What WILL we do next?

We had another release last night which means that there are cool new features to show off today. It also means that the entire office is rather sleepy today, but we're willing to give up some of our restful slumber in order to push improvements out to our users.

The first feature is a permalink for the search results display page. (Ask and ye shall receive, Fraser Kelton!) Before last night, if you had your Lijit account set up to display your search results on your blog (the basic option), then there was no link to refer to that particular search. However, after the magic that happened last night, we now proudly present a permalink for your linking pleasure:

The second feature is one that helps make the wijit even easier to install. If you use the Blogger platform, we now offer a "quick install" option, just like the one we provide for our Typepad users.

What about Wordpress, you say? Great question that our CEO  attempted to answer here. We're definitely working on it but if you know someone who knows someone at WP, we wouldn't mind a few good words.

And that brings me to the most exciting feature of all, imho. I am a big fan of randomness. Not only can they be educational and entertaining, random things always make me smile. We now offer the option of surprise to the searcher. Check out my wijit on the left side of my blog...it looks like this...

 

Notice the big green "Surprise me!" button. When you click on it, it takes you to a random page in your content, meaning it might bring up an old article you'd forgotten you'd bookmarked or a picture from your flickr account. After the release last night, I geeked out on how cool this feature is and almost couldn't stop clicking on it. If you're anything like me, it's easy to forget just how much great stuff is included in your content. This button acts like a portal into a world that may have slipped your memory. I love surprises and this one really delivers! Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself. You may be surprised at what you find!

So what'll it be next? Any features you'd like to see? Don't be shy--let us know! Sleep is overrated anyway.

Comments

[Fraser]

Excellent! Thank you for this. To celebrate I just did the dance that occurs between 1:30 and 1:40...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cdk1gwWH-Cg

[Tara Anderson]

It's super funny that you should put that video up because we were just watching it in the office yesterday...trying to help Stan learn the hand movements that go along with the song. I'm have a very entertaining mental image of you doing the celebratory Hammer dance...may it always make you think of us!

[Kato]

Cool. I like the idea of a random feature.

I'm still trying to figure out if I can incorporate Lijit into my "new" template. I'm pondering using some css magic to make the search bar into just a button that when you click causes an expanded menu to come out that includes the Lijit widget.

[Kato]

Oh, and as a suggestion, maybe Lijit should consider adding the "Surprise Me" button to the search on the profile page for a user in Lijit (like if I surfed to say your Lijit page, the button could be there under the search bar). Just a thought.

[Carsten]

Great job! The Surprise Me button is a really cool feature and makes Lijit a useful and fun filled application.

[Tara Anderson]

Kato, I'm glad that we finally did something that you thought was cool. That's all the redemption that I need...well, that and you finding a way to make our wijit work on your new styley template. Thanks for the suggestion though; our developers have already thought of that very thing.

Carsten, thanks for the compliment! Useful and fun filled not only describes our app but also the people that work on the app. Glad you like it.

[Kato]

Oh, I always thought it was cool. :)

Also, you had me at "Random".