http://blog.pictually.me/

A Fresh Batch of Updates #5

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:53:08 +0100

Wow. 4 months since the last update.

I’ve had a little bit of spare time as of late, and have finally had some time to take care of some important updates:

Pictually.me is now compatible with IE9 and up! It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve never really had time to sort through the bugs brought on by Internet Explorer. If you notice anything out of the ordinary on the browser, let me know! I might have missed a few things.
If you check out the homepage, you might notice an updated layout. I felt it was only normal that with a new logo should come a cooler, sleeker design!

That’s about it for now. I’ve got a lot of ideas for the future… all in due time!

See you all later,

Julian

A Fresh Batch of Updates #4

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:15:33 +0200

Guten Morgen!

A few quick update from me this time:

The size and format limits on cover images and profile pictures have been revamped. From now on, the maximum size will be 5Mb (which will not be counted in your account photo limits) and supported formats have been expanded to jpg, png, and gif. Hopefully this will make uploading less of a hassle!
Secondly, it was high time that we change the default cover picture. Now that it has been taken care of, I hope you enjoy some even more stunning profiles!

On another note, the tentative prices for premium profiles have been set at $10 a year… stay tune for further updates!

Later,

Julian

Social, revamped.

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:55:03 +0200

Bongiorno!

As you know, sharing your social identity is a fundamental feature of Pictually. Moreover, I feel it was definitely time for an update.

The social icons have been completely revamped, courtesy of the awesome people at IconDock (http://icondock.com/).

And that’s not it! I’ve taken the time to add a few new names to our social lineup, now 38 strong. The newest additions:

About.me, Designbump, Photobucket, Picasa, Posterous, Quora, Reddit, and Yelp

What are you waiting for? Time to update your profile!

See you soon,

Julian

A Fresh Batch of Updates #3

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:56:10 +0200

Good afternoon!

Update time? I think so!

Today’s update concerns backgrounds! Previously, users didn’t have much control over their background. They could upload a cover photo, but that was about it.

All that has changed.

The latest feature update to hit the streets is the ability to tile backgrounds (for those who wish to have a small repeating image) or to use a simple custom colour background.

These new functionalities can be accessed from the IMAGES tab in your preferences.

A couple things to note: Should you decide to tile your background, the image’s original dimensions will be used. Likewise, if you pick a colour background, it will override any background image you currently have. However, said background image will remain untouched and be reinstated once you remove your coloured background.

The custom colour picker will soon be made available for colour schemes. So stay tuned for that!

Bis später,

Julian

Concerning Curiosity (not the rover)

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 15:09:37 +0200

Hey there! It’s been a while!

A quick announcement before we get down to business. Besides a revamped home and user panel, members can now register on Pictually through Facebook and Twitter! The wait is over!

For those of you who registered before the update, I am planning on implementing a feature allowing you to transfer to the new 1-click login system. However, if you’re impatient and don’t want to wait, shoot me an e-mail and we’ll make the move individually ASAP!

And now, for the business end of the post. I felt it was high time I satisfy your curiosity and publish a couple stats! So without further ado:

600 000+ hits since May, with a current average of 70 000 hits per month.
A current average of around 1400 different visitors per month with 2200 total visits.
The site boasts just under 1100 members.
The next big step will be premium accounts, offering more functionality, space, layouts, a mobile-optimised profile, analytics, and eventually more.
The audience is predominantly American, French, Swedish and Spanish.

None of this would be possible without you, and therefore I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have made this possible.

So thanks!

Julian

Me likey!

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:34:54 +0200

Guten Tag!

I’m back from the dead, and slowly getting back to work on Pictually.

I’m proud to announce the launch of a brand spanking new like system!

Not only will it give you a quantifiable measurement of how much people appreciate your work, but it will be instrumental to Pictually’s future ‘ranking’ system.

This ranking system will help better determine which profiles deserve the most recognition in our ‘featured’ section (which will soon have its own awesome page) as well as in random searches.

Likewise, with the release of premium profiles, premium members will be able to track their progress and see whom has loved their profile.

Good luck!

Julian

Vis-à-vis growth

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:23:02 +0200

Guten Tag!

