EasySocial 2.1 Alpha Released
Most of you are probably on vacation when we published the past 2 progress update posts for EasySocial 2.1. If you have missed them, you may find both Part 1 and Part 2 of the posts. This would be the 3rd and final part of the promised progress updates for EasySocial 2.1 and it is also with our greatest pleasure to announce the availability of EasySocial 2.1 Alpha today.
This is one of our biggest release ever because there are more than 300 added feature enhancements in this release. However, we are only able to cover some of the key features in this post.
Conversation Improvements
Tighter integrations with ConverseKit? It isn't enough. Conversations in EasySocial are now almost real time (as there are still latency that needs to be taken into consideration). With these improvements, we are also able to deliver chat statuses in almost real time.
For those who are paranoid about these statuses, this may be turned off in the settings too.
Videos Makeover
I mentioned about Twitch support on the other post but you may also embed videos from VK too! (VK is a very popular social networking service for Russian users). It doesn't stop there, because with EasySocial 2.1, you may also add watermarks and logo on your video.
Certainly with all these branding done on the player, it would only make sense to allow videos to be embedded on a different site eh? Yep, you can now embed your videos on another site!
Custom Field Workflows
The core strength of EasySocial has always been the extremely flexible workflow for profile type, groups, events and pages. It also has a downside which is the tediousness to modify the workflow of each profile type. We decided that in order to simplify your day to day operation, we needed to refine the way custom fields work in EasySocial 2.1 and this gives us the all new Custom Field Workflows.
The concept of a workflow is very identical to the custom fields in both Joomla Categories and EasyBlog Categories. It's as simple as associating your workflow with the profile type or categories and you are good to go. Oh, and I must add that the new workflow builder is extremely fast and doesn't add any rainbow or hourglass cursors!
Subcategories Support
The team also managed to include subcategories support for groups, pages and events. With the new n-level hierarchy support in EasySocial 2.1, it would allow a greater use of groups, events and pages on your site.
Reactions
Reaction has been a great hit since it was introduced in EasyBlog 5.1. We know this new addition to EasySocial 2.1 will definitely boost interactivity among users, and more importantly an enjoyable way of expressing themselves with regards to any post in EasySocial.
Editable Activity Items
Prior to EasySocial 2.1, it was not possible to edit activity stream items that contains rich media objects. Now with EasySocial 2.1, it is made possible and very neat addition! You can almost edit any type of activity stream unless the source of the items weren't created via EasySocial.
We cannot imagine the pain users has to go through not being able to edit the activity streams.
LinkedIn Integrations
With this new addition, it opens up a wider horizon of users to quickly sign up on the site. Users with a LinkedIn account may quickly sign up on the site just by a click of a button.
We will also be introducing a new LinkedIn app that allow users to auto-post on LinkedIn just like both Facebook and Twitter.
Audio Support
For all music enthusiasts out there, this feature was designed especially for you. Building a platform for users to share, connect and discover great music! Rather than having just a boring audio player, it includes a wave form while playing your favorite music. Users can also upload album covers, create playlists and share it on their streams.
It would really make the site much more engaging than ever before!
Conditional Custom Fields
It has always been my dream to have conditional custom fields in EasySocial since the very first release of EasySocial. We had to put a halt on the "Intelligent Fields" back then because the structure of the custom fields designer just wouldn't make it. To those who doesn't know what this is all about, conditional custom fields allows you to configure fields to only appear when it is being triggered by another field. Think of it as a chain-able event of custom fields.
Since the introduction of the new Custom Field Workflows, we decided to take full advantage of what the workflow designer has to offer and take it to another level. Because the interface is now extremely fast and flexible, we are now able to feature punch it with conditional custom fields.
Moderation Tools
As your social site gains more traction, it would be tedious to be managing the site all by yourself. To simplify your day to day operations, you may now crowd source these responsibilities to trusted profile types without having them to access the administration area at all.
Text Based Avatars
Kiss those boring default profile pictures good bye! If a user does not have a profile picture, their initials would then be used as their profile picture instead. That way, your site wouldn't look too boring.
Greater Anti Spam Tools
With CleanTalk, you will get peace of mind from spammers registering on your site. Coupling the app together with CleanTalk's amazing algorithm, it helps you to filter through these spammers from registering on your site.
Apart from integrations with Clean Talk, EasySocial also comes with it's own anti spam techniques to control the frequency users try to post on the stream.
Downloads & Bug Tracking
As always, do take note that alpha and beta releases aren't ideal for any live sites. Though the Alpha version is usable, it may contain bugs that could disrupt the functionality of your live site.
Limited Support Over The Weekend
As Malaysia celebrates its 60th anniversary of independence, the entire team would be having a long weekend of public holidays as it coincides with the first day of Eid-al-Adha falls on the Friday.
Do expect some delays in getting your replies on our help desk. Some of us might still be around (including myself) to be able to answer urgent tickets. Not too worry, as we will not be away for too long.
The team will be back in full throttle on September 4, 2017.
Last But Not Least ...
I would like to take this opportunity to Thank all of our awesome customers for contributing all these great ideas! Without your feedback, EasySocial would not have reached where it is today. I would also like to extend my gratitude for the team and Thank them for working tirelessly in delivering the best ever social network extension for Joomla!
Happy Independence Day to all Malaysians & Happy Testing!
P/S: Do check back constantly as we have something new coming right up!