http://blog.snappages.com Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:56:00 +0000 http://snappages.com en http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/09/performance-issues-over-the-weekend http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/09/performance-issues-over-the-weekend Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:56:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/09/performance-issues-over-the-weekend
If you want to know what caused this, basically we found that someone had [...]]]>
If you want to know what caused this, basically we found that someone had two linked feeds in their blog that were linking to each other and causing it to go into an infinite loop. This bogged our system down and was causing the speed reductions. We've fixed it so this can't happen again. Thanks again for your patience as we worked through this issue and we appreciate all of you who gave us feedback on this issue.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/08/new-addthis-retweet-and-facebook-plug-ins http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/08/new-addthis-retweet-and-facebook-plug-ins Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:51:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/03/08/new-addthis-retweet-and-facebook-plug-ins
You'll notice on this blog [...]]]>
You'll notice on this blog that at the top next to the comment count we have a "tweet" button and a "share" button for facebook. These and addition to the new AddThis button that you see at the bottom of this post are new plug-ins for the blog. You can enable these on your blog in the settings under the new "Plug-ins" tab. It's as simple as that. Just enable the plugin and it will automatically show up on your blog.

We've also added a new "AddThis" block that you can add to any web page and it will add the same AddThis button that you see on this blog to any page on your site. You can even set what URL you want shared in case it's not the same as the page the button is on. You can find this block in the "widgets" section of your web blocks in the page editor.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/26/huge-performance-boost http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/26/huge-performance-boost Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:36:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/26/huge-performance-boost
As I've(and others) have suspected it was an issue with too much memory being required by the flash player and I couldn't really figure out what was causing this because nothing should be taking up that much memory, and on top of that I could never replicate the issue so that makes it hard to fix because it's sort of like shooting in the dark.

Thankfully with your help and feedback I've been able to determine that the spell checking that we added back in October was the culprit. You wouldn't really notice a problem until you added a lot of plain text blocks, then things start to really slow down. This is one of the reasons I didn't notice it because the text blocks should not be causing any memory issues because there isn't much to them. So to make a long story short, I've temporarily removed the spell check feature until we can ensure that it doesn't cause any further issues and everyone should see a huge boost in performance when they are editing their pages or blogs!

Thanks again to all of you who helped me get to the bottom of this one!

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/18/developers-now-have-full-css-control http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/18/developers-now-have-full-css-control Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:17:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/18/developers-now-have-full-css-control Developer account!

This was a feature that I wasn't sure was going to make it into the new Developer account we created, but I figured out a way to make it work so I just had to add it in there! This really opens up SnapPages to a new world of possibilities for users who know their way around a style sheet. You can basically make your website look however you want with this as we give you almost complete control over the CSS.

If you have a Developer account and you go to create a theme for either yourself or one of your clients, you will now see the option to create either a standard theme or a custom theme. If you select "custom" you will be taken into our CSS editor. When you start out we've given you a very basic CSS template as a starting point that you can modify however you like. If you don't want to use our editor, you can copy and paste it into any CSS editor you like and then when your done just copy and paste it back in. It's that easy.

You can create and share any custom theme with any of the active clients that you have in your Developer account, but those clients will not be able to edit the custom themes. You must have a Developer account in order to create or make changes to the custom themes.

This is obviously a very advanced feature which is why at this time we've decided to leave it only in the developer account. One of the main reasons that so many people love SnapPages is because it's so simple to use and adding this feature for everyone would certainly mess that up. Our ease of use is something that I take very seriously because it's so crucial to what SnapPages is. That's one of the reasons I'm so excited about the new Developer account, we now have a vehicle to add some of these advanced features without taking away any of the ease of use that all our Pro users currently enjoy.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/10/help-us-squash-bugs http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/10/help-us-squash-bugs Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:58:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/10/help-us-squash-bugs new developer account, we're turning our attention to what next. I've decided that our number one priority before we move on to creating any new features should be to completely optimize all of our tools and squash [...]]]> new developer account, we're turning our attention to what next. I've decided that our number one priority before we move on to creating any new features should be to completely optimize all of our tools and squash as many bugs as we possibly can so that everything runs faster and is more stable.

