Today we are pleased to announce the release of a major update to Flavors, including the introduction of an innovative new way to share and view content from more than 30 services around the web: Social Streams.
With Social Streams, users can now easily follow their favorite Flavors sites and experience photos, videos, blog posts, check-ins and more in one consistent and beautiful viewing experience.
We’ve even updated our music player for an elegant listening experience, whether via HypeMachine, Tumblr, SoundCloud, 8tracks or Bandcamp.
Only want to see photos from work friends? Simply filter the view to display content from selected sources (i.e. Flickr, Instagram and Picasa) and users (i.e. your awesome colleagues). The Social Stream reloads to display only the content you’ve selected.
If you’d like to turn off an update type from a specific site (perhaps your uncle’s hourly tweets), services can be controlled on a site-by-site basis. Go to the Following menu and disable specific services within a site’s settings to hide those updates in your Social Stream view.
Our Directory has a new name: Community. No longer just a space to showcase Flavors sites, it’s also a hub for discovering and following sites in the Social Stream. Hover over the site you like, and click on the “+” to follow their updates. You can also click on the follow button in a Flavors site’s footer.
We’ve revamped our layout system to make way for new layouts and features, such as gorgeous gallery and full-screen display options that make high-resolution images and video shine. Premium users can now choose from 17 beautiful layouts — twice our previous offering.
The new Display menu in the Design Panel provides granular control over the number of content columns that display for each service, creating a richer, more customized look.
Logo support was a much-requested feature, and has now arrived. Logos can now be used in addition to or instead of background images to easily brand your site. We’ve added a Portrait option, too, which displays beside your updates in the Social Stream.
Overall mobile performance has improved in the new version. What’s more, Premium Flavors users can enable our sleek new mobile layout, which includes font and background customizations for a smoother experience on iPhones and Androids.
Free accounts no longer have a restricted selection of fonts — in fact, we’ve added more. We now offer 222 fonts to all users, free or Premium, and we’ve made them available for content, too.
Flavors now supports tour date service Songkick, so you can share the shows you’ve seen and scheduled, and Goodsie, an easy-to-use hosted e-commerce platform, built by the team behind Flavors.
Goodsie integration allows you to share your shop’s inventory, directing visitors to the storefront for checkout. Goodsie is free for the first 30 days and just $15 per month afterward. Give it a try!
A redesigned navigation bar, shadow effects, Google+ and LinkedIn sharing options, premium support for Lijit stats, link target options and even more are all part of the update.
To experience the new Flavors and get started with Social Streams, sign up at flavors.me or log in to your account.
Existing users will be prompted to update to the new version in order to log in and edit their site. Note that your layout may be modified in the new version, so some design tweaks may be needed to maintain your old look.
If you have any questions or issues, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team at support @ flavors.me
Steve Jobs had an incredible influence on creatives and businesspeople, including the HiiDef team. Here, we reflect on his work and his drive, which was both relentless and contagious, inspiring us and others to produce well-considered products while always keeping an eye on what’s next.
Not too long ago, Michael Dell suggested Apple shut down and return what little money it had left to shareholders. Steve Jobs proceeded to engineer the greatest re-emergence in business history, culminating with Apple being crowned the most valuable company on the planet. Steve Jobs was the truest of visionaries and innovators, an inspiration to us all.
- Jonathan Marcus, HiiDef Co-Founder & CEO
For those of us battling every day to establish ourselves as entrepreneurs, Mr. Jobs was an inspiration because he was steadfast in his beliefs and vision. Mr. Jobs knew what he wanted to achieve, and worked tirelessly to make it happen.
His values of form, beauty and simplicity being just as important as function has always guided my own work. Making software that performs a task is one thing, but making software that works seamlessly and is easily understandable is a true art.
I will always credit Steve Jobs for instilling those values in me with his products.
- Sean Jackson, HiiDef Developer & Designer
I remember my first trip to the Genius Bar fondly. I found it amazing that such a large company, with such diverse and complex products, could offer such personalized one-on-one support. By elevating customer support team members to “genius” status, Jobs highlighted the value and importance of user experience and customer service, inspiring me to provide personalized attention to users, ensuring they have an overall positive experience.
Jobs said it best: “It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
- Tatiana Peisach, HiiDef Customer Support
Steve made the world respect design.
- Jack Zerby, HiiDef Co-Founder & Lead Designer
You’ve probably caught actor and comedian Kirk Zipfel in primetime television spots, sporting a meat poncho in a commercial for Degree or donning a pair of women’s skinny jeans in a spot for Miller Lite. His work also extends beyond 30-second slots, ranging from songwriting to creating and starring in an original web series and performing standup in California. Here he took some time to talk with us about his career and his Flavors site.
Flavors: Have you always been a performer? And which came first for you, music or jokes?
Kirk Zipfel: I’ve been acting since I was a kid, doing theater, improv and sketch, but only got into standup in my twenties. The music had always been something I just did for fun. Standup was a work thing, a path towards a goal on TV. I never thought of myself as a songwriter, mostly because I believed my “real” songs sucked. I thought, “Any serious song has already been done 1000 times over, and probably better than I can do it. Just look at Nick Drake, and he pulled the plug 40 years ago!” But what if I wrote comedy songs that were funny and well performed? That put me in a more distinct category, which is what you want as a performer; something everyone else can’t do.
F: Who influences your comedy style?
K: When comedy broke away from the one-liners and rim shots of the 60’s and became something much more personal and self-referential was when it became great. Guys like (what a surprise) Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor led the way, followed by the precision silliness of Steve Martin (banjo master), the perfect deadpan of Stephen Wright, the primal rage of Bill Hicks, and on to the unfiltered honesty of Louis CK. Love them or not, Tenacious D single-handedly created the melodically-complex demon acoustic comedy rock genre. Those are all pretty safe choices from any “best of comedy” blog. These days some of my favorite comedians are Theo Von, Anthony Jeselnik and the thrash/Mormon rage of Tartar Control.
F: We loved your role in the Miller Lite commercial. How long did it take you to get into those skinny jeans?
K: They were women’s size 27s. I did the pliers-zipper thing on my back just to get them on. I don’t want to brag, but my ass looked fierce in them, until it turned blue from low circulation.
F: What are your plans for the coming year? Can we be on the lookout for you in other TV spots?
K: The Degree spot with Bear Grylls is now running again for football season. Commercials are a fickle provider. Hard to say what you’ll be doing more than a week in advance.
F: Where can people see you perform?
K: I’ll be at the Irvine Improv on the 27th, and doing a 30-minute set at the fantastic Room 5 in Hollywood on Oct. 27th. Check out my Flavors page at kirkzipfel.com to see what’s happening.
F: What made you chose Flavors to showcase your work?
K: I’m not one to pay someone for something I can do myself (also known as cheapness), hence the 1984 IROC (minus the transmission) decomposing in my driveway. I chose Flavors because of the extreme ease of use. I had been looking for an easy-to-manage platform and within an hour I was up and shining on the intermetsk.
Our customer support team will be off on Monday for Labor Day. Enjoy the long weekend, Americans! While we’re out, have fun browsing the Directory. Here are a few favorites that we’ve recently featured on Twitter:
Startup Weekend Shanghai - English Edition
The LA’s Best Coffee iPhone, iPad and Android app is featured in LA Weekly. Check out their Flavors-powered site to learn more and grab the app.
Java addicts outside of the Los Angeles area can get their fix, too, thanks to other apps by Blue Crow Media: San Francisco’s Best Coffee, New York’s Best Coffee and London’s Best Coffee, all with sites powered by Flavors.
