Its been a while since we updated Zaplife. Do not fear! There is a lot cooking and we have many new releases ahead of us. We are currently working on an entirely new site that will make Zaplife a lot more fun and easy to use as well as totally integrated with your favorite social tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc. Building this new site from the ground up is a big task but we are hoping to have a beta release up by January 1st. Stay tuned for further updates!

Our Explore and Zapworld pages have been totally redesigned to make it easier and more fun to browse and search content on Zaplife.

The new Explore page now incorperates the search function as well as new content.
You are now also able to search and browse channels, music and videos.

The updated Zapworld page now displays actual photo thumbnails directly on the map and also displays the actual position of a photo if the photo was taken with a GPS enabled phone or camera.

With today's update you can now add a banner to your Channel. This is a great way to personalize the look of your Channel as well as add more information for your visitors. All you need to do is create an image that is maximum 840 by 260 pixels. Then go to your Channel settings and upload it. That's it!

This it what a Channel banner can look like.

Now you can add a channel slideshow to your other pages on the web such as MySpace or your blog.
All you need to do is to go to your channels page and click on the new slideshow button located below the Facebook button. Choose the desired channel and then copy and paste the code provided. Its that easy!

We have finally launched the very sought after Facebook integration. The Zaplife Facebook application connects your Facebook account to Zaplife allowing you to view channel entries, make comments and vote directly on Facebook as well as including a profile tab with latest entries. Your Facebook friends will get notified when a new entry is posted on Zaplife through the Facebook news feed. This is a great way to increase your exposure as well as keeping your friends up to date.

The features of the Facebook integration are:

* News - Facebook news stories are created when you post on Zaplife.
* Profile - Add a profile tab to your Facebook profile with your latest Zaplife posts.

The Zaplife application includes these features:

* Startpage - View, comment and vote on the latest posts from the channels you subscribe to.
* Facebook friends - View posts from your Facebook friends that you might not have as friends on Zaplife.
* My entries - View your own posts and see if you have any new comments.
* Feeds - Access your Zaplife feeds page directly on Facebook for daily news from the internet.
* Invite friends - Invite your Facebook friends.

To get started follow these steps:

1. Login to Facebook and click on this link.
2. Add and authorize the Zaplife application to your Facebook account.
3. On the Zaplife application login to Zaplife with your normal Zaplife login. This is done once.
4. Approve "Offline Access". This is needed for the integration to work properly.
5. Add the Zaplife tab to your profile. Click on the + tab after your last tab on your profile to add the Zaplife tab.
6. Bookmark the Zaplife application and add it to your application bar.
7. Your done!

Our Zaplife partner Johan Holmsäter who is the founder of the largest health movement chain in Sweden (Friskis& Svettis) has recieved the international honorary knowledge award. We would like to congratulate from all of us at Zaplife!

Here is an excerpt from the swedish press:

Den kunskapspristagare som förmodligen möttes av publikens ljudligaste bifall var Johan Holmsäter, grundare av Friskis och Svettis och enligt juryordföranden Arne Ekman förmodligen den som betytt mest för svensk friskvård under de senaste 30 åren. Intervjuad av galakvällens konferencier John Chrispinson efter att ha fått ta emot sitt pris ur kronprinsessans hand om varför vi inte alltid lever som han lär: ”Jag kallar det för livsstilsanalfabetism. Det ser jag som skillnaden mellan medvetenhet och insikt. Vi vet mycket väl vad som borde göras i olika sammanhang, men den kunskapen saknar ofta det avgörande lyftet .”

Swedish press release

Pictures taken by: Markus Marcetic/Nationalencyklopedin

We are working hard to release the much anticipated Facebook integration. With the Zaplife Facebook applikation you will be able to add your latest entries directly on you Facebook profile. Below is a little sneak peak

Now you can let Zaplife automatically update a channel with the latest entries you have posted on other sites.
This is a great way to get quickly started with your Zaplife account and to easily fill your channel with interesting content for your friends and family.
It is also very useful for bloggers who wish to increase their exposure but want the flexibility of only posting from one place.

The import feature will accept any RSS feed from the web and gives you the flexibility to easily update your channel through other sites and services.

To get started all you need to do is to go to the channel you wish to import to. Click on the "Import" button at the top and paste in the RSS feed you wish to import. Zaplife will within 15 minutes automatically import all the entries in that feed and will continuously check for new updates as you write them.

Today we added a fourth entry type - music. With the music entry you can now upload your songs to your profile and your channels with a simple click.
Your profile will display a music player with the latest uploaded songs for your visitors to enjoy. You can even change the play order and which songs visitors can listen to by going to your profile settings.

We would also like to welcome the musicians Gtech and TheDavidPark to Zaplife. Feel free to visit their pages.

