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Hey Ibyers!
Wow, it’s been awhile since we’ve updated the blog about our recent site updates. Sorry, we’ve just been busy working on a slew of things through this LA winter (way too cold to go outside, I think we felt a breeze yesterday!), so here’s a rundown of some the updates we hadn’t yet blogged about:
New Entry Uploader
A part of ibeatyou that had been BEGGING to be updated for awhile now was the Upload screen: these are the screens you see whenever you start or join a competition. A lot of you had asked for it be easier and for it to be more flexible with different video formats. Our goal was to address this feedback while making competing simpler and quicker. Here are some features:
- FASTER: Enter a competition by just filling out one or two fields (most are optional)
- EASIER: Snap a pic from your webcam for an easy, quick photo entry
- MORE FLEXIBLE: Upload or record a webcam video from more browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome), using most any video format on Mac, Windows and Linux (no more plugin needed!). We’ve also upped the max video file size to 300 MB.
- BETTER QUALITY: Video uploads are encoded at a higher quality, so your entries look better!
Smile, you're on camera!
Quizzes Redesign
This update happened 2 months ago, but we never got a chance to blog about it. We revamped our entire quizzes section to make the pages quicker to navigate, easier to read and simpler to take quizzes with. We also added the ability to customize the result wording depending on how the quiz taker did. If you haven’t yet checked it out, why don’t you start out with the office favorite, the Cat Hoarders Quiz (totally unrelated to that equally awesome TV show, Hoarders)!
Um, why do you ask?
iPhone Site Quizzes
Our mobile iPhone (and Android)-friendly site (just go to http://ibeatyou.com on your iPhone or iPod Touch or http://www.ibeatyou.com/iphone.php for other mobile devices) now features a Quizzes section, where you can take featured quizzes and earn points the same way as you normally would taking them on ibeatyou! Now go take the Aye Aye quiz…I give it an Aye Plus! (sorry I’d been waiting awhile to say that :p )
Which one was the hot one?
Picbeat
Okay, this one isn’t as recent as we launched Picbeat a few months ago. Picbeat is an easy way to let you showcase your best pics as you go about your everyday life, without having to enter into a specific competition on ibeatyou. Basically, it’s a real-time stream of your pictures throughout the day. You can take pics from your mobile phone or directly from your Web cam. Your friends can “follow” you to keep updated as to what’s going on with your life. You can connect it to your Twitter account so that you can easily tweet your pics (and its comments) to your Twitter friends everytime you upload a pic (tip: it’s a good way to build Twitter followers!). If you haven’t gotten started yet, check out CashMoney’s Picbeat!
Even though Picbeat is really just about sharing your daily life, it can also be a fun, easy way to earn some ibeatyou points:
- You get +5 points for every Web cam pic you snap
- You get +10 points for every mobile pic you upload
- You get points for rating and commenting, just like you do on ibeatyou
- Like in ibeatyou competitions, each day the top-rated Picbeat pics earn even more points
Jeeze, this same guy is always hogging the webcam.
Sometimes, we’ll even have daily topics or “themes” for that day’s Picbeat images, in case you’re feeling a bit uninspired with your pics. Keep a look out for those!
Anyhow, we’d love to hear what you think! Like always, feel free to send us your feedback, issues, or ideas (or comment below). We will continue to make adjustments as your feedback and comments come in. Keep competin’!
BONUS FOR THOSE WHO MADE IT THIS FAR DOWN: Here’s a random office clip that we never really shared until now:
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Company Ibeatyou picbeat quizzes video Posted under Company by steve
K so I’m not bitching or anything BUT I just made a simple photo comp and it actually takes alot longer to make it cause u have to keep clicking to the next page. On the old formet everything was on the one page so it made it easier to enter all ur info. Also uploading a video today took me an hour in the new format. Just letting you guys know.
by: HeatGirl, Mar 2nd at 1:49 am
K so I’m not bitching or anything but I just made a photo comp and it took alot longer to do on the new format cause u have to click to each new page. The old format was easier cause it was all on one page. Also it took me about an hour to upload a 3 minute video today…thats way to long….just letting you guys know.
I dunno who is complaining about the layouts of the comps but lemme know who they are and I will KICK THEM IN THE FUCKING HEAD! Im outtie….
by: Heat, Mar 2nd at 1:53 am
lIKE THE NEW UPDATES WELL DONE
by: bulldoggx, Mar 2nd at 4:24 am
Ok…sooo Your all crazy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Great work with all the updates! Just know it doesn’t go unappreciated. You guys are great! Woot! Woot! Coming up on Year 2 of Ibeatyou!!!
by: MM02, Mar 2nd at 7:33 am
Hi Heat_girl,
Yes, one issue some people may face is longer video uploads. We now compress AFTER you upload; we did this so you can upload from any browser and for better video quality. There are a lot of ways to shrink your video a bit so upload goes faster though. Let us know if you need help there.
Another option to try is recording directly from Webcam (the other tab). With that, there is almost NO upload wait time. This is actually faster than the old Webcam record feature as we upload while you record!
by: steve, Mar 2nd at 4:12 pm
ok, so I think the updates AND the video are awesome. I love the recreating my profile pic!
by: gotgame, Mar 2nd at 4:46 pm
Dammit I posted twice…shit lol Nah all is good now thanks Steve! your the best! Entering comps is easier I just found out so good job on that!
by: Heat, Mar 3rd at 3:26 am
these updates are intense but as always awesome IBY crew. That video was hilarious. imhungry was cracking em up! and sweet dino mask gotgame
by: AC722, Mar 3rd at 9:55 am
((idk if this sent so i’m posting again))
TELL HEAT iM COMPLAiNiNG LOL But it’s the same as what she’s saying. They should already be plus’ed and we can have the option to minus them out, (with all-me and tags and photo options) it would be easier I don’t want to forget things and my OCD will not allow me to NOT put tags!!!!! If I do, i’ll have to withdraw so many times. lol
Other than that, nice job I’m glad I can use Chrome with no worries now :]
by: Nahdeeah, Mar 3rd at 10:13 am
This is rare coming from me. But all the updates are great this time. Nice job. I like the idea Nadia had though to have a tag option of some sort.
by: Cant_Beat_Me, Mar 3rd at 10:08 pm