We've been working really hard to develop a reliable system for identifying "interesting" content on Xanga... We tried something called "boost" for a while, but it didn't really catch on; the "star" system seems to be suffering from a combination of low usage and anonymity (which makes it easy to game); the new "recommend" system actually shows a lot of promise, but it's still too early to say for sure.

While we work to resolve the issues with these new systems, we thought we'd bring back an old friend:

The "Featured Content" module on the Xanga frontpage is back!

The module shows xangans who have the most commented posts from the last 24 hours. Yes, there are ways to game it (although the obvious approach - leaving tons of repeat comments on the same post - won't do anything for you, so don't bother ). And we realize that it introduces a bit of a "popularity contest", which would be ok except that it doesn't do a good job finding excellent writers who happen to have just a few readers.

But despite its flaws, the fact is that "Featured Content" has been the one system that has worked best, overall, for identifying new and interesting content on Xanga. So we're bringing it back as a *starting point*, and now we're going to focus on improving this core Xanga system (e.g. by refining it with aspects of the other systems).

Thanks to adam for programming this one. And please let us know what you think!

- marc

Hey guys, this is John with a quick followup on backdating posts:

We've gotten a lot of requests for backdating posts over the years, especially for users who are moving their posts to Xanga from another site (which we always love).  So it's definitely something we've had in mind for a long time.  But as davidian pointed out, there's potential for abuse:

That's a fair point, and we'll look into finding a way to indicate when a post has been backdated (and maybe even displaying when the post was actually added to Xanga).  Some people have mentioned that anything we display might be hidden with CSS; we could address that by creating a page on Xanga where you can input a link and see when it was inputted into the database.  Would that address the issue?

We've received some more great postcards for our office wall.

heidz86 from Adelaide, Australia

trebleclef402 from Grand Rapids, Michigan

 Broncomom in Laguna Beach, California

Teacherperson from her temporary home in Cambridge, England

iknowHimdoU in Arizona

BlaxTiger in Tennessee

awaiting_the_dawn in Fresno, California (the quarter that was attached didn't make it )

punkdiva in San Franciso, California

We're grateful to all the users that sent postcards and the sweet messages they wrote! Thanks a bunch!

If you'd like to contribute to our office wall decor please send a postcard to:

Xanga.com
P.O. Box 500
Midtown Station
NY, NY 10018

We know some of you wanted to write posts and have them appear publicly at a certain date and time. Thanks to Janet and Ayça, you can do that now!

Adding a future post is easy; just open your editor and check for the "edit" link in the "time" field.

If you want to set your post's timestamp as a different time, click "Edit" - you'll see the time change into an editable format.

Now choose the date you want and you are done!

After you save your changes, you will see your future post at the top of your weblog.

More info on how future posting works:

• Only you will see your future posts when you are signed into
  Xanga.

• User tags will not send emails for future posts.

• Future posts will not show up on tag pages or on blogrings until the time
  comes. 

• Weblogs can be posted up to two years in advance.

P.S. With future posting comes the ability to post from an earlier time, too, so you can update your blog from as early as 2000 - just modify the date and you're good to go.

We want to hear what you think! Let us know if we can help clarify anything about this new feature.

Ever made a typo in a comment, or left the comment with the wrong account?

Now thanks to Joe and Ayça, you can edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting! And if you are still not satisfied, you can always delete your comment and post a new one.

Here's how it works:

• After you submit your comment, you will see an “edit” link below your comment as shown above. The “edit” link will be there as long as you keep the page open.
• If you visit the page again in 15 minutes, you will still be able to edit your comment. But if you come back after 15 minutes, you will not see the "edit" link.
• You can delete your comment any time you want.

Note that editing and deleting comments works only on themed sites for now. Please check it out and let us know what you think.

Photo Recommend is ready to use! Now you can let your friends and subs
know which photos you think are worth sharing. To see if any of your
friends have already recommended photos, check your Recs tab.

Also, just a
heads up - Tuesday's Office Hours will be moved back an hour to combat
the evil lag that some of you know all too well. Thanks for being
patient with us as we make Tuesday shows even better . . . and we'll
see you at 11 a.m. EST!

It's Thursday again and we're really excited to bring you another awesome themes designer. This week's designer is CynaraJanesThemes.

