There are so many new features in the new version of the site it is hard to cover it all in a blog post. Things are always changing which is why we haven’t posted about them in the labs for a while.

However here is a few to tide you over.

New Layout: The site had a brand spanking new layout and is far more user friendly then it was in the past.

Custom Themes: You can now customize the color of all the content and menu bars on your profile page. By customize we do not mean choose from a list of colors. We mean you can add a hex value of any possible color and the site will update all of the menu and content box bars to match that color.

Custom Headers: you can now completely replace the digitalartsfront.com header with your own artwork! This will only be displayed on your portfolio page however. This give you the ability to essentially create your own website.

Slide shows: We have added dynamic slide shows to everyone portfolios. You can choose which images are displayed.

Status Updates: If you are used to using sites like facebook and twitter then you understand this new system right off the bat. Users can now post short status updates to their profile page. That message is then sent to everyone who is subscribed to you. We hope this will make the site even more social than it was in the past.

Manage Gallery: We have made the add, edit and delete system far more comprehensive and easy to understand.

Education: We have completely revamped the tutorials system. We have done away with user created content. Instead we have created an archive of some of the best tutorials on the net. Also we have added a video tutorials section where we plan on posting tutorials on a number of subject.

Search: We have written a search engine for the new version of the site. We felt that it was about time we added a feature like this. You can now search forums, tutorials, status updates, images, challenges and more.

Tabbed Browsing: We have now added tabs to almost every content box on the site. This allow you to sort the information how you want. It also remembers your settings so don’t worry about having to click everything again next time you log in.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, In the coming weeks FAQ and Feature videos will be added to the site so that you don’t get lost in the change. We are really looking forward to finally showing you all what we have been working on since the last version.

We have released the new ShareIt application and incorporated the use of JQuery into the site.

ShareIt will allow users to submit to twelve of the most popular social bookmarking websites in just a few clicks!

JQuery allows us to use simple animations within the sites CSS. You will now see that the reply button as well as the share it button now trigger a nice slide animation. We plan on using this new feature quite a lot in the next version so stay tuned for updates.

Thanks

We have recently adopted the use of social networking sites such as twitter and facebook and as of today we  have an official development blog. We feel that it is important to provide people with the information they need in a format they are comfortable with. So we have decided to make a few changes to the home page. These are temporary as we will soon begin a complete redesign, however we felt it was important to integrate these features before the release of v4.

As always feedback is welcome, and while your at it come  follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/dafront

Version 4 is officially under development and with less than 6 months to get it all done it is going to be tough. However we have learnt a lot in the last six months and we plan to put that knowledge to good use.

Our number one priority is to increase traffic, currently we are averaging around 600,000 hits a month. This may seem like a lot but around 40% of those users never return. This is something we need to resolve. Along with market research and improved search engine optimization we will need you the users to help us achieve this goal. In the coming weeks I will be making a video explaining how you can help spread the word.

Second to traffic generation is the website it’s self, In the last major update we focused mainly on the development and not user experience, as a result we have a lot of design issues that will be corrected in the next version. There will be more information about the new design in the coming weeks.

Third on the list is profit. Now as with all large and aspiring websites we need income and in the next version we will be having a serious look at our current strategy.  We are making very little in terms of advertisements and users seem to be more willing to donate than to buy a premium account. We will be offering a lot more in terms of incentives for users who support the site in future.

Lastly and possibly the most important is giving the users what they want. In order to do this we need you to be active and point out our flaws, we need your criticism. We will be implementing a bug report and suggestion system in the not to distant future. Until then please leave feedback via the forums.

We will keep you posted when there are new developments. Thanks and stay tuned for more soon.

Welcome to the digital arts front development blog! This journal will allow us to keep users informed without clogging up the news system. We hope you enjoy learning about what is in store for version 4 and please don’t hesitate to leave us feedback.

Thanks