talks first about the haves and have-nots among web forums:

"The haves are the sites where visitors like to hang out, exchanging ideas and information, chatting freely about the product or company...(whereas) the have-nots...tightly control what visitors can discuss--often, the product only--and offer few ways for them to interact."

On Huddler sites, everything is created from the bottom up, by the user; whether it's a discussion thread, wiki, or product review, what gets discussed is what our participants want to talk about. Contrast this with tightly controlled sites where content is dictated by what a site owner or brand advertiser might want to see. The difference is what makes forum content powerful; people are thinking about products because they choose to do so, and because they are passionate about them. If brands can join into these discussions without dictating what's discussed, there's an opportunity to make an authentic connection with core consumers.

Easier said than done, however; many brands are afraid of forums because the content is not controlled, and because they may be criticized or read complaints about their products. But intelligent marketers should embrace and address these criticisms, rather than ignoring them. As Drs. Dholakia and Vianello wrote:

"Part of giving up control is also giving visitors the freedom to complain and criticize the brand, or to wax lyrical about a competitor, to their heart's content. If a company's brand community restricts discussions, unhappy customers will simply go to one of dozens (and for many brands, hundreds) of enthusiast-run communities and vent just as much. The company loses the opportunity to gain insight from customers with potentially valuable criticisms.

Allowing customers to post criticisms and complaints is a good way to spot small problems before they become big ones. The company can respond both on the forums and by taking concrete steps to correct legitimate problems such as service issues or faulty product features.

When customers are free to say whatever they want about the brand, and draw comparisons with competitors without restrictions, this freedom results in greater degrees of credibility and trust in the information found in the community. Also, when complaints are handled well, customer satisfaction and loyalty skyrocket."

All of Huddler's partners are "enthusiast-run communities", and we firmly believe that customers should be free to say whatever they want about a product or a brand. And, brands should be free to respond! What better way to serve the customer than to hear the criticism, take action, and respond in the forum with a solution? That communicates credibility and respect for the needs of the client, which in turn results in repeat purchases, positive buzz online and in word-of-mouth conversations, and invaluable insight into what customers are thinking and saying about the brand.

The WSJ article also makes a recommendation to companies and marketers who want to harness the power of forums - monitor and support unofficial brand communities. To quote one last time:

"Many companies have no systematic programs in place to monitor and support unofficial brand communities. Some are not even aware of their existence....But systematically tracking and engaging these communities opens up a host of potential benefits for companies. Not only will marketers gain access to some of their most devoted and influential fans here, but they will also find more ideas for innovations; sharper criticisms of existing product problems, along with ideas for fixing them; and more sincere providers of customer service."

At Huddler, we believe there's great value in the content and participation on our partner sites. And we're uniquely positioned to provide companies with an opportunity to join in on this conversation. It's a great service to our users to give them access to representatives of the companies that fit their passions. And Huddler's power users not only buy products, they also review and recommend them to other enthusiasts in forum discussions, social media and word of mouth.

Why try to chase down elusive "market mavens" with magazine ads, a Twitter account, and a branded Facebook page when this only resonates with one out of every thousand who see them? Instead, our Industry Insiders program will bring brands directly to the most engaged, passionate users in the marketplace.

Huddler forums are the destination for enthusiasts, and the go-to location for millions of people looking for insight into their next product purchase. And Industry Insiders is where serious brands will show up when they're ready to participate in these purchase decisions and make a real impact on the web.

That's a taste of the concept, and all we've got for now - but more details are coming and the code is already flowing, so stay tuned.

August 3, 2009 Huddler Platform Release

2009-08-03T18:06:31Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Quick product addition tool using Amazon.com data
Redesign of right hand column content

User-Facing

Quick product creation tool added: this new tool to add products sources data from Amazon.com and allows users to add products with a simple search-and-select.
Right hand column content redesign: the content in the right hand column has been reformatted; modules now include "Recent Reviews," "What Members Want," "Related Products," "Related Threads," "Related Wikis," and "Related Blog Posts".
Adjustments to Advanced Search page layout: elements on the Advanced Search page were modified to enhance ease of use.
Site Statistics footer bar reworded: the site statistics footer indicating the number of members and guests online display will now read "Currently, there are X Active Users (Y Members and Z Guests)."
Additional "Advanced Reply" button removed from Quick Reply area in forums: this additional button was removed; users can access the Advanced Reply/full-page editor from the "Preview" function or from the "Advanced Reply" link at both the top and bottom of the thread.
Reformatted private message reply area
Improved performance on tag pages
Javascript fixes for IE6 and IE7 FCK editor
"All Featured Reviews" page: for sites with the "Featured Reviews" feature enabled, there is now an "All Featured Reviews" page available; this page is sortable by date or alphabetically.