Just thought I would share with you a neat little graph describing the evolution of Pictually’s user base!

Note: click on the image to see a larger version.

As of today, the 6th of August 2012, Pictually boasts a tad over 1050 registered users, and that number is steadily growing! You might notice the graph starts at 892. This is because I started counting a while after launch.

Fun fact: you might be able to distinguish ‘steps’ in the growth, were the number surges rapidly. This is usually following the publication of an article or the promotion of the site through other means.

Alrighty then! See you later,

Julian

Ermagerd! Fersberk!

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:14:58 +0200

Be sure to follow Pictually.me on Facebook for all the latest updates!

Ohai there!

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:53:48 +0200

Guten Tag!

No more redirection to the search page when you click on the search button in public profiles. The latest update toggles a neat little integrated searchbar, which can be validated by simply clicking Enter.

Hopefully it’ll help make all of our lives easier!

Stay tuned for an upcoming update to be launched (hopefully) in a day or two: one-click signups through Facebook and Twitter!

Later,

Julian

Comms are now active, sir!

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:48:53 +0200

Let’s get straight to it! Second update for the day!

E-mail functionality is now up and running. By default, this feature is disabled, and must be enabled from your dashboard, under the profile tab.

Should this feature be enabled, a neat little button titled ‘Email’ will appear on your public description. Clicking this link will bring you to a page from which the public can send you e-mails.

Note: your e-mail address is NOT displayed, and users have NO way to see it.

In the near future, verification will be done through Re-Captcha.

Any questions? Concerns? Feel free to shoot me an e-mail at hello{at}pictually.me!

Bis später,

Julian

Back to work!

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:07:00 +0200

Bongiorno!

Are you unsatisfied with how the photos in your albums are organized? Well, Pictually now offers the possibility to organize images in your albums with a move up/down functionality.

For the moment, the feature is restricted to your featured images, but will soon be usable with regular albums. So stay tuned!

On a gloomier note: from the account tab on your dashboard, you may now completely delete your Pictually profile, and all its’ associated data (images, etc). Although I hope it never comes to that!

Expect another update soon!

À toute à l’heure,

Julian, Founder of Pictually.me

Bootstrapping and how it affects you

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:21:33 +0200

‘Ello again!

In case you didn’t know, Pictually is a completely bootstrapped project, meaning that it does not rely on exterior funding. Nonetheless, in order to keep providing an awesome, reliable service, funding is needed to take care of a number of costs, such as for web-hosting, server space, and most importantly feature development.

That being said, Pictually’s basic means of funding is what is known as a ‘freemium’ model. Basically, services are provided free of charge with limited features, and for a small fee many more awesome features become available.

Pictually will be rolling this plan out progressively, with premium accounts offering some awesome new perks such as unlimited space (a feature which will become conditional), user stats and page analytics, multiple layouts and enhanced profile customisation, amongst others.

Fear not, the current free accounts will remain of utmost importance and be as customisable as ever!

If, however, you are feeling generous, and would like to give back to Pictually, you are very welcome to donate through the following link or the one in the footer of the live site.

If you have any questions, shoot an e-mail at hello@pictually.me!

Thanks for your support, and stay awesome!

Julian

Infinity and beyond

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:10:00 +0200

Howdy!

I’d first of all like to thank everyone for the positive feedback thus far, and I’m glad Pictually has made even the slightest of impacts. In the spirit of this gratitude, I’d like to quickly go over a few of the features with upmost priority which will be added in the near future!

Social integration for sign-ups. E-mails and passwords are a drag… I hope to add atleast Facebook and Twitter integration as soon as possible, allowing you all to log-in and sign up with the single click authentication that we have all come to love so dearly!
Enhanced image security. Plagiarism and theft aren’t cool, and Pictually should do its best to protect your work. Legally, your images are protected under a Creative Commons License. However, in order to prevent physical theft, a couple features restricting the copy of images will be pushed live, such as right-click copy restriction (à la Flickr) and optional watermarking options.
✔ COMPLETED! Public contact by mail. You might have noticed that you have the option to allow contact by mail from your profile page. By default this feature is disabled. In the near future this feature will be fully available (optionally), alongside with Re-Captcha verification to effectively stop spam.
✔ COMPLETED! Finally, image organisation. I have received several requests for the ability to modify the order in which images are displayed, be they in the album or on the featured page. Soon, users will be able to customise this order with the simple click of a button!

