Version 2.2 Release Notes

by Chris

Version 2.2 of the KickApps platform launched July 17, 2007. Below are the detailed release notes, organized into the following sections:

1. Custom Style Sheets

If you have implemented any custom CSS on your community pages, it is likely that you will have to edit your CSS files to bring them in line with this update. We created a KickApps Release 2.2 Update Guide to make this upgrade process as easy as possible for you. If you have no custom CSS in your KickApps community pages, this update requires no action.

Here are the important CSS changes in this release:

  • We widened the overall site template by 40 pixels to accommodate our new streamlined and larger video player (which also has full-screen viewing).
  • The community home page now conforms to the other pages' "clean blue and white" default design theme and can be easily customized via CSS.
  • The member profile page now uses more HTML and a bit less AJAX, for faster load time and easier CSS customization.
  • The media play page has a wider left column to accommodate the new larger media player.

We've also added two new page-specific style sheets:

  • ka_homepage.css allows you to customize your community home page
  • ka_profilepage.css allows you to customize default member profile pages

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2. Configuring Your Site in the Affiliate Center

  • On the Configure Your Site » Site Settings page, you can declare which additional meta data fields you want to accept on your media upload forms.
  • On the Configure Your Site » Site Settings » Set Site Styles page you can upload your own custom default images to represent photos, videos, members, groups, blogs and audio across your community.
  • On the Configure Your Site » Site Settings » Customize Member Profiles page, there are seven new custom profile questions (the total is now 10).
  • A link to your community site's Terms of Service policy is now visible to users who click on the "Steal This" button on your widgets. You can modify the text of your Terms of Service policy on the Configure Your Site » Site Settings » Customize End User Agreement page.
  • On the Configure Your Site » Widget Builder page, there are 2 new video player widgets to choose from (Simple and Advanced) in addition to the Classic Video Player widget.
  • On the Configure Your Site » Widget Builder » List Widgets » Edit List Widget page, we re-ordered the steps for creating a list widget to make the widget building process more intuitive.

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3. Managing Your Community in the Affiliate Center

  • On the Manage Your Community » Media Management page, the auto approval setting for all media is set to "on" by default. Note: this only applies to new sites that are created on the KickApps platform after the Version 2.2 Release. If you are an existing Affiliate whose auto approval settings are off, your preferences will not change.

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4. Member and Affiliate Messaging

  • Every email sent from your community site (via the KickApps platform) to a user or member includes a link to opt out of receiving future emails from your community site.
  • Members can change their opt-out status on their My Home » My Profile » Edit Account page.
  • You can view and edit each members' email settings in the Manage Your Community » Member Management section of the Affiliate Center (AC).
  • Also, as an Affiliate you can limit the email notifications you receive from KickApps by clicking the Your Profile link in the navigation strip on the top right of the AC when you are logged in. Note that if you opt out of receiving automated emails from the KickApps platform you will not be notified via email when media or messages in your community site are flagged as inappropriate.

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5. Member Profiles

  • As an Affiliate, when you are logged in you will see an additional "manage your site" link in your community's site-wide nav. Clicking that link will automatically log you into the Affiliate Center (AC).
  • You can now approve and moderate all portrait photos because they go through the same media management steps as videos, photos, audio files, and blog posts. Rather than uploading dedicated photos for profile portraits, members must select a portrait photo from their approved photos in the community. (Note: if you have auto-approve turned off for new photos added to your community, members will see the default member portrait icon until their new photos have been approved).
  • The member profile page now uses more HTML and a bit less AJAX, for faster load time and easier CSS customization.
  • The Join page now contains an optional field to upload a photo. (Again, if you have auto-approve turned off for new photos added to your community, new members will see the default member portrait icon until their new photos have been approved.)
  • For members who are logged in, the link to their home page now says "{membername}'s Home" (instead of "My Home").
  • On the My Home » My Profile » Edit Profile Theme page, members have seven new themes to choose from, (the total is now 11).
  • On the My Home » My Media » My Photos page, members can choose a new portrait photo from any one of their approved photos.
  • In the AC, on the Configure Your Site » Site Settings » Customize Member Profiles page, you can now ask your members as many as 10 custom profile questions. Previously, you could only ask a maximum of 3 custom questions.

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6. Media Upload

  • In the Affiliate Center (AC), on the Configure Your Site » Site Settings page, you can declare which additional meta data fields you want on your media upload forms, including whether or not to allow your members to upload custom thumbnails for their videos.
  • Members are no longer required to provide a Title on media uploads (videos, photos, and audio files). If a title is not supplied we will automatically generate one based on the filename of the media. Note: titles are still required on blog postings.
  • On the photo upload page, members can choose to select the photo currently being uploaded as their portrait photo. This option is checked by default if the member has not chosen a custom portrait photo yet.
  • When a member's profile content or related media is edited in non-member-facing ways (e.g. Admin Tags, ratings, etc.), emails are no longer sent to the member notifying them of the changes (that they can't see, anyway).

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7. Media Playback

  • When a logged-in member is viewing a piece of their own content (video, photo, audio or blog posting) they can now click an "edit" button to go directly to the edit page for that piece of content
  • As an Affiliate, when you are viewing any piece of media in your community (video, photo, audio file, or blog posting) you can now click a "reject" link on the play page go directly to the Affiliate Center Media Details page for that media item, rather than navigating through the Media Management section of the Affiliate Center.
  • The Blog posting page makes the entire blog post visible without requiring users to click a "more" link to display additional content on lengthy blog postings.
  • The Audio play page has a new Audio Player with a smaller footprint and cleaner design.
  • The Video play page has a new Video Player that is larger, more streamlined and offers more sharing options. It also has an option to "view full screen."
  • On the Photo page, the "Enlarge" button now links to a full-size version of the original photo.

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8. In-Line Media Management

  • We improved the session management between your community site and the Affiliate Center (AC), so when you log into your community site as a member, you are also authenticated in the AC--and vice versa. This feature enables you to initiate the media management process directly from your member-facing site.

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9. Search

  • Search results pages now contain a few more elements directly above the search results (the search query, the number of results and the sorting options [most recent, highest rated, most viewed, most favorites]).

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Have any questions? Post them on the KickDeveloper General Questions Forum, where we'll happily answer them and share your experience with other KickApps community builders.

We're also available at support@kickapps.com.