Josh Ledgard

Locking Down Community Server 2008.1

2008-07-20T03:03:00Z

We're only a couple of weeks away from a beta release of Community server 2008.1. As previously discussed this is the first of a more rapid pace of releases for the Community Server product. (There is a public roadmap we've produced that I'm hoping to have published next week some time to www.communityserver.com . ) What this means though is that we're pretty locked on what we are shipping and what we are NOT shipping. This post will give you a few more details to help get you ready...(read more)

More Fun with Users... from Digg

2008-07-11T19:12:00Z

Here are two bits from the user registration process at Digg that makes them a little more human. and Posted to Design and tagged as digg , registration , ui , fun Similar Posts OCS 2007 - On Crowdsourcing Are You Ready for Smarter Spenders Bursting Your Bubble? Creating a New Breed of PMs at Telligent...(read more)

What to expect in CS 2008.1 this fall

2008-07-07T15:36:00Z

I'm sure a bunch of you just got done installing CS 2008 or upgrading to SP1 for CS 2008, but I want to give you the lowdown on what you can expect this fall with the release of CS 2008.1. Schedule The first thing you'll notice is that I said "fall 08" and not "spring 09". Yes, we're going to be speeding up the release rate of Community Server. Expect 3-4 releases per year and also expect that service packs become strictly focused on bug fixes rather than features...(read more)

Tellitip 29: Use Preview Mode to Test Site or Blog Facelifts

2008-07-07T10:01:00Z

What would my blog look like if content boxes were purple? You can answer that question by simply setting the color and hitting save... but then all of your site visitors will be subjected to your bright pink sidebar before you come to your senses. You can avoid all that by taking advantage of preview mode and this post tells you how. The first thing you'll want to do is sign into your blog admin or site administration panel. For blogs click to your blog control panel and then click "Change...(read more)

Tellitip 28: Using Display Names

2008-07-03T15:52:00Z

Hey there IndiansFanJoe3456! Wow, that's a mouthful. Chances are that you have one of these accounts on a site that doesn't let you be you because someone else is already you! One of these sites may even be a Community Server site. Well, there isn't an excuse for this. As of SP1 for CS 2008 we've enabled "friendly display names" by default. Well, we've actually supported this for a LONG time and this post will show site admins how they can control this. Open your Community...(read more)

Community Server 2008 Service Pack 1 is Now Available

2008-06-27T22:47:00Z

I've been pinged by more than a few people about this today, but I can officially say that SP1 for Community Server 2008 is now available! On the download page you'll find updated install packages as well as an upgrade package for existing sites. The more notable items include these enhancements: New users have display names enabled by default Users can delete their own activity messages Admins can now delete user files and folders Control Panel link destinations are most consistent And these...(read more)

Friendfeed is a Bug

2008-06-26T14:47:00Z

I don't usually go out and create a 1 per post "mindless link", but I tend to agree completely with what Dare said in this post and it wouldn't have been long before I wrote up something similar... so I'll just let Dare say it for me. Dare Obasanjo aka Carnage4Life - The "Popularity" of FriendFeed is a Bug in the Social Software Ecosystem It took a little longer than two months but it looks like I was right. For some reason Facebook isn't putting the comment bubbles...(read more)

Tellitip 27: Create default friends for new users in Community Server

2008-06-25T18:59:00Z

Community Server 2008 introduced the concept of Social Networking to our platform. Users can register for your community, become freinds with other members, and get status updates from their friends, but it's lonely when you start out with no friends in a community. A bunch of sites have the concept that new users are "friended" by default to an existing community member. This tip will show you how to do this with Community Server. 1. Open the Community Server control panel as an administrator...(read more)

7 things you can't say on the Internet

2008-06-23T18:16:00Z

George Carlin passed away yesterday and, in honor of him I'm posting a list of 7 things you can't say on the Internet. Standard "this post does not reflect product direction or the views of my employer" disclaimers apply. :-) Content Production is NOT for everyone. Not all of your customers need a blog or want to produce a video about your product... even if they love you! And if you are thinking about starting a podcast then please stop, turn around, and get educated on broadcasting...(read more)

Being Josh Ledgard's Wife

2008-06-21T00:51:00Z

If you tune into This Week in C9 you may have caugh some stumbling over my name. It starts around the 7:30 mark. But the best part is hearing Gretchen reffered to as "Josh Ledgard's wife". I know this won't make much sense to many of you, but I've been "mr Gretchen" for a long time and this prooves there is just a little bit of justice in the world. Posted to Social Similar Posts Hiring people to make a quick buck 6 Days Outside of "The Soft" What I'm...(read more)

TelliTip 26: Get poll results in Excel from Community Server

2008-06-20T10:58:00Z

My last tip showed you how to get some attention on polls in your user community by using the featured post widget. If you thought that was neat and you like collecting data then this tip is for you. I'm here to tell you that you can download detailed poll results to Excel. 1. Create a poll as a post in Community Server forums. 2. Get users to take the poll. (See previous tips) 3. Find the poll logged in as a site admin. 4. Click "User Voting Report" 5. Click Export & Open in Excel...(read more)

TelliTip 25: Publish Featured Polls in Community Server

2008-06-18T22:58:00Z

So you like polling people huh? But you want some more attention for polls so you can collect more user data? This tip will teach you how to publish a featured poll to the front page of the forums in CS 2008 using the forum post widget. 1. Create a new poll in the forum of your choice. 2. Log into your site as an administrator 3. Visit the control panel and navigate to Site Administration > Customize Site Themes. (That's this URL off of your community /controlpanel/Settings/ThemeConfiguration...(read more)

Smile

2008-06-17T15:36:00Z

I don't know why, but lately I'm a sucker for things like this... Posted to Design and tagged as ui , text Similar Posts Anti-Permission Marketing - Why I stopped using Windows Live Mail They advertise the hell out of scrabble What I'm Reading and Writing - Testing a WLW Plugin...(read more)

TelliTip 23: Updating Community Server or Graffiti Mail Templates

2008-06-16T10:51:00Z

Today's tip will teach you how to customize the e-mail templates that are used in Community Server or Graffiti. As I mentioned earlier today, the voice of your product or community is something that should be seriously considered. You should have control over what your members see in automated e-mails that are sent on a regular basis. To edit the e-mail templates that Community server sends open the file named "e-mails.xml" from the Languages\en-US\emails\ folder in your favorite XML...(read more)

The voice of your product or community

2008-06-16T09:59:00Z

Something that's never really discussed in the visual age is the voice of your product or Community. Words are just as important as important as the visual design and layout. The language of your product educates, informs, and sets the tone of the environment for the user. If your software sounds angry it might have an impact on the user perception. On the flip side, every one of these e-mails has the potential to be an important customer touch... make it a good one. I'll pick on ourselves...(read more)