September 23, 2008
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Introducing Plugz
We’ve just launched a new way for you to publicize your site or a friend’s site on Xanga. Plugz help you discover quality content by exposing you to bloggers that are not in your friends or subscriptions lists. You can link to any publicly accessible page on Xanga or on one of the websites powered by Xanga (Momaroo, Revelife, Datingish or Hoodstars).
For step-by-step instructions and specifications for your Plug, check out the Help Wiki at http://info.xanga.com/wiki/Plugz
To get started, visit http://www.xanga.com/private/plugz/createplug.aspx.
How much do Plugz cost? When will my Plug go live on Xanga?
Pricing is as follows:
One day
500 credits
Three days
1000 credits
One week
2000 credits
Keep in mind that these are strictly introductory prices and are subject to change after two weeks! Take advantage of this price now – being on Private Home is a big deal and the cost will go up
Plugz need to be approved by Xanga administrators – their content should be appropriate for our community! – and will take up to 48 hours for approval. After approval, your Plugz will be displayed with other approved Plugz on Xanga. Plugz are shown on Private Home, Feedback and Subscriptions pages.
What’s in it for me?
“It’s a global recommend,” as a beta tester said. This is a great way for you to get recognition from the entire Xanga community. You may find sites you’ve never come across before, publicize your own site and meet new friends.
You can check out the increased traffic to your site in your Feedback Log – you’ll see hits from the three pages mentioned above. You can also see the number of times your Plug has been both clicked on and displayed on the Plug details page by going to http://www.xanga.com/private/plugz/plugzmanager.aspx and clicking on the Plug you want.
I don’t want to see Plugz on my pages. How can I turn them off?As a default, Premium users will have Plugz turned off. However, if they wish to turn them on, they can do so by going to http://www.xanga.com/private/plugz/plugzsetup.aspx
Comments (126)
awesome. Love it.
Thanks for letting me help launch it!!
SO cool.
sweet!
interesting…
Sweet. This should be interesting
Sounds like a great idea
This is an awesome idea, I just wish I had a great stand-alone blog to put forward in the launch. xP
Yay Xanga! Thanks for choosing me to be a part of this!
I suppose we really needed a way to get ourselves more attention here on Xanga.
hmmm…
Lovin it… well done team
x
Awesome. I’ve already found new stuff.
AND you can turn it off if you don’t like it.
THANKS XANGA TEAM
I want nothing to do with pasting ads on people’s private pages. Xangans are angry enough about sponsored stuff on their own territory.
Incidentally, this does nothing to fix the problem of diminished traffic on Xanga. Nothing. I like getting hits from everywhere- both on Xanga and off it.
There is a difference between promotion and shameless promotion.
P.S. 2000 credits ain’t that cheap.
In addition, why would I pay for an ad if I know that people with Premium probably aren’t going to see it.
Honestly, I don’t think I like this. If I want to go out and read other blogs, I’ll find them on my own. It’s just more clutter on the homepage, and since I’m not a premium member, I can’t turn them off. Nope, I do not like this.
“global recommend” That sounds awesome. Thanks for your continued work.
Glad I could help Beta test Plugz, I like the idea of play-for-play in the grand scheme of folks getting their blog out to other people who might not read it, and seeing as it costs a bit of credits; only those commenting a lot will be able to do it. This encourages more participation and makes Xanga better in my opinion. Now all I need is a Pepsi cola and a cabana boy with an oversized palm leaf and I’d be set!
Yeah, I’m not really for this.
Now, if you could buy your way onto featured…
<li> Plugz cannot use incorrect grammar, spelling or slang.
<li> Usage of improper or excess capitalization of words is not allowed.
<li> Excessively using symbols and numbers instead of words is not allowed.
<li> Plugz cannot use repeated and unnecessary punctuation.
I love you, XangaTeam.
I just sent in a plug but I don’t want it to be on the site because i didn’t understand that it would be broadcast to everyone and that my credits would be taken away!!! How to I cancel my plug request thing??
surprisingly positive reactions this far.
@fullmetalbunny -
yeah yeahm I volunteered as a pilot. And now I realize there’s a typo in my presentation text. That’s the story of my life.
@relaxolgy - Hopefully Xanga will fix the typo for you.
I mean, they have to look it over first, and they’re outright forbidding “incorrect grammar, spelling or slang”, so maybe they will fix it.
I think forbidding slang is going too far, though. Some of us use slang in our blogs, and slang in our little ads would be a good representation of our writing styles.
Excellent!
First off thanks Xanga for letting me be a part of it.
It be very interesting to see how this new feature goes (and how it performs) and also to see what people think about the feature.
