Jan 1st 2009 10:43:29 am

What a busy time of year! Or, maybe a busy beginning of a new year… 2009, wow! Anyhoo, Travis and I were traveling over the holidays visiting our families and eating lots of yummy treats. We had planned on working on Swap-bot more consistently over the trip, but not all plans work out. We got back late Wednesday night and have been trying to get things back in order since then. Today I am really getting down to business answering lots of emails (and doing all of our travel laundry). If you wrote, please be patient. I promise to try to fix any problems. Don’t panic. I have a feeling 2009 is going to be a great year! xoxo

1 Comment » Categories: Announcements, General

Oct 9th 2008 03:11:28 pm

Hi swappers! Yesterday and today were my first two days as a “real” Swap-bot employee! I have cut back on my graphic design job in order to devote more time to managing and improving Swap-bot. I am very excited to be making this change, but also a bit nervous because of how shaky the economy is right now… Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone a head’s up on my admin activities. Right now I am still trying to catch up on all of the support emails and personal messages. I think I have made some good progress, but there may be some past emails and messages that I may never get to. I don’t want to declare email bankruptcy, but I may need to cut my losses at some point. If you wrote to me regarding a problem within the last two months and you never heard form me, I suggest sending me another email. You know, just in case… Contact me at questions [at] swap-bot.com. I have been answering emails constantly for the past two months, but they sometimes got out of my control… Hopefully I can keep things in check from now on!

OK, back to work! xoxo

No Comments » Categories: General

Jul 6th 2008 04:40:00 pm

In addition to trying to correct some of the glitches caused by moving to the new server, we also created some new ways to view ratings and made some Swap-bot graphics available today.

Ratings

There is now more info in the upper right Ratings section of the profile pages. You will notice that you can now quickly see how many ones, threes, and fives each user has received by looking at the rating box on their profile page. The number of ratings listed at the bottom of the profiles has been limited to the most recent twenty, but all ratings are viewable on each member’s rating page.

On all profile pages you can now click on the numbers under any of the profile rating box categories to see all of those types of ratings displayed in the center column of the page. (For example, you can click on the number of hearts to see all of the ratings given to the swapper that contained hearts.) You can then click on the swapper’s name to be taken back to their profile or continue browsing their ratings using the rating filter options in the upper right corner. Play around and try out different viewing options!

You can now view the swaps for which you (or others) have received coordinator stars! When you click on the number of stars on any profile, you are shown a linked list of the star swaps. We promised that feature a long time ago, and now it is finally possible!

STUFF

We finally have a “Stuff” page! There you will find links to all of Swap-bot’s web presences (like MySpace and Facebook) as well as tons of cute graphics that you can use on your own blog or website. Feel free to take any of the graphics or link directly to them, but make sure to link to Swap-bot.com.

Have Fun!

4 Comments » Categories: General

Jun 30th 2008 12:08:55 pm

Having trouble figuring out how to mark a swap a sent, rate your partners, or view participants?

The yellow swap option box on all swap info pages is now located in the upper right corner of the page under the main blue links.

Some people (especially those using Internet Explorer) are still having layout issues and the right column flows below the middle column, making the yellow swap option box appear below the swap comments. That should not be happening and we will hopefully get it fixed asap. see image below for clarification.

The yellow option box is the same as it has always been, it is just in a slightly different spot. You should find all of your usual options in it.

The new layout changes should not be extremely drastic. If the site is looking terrible, try refreshing a few times. It might take a while to get the full new format loaded if you have the old version cached. We will also continue to work on the IE problems and adjust the text sizes and spacing throughout the site. Have patience.

Thanks for your help. I promise things will keep on improving!

5 Comments » Categories: General

Jun 29th 2008 09:56:55 am

Swap-bot looks different - what’s going on?

In order to improve the speed of Swap-bot we had to switch to a better web hosting service. We made the full switch to the new server on Saturday night. This switch required some slight infrastructure changes which led to a few more changes that we think are an improvement. Following is a list of the site changes:

• Faster service - Swap-bot should now load much faster and we hope to never have periods of extremely slow service like previously experienced. Sweet!
• Layout changes - In order to pay for the new hosting service we have to publish more and better ads. The new layout includes a standardized center column that allows us to show display ads in the right column. The new size of the center column is smaller for the Find Swaps and Dashboard (previously My Swaps) pages, but larger for the profile pages. This change may affect your profile layout. You may have to adjust how images flow on your profile. We are sorry for that inconvenience. (The new profile column size is 490 pixels… that info could help when making graphics.) You will also notice that the large left sidebar links have been moved to the top right of all main Swap-bot pages. There are additional links to many main site pages, including the Terms of Use and FAQ, in the new footer at the bottom of all pages. You probably also noticed our new, cute airmail mascot in the upper left corner. Yippee!
• Dashboard = My Swaps - We have changed the name of the My Swaps page to “Dashboard.” Eventually the Dashboard section will contain more info (groups, friends, updates, etc), but for now it simply contains all of your swap lists: Current Swaps, Sent Swaps (Previous Swaps), Archived Swaps, and the new Watchlist. The swap lists also look slightly different. The number of total swappers is now located in the top left corner and the beginning of the swap description is no longer shown. Also, all group swaps and private swaps now have that designation automatically added to the title.
• Watched Swaps - Due to popular demand (and because it is a great idea) you can now watch swaps. Under the sign up link for each swap there is now a link to watch the swap instead. By clicking the watch link the swap will show up under your Watchlist on your Dashboard. You will not be officially signed up for the swap, but you will be better able to keep track of those swaps you are thinking about joining. You can receive email alerts about your watched swaps (sent one week and two days before the sign up deadline) by going to “Preference” under the profile “Edit” screen and checking the last email preference box. The default is that you do NOT receive email notifications for watched swaps. Also, you will not be automatically signed up for your watched swaps. You must log in and click on the sign up link for your watched swaps in order to be officially signed up.
• Twitter - Swap-bot’s Twitter works again! If you are a member of Twitter you can sign up to Follow Swap-bot here. You will then get a tweet every time a new swap is created.

