Three weeks back, we launched the WinCustomize Toolbar to the community. It was our first in a line of new experimental services we're looking to offer the community. Now that everyone has had some time with it, and we've worked a bit to iron out some of the kinks, I'd like to renew the discussion, and share a little bit of insight into why we've launched this toolbar initiative.
- Another way to reach our users
For me, the most valuable aspect of the toolbar is the ability to easily send a note to all users running the utility. If you're running the toolbar, you'll see an entry for "News". I can post notes and announcements in that space that I feel warrant special attention. Think of this space as something between the front page news space, and the monthly newsletter.
- Adds quick access to popular content
I know most people have bookmarks to their favorite galleries, but what if you were a new user? What if you were looking for software, skins and news but weren't exactly sure where it was all located yet? Through the link lists I can add to the toolbar, I can provide quick and easy access to any part of the site. This is especially important when we add new galleries, as you might not notice them on the ever-growing list on the right.
- Supports the site
Every time you do a search with the WinCustomize toolbar, the site gets a little bit of money from Conduit (the service that provides the toolbar). If you already use something like the standard Google Toolbar, there's little reason not to switch to us, since Google is also our default engine. It's a small way you can help support the site
- Easy to change/update
One of the problems with most communications tools is that they're built once and updated rarely. I have the ability to modify the toolbar on the fly, and you'll get the updates automatically when you next launch your web browser. This means it's much easier to respond to community requests for content and functionality.
Like I said, it's been 3 weeks now, and we have a fairly consistent core group of people still using it. I'd really like to know what everyone thinks of it after some time, and if you removed it since installing it, why. And if you could change one thing about the toolbar, what would it be? I really want to turn this into something that is valuable to everyone who uses the site, but I'll need your help making that happen.
If you haven't checked it out yet, you can get it for free for IE or Firefox (sorry, no Opera or Safari). It's 100% spyware/malware/virus free, so it's safe to use. I've been running it at the office and at work for over a month with no troubles.
Download the toolbar now!