The long overdue update to Vdubber is finally here. The new look site is now live and not only does it have a new appearance but the whole site has been rewritten from the ground up. There's heaps more features and its far easier to use than the old site. The reason for this is that the software platform that the site runs from has been replaced with a more streamlined version. But rather than bore you with techno-mumbo-jumbo, the best way to tell you about the new features is to give you a bit of a tour.
Front page news feed
The news feed on the front page, or 'activity stream' as it is known is still present but is now enhanced with better reporting and improved privacy. Some of the reported activities such as photo posts have been revised so that instead of showing an entry for each photo posted, they are grouped together in one entry. More site activities are also included in the activity stream than before and it is also now possible to comment on more activities directly in the activity stream. The activity stream can also be filtered so that you can view all posts of only those posted by your friends.
Blogs Section
The blogs section has been completely updated with a new blogging engine and is it now easier to create blog posts and add media such as videos and photos directly into the blog post itself. Bloggers can also create their own custom categories to keep track of their restoration and builds and once finished can easily post their blog posts directly to their Facebook and Twitter pages which saves having to type things out twice. Blog posts can also be sent direct to the Vdubber Facebook and Twitter pages expanding your coverage with no extra work.
Photos
The photos section is similar to the old site but now includes a nice photo gallery viewer to allow you to easily browse through photo galleries without having to wait for the page to reload. Users can create as many galleries as they like which means that you can create galleries for each one of your projects, each one of the shows you visit, your model collection, trophy cabinet or whatever else you want to show off. Photos are also easier to upload with no limit to the number of images that you can upload simultaneously. Captioning images can also be easily done from within the image viewer making the whole process of adding images much more streamlined.
Videos
The video section is also much improved. Adding videos is now as simple as clicking the add button and pasting the URL. Support for video providers has also increased to include all of the major video hosting sites.
Both photos and videos can be posted directly through the activity stream and both have the ability for you to tag other members.
Groups
The groups section is basically the same as before but the group forums have been replaced with a simpler discussions board. Photo and video hosting is much improved with the ability to create albums now added. Groups can now also list their own event calendars which makes them the perfect place to host clubs shows and cruises.
Events
The events section now includes the ability to search for events local to your area and includes full Google maps integration. Events can be exported as an iCal file to allow you to easily import them into your desktop calendars. We have also added the ability to import events as well, making it even easier to keep everyone up to date with the latest goings on. Each event includes a dedicated activity stream and the ability to email subscribed participants to allow everyone to be kept up to date.
Discussions
The big change from the old site is that the forums section has been dropped in favor of something new. Most of you will know that there are already plenty of good VW based forums out there and adding another one into the mix was simply a waste of time. The forums were a little used part of the site and added little extra value. As the main focus of vdubber is the community aspect of the hobby, we decided to simply shut down the forums and replace them with something that was a little more community oriented - Discussions.
The Discussions section is a Yahoo answers style Q&A section where users can pose questions to the rest of the Vdubber community. The idea is to provide a different service to the traditional forums by offer something new and hopefully useful. The Discussions section is a completely different experience from the typical forum; users are automatically shown other discussions that relate to the question title that they type in, providing instant answers without them having to type anything further.
The multitude of forum categories have also been reduced to a few simple and relevant categories allowing users to concentrate more on what they are typing and not where they have to type it. Answers can be voted against and the author of the question can also mark one of the answers as the chosen answer. This is great as it means that the author can identify what worked for them and pass this info on without having to type a word.
We also have the ability to post selected questions to our Vdubber Facebook and Twitter pages which means that even more people will get to see the question and provide help. We're pretty excited about the Discussions section and I'm sure that you can see why.
Wait, there's more...
As well as the site updates above there's more planned updates in the pipeline including a new improved 'news' section bringing you the latest rumblings from within the VW scene, a brand new classifieds section including some new vdubber merchandise.
Be sure to go check the new site out at www.vdubber.com Also, don't forget, to get the latest updates as they happen simply like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter too.
Vdubber
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