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Sandvox 1.2 Released
Right on the heels of our recent 1.1.2 release, we've just shipped version 1.2 of Sandvox.
We're very excited about this release. We've collected several of the top feature requests from the Sandvox community and incorporated them into version 1.2.
Probably the biggest of these is the ability to customize selected designs by easily substituting your own graphics for the default banner image. We've also added a bunch of new designs to version 1.2, bringing our total count of bundled designs to 43. Eleven of these now have swappable banners.
This release also has four new pagelets that we've been testing, and we think you'll be pleased with the results. For your site visitors who don't use a brower like Safari that informs them that an RSS feed is available for your blog, we have a RSS badge pagelet to do just that job. If you want your friends to know when you are available for iChat or Skype, there's a pagelet for that. Another pagelet puts links to one of our favorite online shopping sites into your sidebar—you have to see this pagelet to believe it. We've also implemented our most-requested feature: a page-view counter. Now you can display (with a number of fun prebuilt styles) how many times a page has been viewed on your website.
We've added some properties to pages in response to user requests. One is a "draft" mode to prevent a page from being uploaded until it is ready. Another is an alternate title for a page, typically shorter, to be used only in site menus.
Our Pro users have submitted a variety of requests, and we've incorporated several in version 1.2. Want to edit HTML in a window larger than that little inspector? Done! HTML editors now have their own separate, resizable window complete with Search & Replace and syntax coloring, allowing you to edit the contents of your Raw HTML pages and pagelets in style and with greater ease. You can also open any chunk of editable text (for example, the body of a Text page or the footer of your website) and directly edit that HTML as well.
Another new Pro feature is an expansion of a capability we introduced in previous versions: Code Injection. We've identified four spots on your website's pages where you might want to insert HTML, JavaScript, or PHP/Scripting code. Previous versions of Sandvox allowed you to inject before the <html> output and within the <head> area; now we also support hooks for the <body> tag and right before the </body> tag.
The final Pro feature that bears mentioning is our integration with Google's Webmaster tools, including Google SiteMaps, and Google Analytics. The codes that Google supplies can now be entered in the new Google inspector, and you can select an option to have a Google sitemap automatically generated and maintained for you.
Many other features (and bugfixes) are listed in the full release notes. We're looking forward to seeing some of the amazing new sites our users create, and hope you'll let us know when you have your Sandvox site published. (You can send us a note with our built-in feedback reporter, or tag your site with 'svxsite' if you are a del.icio.us user.)
Enjoy!
Sandvox 1.1.2 Released
Today we are releasing Sandvox 1.1.2, a bug-fix and optimization update to Sandvox. The release notes provide the details, but in short: we've fixed a lot of issues. The feedback from our beta testers over the last several weeks has been very positive, and we believe the Sandvox community at large will be happy with this update.
And now, onto the next update!
Blueball releases new Sandvox design
Third-party companies have been working on new Sandvox designs, and we're pleased to share the news that Blueball Design recently announced the availability of their first Sandvox design, "Blueball Pro Tabs." We've had a number of users create designs for their own sites, but Blueball is the first with a full commercial release of a new design.
Unlike our built-in Sandvox designs, which assume that the main content area is 800 pixels wide, the Blueball design comes with a 1000-pixel-wide variation. We're looking forward to more designs from Blueball and other companies, and yes, we'll continue to add new built-in designs to Sandvox, too!