Welcome to Our New Editor

Thank you to those who provided early feedback on our new editor!  We believe this update will make it easier for you to edit your binders.  Here are some highlights of this release:

• New editor layout
• Simple Dropbox integration
• Easy QR code insertion into your binder
• PDF files in the binder will no longer be displayed on top of the edit window
• File uploads can now be done as links in a text layout

You can now add Dropbox files or QR codes from the new “Add Content” menu.  Just click on “Add Other Content” in the “Add Content” menu.

For tutorials on the new editor, please see this page:

http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/tutorials

As always, we welcome your feedback. We have had so many great suggestions from the LiveBinders community. You just keep making this product better and better!

A Sneak Peak at Our New Editor

We love how LiveBinders has grown.  All the feature requests you have sent our way have made LiveBinders a much better product.  With all these new features, we still want to keep LiveBinders as simple as possible, so we recently redesigned the editor to make it easier use.

This release will go live Sunday May 5; here are some highlights:

• New editor layout
• Simple Dropbox integration
• Easy QR code insertion  into your binder
• PDF files in the binder will no longer be displayed on top of the edit window
• File uploads can now be done as links in a text layout

There are screenshots below.  If you are going to be teaching a class on LiveBinders soon, please let us know by sending email to feedback@livebinders.com – we can give you early access so that you can adjust your training materials.

Restore a Binder and Binder Cover Changes

We have two recent changes at LiveBinders.  The first is a way to recover your binder if you delete it by accident, and the second is an update to how to create binder covers.

Recover a Deleted Binder

To undelete a binder, just look for the trashcan icon in your Dashboard to the left of your “My Binders” page.  Click on that icon and it will take you to a list of binders that you deleted in the last 30 days.  Please note that those binders will be permanently deleted after 30 days.

If you click on the “Undelete” link for the binder that you wish to restore, the binder will be placed back on your “My Binders” shelf.  Please note that binders are restored as “private” binders.  If you want the binder to be “public”, you will need to go back into the binder in Edit mode and change the access.

Changes to Binder Covers

Thumbshots.com was a service we had used to create default images for your binder cover from website links in your binder.  But Thumbshots.com only worked with the top-level domain, so the cover often didn’t look like the link that was in the binder.  We have stopped using Thumbshots, so you will now see a blank binder cover in its place.

You can create a graphical binder cover using one of these methods:

1. Go to our Flickr search tool under “Insert Media” and search for a creative commons image.  When you find one that you want, click on it to insert it in your current tab.  Then go to “Binder Properties” and click on the “Update Binder Cover” button.
2. If you use an embedded YouTube video from our YouTube search tool under “Insert Media” you can use the thumbnail of the video as your binder cover as well.  Just insert the video in the tab, then go to “Binder Properties” and click on the “Update Binder Cover” button.
3. You can create your own binder cover from an uploaded .jpg or .gif file.  Please make sure you have copyright authorization before uploading any file to LiveBinders.  Upload the file to a tab, then go to “Binder Properties” and click on the “Update Binder Cover” button.  The images can be any size, but work best if they are square.  Also, if you are a subscriber, make sure the image is uploaded as a “public” file.

We are working on many more exciting features at LiveBinders, but just wanted to let you know about these two housekeeping items!

Upload Photos from Your Android Device

We have a new version of our Android app available on the LiveBinders site.  You can now take pictures from your Android device and upload them directly into binders.  As an example, you can take pictures of student artwork and add it to a binder showcasing the entire project.

This feature is also available on the iPad app.

Search Within a Binder

We have a new feature in LiveBinders that you may notice right away when you open a binder.  On the top bar is the ability to search within a binder.

This feature currently only searches tab names,.  We will eventually add the ability to search other content within the binder, but this should be enough to get you started.

This feature currently only works in “Play” mode and not in “Edit” or “Present” modes.

Thanks so much to everyone who requested this feature!  We really appreciate your feedback.

Change Your Background and Default Tab Colors

We continue to have lots of fun changes happening at LiveBinders!  We now let you change your default tab and background colors to any color you like.

To change colors, go into your binder in Edit mode. Under “Binder Properties” you will see selections for setting the default tab and background colors.

If you have an existing binder with an older theme, you will need to change the theme to “Custom”. You can still use our older color themes, but you will not be able to change individual tab and background colors while using those themes.

Enjoy!

New Face for “LiveBinder It”

One of the most popular features of LiveBinders just got a little easier to use.  ”LiveBinder It” – the pop-up that lets you add to your binders while browsing- just went through a little clean-up.  We think this version of “LiveBinder It” will be easier to use on tablets and other mobile devices.

Since, most of the time, you are adding to an existing binder, we have changed it so that “Add to an existing binder” is what you will see when “LiveBinder It” comes up. However, you can still add your link to a new binder by clicking on the “Or add to new binder” link on the right.

The radio buttons were replaced with drop down menus because those are easier to use on touch devices.

As we notice more and more of you on mobile devices, we are working to make LiveBinders work seamlessly for you on your new devices.  If you have any suggestions for us, please let us know in the comments here or by sending an email to feedback@livebinders.com.