The Virb Blog

New Theme: Fargo

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:52:00 -0400

Today we are excited to announce a brand new theme called Fargo.

Bold typography, a unique header, and a large content area makes this theme an excellent choice for musicians, portfolios, and businesses. Don’t forget to take advantage of the interactive header image on this theme! Have fun and be bold!

Check out the Fargo demo site or Log in and preview it on your own website.

(Remember you can preview themes on your site as well as revert back to your older designs using the “My Theme History” link on the Themes page.)

New Theme: Winchester

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 11:20:00 -0400

Lately, we have been working hard to give you more choices when it comes to selecting a theme for your website. We understand that things change, you get bored, or you simply want a fresh new look. Well, this is why we are proud to introduce our new theme: Winchester.

Winchester is a built for photographers, designers, organizations, and anyone else who wants to show off beautiful, high resolution images. We moved the header to the bottom of the screen for quick and easy navigating, while allowing your work to be front and center.

So, give it a whirl today! Check out the Winchester demo site or Log in and preview it on your own website.

(Remember you can preview themes on your site as well as revert back to your older designs using the “My Theme History” link on the Themes page.)

New Theme: Teller

Thu, 15 May 2014 10:05:00 -0400

Teller is a minimal theme with a unique navigation. This layout gives your website few distractions, and puts the focus on what’s important—your content.

With this theme, you will have plenty of whitespace and a clear focus. Teller is percentage based, which means your website will be fluid and fit beautifully on any size screen. Whether you’re a writer, blogger, or want to show off your portfolio, Teller will make your content stand out from the rest!

We hope you enjoy this new theme. Don’t forget to check out the Teller demo site or Log in and preview it on your own website today!

(Remember you can preview themes on your site as well as revert back to your older designs using the “My Theme History” link on the Themes page.)

Contact Forms

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 09:26:00 -0400

Have you been wishing there was an easy way to add a simple contact form to your Virb site? Well, wish no more—we’re happy to let you know that Contact Forms are now built into our Contact Pages.

Just turn your form on in the sidebar of your Contact Page. It’s really that simple. And don’t worry about spam either. With form entry validation, submission throttling, and a user-friendly captcha built in, we promise to keep your inbox clutter-free.

Try it out today and get all that fan mail you’ve been missing out on.

Note! For all of you Virb users who’ve enabled Advanced Editing, you’ll need to manually update your theme for Contact Forms to work correctly. Check out our helpful doc on updating right here.

The Virb Student Program

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:45:45 -0500

Education has always been something near to our hearts, with almost half of the Virb team having taught at the collegiate level. We still love helping students, and today we’re happy to announce something that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time—the Virb Student Program.

The current online portfolio landscape is filled with options that either cater only to professionals or truncate their themes and feature set for students. We’re changing that. Sign up with a valid .edu email address and your first year of Virb is on us, complete with all the features, themes, and integrations we offer. Take that time to craft a beautiful online portfolio, schedule those interviews, and go land the job you’ve always wanted (without paying a dime).

We’re not just stopping there—we’re rounding out the program with curated classes from our friends at Skillshare that will help you create unique pieces of work, a portfolio review every semester with awesome prizes, and tips from industry pros that will help you present your work in the best light.

Check out the program details or sign up and start building now.

Starting with "Why?" in 2014

Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:30:28 -0500

When you’re building something you’re passionate about, it’s easy to be consumed by the what— what images go in your portfolio, what wood makes the best table, what espresso makes the best cappuccino, what social media you should be engaged in.

Building a product like Virb is no different. We’ve been working on this website builder for almost four years, adding new features and integrations, refining our themes, simplifying processes, rebuilding things, and planning a whole new slate of whats for this new year. But before our team got into all of that, we wanted to revisit why—why we build this product, why we want people to use it, and why it matters to our team of nine people scattered across the continental U.S.

It would be easy to keep this all tucked away in our brains or print it on a motivational poster for our walls, but I wanted to share it with all of you—Virb customers, peers, and friends—because these are the beliefs that guide everything we do, and will continue to guide us in 2014 and beyond. There’s power in passion that’s guided by purpose, and we’d like to share ours. So why do we do what we do?

Because we love building beautiful things on the Internet.

We’re a team of designers, developers, engineers, and support staff that care about building the best websites and applications on the Internet. We day-dream in HTML, and we design new themes while mowing the grass. Making Virb is a part of who we are—and we love it. We’re constantly looking to craft creative solutions to the problems we’ve noticed with website building. We care about everything from the spacing of gallery items to the framework that displays your site on mobile devices to the infrastructure that makes your content load lightning-fast anytime, anywhere.