<—–complete win. seriously, considering clippy must die and all
OMG! you guys just make me so wet with all this new stuff! i spilled my tea, but that’s ok! my music is going to FLY! ~sarina
Way exciting! Thanks for letting me help out, too
oh, no. please, no. no more clutter on my “privet” home page. i can barely keep my eyes focused on one spot as it is! please tell me there’s a way for non-premium members to turn this off… i mean, i am saving credits to go premium, but i’m still a long way off. toss a girl a bone, here.
That was me
I said “global recommend” Sweet!
I still think it’s a great concept. You guys rock!
Cant wait to see how well it works.
Cool.
I strongly disagree with Xanga forcing classic users to keep plugz on. No one should be forced to have widgets if they don’t pay Xanga money.
and it’s too much clutter!
Cool… another feature to help me get laid on Xanga. Yay!
@relaxolgy - fixed.
@the_crowds_roar - Go to this page: http://www.xanga.com/private/plugz/plugzmanager.aspx. Click on the image or the text of your Plug. This will take you to the details page. On that page, click on Cancel and that should do it.
thanks!!!
@fullmetalbunny - We updated our policy: http://info.xanga.com/wiki/Plugz#Content_Guidelines_for_Plugz. Thanks for the feedback.
Awww man. I don’t like it. :/
@Drakonskyr - You’re a smart guy! I’m pretty sure you could come up with some great stuff that would be approved. =)
Anyway, thanks, Xanga Team! ^_^
I found a MAJOR SUCKY THING about the ads being on the subscription page …
I can no longer see photos full-size, not can my subscribers see my photos (800 pixels). They get chopped, practically, in half.
@relaxolgy - For what it’s worth, I didn’t notice the typo.
i think you should charge cash / green stuff / muuulah
@fullmetalbunny - Exactly, couldn’t have said it better myself! It’s not designed to find better content, or promote our sites, it’s designed for Xanga to make money.
@papercup_alibi -
You make a good point there
@bentbrokenandtorn -
Good point
what will you do if the content being plugged is consistently bad and thus turns people off from clicking on the ads?
it’s a neat idea, but I am thoroughly offended by the non-ironic use of a ‘z’ for pluralization.
Don’t like it at all.
Hola a todos!!!!!!!
Hola a todos!!!!!
I have no idea what this is??My English is very bad
It’s a good idea, but do you really have to call it Plugz?
hip hop hooray
@Rocha13 - Básicamente, los usuarios de Xanga puede anunciar sus blogs con Plugz si paguen algunos créditos. Los anuncios aparecen en el lado de su Xanga Private Home, página de Feedbacky página de Subscriptions.
¿Cómo es mi español?
I’m not really for this. I don’t want these other xanga blogs on my home page and it’s not fair that only Premium users can take it off. If they have to be there, there should be a tab on your home page that allows you to see them. I don’t really care for other peoples blogs and only look specifically on my friends or once in a blue moon on featured blogs…
…if there was some way you can take it and make an “off” button, that would be great.
And I’m a minor…I don’t want to be having to see things that I shouldn’t be seeing when people have stupidity on their blogs and then it’ll be showing it on MY home page. It’s kinda messed up.
Interesting but costly. You can get a month’s premium for 4000 credits. Plugz will cost you that much for only 2 weeks.
Oh, please! Like we really need more self-promotion here on Xanga!
I don’t like this at all! (and worse, I can’t turn it off because I’m not a premium user!)
Bah, humbug!
Thanks so much guys!
another FAIL
greeeat, now the ka-ka i avoid cannot be avoided
_please_ let everyone opt out of this
so i am wondering if xanga could make the custom modules javascript friendly on the next change?
Interesting.
Thank you, your Spanish is very good
This was a good idea.
The Xanga Team has amazing collective technical prowess. I must admit it’s a little frustrating to see that these talents are being focused on so many … peripheral features, when so many users have for years been requesting practial blogging tools, such as multiple protected lists.
Would you be willing to announce one way or the other if this is something The Xanga Team intends to pursue?
@fullmetalbunny - ah, we’re too cool for this anyway. i’m saving my credits for the next xanga auction .
\///
///\ //=\ //\// ((= //=\ !!!
@papercup_alibi - on the other hand classic users do get tons of service, webspace, features an awesome blogging interface from Xanga, ALL FOR FREE.
Gees, the XangaTeam staf do deserve paychecks.
@papercup_alibi - also, lots of premium users have boughr their premium with Xanga credits, from using Xanga regularily, not by money…
@relaxolgy - they can have paychecks. yay for them. but they get their paychecks in so many different ways; it’s bad enough we have to stomach google ads. I’m a premium user and I still think Plugz are ridiculous and don’t need to be on the classic page. People need to stop flipping out and saying how xanga needs money. We all need money. What we don’t need, is useless junk.
hmm. the 3 column design IS cluttering. I’d prefer a 2 column desgin, with plugz in a horisontal row, with just a (smaller?) image and the sitename as text info when hoovering the image. This row could be undernteath ”add stuff” eow at the top. And preferably in the inbox only, or at the top of the subs page and the other pages. I like that the plugz are linked to a specific post or photo, but let’s just feel lucky, we don’t need a sales pitch test urging us to go there.
if you make them discreet enough, theycoud be obligatory for both premium and classic users
cool
@explosive - i completely agree with you! i think plugz is worthless…they need to stop creating new things and starting fixing the old things that have problems!!