There are a lot of things that SnapPages does very well, but I know that there are some things that we can, and must, do much better and making our products more stable is one of them. We're committed to doing whatever is necessary in order to do this because that's what you deserve. We've already begun the process of going through much of the site with a fine tooth comb to see where can we speed things and how can we optimize. We might even be looking at upgrading our servers if we think it's needed.

Apart from these optimization efforts, I'm personally about to go on a massive bug hunt and I'm out to destroy any bugs I find with extreme prejudice. This will be a huge effort and we're going to need your help! If you know of any sort of glitch/bug/annoyance that we need to know about, I've created a new dedicated place in the forums to post these. Please let us know about any on going issues you are having here so that others can see them and comment if they are having the same issue as well. That way also we can get information from everyone having the issue so that we can find the problem and solve it. Here is a link to the bug report in the forums:

http://forums.snappages.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30

When you post here it would be very helpful for us to know things like what operating system you are on(Windows XP, Vista, Mac OSX...) and what browser you are using(Internet Explorer 6,7,8, Firefox, Safari...). Also try to keep in mind that we already have an area in the forums to post feature suggestions so it would be helpful as well if we can keep the bugs and the wishlist separate.

Thanks again for being the best users in the world, we really could not do this without your support and the great feedback you give us.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/08/potential-fix-for-mac-crashes http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/08/potential-fix-for-mac-crashes Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:57:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/08/potential-fix-for-mac-crashes just released a statement [...]]]> just released a statement over the weekend that explained how a bug in the flash player that has gone un-fixed for quite some time may be to blame for these issues our users are experiencing.

Basically they claim that this is fixed in the next release of the flash player which is currently in beta. I would recommend anyone that is having issues with SnapPages(or any site with flash content) on their Mac go ahead and try the new beta version of this flash player to see if it fixes the issue. Also it would be helpful if you could report back whether or not this helps. Here is a link where you can download the beta version of the new plugin from adobe:

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10.html

Keep in mind that this is a beta version of their flash plugin so it might still have some bugs in it as well, but from what they are saying this version should be more stable then what's out there right now.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/05/new-developer-account http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/05/new-developer-account Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:46:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/02/05/new-developer-account Developer Account is finally live on the site! We've been working very hard on this for a while now and we are very excited to finally show it off. Our goal was to make easier for web designers to use SnapPages to create sites for their clients. With the new developer [...]]]> Developer Account is finally live on the site! We've been working very hard on this for a while now and we are very excited to finally show it off. Our goal was to make easier for web designers to use SnapPages to create sites for their clients. With the new developer account, not only do you get a simple way to manage multiple accounts, you get an entire project management system, your own personal support ticketing system for your clients, an invoice creator, and a whole lot more! Watch the quick demo video below to see what I'm talking about, then you can read the detailed description of some features after the video.



We've made the entire process of creating a site for a client, as easy as possible from start to finish. Here's a quick rundown of some of the things that make these tools so great:

Simple Account Creation
You can easily create new accounts for your clients directly through the developer central tool that you get when you upgrade to a Developer Account. Also we make it easy to add existing SnapPages accounts into the system as well. You just send an existing user a request to gain admin access to their site. Once they accept, they will be added as an active client to your account.

Developer Discounts
A lot of you that sign up for multiple accounts have been begging for some sort of a discount so we only think it fair that we include one with this. It's basically a tiered volume discounting and the more active clients you have the more you save on new accounts.

One-click Logins
After you add clients you can simply login to their account through a new drop down menu on the main SnapPages menu bar. You just click on a clients name in the menu and you will automatically gain access to their account.

Project Management
We've also included a way for you to keep track of all the projects that you are working on with your clients. You can create a new project for each client, then inside the project you create milestones, or basically a to-do list of tasks that need to be accomplished before the project is complete. These milestones can be assigned to either you or your client so everyone knows who is responsible for what.

Client File Storage
When you work with clients, sometimes there can be a lot of assets that go along with creating the websites. For instance they might give you all the content in different word docs or PDFs. So we've created a central place that both you and your client can upload these files while you are working on projects for them.

