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Userplane Blog

Features and Issues Resolved for Release

  • SDK-1578 – Webchat Lite room title should be configurable in the embed code
  • SDK-1579 – Webchat Lite room title to adopt the roomName – temporary solution
  • SDK-1580 – JIDs are lowercase only – user should always join the lowercase version of a room – even if the embed has a capital
  • SDK-1583 – Clear the forbidden word list (until we have a way to manage it in the embed)
  • SDK-1587 – Languages with alternate character encodings render incorrectly in the browser
  • SDK-1589 – Launching an IM from the Roster in Webchat Lite prevents the User from typing in Webchat Lite
  • SDK-1590 – Launching an IM from the Roster in Webchat Lite should actually launch an IM
  • SDK-1596 – The buddylist tab counter does not count online users as intended
  • SDK-1600 – ReportAbuse data is wrong
  • SDK-1604 – Add Tooltips to the icons in the hovercard
  • SDK-1605 – Add a “AddBuddy” icon to hoverCard in Presencebar
  • SDK-1607 – Launching IM from Webchat Lite does not result in an invite
  • SDK-1617 – Profile data is missing in the hovercard
  • SDK-1619 – Profile line data is coming across inside invite notifications
  • SDK-1623 – Propagate locale support for addBuddy / removeBuddy in other languages
  • SDK-1626 – Incoming messages on an unfocused tab cause the tab to become active instead of displaying a pending indicator

Features and Issues Resolved for Release

  • SDK-1557 – IE8 Compatibility Mode and IE8 Intranet Settings Enabled cause issues with Webmessenger
  • SDK-1559 – IE8 consistently has connection fault issues
  • SDK-1562 – DisplayObject reports IE document mode based on browser mode
  • SDK-1563 – IE9 needs CSS adjustments
  • SDK-1565 – Users go into offline mode too quickly when idle
  • SDK-1566 – Debug persists after clearing cache, cookies, localStorage, etc.
  • SDK-1567 – Locale property overrides functionality for custom profile data line labels is broken
  • SDK-1569 – Revert to previous CSS for Webmessenger messagepane width and send button position / sizing
  • SDK-1571 – Add launch chat button to hover card
  • SDK-1573 – Add locale support for Russian

Features and Issues Resolved for Release

  • SDK-1520 – Indicators for online users and pending messages have square corners in Firefox 3.6
  • SDK-1534 – Webmessenger overflow menu needs positioning fixes
  • SDK-1542 – Webmessenger needs slight CSS adjustments overall
  • SDK-1550 – CSS adjustments needed for line data in Internet Explorer and Firefox
  • SDK-1551 – Status icons and pending indicators need CSS positioning in all tabs
  • SDK-1554 – Unable to click the Allow button for Flash Player Settings in Firefox 3.6
  • SDK-1556 – The overflow button for Webmessenger in IE8 has a very narrow clickable region
  • SDK-1560 – Notifications in IE8 need borders

We’ve just released version 1.1.8 of the Userplane SDK–our first release of 2012! 1.1.8 gets us off to an exciting start in the new year, and marks the jumping off point for the next big step for our platform.

But first, I want to highlight the improvements in our 1.1.8 release. Webmessenger was the primary focus for us in 1.1.8 based on customer feedback, so we devoted much of our focus to fixing small issues that, when added up, amounted to a negative impact on the user experience:

  • We resolved 14 bugs related solely to IE8–we love Internet Explorer! (/sarcasm)
  • General improvements to Webmessenger’s handling of multiple conversations and conversation-switching
  • Improvements and bug fixes around initiating A/V sessions
  • If you’d like to read the full list of improvements in our 1.1.8 release, please click here.

In 2011, we released a new build approximately once every three or four weeks. While we anticipate a similar schedule for 2012, we’re going to exempt ourselves until the end of February. Why? Well…

…Ever since we undertook the rebuilding of our platform and moved to XMPP for our messaging protocol (and away from Flashcom), we’ve wanted to remove Flash from the platform entirely (for text-only implementations). What does this mean for our publishers? It means faster load load time and rendering of the user interface, and it also lays the groundwork for Userplane compatibility on mobile and tablet browsers.

Now that we’re in a position to remove Flash, our engineers will be focusing for the next month and a half on this next step. It’s a very exciting milestone for us, and will certainly result in quieter-than-usual communication from us. However, our Director of Technology has been known to tweet his development progress. So if you’d like insight into how the process is going, I would recommend following @UserplaneMatt on Twitter.

Happy 2012, and be sure to keep your eyes on our blog for many exciting developments to come!

I like to tell people with whom I’m talking about Userplane that we are a white-label social discovery platform. And I assume that if I get a puzzled look, I’ll be explaining what I mean, exactly, by ‘social discovery.’ But it seems like puzzled looks of late have been wondering what, precisely, ‘white-label’ means. So I guess I’ll save social discovery for another post, and I’ll tackle white-label first.

Userplane vs Meebo

Can you spot the white-label solution? Userplane lets you leverage your own brand, look and feel, rather than giving free advertising to someone else.

To the point: we think of white-label as YOUR label. When you choose Userplane, you choose to own your brand over someone else’s. Take Meebo, for example; add Meebo for free to allow your users to connect with Facebook friends while on your site, and in return you reward them with free advertising (their logo is all over their bar). Sure, they’ll give you a cut of the ad revenue as a consolation prize, but in doing so you hand over your identity–your BRAND–to someone else for a significant feature on your site.

Then there’s our competition for hosted chat. 123FlashChat, AVChat and Flashcoms (to name a few) offer skinning of their integrations. Most, if not all, of our competitors use a Flash interface which severely limits the ability to customize the UI/UX. You can change colors, fonts and labels, which I guess is sort of nice. AVChat goes so far as to say you can use CSS…only to say two sentences later that it’s not TRULY CSS.

On the flip side, there’s Userplane. Our new platform has an entirely Flash-free UI. In fact, it’s JavaScript and CSS-based. And I’m talking TRUE CSS. So yeah, you can change colors and apply a basic skin. Or, you can style your own CSS and completely override the default Userplane skin. You can even add custom icons to the interface in place of our own, or in place of data labels.

See, at our core, we believe that online communities were built to connect users with a common interest. It doesn’t matter whether that interest is to learn a new language, play games or fantasy sports, consume news and information or meet new people for friendship or love. The fact is, people join online communities because they believe in the purpose for which the community exists.

Offloading users to their Facebook social graph while on your site doesn’t accomplish anything to further deepen the pull users feel toward the community. And adding Flash-based features is like buying a car because the salesperson told you that you can customize anything by changing the paint color.

Your brand, and how your users interact with it, is a core pillar of a successful online business. And we believe in making available all the tools at your disposal to create an experience that your users truly identify with when they choose to engage in your community. This approach admittedly makes us different. But I think it also makes us the best.