A new year, a new semester. This week has brought a lot of changes (like the ones I never got to make last year), and finally we're up to a presentable milestone.
After watching a few more people use the site, it became clear we need a profile link on the main navigation (called "You"), and some little tips and pointers around the site would greatly help with the learning curve. So now they are so. Other nice little much-needed changes are now present, too, so overall you should have a much smoother experience at LunchTable.
Managing your uploads.
Many new exciting things are still planned, which we'll announce soon!
Today we add notifications from anywhere on the site, a Help section, and bug fixes sprinkled throughout. From the second you log in, you'll be able to see where new content is— not just whether or not there are new posts at your table. Letters (private messages) from other members will also show up on your navigation bar at the bottom.
Just as well, we're encouraging more questions, so that we can answer and use them to help others on the site.
Next, we'll be launching easier-to-edit profiles, more site-wide integration, and smoother sharing controls. Stay tuned!
Starting today, users of all levels of web-skill can customize their profile. With the all-new Profile Design-a-matron, you can trick your profile out to your heart's content:
For everyday users, you can change your background or text colors. However, if you like full control over your page (and know some CSS magic), you can use the Advanced Editor to do whatever you'd like. You can even start with the Simple Editor, save, and add on to your design in the Advanced Editor.
We'll be adding on to the designer in the future, especially with some ready-made designs and templates.
In our endless pursuit to follow the beaten path, we now have a Facebook page. Now you can stay up-to-date on all LunchTable developments, even while you're away!
You've been speaking, typing, telling and we've been listening. It can be difficult to figure out what to do next on a brand new site, and through your feedback we know that. We are constantly working on making it easier, but today we're working with what we have and leveraging LunchTable to help everyone.
The main table in the cafeteria has changed its name to Welcome, and will now serve as every new user's first taste of LunchTable (we packed chocolate chip cookies). Upon signing up, users will immediately be thrown into the mix and experience a group of people already putting LunchTable to work-- posting their favorite pictures, songs, and discussing new things. People like me, chickencheese, will be there to help you out, answer your questions, and listen to your suggestions. Our growing community will help you.
The great thing is that you can always leave the Welcome table (or join it!) and start your own, or become part of another table in the cafeteria once you're comfortable. With the experience at the Welcome table, we hope you'll be able to better figure out what to do and how to fully use LunchTable to your advantage. Enjoy!
Over the coming summer months we'll be working on a bunch of new features for LunchTable. Most of these are currently being kept secret until they're ready for your use, but today we want to give you a sneak-peek at the profile customization you'll be able to do in the future.
Your profile will soon showcase all your latest posts-- from notebook notes to videos. Right now (at about half-way there) it shows your latest note and audio post, with each section separated by a text header. However, these headers are standard, boring, one-word titles. They need changing.
So we're working on letting you change these titles to anything you like; to help make your profile less typical and more inspired. To help you make it something more you.
This and more profile customization should be available later this month.
In our beta stage thus far we've managed new LunchTable registrations by only allowing them through invites. However, in the almost-a-month since we launched our private beta we've continued to develop and grow and today, LunchTable is opening its doors to more people.
Now students at Radford University may freely sign up for LunchTable, provided they verify their status by using their radford.edu email address. We hope to grow the community here at LunchTable even more as the gates are opened to new people.
In our goal of promoting the open sharing of ideas, today we've added the ability to see who at your table is online in real-time. This can help foster your lunch table conversations, knowing that others will be around to see what you post and immediately react.
LunchTable is more fun with friends. Today, we're making it easier to share with more people through the invites feature. Simply log in to your account and click "Invite" in your navigation bar; enter your friends' email addresses and they'll instantly receive an invite link to sign up with. If you're sitting at a table, it'll let them know so they can join up with you in the Cafeteria.
Initially you will have a limited number of invites to send, but you'll earn more as people accept them. Happy LunchTabling!
As of today, you can officially leave your table and join a different one. Just go to the Cafeteria and click "Leave Table." There are a few things that happen when you leave a table that should be noted, and you'll see these (along with the option to continue) here.
The new layout is now site-wide. We're also working on an introductory interactive super-magical tutorial to help you learn how to use LunchTable. Any questions you already have can be sent in from the Help page-- which we will seriously take into consideration as we create the tutorial.
