Daily Bits

Internet

Wikipedia Sports an Easier to Use and Edit Site Interface

by

For a huge website with contents and edited by millions of people, it will definitely take a long time before a site overhaul is implemented. Such was the case for Wikipedia which just rolled out its new design and interface for its website – wikipedia.org. In fact, it took Wikipedia more than a year to redesign its site after a year of usability testing and consultation with everyday Wikipedia users. It was certainly a long and hard work, but if there’s one consolation that the folks at Wikipedia should have, it’s the fact that they’ve done a great job!

So, have you checked out Wikipedia? Did you notice the following enhancements:

  • Look and feel – Wikipedia now sports the “vector” theme which makes it easier to find the site’s essential functionality.
  • Navigation – Tabs at the top of each Wikipedia page clearly identifies whether you are reading or editing a page. A collapsible navigation was included on the left sidebar that you can use to hide items that you are not using.
  • Editing improvements – The editing toolbar is no easier to use. Formating pages is simpler and more intuitive. In addition, a table wizard was introduced to make it easier for you to create tables as well as a new find and replace feature that simplifies page editing.
  • Link wizard: An easy-to-use tool allows you to add links to other pages on Wikipedia, or to pages on external sites.
  • Search improvements – Improved search suggestions that easily gets you to the page you are looking for.
  • Pediapress book creator: – Use the Book Creator from selected Wikipedia articles. This will be saved as a PDF so that you can read it anytime, anywhere.
  • Updated Puzzle globe and wordmark – The Wikipedia globe and wordmark have been enhanced and improved.

    • There you go. What can you say about the new interface of Wikipedia. Will you using the site more now?

    How Do You Like the Redesigned Google Search Results Page So Far?

    by

    If you’re a regular Google Search user, you may have already noticed something different in the Google Search Results Pages starting this morning. Google has rolled out several enhancements in the user interface of the Search Results Pages including a redesigned  Google logo.

    In case you haven’t seen it here’s how the new Google Search Results Pages look like side by side with the old interface:

    As you can see, the left-side navigation was change drastically with the inclusion of cute icons representing the different search verticals which you may want to check whenever you want to filter results for your searches.  Just below these search verticals are different ways by which you may want to view your search results such as the Wonder Wheel, Google Squared View, Image-less views and more.

    The Official Google Blog tells us:

    The new design refreshes and streamlines the look, feel and functionality of Google, making it easier to pinpoint what you’re looking for. It’s powerful, yet simple. Today’s changes are the latest in our continuing efforts to evolve and improve Google. We’ve been testing these changes with users over the past few months, and what we’re launching today reflects the feedback we’ve received.. We want to ensure that the Google you use today is better than the one you used yesterday, and these latest changes open up many possibilities for future features and enhancements.

    So, do you like the new look and feel of Google’s search results pages? Do you find it useful or you don’t mind at all? Anybody noticed its striking resemblance to Microsoft Bing’s search results pages?

    Incidentally, if you’re using Google Mobile Search, that same interface was also rolled out.

    Twitter Awareness Among Americans Exploding Exponentially

    by


    Another day, another report. This time it’s from Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series detailing on Twitter awareness among Americans. Key findings of the Edison report revealed that awareness of Americans on Twitter increased significantly from 5% in 2008 to 87% in 2010.

    The study, which was a result of three years of tracking data from a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,753 Americans conducted in February 2010, also showed that Twitter and Facebook both have almost the same awareness (Facebook has 88%) but in terms of usage, Twitter is still behind Facebook. There are now 7% Americans of the 17 million Twitter users who actively use Twitter, while 41% actively maintain a Facebook account. [Read more…] about Twitter Awareness Among Americans Exploding Exponentially

    3 Reasons Why Foursquare Should Not Sell Out

    by

    With its userbase already reaching 1 million this week, coming from a 170,000 membership during the last quarter of 2009, there’s no doubt Foursquare is the hottest and fastest growing location-based social networking service right now. With 20 employees running it, it is not so surprising that talks are already popping out regarding possible sell-out.