@relaxolgy - Perfect solution! I like the idea in a lot of ways, buts it a total eyesore. A lot of people are against the constant scrabbling for more comments, more subscribers, to get featured, etc., and plugz just seem to be another means to fall into that cycle, but if it were discreet, those that care about getting popular can have their fix, and those of us that like our almost-simple looking homepage could have ours. Everyone wins!
you should be able to opt in or out of this, regardless of what kind of member you are. youre filling our ‘private’ page with useless junk. if i want something to read, ill browse blogrings or something. this idea is probably one of the worst ideas ever.
why not spend some time addressing the issues or suggestions that your members are asking for?
ive asked for at least 6 months or more to have a box next to each message in our inbox so we could delete multiple messages at once instead of deleting each message by going into it and deleting it. its the biggest time waster and horribly designed. how hard is it to add a box?
i also think a credit history is an excellent idea and should have been in place since credits were started. it seems like a no brainer. i cant tell you how many times ive wanted to look and see how i earned credits… but i cant. you dont allow us to see our credit earned history. which is lame. i also think there needs to be more ways to earn credits. its says you get credits for ‘using’ the site, but i disagree. you only get credits if you leave a comment, or someone leaves you a comment. or if you get a mini.
what about getting credits for joining blogrings?
or sending messages to other users?
or if you subscribe to someone?
or if you become ‘friends’ with someone?
ALL of those are USING the site… and we should get credits.
Ouch, 500 credits is still a lot. : (
so only premium xanga users can turn Plugz off from within their site?
i know everyone else can shut it off using foxfire and adding an ad-remover, but i like IE. why cant everyone that wants to shut it off have that option from their site? that would be the best feed back of whether people liked it or not, no?
@fullmetalbunny - don’t bitch; you can turn it off. Geez JoJo, smile more. They’re trying.
@reckless_eagle - That’s why when I tested recommended half the prices they decided on. Hopefully, though, with more usage the cost will go down.
@TheXangaTeam - I would also add that these rules are up to Xanga discretion; clearly if someone uses one incorrectly capitalized word, by the wording of your rule their Plug would be “not allowed”– but you guys have final discretion over what does and doesn’t get plugged.
I just switched it on, didn’t fancy it so much, and now I’m going to switch it off.
Thank goodness for that option.
This appears to be more of a short-term fix for a site that needs a better-designed front page.Thanks though for giving the option of turning it off.
a good idea but how about letting us use external commenting systems like disqus? that would make xanga more compelling.
keep up the good work…
So it’s like AdSense with fake cash unless you actually buy credits…
@RaVnR - So my normal response to all things Xanga is
XANGA PATRIOTISM!!!11!
and it was getting to a point at which people were making fun of me.
So I have criticism for once, and I am told that I am bitching.
So I have an opinion displayed in a public place, an opinion about Xanga, though it isn’t like I don’t have opinions often enough and unspoken. Not too long ago anyone who had a word of displeasure regarding Miss Xangamerica was dubbed a “hater”, while post after post after post condemns thinspo culture and that’s ace. Peer pressure, that’s what it’s called, wouldn’t anyone agree? No, they wouldn’t, because it’s so fun to be a part of it. There are opinions that may be expressed without fear of reprisal. I am expert at knowing which opinions are those.
And expert at knowing when to say nothing, or when to say something silly and meaningless, which is even better! from a certain vaguely masochistic perspective.
One should be an expert at something.
After a while everyone wants to change directions in life.
So I expressed a negative opinion about Xanga, because I do have some of those. And it was not so hard. Sie hörten mich.
I think expressing myself will make me smile a lot more.
Cool. Quick! Someone plug my Xanga! I’m too cheap to plug my own.
Hey, I’m saving up for Lifetime Premium, gimme a break!
I do not like the fact that I cannot turn the plugz off because I don’t have premium.
Interesting.
time to pimp someone out to the whole xanga community.
isn’t this just too cute
I’m definitely not for this. I also think that regular users should be able to turn it off. Quite annoying.
I don’t like this at all.
I thought that’s what the Xanga home page was for?
Lame.
Extra lame because only premium members can shut it off, the rest of us just have to suck it up.
no more self promoting ads no more clutter on home page next what premium lifetime mind control this is why so many are leaving. obviously not that anyone cares.
damn good job
peace
Thanks for letting premium users avoid this. I’d frankly rather not see it on my page.
I really hate this idea.