These new changes - especially to the layout - will take a little getting used to, but we think it will be worth it. All of the same site content is still here, there just might be a slightly different way to get to it. We realize there is still a lot to do and we promise to keep improving everything as quickly as we can. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

9 Comments » Categories: General

Dec 16th 2007 02:06:12 pm

The map above was started by user, kassrose, on Buddymapping.com. It shows the location of all the Swap-bot users who have added themselves to the map. You can add yourself to it by visiting BuddyMapping and clicking on the “Add yourself to the map” link in the bottom right of the screen. It is fun to see where everyone is located. We are excited that there are people from all over the world participating on Swap-bot!

For comparison, here is the visitor map generated by our site statistics. It maps every traceable* location where someone has visited Swap-bot.com in the last thirty days. (We haven’t posted a user map like this since May of 2006!)

*Not every location is always mapped by our site statistics. If your area is not represented, add yourself to the BuddyMapping map asap!

1 Comment » Categories: General

Aug 9th 2007 09:32:32 am

Because of a few recent forum threads and many email complaints from users, I have determined it is necessary to post a bit of info about forum etiquette.

First of all, we love how active everyone is in the forums. It is wonderful when we see people answering questions and helping new users. Our policy is to NOT censor any forum posts or delete any threads. Each user is responsible for what they post to the forums… That is where things can get tricky!

Please be aware that members could be held legally responsible for damages to another member’s reputation if a court were to find that the remarks constitute libel or defamation. Under federal law - Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act - because Swap-bot does not censor feedback or investigate it for accuracy, Swap-bot is not legally responsible for the remarks that members post, even if those remarks are defamatory. However, this law does not protect the person who leaves the feedback from responsibility for it.

Basically, you are just as responsible for remarks you make in the Swap-bot forums as you are for things you say to someone’s face or print in a publication. I know that bad swappers make us super-mad and frustrated, but we all have to try our best to remain civil and kind.

One more thing: although we created a “One-on-One Trades” category in the forums, Swap-bot cannot regulate these swaps and I cannot make sure that members send their items for these swaps. We are currently working on a way to incorporate one-on-one trades and tag-type swaps into the overall Swap-bot system and rating system, but it will take us a while to get it implemented. Until then, you are participating in the forum swaps completely at your own risk without any type of recourse (i.e. the rating system) available if you don’t receive items. Because we do not regulate these types of swaps, I cannot take the forum swaps into consideration when deciding whether someone needs to have their account frozen or deleted.

There are so many awesome, kind, creative, and fabulous users on Swap-bot. Don’t let the few scammers get you down! We are trying our best to stay on top of them.

Thank you all for your help and happy swapping!

3 Comments » Categories: Announcements, General

Jul 31st 2007 09:10:08 pm

Hi swapper friends!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have been out of town for the last five weeks, but I am finally back. I will be re-assuming all email, blog, and forum duties immediately. It may take me a few days to get caught up with all of my Swap-bot email and messages, but know that I am working on it diligently.

Thanks for your patience,

Rachel
Swap-bot Admin

1 Comment » Categories: Announcements, General

Jun 24th 2007 08:46:51 am

I just wanted to let everyone know that Rachel will be in Italy for the next month, which means I’ll be handling your support emails again. Go easy on me, please

-travis

1 Comment » Categories: General

Mar 26th 2007 09:32:54 am

… and a few problems.

We spent some time working on Swap-bot over the weekend and we made some improvements/changes:

• The most important change is that we extended the login time. Which means you can now stay on Swap-bot for up to twelve hours without being automatically logged off. Sweet!
• We made many more opportunities to see a member’s profile. For example, member names on the partner info pages and on the Forums now link to their profile.
• Lastly, we re-ordered the ratings on everyone’s profile and added the date that each rating was given. Unfortunately, this change has caused a few bugs. We hope to have it totally fixed by tonight, but until then some of you ratings may be missing and some of the rating dates may say 1999, which is not correct. Please be patient. Everything will be fixed (and better than ever) shortly!

We are continuing to make changes and improvements to Swap-bot, but there are bound to be a few growing pains. Please bear with us and continue to keep us informed of any errors or glitches you see on the site. Some of the other changes we hope to implement in the next few weeks: Improved messaging system with a “Sent Messages” box, greater search capabilities for swaps and perhaps member profiles, and an organized system for viewing information about coordinators. Fun!

4 Comments » Categories: General