Moderator-Facing

Visibility of "banned" status in forums available to moderators: moderators will now be able to see a notification within forum threads for which users have been banned; this view is only accessible by moderators and administrators.

July 20, 2009 Huddler Platform Release

2009-07-21T00:45:31Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Moderator-facing tools to monitor Defensio spam prevention service

User-Facing

Fully enable Offline/Online users status and report of content users are viewing: users now appear with green or grey status indications for online or offline presence; full report of content that users are viewing is available.
"Preview" button added to Quick Reply area in forums
Enhanced suite of editing tools for product reviews: product reviews on the product pages can now be written with access to the full suite of FCK editor tools.
"Report to Admin" button improperly loading bug: this bug caused the "Report to Admin" buttons to improperly load after a user posted to a thread; this issue has been resolved.
Pagination links improperly displaying on certain forum pages: this bug caused pagination links at the bottom of forum navigation pages to improperly display when the subforum housed additional subforums; this issue has been resolved
Reworded instructions on Your List Badge creation pages: users have the ability to create badges based on their lists; the instructions on how to do this have been enhanced

Moderator-Facing

Spam prevention and detection tools available to moderators: the implementation of spam prevention tools are now available for moderators to monitor

July 9, 2009 Huddler Platform Release

2009-07-09T22:49:33Z

What's New In This Release?
Primary Focus Of Release

Back end software changes
Browser specific bug fixes

User-Facing

Enhanced search performance
Thread start date added to forum index pages and All New Posts page
Forum navigator menu added to "All Posts by " pages; when viewing a page for all posts by a particular user, a forum navigator is now available
Search bar adjusted to accept mouse click closer to "Search button"
Subscriptions display for logged-in users adjusted to have more width dedicated to content titles
Added "All New Posts" button to All New Posts page
Quick Reply in forums will only appear when the user has permission to use it (is logged in, thread is not locked, etc)
Bug in forum navigator when jumping from thread view to current forum resolved
Browser specific bugs resolved: image scaling issue in Safari 4 resolved, adjusted display of forum navigator menu in IE7 resolved, browser focus issue in Safari 4 and Chrome resolved, reply bug in Chrome resolved

Home Theater Forum launched on the Huddler Platform

2009-06-30T21:28:11Z

As of this morning, the Home Theater Forum has migrated over to the Huddler Platform.

This comes from site owners Parker Clack and Ronald Epstein:

We have taken this step to keep current with the popular trends of social networking, wikis, blogs and reviews and to keep it all in one place. We have also allied ourselves with a fantastic company by the name of Huddler that not only designed and implemented this software but will be providing the support and infrastructure.

We are really excited that this platform will allow us to maintain all the things that we have all come to love about HTF over the years and to at the same time take us to the next level by providing you the best site on the net for all things home theater.

About the Home Theater Forum:

The forums, movie and hardware reviews, editorial articles, images, and more represent 11 years of collective wisdom of thousands of people passionate about home theater. The main goals of the discussions on the Home Theater Forum are to learn and to share. Our community has come together to learn more about the cinematographic art-form and the best techniques to present the films, and to share our knowledge with anyone who wants to benefit from the knowledge of his or her fellow members.

June 24, 2009 Huddle Platform Release

2009-06-24T22:52:02Z

It's been a big day for the Huddler platform. We pushed some major architectural changes for our sites and layered in some additional functionality.

Semi-Variable Width Site-Wide
Until today, the Huddler platform has displayed all content with a fixed width layout. We have now added 256 pixels of variable width. All pages in the forums, as well as Wikis and product pages, will now be able to expand wider than before. As you re-size your browser, the width of the main content will either get bigger or smaller up to a certain point.

In-Line Replies For Forum Threads
Previously in the forums, when you clicked the "Reply" button, a popover opened with the full reply editor. Now, the What You See Is What You Get editor is stuck at the bottom of the thread, in-line with the previous forum posts. The "Advanced Reply" or full page editor is available as well.

Updated Home Page And Featured Content Modules
The home page is still in flux with more updates coming; however some modifications have been made to the layout to put increased emphasis on active discussion forums and other featured content. The primary addition is a new module for featured news and discussions. This content is hand picked by community administrators.

