The Tiger Beat

New Database Server

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:32:58 -0500

We recently added another database server to help alleviate the load on our current servers and speedup our recent readers widget.

BlogCatalog Blog Bar Beta

Fri, 08 May 2009 10:19:03 -0500

We have a new feature on BlogCatalog rolling out sitewide this weeked that we have developed to make it easier for BlogCatalog readers to share, rate, and comment on BlogCatalog blogs. The new BlogCatalog Blog Bar gives readers a chance to learn more about you through your BlogCatalog Profile as well as find blogs on related topics from our directory of hundreds of thousands of blogs.

Ghost Avatars

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:04:12 -0500

For anyone on BlogCatalog who may have noticed that their old avatar stuck around in a few places after uploading a newer one, we released an update this past friday that should resolve the issue. If you continue to have problems please contact BlogCatalog.

The BlogCatalog Team shared a booth at SXSW last weekend with...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:11:00 -0500

The BlogCatalog Team shared a booth at SXSW last weekend with the guys from PodcastReady and IncSpring and had a ton of fun. We met quite a few of our members and even signed up quite a few new ones. If you stopped by on monday afternoon you may have run into our dance competition…

BlogCatalog 5.0

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:48:48 -0600

It’s hard to believe just how far BlogCatalog has come. In the next few days we will be launching version 5.0 of BlogCatalog and we are super excited about it. Not to worry though, we didn’t move very many things around, just cleaned up the site’s theme and widened the layout to make way for some bigger features we are working on. The new BlogCatalog is a sleeker and simplified site that we think you’ll love as much as we do.

Bloggers Unite Launches

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:21:29 -0600

The BlogCatalog Team is proud to preset the all new Bloggers Unite!

http://www.bloggersunite.org/

Bloggers Unite!

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:31:10 -0600

If you have been wondering why I have been neglecting this blog for so long, I assure it’s not because of inactivity. The BlogCatalog Team has been hard at work getting Bloggers Unite ready for it’s beta launch. With the launch less than a week away you are going to want to make sure you sign up to be notified at http://www.bloggersunite.org/. We are really proud of this new site and can’t wait to unleash it upon the world and start accomplishing good!

So stay tuned for that and many other new BlogCatalog updates that are really going to change the way you use BlogCatalog.

Activity Feed Sharing Returns

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:15:54 -0600

When we first rolled out our social streaming features oh so long ago, we gave users the ability to share and comment on their friends activities. We removed the feature due to performance reasons a few months after we launched, however, as of today we have re-introduced the feature to our activity feeds.

You should now see little stars next to certain activity items from your friends and in the social search, clicking these stars will allow you to post that item to your own activity feed as well as allow to comment on that item. It’s a great way to share interesting links, videos, blog posts and more.

What are you waiting for? go find something to share!

The BlogCatalog 360 Search Widget

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:52:00 -0600

Last week we launched a new search widget for bloggers that allows visitors to search a blog’s content as well as the authors social activity without leaving the blog. You can check out the widget at: http://www.blogcatalog.com/widgets. This is great for any platforms such as tumblr and blogspot where search is sometimes lacking.

Check out the widget in action and read a review over at DedeAndro.

Updated Blog Rating System

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:27:04 -0600

In a long overdue update, we have done away with the one-click star ratings on our blog detail pages. Over the past few weeks several members have expressed their distaste for the one-click ratings, citing it as a way for other members to unfairly rate down their blogs. Ratings are now generated solely based on the written reviews of the blog. This allows all ratings to be clearly visible as well as gives the blog author the ability to report any unfair or inappropriate ratings.

All Eyes on Me

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:31:10 -0500

It’s always interesting to see who users choose to be their top friends. However, when i came across Erik van Erne’s top friends i was even more intrigued as i now had 10 eyeballs staring right at me.

Anyone have any insight as to why a blogger’s eye is one of the most common avatars on BC?

Bloggers Unite Beta

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:01:59 -0500

If you havent already, sign up to be notified when the all new Bloggers Unite launches at:

http://www.bloggersunite.org/

BlogCatalog Search Goes Live

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:08:42 -0500

The new BlogCatalog search is now live and cranking away and finding the best content on BlogCatalog. Check it out:

http://www.blogcatalog.com/search

BlogCatalog Search [beta]

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:43:00 -0500

Over the last 2 weeks, the BlogCatalog Team has been hard at work redesigning the way search works on our site. We will be launching a new search in the next few days that combines all of our searches into one easy to use search. Our new search will search all of our blogs, posts, user activity streams, usernames, and discussions and place them all on one convenient page. Finding great content has never been easier, try it out for yourself using the link below:

http://www.blogcatalog.com/topic/blogcatalog/

We've Moved

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:44:00 -0500

As of now you can now find the tigerbeat at tigerbeat.blogcatalog.com

In The Works

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:31:00 -0500

This last month or so The BC team has been working twice as hard trying to bring new features and improvements to the site. As always, we have quite a few great things coming down the pipeline, with a big focus on how we can help our members become better bloggers and generate more buzz for their blog.