Because you should focus on doing what you love.

I would wager that you’re as passionate about what you do as we are about websites. If we could build a product to put more hours in the day we’d do that, but instead, we’re determined to make sure you don’t spend your hours slaving away at a computer, learning HTML and CSS, or managing some complicated hosting plan. Because we are taking all the (tech) work out of website building, you can get back to doing what you really love—taking photos, running your business, making your new album, spending some quality time with your family—and not worry about whether your site will show off your content beautifully when someone visits it (or when you get linked to on Reddit or end up on The Today Show).

Because we want to help.

We’ve worked at agencies building websites for Fortune 100 companies, but none of them were as fulfilling as helping design and build that site for our friend’s new indie film, or that blog for our editor-friend, or the store for our wife’s craft projects. The idea for Virb was born a long time ago after helping countless creative friends get their portfolios and projects online with one-off sites, and that is the same goal that drives us today. And we also knew there was a way to make website building easy and affordable—you shouldn’t have to sell hundreds of prints or freelance for a few months to pay for a custom-built site.

Because we love our community.

We love being a part of a growing community that’s dedicated to making great things—products, paintings, websites, albums, articles—and sharing them with the world. It’s a community full of talented people who have passion and drive, and aren’t content to let things come to them but instead strike out and create their own path. We want to see that creative community grow and flourish. We’re proud to be content creators, creatives, and makers, and to showcase others who are the same.

In light of that, we’d like to know what you’re making. We’re working on a lot of new things here at Virb, and one of them is a new goal for our blog. We’re tired of talking about ourselves—instead we’re turning it into an avenue for you to share what you’re doing with the rest of the world. We’re also looking for customers to feature, and guest contributors, so send us an email or shoot us a tweet. We’d love to know what you’re passionate about.

Thank you all for making Virb what it is today, and for joining us as we continue to craft what it will be in the future. Stay tuned—it’s going to be a big year.

Ryan & The Virb Team

Save & View

Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:52:46 -0500

We’re always trying to find ways to make the website building experience at Virb easier. One of the hurdles we’ve noticed has been the disconnect between making edits and viewing them live on your site. Without a quick way to see your live site while editing, you’re forced to do the two-browser-tab-boogie. Well, put your dancing shoes away because we’ve just implemented Save & View.

Now, when you make edits to any page on your site you can simply click “Save & View” and the page will save while your site automatically slides into view. Check your edits then click the bar at the top of the page to return to the one you were editing—simple. We’ve even included a handy URL so you never forget which page you’re viewing.

We hope that this saves you a little time when creating and editing pages, and keeps you from having to toggle and refresh multiple browser windows. Now close those extra tabs and get back to building that site of yours!

New Theme: Celine

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 10:48:25 -0500

We’re happy to introduce you to a theme that embodies simplicity and sophistication: Celine.

Celine is meant to show off your work with minimal interference—large images and clean typography set the stage for whatever you want to show, whether it’s a design portfolio, photo shoot, or your most recent essay.

Celine’s side-navigation keeps your work front and center, no matter what device your visitors are on. The layout is centered and airy, giving you ample room between elements and drawing attention to your content. Because of it’s no-fuss design and focus on content, this theme should be a favorite among photographers, designers, and illustrators. Check out the demo site or log into your admin and try it out for yourself.

New Header Image Support

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 12:00:33 -0500

We’ve added header image support for three of our themes—Apollo, Virtue, and Industry. Now you can top off your pages with beautiful imagery that perfectly captures the feeling of your content. We think they look pretty great in use; check them out for yourself:

Virb for Designers

Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:54:27 -0500

We’re always looking for new ways to help you manage your site, give it the right personality, and connect it to the services you already use (and love). That’s why we’re proud to roll out some new features to Virb for Designers.

We know that a lot of you have been asking for increased control over your site and its code, and we’ve been working hard to improve Virb in multiple areas that will help designers build the best sites online.

New Features

Designers are busy, so we’re making it even easier to pull your work into your Virb site by connecting your galleries to Dribbble. You can just let the stream refresh automatically, or curate a set of shots that really speak to a specific skill set.

On the style-front, we’ve added over 20 hand-picked fonts to our library, and we’ve also released a new theme, Discovery. Now there’s even more options to choose from for increased control over the layout and typography of your site.

If your theme needs some extra customization we have something to help you there too. Now you can access your theme’s Master CSS in the Customize Panel—giving you full control over your site and its responsiveness. With complete control over HTML and CSS you can truly make your site your own.