Help Desks
I know from personal experience that when you get a lot of clients, it can be hard to keep track of all the things that they need help with our questions they might have. A support ticketing system is a very easy way to keep track of all these issues. We've built one right into developer central for this very reason.

Invoice Creator
When you are finished with a project, we've create a simple tool that will send out invoices to your clients that they can download in PDF form. Also when you use the system to manage your invoices, you can keep track of which ones are outstanding and which ones have been paid for every client. You can even setup recurring invoices in case you bill on a monthly schedule.

Client Connect App
When you become a developer you will get a new app in your account called "Developer Central" that has all the developer tools in it. When you add a client to your account, they will get an app called "Client Connect". This app basically allows them to interact with you on different things like projects and milestones. This is also where they can submit support tickets and view invoices that are due.

There are a few other perks you get with this system and you can learn more on the information page on our website found here. We hope that this will make some of your jobs a whole lot easier, and we're committed to making this system better and better so send us any feedback you might have on it.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/20/new-home-screen http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/20/new-home-screen Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:12:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/20/new-home-screen
The real reason for the update is that I had to make some changes to the home screen to pave the way for some really cool new features that we'll be adding very shortly. Most of them have to do with the new developer tools that we're getting ready to release. So if you use SnapPages to develop sites for other people, now would be the time to start getting excited.

We started out building the developer tools with the goal in mind of making it easier for developers to create sites for their clients and we've ended up going a little overboard (in a good way). Basically we've created an entire client/project management system that is fully integrated with SnapPages and it's all super easy to use. We are very close to releasing this, in fact we already have a few people testing it out already, so keep your eyes peeled for more news!

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/15/new-paypal-buttons http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/15/new-paypal-buttons Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:46:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2010/01/15/new-paypal-buttons
All you need is a PayPal business account to get started. Then you can just drag and drop a PayPal button on a page and you're done! We've added several settings that you can use to customize these buttons. You set the name of the item you're selling, the price, and currency. You can even choose a button style that looks like the default PayPal buttons (yellow and blue) or ones that automatically match your existing theme.

There are three types of buttons to choose from. You can add a "Buy Now" button for selling a single item, an "Add to Cart" button for collecting multiple items into shopping carts, and a "Donation" button that allows user to make donations right on your site. I realize that this solution might not be the full blown e-commerce store some of you might be waiting on, but for a lot of you, this should be all you need to get started selling online.

We've got a lot more updates that I'm really excited about coming up in the near future so stay tuned for that.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/28/new-advanced-page-settings http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/28/new-advanced-page-settings Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:54:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/28/new-advanced-page-settings

• Set a custom url for the page so it doesn't have to be the same as the page title.
• Edit the pages title tag
• Add custom keywords to the page
• Create a custom page desription

These settings should greatly help you optimize your pages for search engines. Also, because we've separated the page title from the page url, you can now have foreign characters in your page titles and it should still create a valid url.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/10/design-tip-2-your-logo-says-it-all http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/10/design-tip-2-your-logo-says-it-all Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:27:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/10/design-tip-2-your-logo-says-it-all
Your logo is not your family crest.
I think a big issue that people run into with their logos is that they think they need to convey who their company is through their logo. Your logo Should say something about your company but it doesn't need to say everything about your company. A good logo should be simple and memorable. It doesn't really have to say a whole lot, it just needs to be unique and look good.

Look professional.
Not everyone in the world is a designer, but most people could probably tell you if your logo looked like it was designed by a professional or not. This is an important thing to understand in an online world because you have a very small amount of time to make a great impression. You want people to instantly feel like your business is an established professional organization and a logo can be a huge part of this brand perception. One of our big goals with SnapPages is to ensure that your website looks professional for this very reason.

Your logo doesn't have to be a graphic.
I think people also have the preconceived notion of what a logo needs to be. Your company logo does not have to be a piece of art. A simple clean logo with nothing but text is a lot better then a bad graphic. If you don't believe you can have a great logo without having any graphics, or you need an example, take a look at microsofts logo.