So while i can’t get to into the specifics i will say that in the next few weeks we will be taking our search to the next level as well as creating new ways to highlight some of the amazing posts that our bloggers have written. And that’s only the stuff that I’m allowed to talk about.

So what’s new in BlogCatalog recently?

Performance Improvements - After our August update I switched gears and made page load time a priority. With a few tools, tips, and tricks the BC site is now running as fast as ever with major speed improvements to profiles, activity feeds, discussions, and searches.
Related Posts in Discussions - The sidebar content in our discussions can sometimes go overlooked with all the great conversations our bloggers are having. But recently we spiced it up by pulling in blog posts from our members relating to the topic being discussed. So next time you are reading a great thread, don’t forget to check out that sidebar, you may find another discussion or blog post with more great content.
BlogCatalog on Twitter - If you are following BlogCatalog on Twitter you may have noticed a few more tweets that normal lately. We are digging though our members discussions and blog posts constantly and discovering what topics are hot in the community. My favorite tweet so far is probably the Ninja Kitten video that BlogCatalog members have been digging like crazy. If you’re not already make sure to follow @blogcatalog on twitter.
BlogWorld Expo - This Friday the BC team is heading to Las Vegas for BlogWorld. We are all super excited and can’t wait to meet our members that are attending. If you are going to BlogWorld, please make sure to stop by and say hi to the team, you may even get treated to a free dinner!

BlogCatalog's Most Talkative: Still Talking

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:30:00 -0500

We have seen a lot of faces come and go in the BlogCatalog Discussions over the last few months as well as many changes to the general dynamic of the community. But I’m always glad to see that there are those who take advantage of the power that the discussions can bring as well as take every opportunity to help their fellow bloggers. With that in mind, I thought I would revive an algorithm I wrote back in May and highlight some of BlogCatalog’s most talkative members again.

If you don’t recall my first take on the most talkative, I simply ordered the most talkative by number of comments posted, this didn’t go over so well since some members had been using the discussion longer than others which resulted in a new algorithm based on posts per day. Using the same tried and tested method, here are the latest figures:

Anok
10,621 comments
44.4 posts per day

timethief
7,946 comments
43.9 posts per day

weblogian
3,054 comments
42.1 posts per day

drjay1966
1,579 comments
29.3 posts per day

markstoneman
13,688 comments
26.4 posts per day

offendedblogger
7,732 comments
28.3 posts per day

acousticguitarist
9,117 comments
25.9 posts per day

kdawg68
6,810 comments
25.1 posts per day

bladeaxe4
1,322 comments
24.7 posts per day

ekim941
6,253 comments
24.3 posts per day

Discussions of the Week

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:35:49 -0500

The BlogCatalog discussion forums can be a pretty fast paced place at times. This week alone we had over 700 new topics started almost 9000 comments. With all that activty I thought I would try and take a look at the numbers each week and post the top 10 discussion created. Here are this week’s most popular discussions

I’d like to see your BC avatar large!
by polybore
Why is Religion a bad thing to teach in school?
by csiunatc
Palin gave a great speech tonight. Do you agree ?
by lot2learn
Focus on Your Own Damn Family
by gmoney
Violence at the RNC
by Anok
48 hour Boycott of Blogcatalog main discussion board!
by gmoney
What is a core belief you hold?
by TonyB
What’s The #1 Thing Between You & A Better Blog?
by DaneMorgan
another FOX News absurd story..
by ttiger
I have been asked to remove a post. Would you?
by gtcathey

BlogCatalog member polybore has put together an interesting...

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 10:38:14 -0500

BlogCatalog member polybore has put together an interesting video showing off BC member’s avatars.

For any BlogCatalog supporters/premium members we are currently...

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:16:07 -0500

For any BlogCatalog supporters/premium members we are currently beta testing displaying related blog posts in the discussions sidebar, based on tags. The hope is that we can use the discussion tags to help promote your blog posts better by linking to relevant posts from BlogCatalog member blogs.

If you would like to provide feedback but cannot afford a premium membership, just drop your username in the comments below and I will upgrade your account for free.

As always, let me know what you think about the relevancy and usefullness of this new feature in the comments.