ShortStack Updates - January 2015

In 2014 we added 284 new features to ShortStack! Yep, that is one almost every day. Since it can be difficult to keep track of everything we have going on, we’re going to make it easier for our users by writing a monthly update to let you know about some of the updates we think will be the most useful for you.Today’s post is the first in the series, highlighting January features!

In January we added more options for viewing your Campaign and Facebook app from different devices, we enhanced our voting restriction options and our image editing widget and we increased load time speeds for all Campaigns. Below are some more details.

Device Visibility Settings

Device Visibility settings control who can see the widget, depending on the device they are using. These settings allow you to create desktop- and mobile-specific versions of a Campaign.

‍• Desktop and Mobile: Default setting. The widget is visible to visitors on both desktop computers and mobile devices.

‍• Desktop Only: The widget is only visible to visitors on desktop computers.

‍• Mobile Only: The widget is only visible to visitors on desktop computers.

This is a great tool if you want to run a mobile-only Campaign. Each widget and container in ShortStack contains an “eye” icon that when clicked will take you to that specific widget visibility settings. From there you can choose which device you want the information displayed in that widget or container visible to.

Cookie-based Voting Restrictions

Voting restrictions are enforced by storing a unique visitor ID in a cookie on the voter’s browser. Voters can circumvent this restriction and vote again by clearing their browser’s cookies. Some other ways that you can restrict voting include using the Facebook Log In Button which is enforced by requiring users to log in with Facebook. We also offer the capability to limit voting to “every 1 day” or “one time only.” When you add the Voting Widget within ShortStack you’re taken to the settings for the widget where you can choose your visibility settings.

Aviary Image Editing in the Designer

Aviary is a photo-editing platform that includes custom photo filters, frames, graphics and overlays to help everyday content creators and professional photographers alike create beautiful images.To use Aviary in ShortStack you first need to add the Image Widget to your Campaign. When you add the Image Widget to your Campaign, the Image Selector opens automatically, in addition to the Edit Widget window. Use the Image Selector’s Add Images tab, to upload a new image from your computer, upload an image from a URL, or design an image using Canva. Switch to the Browse Your Images tab to select an image that you’ve uploaded previously. Click on a thumbnail of an image you’ve uploaded previously and then click the pencil icon to edit the image using Aviary.

Faster Campaign Load Times

We added some improvements to our platform so that all Campaigns and Facebook apps are loading on average of 13 times faster than previously.

This means that everything from simple one-widget Campaigns to Campaign that include more than a 100 widgets (yes we’ve seen it happen) will load promptly so that your fans can access your information as quick as possible.