Don't marry your logo.
Times change so don't be afraid to change your logo. Some people are really afraid that if they change their logo from what it has always been that their customers won't recognize them anymore, but this just simply isn't true. As long as you don't change your logo too often, this communicates to your customers that you are committed to improvement. There are countless numbers of very large companies that have successfully done this and been better for it. Just imagine having this on the back of your iphone...



I want to change, but I just need some help.
Alright, so some of you might be thinking it's about time to get a new logo, but you don't know anyone who can do this for you and you're a bit intimidated. That's okay, there are some great online resources out there that can help you through this process and don't cost an arm and a leg. I've listed a few below:

http://99designs.com/
http://brandstack.com/

If you guys know of anymore great resources like this be sure to list them in the comments section.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/07/new-twitter-blocks http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/07/new-twitter-blocks Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:17:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/12/07/new-twitter-blocks
One of the blocks is called simply a "Tweet" block and it is basically will put a widget on your page that can either show all the recent tweets from your Twitter account, or it can show real-time search results for a certain keyword or phrase. The latter is pretty neat because it makes it easy to create a widget that shows what people on twitter are saying about a certain topic. This widget is actually the same widget that you can get off Twitters official site, the difference is that we've taken out several of the steps and our version will automatically update itself with the colors of your websites theme.

The other block will simply create a "follow me" button that users can click on to link to your Twitter account. This button comes in several different styles and it's something that can also be grabbed off Twitters official site, but again we've just taken out a few steps so that it's much easier to place it on your site.

Let me know what you guys think about updates like this. We hope to start doing more integration with 3rd party sites so it would be helpful to know if these are the sort of things that you would like to see more of.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/30/new-feature-duplicate-your-pages http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/30/new-feature-duplicate-your-pages Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:23:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/30/new-feature-duplicate-your-pages
Again it's the great feedback that we get from all of you that will really helps to make SnapPages the best it can be, so thanks for all the suggestions and keep them coming!

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/20/new-template-stacks http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/20/new-template-stacks Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:24:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/20/new-template-stacks new theme exchange area that we recently added, I've created another theme template to create themes from. I noticed that out of the last templates [...]]]> new theme exchange area that we recently added, I've created another theme template to create themes from. I noticed that out of the last templates that we added, the most popular one by far was also the simplest one called titled "Minimalist" so I've decided to create another template that is unique but maintains this same style of simplicity. Also a big new addition is that this theme actually has a vertical navigation as opposed to a horizontal one. We will be adding a lot more templates in the future, so check out Stacks and the theme exchange if you haven't yet.

Stacks



]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/16/the-new-theme-exchange http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/16/the-new-theme-exchange Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:44:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/16/the-new-theme-exchange
Sharing your themes is easy. When you are managing your list of themes, you can roll over a theme and simply select the "share" button. A window will then pop-up giving you two options to share your theme. You can either share your theme with everyone and it will be posted to the theme exchange, or you can send a theme directly to another user if you know their username. The thinking behind the share direct feature is that this might make it easier for developers to create themes specifically for their clients that they might not want shared on the exchange.

This is still in it's early stages, but the hope with the theme exchange is that this area will grow over time as we learn how users are using it so your feedback will be very important. I believe the theme exchange has a huge potential to benefit all SnapPages users no matter what level your skills as a designer are. It never hurts to see what others are doing and gain inspiration or a starting point for a new design.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/15/new-redesign http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/15/new-redesign Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:19:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/15/new-redesign
We [...]]]>
We received a very large amount of user submissions, so it wasn't possible to display them all, but we will be rotating them out periodically. So if you submitted one and you don't see it up there, it might still go up at a later date. Thank you to everyone who sent their site in. I've been really impressed with what a lot of you have been doing so keep up the great work!