Here are some of our favorite themes - you can find all of Lisa's themes here:

 

X: How long have you been a Xanga user and how did you find xanga?
I've
been a Xanga user since December 28, 2005. I joined Xanga to monitor what my
kids were doing here. I started looking around at others blogs, beyond my
children's blogs, made some friends here, and really started to enjoy blogging
myself. My main blogging site is CynaraJane. I maintain a separate site for my
Xanga Themes, called CynaraJanesThemes (previously cj2U).

X: Do you have
a design background or any previous experience in making layouts?
I've
been doing layout and design off and on for over 20 years. I've been an artist
in general long before that. I started getting interested in blog layouts just
after I joined Xanga and wanted to make a custom layout for my own site. I
received requests for custom layouts from other Xangans shortly thereafter. I
have also made layouts and themes for other types of blogging sites, and still
do on occasion, though I enjoy making the Xanga Themes the most...the design
interface is just so user friendly, and the most versatile!

X: How do you
come up with your themes? What’s your inspiration?
Sometimes I'll find a
photo on a royalty free photo site that I think will look good made into a
Theme, sometimes I'll use one of my own photographs, and other times I create
custom graphics for a Theme I want to do. I seem to be drawn to making season
related Themes the most, but I am always looking for good ocean/beach photos,
because I love the ocean and seashore. My Themes are always an original
creation. I do take custom requests from time to time, but not very often as I
can't always promise a quick turnaround because of other things going on in my
schedule.

X: What’s your favorite theme, out of the ones you made so far?

My favorite Theme is always the latest one I've done...until I do the
next one!

X: What’s your favorite xanga feature?
I like that we
can post Protected here if we so choose. The new features are all great, too.


X: What do you like most about xanga?
I love the close community
here. I also love the diversity. It keeps things interesting!

X: Tell us about yourself, what do
you like to do in your spare time- hobbies? interests?
I enjoy
photography, and go on photo shoots whenever the opportunity presents itself. I
consider graphic design and making Themes a hobby, too, as I find it very
relaxing and enjoyable.

Thanks, Lisa, for being our featured themes designer of the week! And thanks to all the themes designers out there that constantly add to the great selection of themes.

We know some of you pulse more than you post and receive more comments on your pulses than posts. Many of you asked, "Can we have auto reply on pulses?"

You guys asked for it so Joe made it happen- comment reply on pulse!!

From now on you'll see a reply link next to (messages) on all pulse comments.

For more info on pulse reply go here.

Also, we rolled out some new minis today!

This week's Themes Thursday featured designer is MeganNoble_24.

Meg's themes are fun, colorful and have a little bit of emo-ness to them. Here are a couple of her most popular themes, you can see all of them here.

 

X: How long have you been a Xanga user and how did you find xanga?

I have been a Xanga user since 2003. My friend actually told me I should try it out, so I did!

X: How do you come up with your themes? What’s your inspiration?

Well, some of my themes are inspired by my own photography, others I just make up from things or people I like.

X: What’s your favorite theme, out of the ones you made so far?

Hmmm... it's hard to choose. I think right now my favorite is Fresh
Grass because my favorite color is green, and summer is my favorite
season.

X: What do you like most about themes?

I like that I can be as creative as I want, and basically just make anything that pops into my head.


X: What’s your favorite xanga feature?

Hmmm... Themes! I am also enjoying the Credits and Minis. Those are nice features as well.

X: What do you like most about xanga?

I like the fact that it's clean, uncluttered, fun, and easy to use.

X: What do you like to do in your spare time- hobbies? interests?

Well, my number one passion in life is photography. I am a
professional photographer, and I chose nature and landscapes as my
field of expertise because I love traveling, and discovering the beauty
of the world around me.

Thanks so much Megan for your contribution to themes and for being our featured themes designer of the week!

 Many of you have asked for a way to share the
recommendations you've made with people visiting your site. Patrick and Ayça have answered the call and added a
"Recommended" module to the themes system. You can use it to let
other people know about interesting content you've discovered on Xanga. 
Please try it out, and let us know any suggestions you may have on how to improve the
new feature!

You can opt to show as many or as few recs as you like, which is a good thing for people who love recommending posts - just scroll over the module, click the edit icon and select the number of recs you'd like to display.

P.S. If you don't know how to add a module to your themed page, please check out the help page.