These are a mere few of the exciting features I intend on releasing this following month. Pictually is constantly evolving, becoming harder, better, faster, stronger. None of this would be possible without you, so again, thanks!

If you have comments, suggestions, or concerns you would like to voice, don’t hesitate to shoot me an e-mail over at hello@pictually.me. I’ll try to get back to you ASAP!

As always, Pictually loves you.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Julian (Founder of Pictually.me)

[New achievement] 1k users!

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:42:00 +0200

Bongiorno!

With exams taken care of, I am happy to announce that work on Pictually will resume ASAP. But first, a quick announcement:

Pictually has officially passed 1000 registered users! Awesome!

A few specs: Pictually’s 1000th user is Ludmila Chaves, who registered on the 1st of July 2012. Congratulations!

Thank you to all of you who have made this possible, stay cool!

‘Ta luego,

Julian

The Word on the Tweet

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:12:17 +0200

Why, hello there!

Just a few quick announcements from me this time:

Out with the old, in with the new! Pictually.me now sports an awesome new home page! In my opinion, the old home page was a little too cluttered. This new update should change that and hopefully streamline registration.
Equally as important, a few modifications were made to optimize image load times on individual profiles. Images now will have a maximum width of 1500px or a maximum height of 1000px. All new images will be automatically updated, however those uploaded previous to these changes will remain unmodified. Re-uploading your old images is suggested if you feel load times are too slow.

That’s about it!

Stay tuned for some awesome future updates!

Ta luego,

Julian

A Fresh Batch of Updates #2

Sun, 27 May 2012 18:10:22 +0200

Guten Tag!

Update time!

I’ve received a couple requests allowing individual profiles to be a little more customizable. That being said, I’m happy to announce that you may now change the colour scheme of your pages, as well as the title font and size!

These are just the start, but hopefully they’ll have a positive effect on how you use Pictually.

To modify these parameters, head over to the “Display settings” tab in your user panel. From there you shouldn’t have any problem modifying your page to your heart’s content.

Teaser alert: in the future, the possibility for different page layouts.

Stay tuned for future updates!

Auf Wiedersehen,

Julian

A Fresh Batch of Updates #1

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:02 +0200

Bongiorno!

I’m excited to announce that Pictually now sports awesome new search and shuffle functionalities!

Search can be accessed from the home page and individual profiles, and allows partial searches for both users and pages.

As for the shuffle functionality, a neat icon is now present on the sidebar of user profiles. Clicking this icon will show an entirely new user! A couple criteria however dictate what the random profile will be. All random profiles include images, a description, and social icons. This basically ensures the quality of the profile you’ll access!

So to those who’s profiles don’t yet meet the criteria, get to it if you want to become a part of the fun!

These two fundamental features will be progressively ameliorated, future updates being no repeating users in shuffle, better selection criteria, and a pop-out functionality for the search bar.

Enjoy!

Tschuss,

Julian

Technical difficulties

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:06:00 +0200

It would seem that for a little while today Pictually was down due to technical difficulties host-side.

Although this isn’t a regular occurrence, it is possible that this happen again in the future.

I ask you simply to remain patient should this be the case, and I thank you in advance for being so!

Merci!

Julian

Announcement time!

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:50:00 +0200

Bonjour!

Unfortunately in this world, alpacas running on treadmills are not a viable solution to server space costs, especially considering the support Pictually.me has received these past few days.

To try and counter this lack of alpacas, Pictually.me will in the near future start limiting the currently unlimited space users have.

Consider it essential for the service to thrive (until we can find some pretty damn fast alpacas, that is).

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Pictually over at hello{at}pictually.me!

On that note, fare-thee-well,

Pictually.you

A quick thanks...

Mon, 21 May 2012 17:37:06 +0200

Hey all!

I’d just like to take the time to thank everyone for their patience, invaluable contribution and support thus far. I have received numerous suggestions and a few bug-reports that will both undoubtedly help make Pictually awesome.

Keep up the good work!

Pictually loves you.

Julian