    And if you’re still doubting whether Foursquare is hot right now, what if we tell you who the rumored buyers are. Well, some of the major players who are reportedly eyeing Foursquare include Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook. Yahoo was rumored to be willing to buy Foursquare for $100 million. Now, the question is not whether Foursquare will sell out, but rather should Foursquare sell out?

    I don’t think so. And here are 3 reasons why Foursquare should not sell out.

    1. Location-based social networking is hot and still growing

    Both three major social media players namely, Google, Twitter and Facebook are gradually exploring the location-based social media sphere. Google is slowly evolving its Buzz service to have the same cool features as Foursquare. Twitter has activated geolocation of tweets and Facebook has been trying out these feature as well. As for Foursquare, it’s the very essence of its existence – location aware social sharing and networking. Foursquare just need to ponder on why the three major players are wanting to have Foursquare feature’s to understand that it’s going to be the next big thing in the social media ecosystem.

    2. Along with growth is the commercial revenue potential

    Foursquare currently offers free advertising to small shops and restaurants as it generates revenue from selling ads business chains. It recently launched Foursquare for Business where it gives simple self-service tools that would allow business manager to cook up various kinds of special gigs that would attract customers to business establishments. This is a good start at trying to tap on a business model. Once this service goes viral and businesses spread the word out how Foursquare is helping out drive in customers, you can just imagine how big it will be for Foursquare. Location-based social networking and recommendation site has all the potentials to bring in revenue whether be it for ads or other means. And Foursquare is already ahead of the game. [Read more…] about 3 Reasons Why Foursquare Should Not Sell Out

    7 Reasons to Work in the Cloud

    by

    The following is a guest post by Selena Narayanasamy. An avid lover of all things caffeine, Selena  currently does SEO and is a social media marketer/analyst as well as a writer. She has multiple degrees in business, marketing and finance. Along with all this, she also writes for Searchenginejournal.com and is growing Esvienne.com, her own personal social media and tech blog.  Twitter- @esvienne

    The cloud is something that has been all around us for quite some time now, but we may not have noticed. Many of us didn’t think we needed to utilize the cloud; and we’re right. We have our own ways of managing tasks and information, from planners to our cell phones. There are certain markets that should be using the cloud, specifically small and large businesses. Since the cloud is ever-changing and nothing solid, it’s often confusing to a company who may be considering a work-flow overhaul and is looking at different options. There are 7 reasons in specific to use the cloud:

    1. Employees are utilizing the same resources:

    This can bog down your network and kill all chances of getting a good system flowing. Frustration with editing and slow resources can add stress to employees and hinder their abilities to work effectively and efficiently. Having many tools available in the cloud will allow there to be a place where everyone can work and collaborate freely. You won’t have to keep asking and waiting for someone to email you a document or a zip file. [Read more…] about 7 Reasons to Work in the Cloud

    Google Buzz Posts Are All Auto-Feeds

    by

    Here’s an interesting look into the current buzz being posted on Google Buzz. The study was conducted by Post Rank which tracks engagement activities on over two dozen social networks and recently added buzz posted on Google Buzz.

    During their analysis of  Google Buzz feeds, Post Rank found some interesting points regarding all the noise that have been building up on Google Buzz.

    Turns out, approximately 60% of the content on Buzz is from Twitter! Many users have hooked up their accounts to automatically repost their content from Twitter either directly, through FriendFeed, or via another service.

    The runner up to Twitter? Another set of bots! This time, it’s automated alerts from feeds, e.g. CNN publishes a new story and a bot pushes it out to the Buzz stream. All in all, those two sources account for almost 90% of the Buzz stream, and even in the remainder there is a long tail of Google Latitude updates, ping.fm, and others. Unfortunately, there just doesn’t seem to be much original and/or human-generated content in Buzz. Perhaps you shouldn’t hurry to install that Buzz button on your site just yet…

    What does this all mean. If you’re a social media marketeer eyeing to implement some marketing campaign on Google Buzz, well you might want to hold back for awhile as there is no clear chance that your campaign would reap higher engagement.

    It seems that the activities on Google Buzz right now are all automated. Well, of course you might be engaging with “real people” in your own Buzz streams and that’s pretty understandable since you’ve selected people to follow on Google Buzz yourself.

    But then as what Post Rank’s study yielded, majority of Google Buzz posters are actually non-human.