There were several other reasons for the redesign as I mentioned, but of course as always a huge one was just because I obsess over design and I was really getting bored of the old one. I believe it is an overall improvement, but let me know what you think.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/12/spell-check http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/12/spell-check Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:47:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/10/12/spell-check
You'll now notice that a lot of areas in SnapPages will now have red squiggly lines all over the place(for me at least) because we've added some basic spell checking into the system. I've personally corrected several mistakes while just typing this post. The system isn't 100% fool proof yet and it only officially supports the English language but it should still be a dramatic improvement.

We should have some other significant updates launching later this week so be sure to be on the look out for those as well.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/26/new-domain-name-application http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/26/new-domain-name-application Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:33:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/26/new-domain-name-application
One big problem most domain companies have is the check out process is very confusing. You search for a domain name, then you go to buy it, and suddenly they've added so many extra features along the checkout process that you have no idea what you're getting or why your getting it. We've made the purchasing process simple and easy to understand so that you know exactly what you are purchasing.

If you thought purchasing a domain name with other companies was difficult, then you surely found that managing that domain name is even more complicated. Their control panels are usually not very intuitive and they use a lot of technical lingo that most people don't understand. I'm willing to bet that only a very small percentage of people have any idea what a cname record or a nameserver even is. With SnapPages new domain name application, we've taken the guess work out of it by presenting things plainly and simply, without all the technical jargon, so that you can understand what you are doing. Of course we also offer an "advanced" settings area where you can manage all these things manually if you have the technical expertise to do so.

You can manage multiple domain names with the application and you can point those domain names where ever you like. So if you have several websites you manage but want to manage all the domain names in one place, you can do so. Also if you've already purchased domain names elsewhere but you want to have the ease of use that SnapPages offers, you can transfer your domain names into our system as well.

In addition to domain names, we also offer other add-ons like private registration and branded email accounts. All of these can be purchased at anytime through the system. The domain name application is now live on the site and will probably remain in beta for another month or so. Please be sure to send us any feedback or issues that you have with it.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/25/design-tip-1-line-it-up http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/25/design-tip-1-line-it-up Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:13:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/25/design-tip-1-line-it-up
One thing that can make a dramatic difference in your designs is a basic understanding of "alignment", which basically means how elements in your design line up with other elements in your design. You might not realize it, but the human eye does a very good job of lining things up. For instance, you might not be able to draw a straight line, but you can probably very easily recognize a straight line when you see one. The other thing you might not realize is that your mind is constantly drawing imaginary lines between different objects, and when those imaginary lines are straight, meaning that the objects are aligned, this becomes more appealing to the viewer.

If you don't believe me, then think about this, which looks more appealing, a pile of papers or a neat stack of papers? Now you might think that you aren't particularly bothered by a pile of papers, but I think we would all agree that a neat stack looks more "professional". This same idea can be carried into basic design principals. When the elements in your design are neatly lined up, then it just looks more professional.

Observe the two images below to see what I mean:



You'll notice that the header text on the left is neatly lined up with the body content of your website which creates a nice appealing image. In the image on the right, none of the text is lined up which creates an image in your mind that is a little chaotic and looks less professional. Also you'll notice that the text in the header on the right looks cramped because it's so close to the edge of the page. So whenever possible, try to keep elements on your page lined up and I think you'll start to notice a big difference in how professional your designs start to look.

Please let me know if you found this article helpful as it will probably encourage me to write more. Also if you have specific design questions or you have some tips of your own be sure to let me know so that I can share them in future articles.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/22/slideshow-updates http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/22/slideshow-updates Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:52:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/22/slideshow-updates
Also while I was at it, I improved the overall UI of the slideshow controls because I thought they could be a little cooler and I'm obsessive like that. In addition to the slideshow update I also updated the album links so that they load faster and overall work better. So thanks again for the great suggestions, keep them coming!



UPDATE: I've also just added some additional options to the default gallery page itself. Now if you click on your gallery page in the My Pages application, you'll see some extra options to use either a 3D Gallery or a Photo Grid if you don't want to use the default slide show. Also in these options you can turn the album labels back on so you don't have to rollover albums to see their titles.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/08/submit-your-site-to-be-featured http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/08/submit-your-site-to-be-featured Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:01:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/08/submit-your-site-to-be-featured
To submit your site, either leave us a comment with a url to your site below, or email featured@snappages.com with the url of your website. Please also mention one short sentence describing what your website is about.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/04/new-3d-galleries-and-photo-effects http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/04/new-3d-galleries-and-photo-effects Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:21:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/09/04/new-3d-galleries-and-photo-effects
3D Gallery [...]]]>
3D Gallery



In addition to this we've added another new web block called a "Photo Grid". It basically displays the photos as a grid of thumbnails that you can click on to get a full view of the photo.