Below this module, you'll find a list of the most active discussions from the forums, a module for the most highly ranked products in the community, and a hand picked featured Wiki article. Logged in users will also see their subscriptions above the featured content module.

New Thread Creation From Thread View
A new feature we added is the ability to start a brand new thread from thread view. For example, let's say you're in a thread about buying and sizing ski poles; however all of the posts are about sizing poles for adults and your question is about sizing ski poles for your 8 year old son! Now, instead of having to navigate back to the main forum, you can create a new thread without clicking away from the one you're reading.

Signature Functionality
Signatures are now supported with text, links, bolding, and italics. Functionality to include images in signatures is still in development.

Each community determines its own signature policy. For example, the Green Home Huddle permits all registered users to use their forum signature with links. EpicSki members have access to text only, while Supporters have increased functionality with access to live links.

Site Specific

The Green Home Huddle was completely reskinned. Instead of having a green and black theme, the skin is much lighter with a blue and green skin.
EpicSki's header now has a button directly to the details on becoming an EpicSki supporter.

This Thread Is No Good Without Pictures: May 5th Updates

2009-05-05T18:52:25Z

It's Cinco de Mayo, and to celebrate, we've updated the Huddler Platform to capitalize on and encourage the non-verbal side of community: the images.

Often within a discussion thread, folks will talk about what they did, what they bought, what their new set up looks like, whether it be about their ski quiver, their new solar array, or their brand new surround sound speakers. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Community Wide Updates

Updated Image Handling and New User Galleries

Since the launch of the Huddler platform, we've had on site image hosting. However, with the May 5th update, image handling is very much new and improved.

Each user has a gallery of images on their Profile page. On each user's page, you'll see thumbnails of 10 images that user has uploaded and you'll have access to all their images.
Within the forums, clicking an image will open it up within a lightbox, keeping you on the same page.
You can now add descriptions to your images. Now you have the option to add an image description when you are uploading photos directly to the community. Within the forum image lightbox (as pictured above), the description will display below the image. The description also appears on the Image Info page and can be edited by the uploader at any time.
You have access to updated Image Info pages. On the Image Info pages, you have access to information about when the photo was uploaded, who uploaded it, how big it is, etc. Now you can view the full-size image, report the image, and generate a thumbnail of any size. If you uploaded the photo, you can edit the description here or even delete the image completely.
Tag images directly. From the Image Info page, any user can tag the photo so that it will automatically display on any Product Page or tag page.

Talk About Wiki And Product Edits In The New Talk Forums

As Wikis are collaboratively edited articles, many users at any time will contribute to one piece. With the Wiki Talk forums, you can now discuss rationale behind editing a Wiki, what contents belongs there, what doesn't, how it should be structured, or any other editorial decisions about the Wiki. To access these forums, simply click the "Discuss" button at the top of each Wiki article.

There are also now similar forums dedicated to the updates and editing of information on Product pages. These forums are best used to talk about why you edited a product's description, information that would be great in the Product Wiki, etc. To access these forums, click the "History" button above the Product description - here you'll find the "Discuss" button to access the Talk forums.

The Wiki and Product Talk forums work just like the main forums, except each one pertains to a specific Wiki or a specific Product. Keep in mind, these forums are designed to talk about the editorial contents, not the Wiki subject or Product itself.

See Where You Have Posted In The Forums At A Glance

We've made some slight modifications to the formatting within forums. Now you'll see a slightly thicker grey bar to the left of each forum post you have posted in. When you are within a particular forum (or on the New Posts page), you'll quickly be able to notice which threads you've actively participated in and which have new content.

Moderation Updates

Moderation and administrative tools have also developed to include:

Checking a user's IP history and placing an IP ban
Cleaner tools for editing product names, manufacturers or moving products to a new Category
Streamlined tools to update Topic Tags

April 7th Huddler Platform Updates

2009-04-08T22:36:28Z

Yesterday, we pushed new updates to all the sites on the Huddler platform. While most of the changes are seamless with the last iteration, you might notice:

A preview button on forum posts
Autocomplete tagging
The ability to search individual forum posts
The ability to see who is currently active on the site
In-line private message responses

Preview button on forum posts

On your forum posts, along with the "Use Full Page Editor" button, you will notice the button now says "Use Full Page Editor / Preview."