With these new features Virb is making it even easier to build a beautiful portfolio—or a site for that client of yours. Explore more at virb.com/designers

New Theme: Discovery

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 13:46:00 -0500

Discover something beautiful—this is a Theme that was built with its name in mind. Welcome our newest theme Discovery. View the demo site to get an idea of how it handles your content.

Discovery’s clear and beautifully proportioned architecture allows visitors to easily discover and explore content. Its polished details show a level of care equal to your own. This theme shows content with restraint and refinement.

Whether you’re a blogger, photographer, or shop owner, Discovery gives your pages a polished structure so your work can shine.

This theme is also accented by a bold header image, which provides a compelling visual space to represent your brand or art.

We hope you enjoy this beautiful new theme. Give it a try today by logging in and selecting it from the Theme page. (Remember you can preview themes on your site as well as revert back to your older designs using your Theme History.)

Set Slideshows to Auto-play

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 11:05:59 -0400

Photographers rejoice—one of the most requested features for Virb Galleries is live. You can now set your favorite photos to play automatically, and choose the transition timing that’s right for you.

Let your site’s visitors see the best of your work without lifting (or clicking) a finger. And a big thanks to everyone who requested this feature along the way—we love the customer feedback. If you’d like to see where we’re headed next just check out our handy roadmap.

Featured Site: CARE for Sandy

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:23:00 -0400

It’s been almost a year since Hurricane Sandy swept through New York, destroying homes, businesses, and countless possessions. At Virb, we joined the widespread recovery effort by offering up free Virb sites to any organizations devoted to Sandy relief. One of the individuals who came to us then was Lee Kelly, with her idea for CARE for Sandy (CARE stands for Cherished Albums Restoration Effort).

CARE for Sandy is a volunteer-backed group that sets out to revive storm-damaged photographs through free digital photo restoration. Why focus on restoring photos? “Because whereas cars, homes and jobs are replaceable, images of mom & dad’s honeymoon, baby’s first steps and great great grandpa’s sole surviving portrait are priceless,” says the group’s website. “Photos contain deep-rooted significance. Photos preserve stories! Photos foster soul and spirit.”

Since its inception, the group has restored nearly 700 individual photos, gathered volunteers in over 30 countries, and has a repository of over 4,000 photos waiting to be restored (yes, they’re seeking photo volunteers plus helpers of all sorts).

We’re so proud to support this group on Virb. You can keep an eye out for their upcoming coverage from Al Jazeera that’s set to air on the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. Bravo to Lee and her awesome team of volunteers for inspiring us all to use our talents and spare time for good!

See restored photos, volunteer opportunities, and tons of press coverage at CAREforsandy.org.

Virb Loves Portland

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 15:46:00 -0400

We just can’t resist sharing our collaborative project from the Design Week Portland opening party (which, by the way, was a total blast). The project really helped us get to know all the awesome attendees and to learn a thing or two about their city. Check out a before-and-after comparison of the project below (click the image to see details).

Here’s how it went down: We set up an 8x8’ wall—with only minor injuries—and then drew in a title, a prompt (“What do you love about Portland?”), and some faux frames to give participants an interesting constraint.

Then, we laid out a bundle of markers and watched as the wall slowly filled up throughout the night. It was great to see designers and non-designers alike flex their artistic muscles and tell us what they love about Portland: the food, the music, the trees, the skyline, the hippies.

For a little extra fun, we took some shots of our setup process and created this gif. Two hours captured in eight seconds. Whoa.

We love fun projects like these, especially ones that let us engage with an awesome, supportive community like the one we discovered in Portland. Thanks to all the organizers and attendees for an incredible week!

Design Week Portland

Mon, 07 Oct 2013 14:48:00 -0400

This week, a few folks from our team are headed out west to take part in Design Week Portland. Design Week is a gathering of designers from a variety of backgrounds that aims to bring the community together to learn, collaborate, and create awesome things. We’ll be hosting a few events, like Thursday’s bike-powered smoothie station, and attending many more, like a screen printing workshop with Invisible Creature.

Whether you’ll be joining us out there (hooray!) or just want to get in on the action a little bit, we’ve created a site to document our adventure: Virb Loves PDX. You can view our full agenda of events we’re attending or hosting, follow our Instagrams, and check out the local Portlanders we’ll be high-fiving with throughout the week.

If you’re attending, be sure to come find us at the official opening party this evening to leave your mark on our collaborative project wall. Watch out, Portland—we’re coming for you! And your donuts.