Photo Grid



We've also added some new photo effects and photo frames that you can apply to any image on your website for a little bit of added personality. Both of the new gallery types are pro features but the new effects can be used by anyone.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/28/urls-without-extensions http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/28/urls-without-extensions Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:12:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/28/urls-without-extensions
In case [...]]]>
In case you are still confused about what exactly this means, or why you would use it, here is a small example:

Let's say you were sending out an email promotion or going to a conference. You wanted a way to track anybody that comes to your website that gets a handout at the conference. One way to do this would be to create a special page on your website just for people who get the brochure. You could simply title this page "brochure". So the url for this page could now look something like "http://mywebsite.com/brochure", as opposed to "http://mywebsite.com/brochure.htm".

Basically it just makes the url prettier and easier to remember.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/21/billboard-editor-fixedupdated http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/21/billboard-editor-fixedupdated Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:54:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/21/billboard-editor-fixedupdated
I took a lot of things that I had done in the theme update and incorporated them into the billboard editor as well. For instance you can now add multiple text and shape objects. There are also several fonts to choose from now, and effects that can be applied to the text. Also it should take less time to export the billboard once you are done editing it.

In addition to these just about every other area of the billboard editor has been imrpoved. We've been rolling out a ton of new updates this summer and have no plans to stop or slow down so be sure to check back here often for more updates.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/07/custom-htmljavascript-added-and-more http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/07/custom-htmljavascript-added-and-more Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:14:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/07/custom-htmljavascript-added-and-more theme update, and now we've made another big update to the My Pages application. I'm very excited about this one because we have [...]]]> theme update, and now we've made another big update to the My Pages application. I'm very excited about this one because we have finally added the most requested feature everyone has been asking for. With a pro account, you can now add your own custom html code and scripts to any page on your site!

The new web block is called a "code box" and it does pretty much what it sounds like it would do. It gives you a little box that you can dump whatever code you want into and it will run securely on your pages. You can now easily embed just about any third party widget that you want, or even add some custom html tables. The input box even has syntax highlighting and allows for the "tab" character so it will work like it's own mini code editor.

And if all that wasn't enough I also made a ton of improvements to the interface, added some other new features, and fixed a lot of little bugs. Here's a quick list of most of the improvements that were made:

• Custom code box added!
• Imroved interface for adding web blocks
• Added descriptions for web blocks so you know what they do
• Images with effects or frames added will now display as images instead of flash files so that pages will load faster and be more compatible with mobile browsers
• The blog posts block that displays your latest blog posts can now be filtered to only show updates from certain categories
• The folders in the page list menu are now collapsible
• Improved menus for web blocks
• Headings can now be centered and aligned to the right
• Improved image uploading
• Fixed several smaller bugs that would lock up the editor

I hope you guys enjoy this one. As with any big update there might be a few issues that pop up here or there, so be sure to let us know about any you find as soon as possible. We've got even more big updates on the way as well so keep sending us your suggestions. Other then that, happy coding!

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/06/use-the-same-email-address-for-multiple-accounts http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/06/use-the-same-email-address-for-multiple-accounts Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:48:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/08/06/use-the-same-email-address-for-multiple-accounts
I know this might seem like a small thing to some of you, but for those of you that have had this issue, I think it will help out a lot. We plan on releasing another big update pretty soon so keep your eyes on this blog for more information.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/17/upgrade-before-august-1st-and-save http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/17/upgrade-before-august-1st-and-save Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:11:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/17/upgrade-before-august-1st-and-save
We now offer two different ways to upgrade to a Pro account. You can pay on a monthly basis or annually. The new monthly amount is $8 per month and the new yearly amount will be $80 per year. The good news is for those of you who have already upgraded or for anyone who upgrades before August 1st, you will be locked in at our current $50 per year rate for as long as you own the account. We've suprisingly got a lot of feedback from users telling us that we should raise our prices. I'm sure that's not something that happens often but I take it as a huge compliment and a testiment to how much our users love SnapPages.