We are finishing up the last details to the Zaplife Facebook application that will make your Zaplife experience even better.

With the Facebook app you will be able to add your latest channel entries directly on your Facebook profile. You will also be able to view your Facebook and Zaplife friends latest entries without leaving Facebook. You will even be able to comment, vote and view slideshows without leaving Facebook. These and more features will be announced shortly.

The new Zaplife is now an easy to use publishing platform that enables you to easily share your life with friends and family. Zaplife can also be used by professionals and companies that want to reach out to its audience.

What makes Zaplife different to other solutions out there is its flexibility and ease of use making it suitable for many different purposes.

The core of Zaplife centers around its Channels. A channel is a multimedial timeline and can be everything from a photo album to a blog or a simple status update feed.
The flexibility of a channel enables you to publish a blog, photos, an event, videos, a trip, news updates, status updates, daily thoughts. The options are endless and you are always in total control of your content and who is allowed to follow.

To really make Zaplife easy to use we have embraced the mobile internet. We want you to be able to update from anywhere. As of today you can update your channels via SMS, MMS and e-mail making it easy to keep your audience updated on the go.

Zaplife also features a community with personal messaging, guestbook, photo tagging, bulletin board, friend feed, RSS reader, geo tagging and much more.

What's new and different?

There are a few fundamental differences with the new Zaplife. Your profile and your channels are always visible to the public and can be accessed directly through their personal URL's. Your profile is accessible via http://yourusername.zaplife.com. To be able to protect your privacy with this setup you can now customize exactly what information you want to display on your profile and to whom.

Channels are controlled per entry. This way you can write an entry that is only viewable to your friends and another viewable by everyone.

There are many new and improved features with this release. An entirely new slideshow, publication date with future publication, channel entry navigation, inline commenting, page navigation, multitask photo uploading, photo editing, change photo order and much much more.
We have added many new settings and privacy settings with this release and deeply recommend that you go over the settings.

Upgrading your data from the old site required a few changes.
The old Albums have now become Channels with one photo entry containing the photos from that album. For those of you that had many albums it is recommended to re-arrange and join som channels to make it easier to follow. You can move entries in-between channels thus grouping entries and deleting empty channels.

Blogs have now also become Channels with their content being intact. To enable the new slideshow on old blog entries you will need to re-add the photos into the entry.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the difference between a photo entry and a text entry?

A text entry includes an editor field so that you can format you text in any way you want. You will also need to add the photos manually into the text for them to show in the entry. A photo entry will display all photos that you uploaded and give you the option to write a descriptive text if needed.

How do I get started with Zaplife on Facebook and my iPhone?

We are currently developing these integrations and will be releasing a beta release soon!

How do add a personal URL?

If you want your own URL to a channel you simple click on "Edit" on you channel.
You URL becomes: http://whateveryouwrite.zaplife.com

What is my profile URL?

Your profile URL is http://yourusername.zaplife.com

What are subscriptions?

By subscribing to a channel you will get updates when a new entry is written. When you become friends with someone you automatically subscribe to their channels.
You can easily end a channel subscription by visiting your subscriptions page or the channel in question.

Who can view my profile?

Your profile is alway viewable to everyone. You can however control what information is viewable.
We recommend that you go to your privacy settings.

How do make sure only my friends can view my entry?

When you write/edit an entry there is an option at the bottom called "Show advanced options". There you can change who is allowed to view your entry.
To have your new entries have a different default setting you can change the default settings when you edit your channel.

How do I get started with mobile submission via SMS, MMS, e-mail?

Go to your mobile settings and enter the required information.

What does my Startpage display?

Your startpage displays a timeline of all the channels you subscribe to. This way all you need to do is login to keep yourself updated on what's going on.

How do I only view photos?

On your startpage and on channels there is an option at the top called "Photo view". By clicking on this button the view changes to a album view where you can view all the photos connected to that channel.

How can I view my visitors?

With this release we have removed the option to view who visited your photo, channel and profile. You can only view the visit count. The reason for this is to respect our users privacy.

How can I edit my photos?

To edit your photos you first need to edit you entry. Once in entry edit mode you hover over the photo in question and click on "edit".
This will load an edit window where you can edit your photo information. To launch the Zaplife photo editor you will find a button at the top of the window.

How can I create a new Channel?

Creating a new channel is done in the edit entry mode. All you need to do is edit an entry or write a new entry and click on "Create a new channel" in the form.

Who can view my full name?

This setting is done in your privacy settings. Your username is replaced by your full name for those you have allowed to view your name.

How do I add the cool transparency effect to my profile/channel?

To personalize your design even further you can add a transparency effect to your profile/channel design. Go to your settings or edit your channel to activate the transparency effect.

