idiomag

Just a quick post to let you all know about idiomag v1. We had lots of great feedback on the beta version, most of which we have included in our development roadmap. The new version is now live at www.idiomag.com

Basically, the new version is more powerful (better personalisation engine), sexier (UI redesign), more robust (it doesn’t break when there are more than a thousand users reading it), and “more full” of great content!

For those who are interested, the key improvements from the beta version are outlined below.

Content
We have used the beta period to hand-pick the best contributors for idiomag. Now numbering around 70, our content providers range from respected bloggers, to mainstream publishers - all providing quality feature articles and reviews in the music subject area. The biggest names at the moment are Blogcritics, Music Emissions and SoundFires.

Tagging
We were very aware that the beta version’s tagging system was not very usable or scalable, and we have redesigned this so that the emphasis is placed on the magazine learning your interests, rather than you teaching the magazine. The interface should also be much easier to use.

Multimedia player
For v1 we have built a robust audio and video player, so that more engaging content can be easily included in the magazine.

Magazine layouts
We have ‘prettified’ the magazine interface and improved the automated page layout engine, so that magazine pages present the content in a more visually pleasing manner - including the use of automated colour themes.

Magazine interaction
In v1, readers can comment upon any article, share it with friends, and save it in a personal archive. We didn’t want to head down the networking route too quickly, but these features start to build in that direction, and set the ground for future releases. Watch this space…

Content delivery
Although idiomag doesn’t directly follow the “wisdom of the crowds” doctrine (we want to deliver to you what you want, not what your friends want), we have added a rating system for quality to complement the current relevancy rating system. After selecting the articles that you will most probably like to read, idiomag takes into account whether other readers have rated the content’s quality positively.

Content upload system
idiomag has been described as “glossy RSS” and we have vastly improved/streamlined the process by which content is transformed from RSS feeds (basic text) into a glossy magazine page. This makes the whole publishing operation a lot more scalable.

Those are the main improvements, but there isn’t enought space to mention all of them here. Anyway - if you like what we are doing, do tell all your friends to sign-up at www.idiomag.com. As always, please drop us an email if you have any comments/suggestions.