We love our users too and wanted a way to say thanks to all of you who have signed up with us during our first year. That's why we are locking you in at the current introductory pricing. As usual we also still offer our 30 day free trial, but if you are currently in the trial and thinking about upgrading be sure to do it before August 1st to take advantage of the lower prices.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/13/the-theme-update-is-here http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/13/the-theme-update-is-here Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:02:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/13/the-theme-update-is-here
The My Themes application has been completely reworked and it's now better then [...]]]>
The My Themes application has been completely reworked and it's now better then ever. Here are just a few highlights of this update:

• save multiple themes
• three new theme templates to choose from
• change you themes fonts
• add custom backgrounds to themes
• customize buttons
• add unlimited number of text boxes
• modify text box fonts
• add effects to text boxes
• improved interface
• tons of new graphics and fills
• change theme font size

Not only has the My Themes application been updated, but the themes themselves have been dramatically changed. The original themes all had a flash header but now when you save your theme, it will be completely in html. This is great for several reasons, like it now loads almost 10x faster and your site will be more compatiable with mobile browsers.

A new area has also been added but hasn't gone live yet, and that's the Theme Exchange area. I'm very excited about this new feature as it will allow all the SnapPages users to share themes they've created with each other. I'll have more information on this later.

In addition to the theme udpate we've also launched a new update to our billing system that is also a pretty dramatic improvement. For instance you can now pay monthly and we even except paypal as a payment form now. I'll post more on this later as well.

Many of these changes where things that a lot of you have been asking for for a long time so I'm very happey to have been able to implement so many of them. Like with any update of this magnitude, there are bound to be a few glitches here and there so please let me know if something isn't working properly either in the forums or by submitting a help ticket.

I'll be posting more details about this update in the coming days because there is just so much that I can't fit it in one post. So please go try it out and let me know what you think! I'm excited to see what you guys will use it to create.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/02/sneak-a-peek-at-the-new-themes http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/02/sneak-a-peek-at-the-new-themes Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:56:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/07/02/sneak-a-peek-at-the-new-themes
Minimamlist



Tantrum



Aurora



]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/18/follow-our-adventures-on-twitter http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/18/follow-our-adventures-on-twitter Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:35:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/18/follow-our-adventures-on-twitter
I'm a Twitter newb myself so also if you guys have any suggestions about how you would like to see us make better use of it, feel free to let us know.

]]> http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/09/using-linked-feeds-to-import-blogs-and-more http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/09/using-linked-feeds-to-import-blogs-and-more Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:49:00 +0000 Steve Testone http://blog.snappages.com/blog/2009/06/09/using-linked-feeds-to-import-blogs-and-more
The solution that we came up with was to not fully import blogs from somewhere else, but essentially allow you to subscribe to other rss feeds in such a way that they will show up along side your blog posts. We call these "linked feeds". You'll notice that all of our older posts have icons next to them indicating that it is a linked feed and if you click on one of those it will actually take you to our old blog.

This really allows you to do a bunch of cool things. For instance you can import older blogs using this method, but let's say you wanted to have a blog with multiple authors. Well they could each setup a blog on SnapPages (or anywhere else really) and then just link to all of there RSS feeds and they would all show up in one place. You can also really link to anything with an RSS feed this way. So you could display all your twitter updates along side your blog posts as well. Or if that get's too cluttered you can choose to seperate out your linked feeds from your regular posts.

To use this feature just go into the My Blog application and go into the "options" section and click on the "Linked Feeds" tab. Here you can add feeds by simply pasting the url of any RSS feed. This feature has actually been on the site for a couple weeks now while we were testing it so a few of you might have stumbled on it already, but if you haven't yet, be sure to try it out and give us your feedback on it.

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