As soon as you enter text into your reply box and click the full page editor/preview button, you will have the ability to preview exactly what your post will look like in the forums and edit it with the full page editor which appears directly below the preview.

Add tags with autocomplete feature

Tagging is now significantly easier. While there are still the options to use the tag browser or search for tags, the new default option is to use the autocomplete tool. When you open the tagging tool, simply start typing the tag and a list of the relevant product, category, and miscellaneous tags will appear. Select the tags you wish to apply to the thread or wiki and continue as usual.

Search individual posts

When using Advanced Search on any of the sites, you can now search individual posts for keywords, etc. At the bottom of the advanced search form, you will see the Additional Search Options. The last drop down menu allows you to search either threads or for specific forum posts.

See who is currently active

At the bottom of the page above the footer, you may have noticed the status bar that lets you know how many users and how many guests are currently online. With yesterday's update, now you can see exactly who's online at any given moment.

Reply in-line in private messages

When you open a private message you have received, you will automatically have a reply box embedded at the bottom of the message, as opposed to using a reply popover.

An Epic Transformation of the Huddler Platform

2009-01-31T18:06:48Z

On January 30th, 2009, we went live with our partnership with EpicSki.com. EpicSki, with its Barking Bear Forums, dedicated to all things skiing was previously operated on a widely used forum platform.

Throughout the partnership with EpicSki, EpicSki.com isn't the only one to see some big changes. The Huddler platform has evolved as a direct result of the input and feedback from the EpicSki community. For the next few weeks, EpicSki.com will represent the most up-to-date version of the platform, with adjustments to the forums, threads, message center, and beyond. But you can expect to see these changes on EcoHuddle and the Mobile Huddle soon.

This is just the first round of changes to the Huddler platform. We expect to guide the software development as we get feedback from the vibrant EpicSki community. Stay tuned.

The Quick and Dirty List

New views for the forums to show logged in users what's new since their last visit
A "New Posts" page to keep track of all the latest forum activity in chronological order
Tweaks to the design of the forum threads themselves (including avatar placement and display of join dates)
Box of "quicklinks" added to the home page for easy navigation to the FAQ and more
New terminology for the Public Profile and the Product Profile
Revamped message center

Improvements to the Forums
As you can see in the EcoHuddle forums, the main view simply shows the name of the forum, a preview of the last post, and the thread and post count.

In the new forum home, seen in the EpicSki forums, you'll see all of the same information, along with a new conversation icon. When you are logged in, this icon will either be displayed with a green dot or with a white one. A green dot means there has been new activity in that forum since your last visit. Conversely, a white dot means there are no new posts or threads for you. But just because there has been new activity doesn't necessarily mean you will want to read it. To mark a forum as read without going in, simply click on the conversation icon.

Similarly, the conversation icon is now applied to threads as well. A green dot and a bold title indicate that there have been new posts written. To get to the first post that's new to you, just click on the conversation icon. This feature is personalized for every logged in user based on his or her previous visits to the thread in question.

Another addition to the Huddler platform is the "All New Posts" button on every forum page. This new feature is a great way to keep track of the most recent posts on the site, regardless of which forum they are housed in, who wrote them, or what you're subscribed to.

On the New Posts page, you'll see a list of the threads that were most recently active in chronological order, along with the thread name, a preview of the last post, and the number of replies and views. As with the new thread view, a green dot on the conversation icon and a bold title indicates there has been new activity since your last visit to that thread.

A Thread Makeover
The threads themselves have received a bit of a touch-up. On the "Eco" version of the platform, you'll see that user names and avatars are displayed on the left hand side of each post. You'll also notice that the "Rate Post" button is at the top (along with the Report to Admin button).

In the "Epic" version of the platform, the user's name, avatar, badges, and join date are displayed in a post header, including the post rating and timestamp. You'll also notice that "Rate Post" is now a "Great Post" button with a nice little thumbs-up and the "Report to Admin" button is now bottom left. Additionally, attached to each post, you also see the new Reply and Quote buttons. You'll also now see a "Subscribe to this thread" button at the bottom of the post, and not just at the top.

The Little Stuff
Among some of the little things you might notice, the newest version of the platform has a box of "quicklinks" on the home page for handy navigation to the FAQ, the site tour, and the Find Your Friends tool.

We're now calling the Public Profile a "Community Profile" and your Product Profile is now called "Your List."

Last but not least, the message center has been updated so you can mark your messages read or unread, do mass deletes, and open each message in a separate window.