More New Stuff!
This week we did a major release to webtreepro–a mixture of brand new “stuff” as well as some pretty significant improvements to existing functionality. This got me thinking about our process of selecting what gets added, so I’ll use our new features to expand on that thinking.
As we develop webtreepro, we get our inspiration for new features and enhancements from a number of sources:
Our Own Experience
We see things that are “no-brainers” in terms of “we should offer that in webtreepro.” The most recent example is the integration of Keyword Research while logged in. Sure, you can open another window or browser tab to look at Google Adwords, but if you’re at all like me, it’s a lot more convenient to have it right there inside the application. Besides, if I end up using some of the alternative suggestions, I’m already in Edit Mode and can update my Page Titles, Descriptions, Keywords, URLs, paths and alt-text immediately. Because it’s inevitable that I’ll get distracted and forget if I don’t handle it right away.
Our Users
Early on in webtreepro’s development cycle, we realized we had more ideas than time or money (and who doesn’t)! So while we know what absolutely had to be ”in the box” to rollout wtp, we also knew we couldn’t predict what extras would be most desired and decided to let the users and market guide us.
In many cases, suggestions from the user community were already in our enhancement list, and their request helped us prioritize. In other cases, our users have identified things we hadn’t thought of yet. Among those were a few head-smackers as in, “why didn’t we think of that!!“ Examples are how we’ve changed our onscreen directions, warning dialogs, page legends and user tips, so they are much clearer.
Make What’s There Better
Our new Library system is a vast improvement over the original. . .we realized the limitations of the original having used it ourselves. While it was fully functional, some things weren’t very efficient or sophisticated. But making a change like this is like knocking over dominos. . .not only do we need to update the app, but must also migrate all the existing assets into the new structure, make sure users can find them, and then change our online help and create new video lessons! It’s a good bit of work, but ultimately worth it. And making fundamental changes only get harder when we have more users!
Other examples of recent improvements are the extensive stylers we’ve added to our Breadcrumb, Link List, Section List, Link Builder and Menu Builder. Users can now create and save styles that both override their skin defaults, but can be applied consistently throughout the site.
So, now that you know how we pick-and-choose, we certainly welcome your input toward that process. What we want to hear most is what you’d actually use vs. just adding to the list of ideas.
Next up. . .I have discovered the wide world of HTML Snippets and am excited to share how you can add stuff to your page that’s not in the list of Content Elements.