Introducing Virb Community Questions

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 10:26:57 -0400

You guys are smart—really smart. And now, you can use some of that vast knowledge to help your Virb peers in our new Community Questions section in the Help Center.

This new feature allows you to ask a public question that anyone in the community can answer. This is perfect for gathering opinions, like, “Do you prefer Facebook or DISQUS comments on your blog?” It’s also a great place to ask those bigger questions that stretch beyond the scope of what our support team can fully answer, like, “How do I adjust the letter spacing on my subheader?” or “What’s a great third-party tool for event registration?”

For urgent issues, account-related questions, site errors, or just anything you don’t want to ask publicly, we still want you to message us directly so we can give you 1-on-1 support. Our commitment to friendly, personal support will never change.

Are you a Virb wiz? Maybe you can answer someone else’s question (it’s good for your karma). We believe in this smart community of Virbers and hope that the new Community Questions area becomes a helpful resource to make your sites better than ever.

Ask something or browse the Community Questions now

Featured Site: Mark Weaver

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 11:04:47 -0400

Mark Weaver is a highly respected graphic designer, illustrator, and art director living in New York City. He currently works with Crush + Lovely, where he shares an office space with our very favorite CEO. (Just imagine, you could high five them both at the same time.)

Mark garnered a great deal of recognition when he endeavored on an ambitious personal project, "Make Something Cool Every Day.“ Creating anything on a daily basis is tough work, but Mark’s graphics, which combine photography, typography, and illustration, are each inspired and beautiful—and seriously cool. Click here to view the full collection.

If you do nothing else today, be sure to watch Mark’s clever stop-motion LEGO videos, which became an instant Vine sensation. Yes, that’s right, we said "stop-motion LEGO videos.”

Check out Mark Weaver’s full portfolio at mrkwvr.com

Virb for Restaurants

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 10:14:00 -0400

We’re so excited to reveal that we’re making it easier than ever for restaurants, coffee shops, bars, bakeries, food trucks, ice creameries, and all the other delicious places we love, to get online with Virb for restaurants.

We know that many restaurants think they can’t afford the time or high cost of creating a quality website, so their sites become outdated, defunct, or even nonexistent. In this digital age, that’s a business killer. With Virb, restaurants can quickly create a beautiful online presence for the price of just a couple lattes a month.

Fresh-Baked Features

In honor of this release, we’ve added some new features just for restaurants. First up is a beautiful, easy-to-use OpenTable Widget, designed to match with your existing Theme. Now, with just a few clicks, you can allow your future patrons to make seat reservations right on your website. And, yup, the Widget works great on mobile so your customers can even make reservations on the go.

We’ve also added more link options for the Social Icons Widget, one of our most popular features. Now, you can add a Yelp and OpenTable link so people can find out more about you or leave rave reviews with ease.

And with our newly improved Menu and Contact pages, you’re all set to give customers the information they want, no matter how often your head chef changes her mind.

We’re so excited to welcome restaurants to Virb, and it’s not just because we love coffee, whiskey, and gourmet sandwiches—it’s because we love helping people and their businesses thrive through a great online experience that’s simple to manage.

Explore what’s possible at virb.com/restaurants.

Featured Site: Miniscapes

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 10:19:07 -0400

Australia-based designers Miniscapes hopes to bring a little bit of natural balance to our increasingly indoor lifestyles. Miniscapes creates delicately crafted natural terrariums that are as clever as they are beautiful.

Using a variety of meticulously placed plants and modern glass vessels, Miniscapes promises to create “the perfect living centre piece for your office reception, boardroom table, studio, or home environment.” (And they’re super easy to care for so the intern left in charge won’t have to worry when he forgets to water it for a week.)

If you look closely, you’ll see that many of the Miniscapes include tiny figurines like people, objects, and even dinosaurs—genius. Check out the company’s video below to get a feel for the whimsical beauty of these desktop gardens.

Miniscapes are currently only stocked in Australia so if you’re lucky enough to live there, you can find their stockists or get in touch on their website: Miniscapes.net.

What's in a Logo?

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:06:00 -0400

There’s been a lot of talk Twitter and in the media today about Yahoo’s shiny new logo, bringing up questions about what a logo really means and what sort of research should go into its creation. Just check out the conversation on logo blog Brand New to see how in depth the analysis can get.

As any designer or business owner knows, a logo is much more than just a typeface and color choice: Your logo sets a tone, represents who you are, and helps establish a relationship with your customers—and that’s only scratching the surface.

For a bit of inspiration (beyond all you’ll be seeing about Yahoo for the next week), check out these great Virb sites that feature beautiful, informative logos: