tagged w/ commenting
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![Posting to Current.com made simple -- [Feature release]](http://i2.crtcdn1.net/images/spacer.gif)
[UPDATE: Please note that when posting a story you should leave source links in your description text if you intend to include them or pull media from those links for your story. It does not matter where in the description they appear, just note that the link closest to the top of the description text will be your primary source, and you can pull media from up to five other sources. Thanks!]
While news of our new Fall episodes has been at the forefront these days, that doesn't mean that our dev team has been twiddling their thumbs. To the contrary, we're happy to announce that there is a new release hitting Current.com today, and we can't wait to hear what you think of it.
Let's face it, contributing to Current.com has never been the easiest thing to do -- a refresh of this workflow has been long overdue. With this new release, clicking the "Post a Story" button (located in the green navigation bar) will now produce a submission tool overlaid on whichever page you're on.
We've streamlined the process, here's a walkthrough:
Title and Description Please: We now offer only two initial fields to enter, one for Title and one for Description. The new tool will work with you to customize your post, while putting the focus where it counts: clearly titling your post and adding a description.
Link it up: Adding a link to your post is super simple -- merely copy the link into your description field. Once you paste a link, the submission tool will immediately process any and all available media (photos, video embeds, etc.) on the source page and offer them as selections for you to include in your post. Click on the one that makes the most sense, and you're one step closer to posting.
Place your post where it counts most: A story is only as good as its location, and we use groups and tags to help place stories in areas that make the most sense on Current.com. You'll find an easy groups dropdown menu pre-populated with all of the groups you belong to, along with an open field for tags. Tags are important. They help lost stories find groups to live in. If you don't belong to a group that you think the story might make sense in, use relevant tags to help it along its merry way. It's like Mom always said, "Don't forget your lunch tags!"
Tired of the minors? Time to go pro!: Anyone can submit links to Current.com, but it takes a true professional to raise the bar by posting alongside video, images, or webcams. Clicking the "add video/image/webcam" link, you'll open the secret door to file uploading, webcam recording, and embedding video. Are you up for the challenge?
Those of you who mastered our older submission workflow will recognize that all of the essential pieces are still here, just repositioned and streamlined.
Since we're never content leaving well enough alone, we've also taken an initial stab and refining our commenting workflow as well.
You'll notice that at the bottom of each post there is now an open comment box (regardless of login/logout status). This new comment flow acts similarly to the new submission tool. Clicking into the comment field allows you to type up a response, and you can add links and select media by following similar steps.
And as always, if you've connected your Current.com account to Facebook, you can publish your awesome stories and comments to your Facebook feed to share with your friends.
So what do you think? Does this make things easier? Is it simple enough? Shoot us some feedback on our Get Satisfaction page, and help us out with future product releases.[UPDATE: Please note that when posting a story you should leave source links in your... more
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hey currentians,
i know, i know...it's been SOOOO long since our last feature release. all jokes aside, the second part of our feature release doubleheader just rolled out, and it introduces a brand new concept to current.com called "bundles."
Q: what is a bundle?
A: a bundle is a group of stories packaged together based on their relationship to one another. these stories usually come from different sources, but are all related based on keywords and other similarities.
Q: why are you calling these "baby-bundles" then?
A: well, the bundling concept is still in the infancy stage -- hence, the use of the word "baby." we have much, much bigger plans for these once they reach the "adult" stage, but we are not quite there yet in this release. so let's get into some of the details.
Q: where can i find these baby-bundles?
A: each homepage channel on current.com (news, music, movies, tech, green, gaming, comedy, and art & style) has a new module in the right rail of the channel homepage. this module is titled, "real-time news" and it includes a cloud of trending terms and links to the most recently created bundles for that channel.
Q: how do baby-bundles work?
A: for our first iteration, we've deploying a team of current bots (e.g. current_news_bot, current_tech_bot, current_movies_bot, etc.) to scour the web for stories to turn into baby-bundles. these baby-bundles are created specifically for the current.com community to engage with and discuss. baby-bundles are similar to individual items on current.com -- you can comment, vote, and share them with others.
Q: what can i do with a baby-bundle?
A: when someone comments and/or votes on a bundle for the first time, the bot associated with the bundle's channel will place the bundle in that channel's stream. by voting and commenting, you tell our bots which bundles are interesting enough to place in the channel. so, if you see a bundle in the music section that looks like something the current.com/music community would be interested in, vote and comment! the bundle will automatically be added to the current music channel, where others can vote and comment on it as well.
Q: can i create my own baby-bundles?
A: baby-bundles? no. full-blown "adult" bundles? yes! as i mentioned, this is just the early stages for bundles, but we plan to roll out the ability for our community to bundle stories together when we get closer to releasing the fully matured bundles.
Q: what do the trend links mean?
A: these are terms that we recognize as trending within our bundles creation flow. clicking on these links will take you to the bundles that directly reflect those trends.
so, take our new baby-bundles for a test drive and let us know what you think. we'll be tweaking the process for bundle creation over the next few weeks, so any feedback you have will be very helpful. you can ask questions or offer suggestions over on our Get Satisfaction page.
in the meantime, here are a few bundles that caught my eye:
Movies: Orci and Kurtzman talk about deleted Shatner cameo (in the new Star Trek film directed by J.J. Abrams)
Music: Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and David Lynch album, Dark Night of the Soul, scrapped
News: Tamil Tiger rebel leader dead, Sri Lankin state TV reports
Tech: Wolfram Alpha: The Beginning
Green: Northern Florida burning more wood to meet renewable energy targets
shoot us feedback, and feel free to share some of your favorite baby-bundles with me,
-- mariohey currentians,
i know, i know...it's been SOOOO long since our last feature... more
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