Sorry guys, but I really hate this. It’s too much clutter. Are ads for other people’s blogs going to start appearing in the middle of my paragraphs? Over my profile pic? I feel like these Plugz are the equivilant of ads in toilet stalls. Just when I thought I was in a private place . . .
The only thing I like about Plugz is the rule that good grammar, spelling, and punctuation are supposed to be part of the ad. Sadly, I’m already seeing that rule out the window; words that even spellcheck would have caught are being misspelled in the Plugz. I mean, even the name of the feature “Plugz” is misspelled.
I definitely am subscribed to all the quality blogs I can handle. I’m certain that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of high-quality blogs out there I would be interested in, but more isn’t necessarily better. I have a limited number of 24-hour days left to me. I already have all the blogs I want.
Splendiferous! I am loving the plugz! Great job getting them up and running, Ayca and the rest of the XangaTeam!!
will we ever be able to customize our “private homepage” ?
This
is very annoying. Xanga is getting on my nerves day by day by
plastering ads on the private page which to me is so unnecessary. Those
on the public site is ok, visitors might accidentally (though I doubt
people are so inclined, thank you) clicked on it.
Not enough with
the adds vaganza for the premium users, then somehow some advert on
some show or whatever between the subs, now this plugz thingie
enroaching on the orientation of the subs, making the space even tinier.
I
dunno xanga team, you guys making money is one thing. And I can
understand us, free users having to endure the adds on our public page.
But it goes overboard with this plugz, minis, premium adds, and
goodness what’s next!
Not having the option to turn it off is
like – “please upgrade it to premium” or else. Don’t force things on
people if they don’t like it.
I’m sorry for being so frank.
This is nonsense. If I want my blog to be noticed, I’ll go commenting
or subscribing like crazy. Some people don’t blog for publicity.
Keep that in mind.
I am interested to see how this turns out
ANYONE WANT TO TELL ME WHY MY PRIVATE POSTS ARE SUDDENLY PROTECTED. I HAD TO DELETE MY PROTECTED LIST. THOSE POSTS ARE PRIVATE FOR A REASON.
THE WORST GLITCH EVER.
Interesting. I don’t hate it (yet), but I don’t love it (yet), either. We’ll have to wait and see.
I don’t know if I like this new feature. In my opinion, there are already too many Xangans who are much too focused on self-promotion. I understand that Xanga is trying to drive up their traffic and user participation. But there’s also something to be said for quality over quantity.
pricey
I have Issues bc THERE are kids on here!
You do not Enforce any kind of ratings!
As it is now poor thought & xxx sites make it to anyone’s private pages including kids.
ugh. plugz are awful!, why would i want that on my xanga. honestly, the screen is already cluttered enough on my public site, and now i have to see plugz on my own homepage.. why? no.. turn off please.
anyone else find this ironic?!?!?!?
“Plugz cannot use incorrect grammar, spelling or slang.”
i’m too poor to afford plugz. =(
I don’t understand the point of Plugz?
@CrazyXBeautifulXDisaster - You seem pretty excited about this? bUt i’m t00 New tO-gEt-iT
http://www.Brickfish.com/LoveACEmOmmY
I GueSS i’M tOO NeW t0-gEt-iT~?~
http://www.Brickfish.com/LoveNPrayers
I agree with everyone who says they hate plugz.
They’re annoying, distracting and encourage too much self-promotion.
If you really want to drive traffic to xanga and attract new bloggers, there are other, more effective ways to get people here. giving people the ability to comment without signing into a xanga username, for instance, would help draw people here that are interested in sharing their thoughts with the internet ocean and not just the xanga pond.
Sounds Great!!~
I don’t like it.
I made a plug. I uploaded a picture, but when I published it, the picture changed into some other picture. It did the same thing when I did another plug. How come all of my uploaded pictures are replaced with a picture of some dude holding a ferret????????
Please turn it off, or at least let people choose if they want to see it or if they don’t want to see it.
thanks, i think.
Just when I thought I couldn’t do anything with all my accumulating credits…
It’s actually kind of exciting when I see people I know advertised on this thing.
It’s not fair that I am forced to read promos that are of questionable content on my private page. Not everyone has the budget to purchase Premium or Life Xanga.
ugh, i cant figure out how to get my pic upload to work. i changed the size a billion times and nothing!
@bluemarsupial - Get Plugged in to Zanga!
Oh dear. The plugz thing? There are a couple that keep appearing on my site that are a problem. The pictures have lots of blood, people blowing their brains out. My kids see this! Please rethink this.
why is my plug still pending aproval? it’s been 5 days now.
@ClockworkBunny - there is weird shit going on right now. not just a “glitch”.
I would sooner see the plugz on the front page, sometime in the future. not on the private home pages.
hey do we get credits when someone subscribes to us?
thanks for sharing
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