What is PicLens?

PicLens is a browser plugin that enables you to view photos in a 3D fullscreen view. Zaplife supports PicLens.
To install PicLens in your browser simply go to your Channels page and click on the PicLens button.

What browsers do you recommend?

Zaplife 2.0 is optimized for Safari 3, Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3.
Zaplife does not work with Internet Explorer 6 and Safari 2 at this stage.

What other integrations are you planning?

After our Facebook and iPhone launch we will support MySpace, Twitter, Flickr plus many more.

Its been a while since we updated Zaplife. No need to worry. We are working on a very large makeover and several improvements that will make Zaplife incredibly popular and fun to use. The next version of Zaplife will get integrated with your cellphone and popular internet services. Zaplife will also become the easiest and best service available for sharing with friends and family as we will be creating something new and unique.

Stay tuned for updates!

Today we have added beta support for the popular browser add-on PicLens. PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing photos. Photos come to life via a cinematic presentation that goes well beyond the confines of the traditional browser window.

In this first release we have added support to Zaplife albums. More areas of the site will be supported shortly.
To get started you need to go to www.piclens.com and download the application. After successfull installation you simply click on the slideshow button that appears when you hover over a photo in an album.

With our new Zapworld page you are able to look att Zaplife from a new geographic perspective.
You can now see where Zaplife members and your friends live in the world. See who is online, browse photos by location or see the latest status updates animated on a map.

If you are familiar with Google maps you will recognize the controls that enable you to zoom, move around and switch between map and satellite mode. To view which members or photos that exist in a given city you simply click on the green marker icon. To view where a specific friend lives or photo was taken you simply click on the thumbnail below the map. In the photos and members mode the thumbnail list contains the 150 last logged on members or 150 last uploaded photos.

The new Zapworld page is located under the Explore menu at the top.

 

Today we have launched a beta version of the new and improved Zaplife. This new version of Zaplife incorporates an entirely new structure as well as a new design.
With this release we have included a number of new features as well as improvements to other parts of the site. New features include a personal start page with movable gadgets, new communication tools such as the aloha board and the new mailing system. Zaplife is now customizable and enables you to upload background images to your profile, blog and album. The main new features are listed below.

Aloha board

The aloha board is a new way of communicating and incorporates the features of chat, a forum and a bulletin feature into one. By switching between public and friend mode you can choose the way you want to use the aloha board. If you only want to view bulletins and discussions made by friends you use the friend view.
To find a specific topic you can search the aloha board.

Mail system

With the new mail system you can view your inbox more efficiently. Mails are now threaded and grouped together which makes it easy to browse and follow mail discussions. The new mail system now also includes searching to help you find the information you seek. To organize your inbox you can flag your important messages. If you wish to view you inbox by sender you can now also change the sort order.

Feeds

Now you can embrace the web directly on Zaplife by adding your favorite RSS feeds to the feeds page. By adding your favorite feeds you can get a daily update from your favorite services on the web. To get started you can simply click on "Add" from the popular feed list on the feeds page.

Personal start page

Every-time you now login you are instantly directed to your personal start page. The start page is built on small gadget boxes that give you different information on what has been going on with Zaplife and your friends since your last login. You can move these boxes around to personalize what you want to see. We will soon be adding additional boxes such as your local weather and other fun features to make your start page your daily starting point on the web.

Blogs

There have been many updates to the blog feature. You can now upload a background image or change the color to customize your blog. There is an entirely new commenting system that is fast and easy to use. You are now able to reply to comments directly under your blog. The person you reply to is notified of your reply.
One of the most needed features is the new upload system that makes adding photos to your blog a breeze. You can even upload photos while your typing your new entry. The editor is now also bigger and emulates the result of your publicized entry.

Photos

Photos are now 15% bigger in size. Photos have also received the new commenting system that enables instant replies directly under the photo.
Uploading photos is now even easier with the new upload system. Even with albums you can now customize the look by adding a background image or changing the color per album.

Settings

It is wise to go through your new settings as we have added a few. You can now customize the look of your Zaplife page and your profile by adding a background image or choosing a color. Other new settings include tags that are visible on your profile.

Profile

Your personal profile has been given a much cleaner look. Extra information is now given by clicking on more info. Your personal tags with activities, interests, books, music, movies and tv shows are now available in the right column and tagged photos of you are seen under your profile photo.

Status

Changing your status is now easier than ever. Simply hover with your mouse over the settings link in the main menu and you can alter your status. Your status is viewable by everyone in the new status gadget on the start page.


In the above list we have mentioned some of the major differences with the new Zaplife but as you will discover there have been several improvements all over the site.

If you have any questions regarding the new Zaplife don't hesitate to contact us.
We hope you will enjoy our new service!