Moblog, Version 2
By Alfie • Jan 4th, 2009 • Category: Features, LBS, Technology, mobile_imagingWow, an actual Version 2. I remember when we launched m3log v0.00000000001 (hehe) back in November 2003. One basic stylesheet with nothing but a hand drawn logo in the left hand corner. We’ve come a long way since then.
Moblog has been at the epicentre of incredible changes, publishing the first image to come out of the 7/7 attacks, the Buncefield explosions, the first images of the 2012 brand Logo. Ah, I’m coming over all reminiscey 
The site can now do a bunch of new things, many of them described below.
What isn’t described in the features below is quite how intensely collaborative and participatory the platform is. We called our software the Participation Toolkit when we started re-writing m3log, the first iteration powering Channel 4’s The Big Art Mob (multi award winning, thrice BAFTA nominated build). A new build of that platform now powers Moblog.
Users can now collaboratively edit map and tag data based on privacy options. You can create groups that *anyone* can post to using SMS or MMS, and give those people the power to edit the content associated with that group. Participation is as simple as calling a number or sending a text, whether you are a member of the site or not. Want to use the platform to power a project on mobile and web somewhere else? Sure, just use the domains facility. We’ve navigated security and privacy in innovative and useful ways that are deceptive at first glance, it is exceedingly powerful.
I’m very proud of what we’ve done, and I’m looking forward to seeing how educators, businesses and people use what we’ve made to enrich their lives and the lives of their peers and friends.
Some new features:
Mobile site: You now have a version of your moblog for mobile phones. It will be at: http://m.moblog.net, and each user’s moblog at: http://m.moblog.net/username. Subscribers can even customise their mobile site with CSS.
Maps: Everyone now has their own map which you can add your posts to. If you have a device which automatically geotags your images, when you post them to Moblog the site will automatically place them on your map. If not, don’t worry, you can use a simple command in the body of your message to place posts on the map: maps=”street,city,country”. You can then move map markers around to the exact spot, or you can map posts from within the main site.
Groups: Groups have taken the place of shared moblogs (Not to worry, all the shared moblogs have become groups). Anyone at all can create a group, allowing many people to collaborate on any subject. Check out all groups, join your existing favourites, or create your own. Groups have many privacy options including the ability to make your group completely private if you want to.
Search: Search just got way more useful. Find pictures and people easily and reliably, use powerful filters to enhance your search by date, location, user and more. Search the map, or map your search – finding great pictures, or places, has never been easier.
Posting: as well as traditional email, we’ve got new ways for you to moblog – use the ‘post’ button in your desktop or mobile browser to upload straight to the site. Send an MMS or SMS to 07786201241 (UK only, and make sure you’ve added your mobile number in the profile section). Post straight from your lips – call the Spinvoxservice to convert voice to text and post direct to your moblog from five different countries.
Easy-to-remember URLs: Reach your moblog on the desktop at moblog.net/yourusername, or on a mobile at m.moblog.net/yourusername.
Syndication: Automatically update your Twitter, Google Blogs and Technorati accounts when you update your moblog. Also send posts you like to a huge range of other website, social networks and blogging services using the powerful “AddThis” button.
Easier signup: Now it’s a simple matter to create a brand new moblog, you’ll find it easier to convince your friends to sign up and get moblogging. Simply get them to send an MMS/SMS, call and leave a voice message, or just click through our new signup wizard.
Video posts: Your video posts will now play in a Flash video player in your moblog.
Improved profile editor: Manage your settings and options more easily with a tabbed profile manager. Add more detail to your profile, and choose from more privacy options.
Favourites: You’ve been asking for this feature for a long time and we’re so pleased to now offer it – any post on the site can now be added to your very own favourites page (accessed from your dashboard).
Dashboard: Expanding the friends page into a more powerful tool, we’ve added tabs for your friends, groups you are a member of, and your favourite images from around the site.
Widgets: The new widgets let you take your moblog with you to other sites you use on the web.
Clickable imagewalls: at last you can find out what the rest of that photo looked like.
Upload limits: We have increased upload limits to 5MB for free users, and 20MB for subscribers.
Green computing: In an attempt to reduce our environmental footprint, we have teamed up with Cool Earth to purchase an area of rainforest for protection. This will stop some 390 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere, a figure at least twenty times that which our server produces just by being on for a year. We hope with time to be able to extend this project further and offer you guys the opportunity to “zero carbon” your own moblogs too.
Subscriber features: As well as the old subscriber features such as personal avatars, subscribers will now enjoy the ability to design their own mobile pages and even run their moblogs from a URL of their own.
Alfie is a web and mobile troublemaker.
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