Posted At : March 22, 2007 9:40 AM
| Posted By : todd sharp
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InstantSpot
Just so everyone doesn't think I still don't have love for The Spot I wanted to help spread the word that Dave and Aaron have been hard at work in the labs and have just rolled some enhancements to the soon-to-be hugely popular social playground that is InstantSpot. Check it out and spread the word.
InstantSpot is a next generation Social Blogging/Networking site - but it's not just a profile page or a blog - it's much more. InstantSpot is a completely free entire website for you and your family/friends. You can blog, interact with your friends via messaging, post photo galleries, manage an online calendar, even customize the look and feel of your Spot via the Style Manager. Don't know CSS? No problem! Head over to the InstantSpot Design Exchange at
http://www.isdx.net and check out some of the cool custom CSS templates that our users have uploaded. There's a growing library of templates to choose from, and if you sign up at ISDX you can even preview any of the designs live on your Spot before taking the plunge and installing it.
I've recently rolled out some enhancements to the InstantSpot Design Exchange (http://www.isdx.net) and thought I'd blog them both here and over at the ISDX blog (http://isdx.instantspot.com) to get the word out. If you're not familiar with InstantSpot or ISDX, where have you been? Just kidding! Read the bottom paragraph if you're not familiar with them ;)
So on to the changes. First and foremost, the layout has been completely tweaked, fixed, overhauled and perfected to look 100x better. Take another look if you've already checked it out, I think you'll find the new look more appealing. Secondly, a commenting system has been implemented for each design in The Exchange. Now anyone can easily drop in a comment for a particular design. Having problems getting a design to look just right? Drop a comment - the original author is automatically copied on all comments added to the design so maybe they can help you out if you're having issues. The other major upgrade is the ability to preview your design before uploading it. This is a really cool feature for those CSS gurus out there. When uploading a design just edit the CSS within the upload form and click the Preview button before saving. Your changes are temporarily saved and a new window launches with your InstantSpot immediately reflecting the current CSS code in the upload form. How cool is that? Don't like what you've done? No problem, just exit the upload and all changes/edits are discarded. A future enhancement will give users the ability to load a default skin into the CSS editor as a starting point.
That sums up the latest changes. As Dave Shuck mentioned there are many more cool ideas in the works. Thanks again to Dave and Aaron for working with me on this project.
InstantSpot is a next generation Social Blogging/Networking site - but it's not just a profile page or a blog - it's much more. InstantSpot is a completely free entire website for you and your family/friends. You can blog, interact with your friends via messaging, post photo galleries, manage an online calendar, even customize the look and feel of your Spot via the Style Manager. Don't know CSS? No problem! Head over to the InstantSpot Design Exchange at
http://www.isdx.net and check out some of the cool custom CSS templates that our users have uploaded. There's a growing library of templates to choose from, and if you sign up at ISDX you can even preview any of the designs live on your Spot before taking the plunge and installing it.
I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new site, the InstantSpot Design Exchange. isdx.net is a place where InstantSpot users can go to upload/dowload custom Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files for use with their Spot. Registration is simple, just pick a username and password, then enter your email and your InstantSpot name and you'll receive a simple verification email. That's it! Login and you can begin uploading designs! Registration is not necessary to download designs, but if you do register you'll get the added bonus of being able to preview any design in The Exchange live on your InstantSpot before you download it. How cool is that?
Other features of isdx.net include:
- Previews - Each design has a snapshot taken of it in live action when it is uploaded. This snapshot is prominently displayed with the design in The Exchange.
- Design Tagging - Tag your CSS with a few keywords to help other users know what your design is all about.
- RSS Feeds - The top 10 most recent designs are available in an RSS feed so you can always check out the latest! Individual RSS feeds by tag are also available.
- Search By Tag - Just enter a tag to quickly find designs tagged accordingly.
- Much More Coming Soon!!!
I'd like to thank a few folks for helping make this possible. Below is a reprint of the Credits over at isdx.net, but I wanted to personally thank them here as well.
isdx.net is powered by the greatest language in the world - ColdFusion.
I'd like to thank the following people/sites for their code, help, ideas and assistance in developing this site. Without them this site would not be what it is.
isdx utilizes the makePassword udf available at cflib.org.
isdx banner created by Ryan Everhart.
Many thanks to Aaron Lynch and Dave Shuck. First of all, for creating InstantSpot and continuing to enhance and support it. Secondly for being cool enough to work with me to roll this site out. I appreciate it guys!
isdx utilizes some source code from the ColdFusion Jedi Master Raymond Camden. In particular, Textblock code, parseSES and RSS functions. Also many thanks to Raymond for answering questions and sharing knowledge.
isdx uses WebShotto create jpg previews of each design in The Exchange. Thanks to Ben Nadel for his demo!
Don't have your free InstantSpot yet? What are you waiting for! Go get one now! Then go to isdx.net and check out The Exchange!
