LiveJournal News

Release notes, Rich Text Editor update, Contest updates, be a STAR, Bullying awareness, Halloween

: theljstaff wrote in news; September 30th, 16:58

September 30th, 2011 - Greetings, LJ! Welcome back to another edition of the

news! It's been a few weeks so let's get you caught up on recent LJ happenings. We've run a couple contests and we've made some new friends since our last news update. More on that in just a moment. First, we address the hot topic as of late, the status of the Rich Text Editor. Let's get right into it with a list of recent site changes.

New features / Improvements

The functionality of the Rich Text Editor has significantly improved. A complete list of adjustments made to the Rich Text Editor can be found here. Please Submit a Support Request if you're still experiencing difficulties with the Rich Text Editor and we'll look into the issue.
The Edit Entries page has been redesigned. It now has calendar functionality as well as the ability to filter entries by community. The filter by community option allows you to see entries you have posted to a specific community as well as entries which have been posted to communities you maintain. There is also an option to filter the results to only show entries in the specified community posted by you.
There is now an option to have re-posted entries automatically be collapsed behind an <lj-cut> on your Friends page. This option can be found on the Manage Settings page.
An error which prevented some users from being able to load the Manage Friends page has been fixed.
Attempting to upload a userpic larger than 100x100 pixels now properly resizes and allows the image to be uploaded.
Moon and Stars and Simply Wood, two of the winning journal styles from our last custom style contest, are now available!

For more information on the changes in this release, please visit

lj_releases.

National Bullying Prevention Awareness month

be a STAR is an anti-bullying alliance co-founded by The Creative Coalition and WWE

LiveJournal has joined the be a STAR alliance, a group of organizations united to raise awareness of bullying and to create avenues of discourse in communities on the ground as well as in cyberspace.

bullying_begone, a LiveJournal community created by a victim of bullying, is a place for people to share their stories, seek advice, and support each other in a open and friendly environment.

October is National Bullying Prevention Awareness month. Throughout the month, we'll be addressing bullying topics in various features and communities on the site. To get the conversation started, LiveJournal and

bullying_begone are sponsoring a giveaway in Writer's Block this Monday, October 3rd. Here's the details:

When: Monday, October 3rd, 2011
Where: Writer's Block, on the LiveJournal homepage
One winner, chosen at random, will receive an Amazon Kindle e-reader and a $25 Amazon gift card
To enter, answer the Writer's Block question on Monday, October 3rd
The winner will be chosen on Tuesday, October 4th, and announced at lj_contests

While bullies aren’t going to vanish overnight, we can turn the tide by reaching out to friends, victims, and bullies alike to learn more about the roles people play in this cycle and what can be done to improve relationships. By working to better recognize bullying and the tactics employed by bullies, we can engage both the victims and their aggressors in an effort to minimize the effects of bullying. If you've been affected by bullying directly or you know someone who has, we invite you to share your experiences over at

bullying_begone.

Halloween @ LJ

Costume shops are popping up in cities all across the U.S. Each one resonates with an eerily similar message: Let's scare up some Halloween fun! In October, we're conjuring a little Halloween fun of our own with a couple contest giveaways and the Halloween-themed header image selected by the LJ community.

Pumpkin carving contest - Nothing says community like enjoying the cool artistic pumpkins on display around the neighborhood during Halloween. As LJ's way of celebrating community and Halloween, we're offering prizes to five random pumpkin carvers and a grand prize to our favorite submission. Entering this contest is easy. On Halloween we'll post a question on the LJ homepage in Writer's Block asking for pictures of your carved creations. The picture should include your pumpkin and your username written on a piece of paper to prove you're the crafty pumpkin carver. Along with this, feel free to include any moody pictures of the pumpkin that you find frighteningly festive! Winners will be chosen and announced on November 1st.

ONTD costume contest - Before heading out for a big night of Tricks n' Treats on Halloween, share your clever costume designs in a special Halloween entry we'll post over at

ohnotheydidnt on October 31st. Much like the pumpkin carving contest, prizes go to five random costume submissions and a grand prize to our favorite submission. Winners will be chosen and announced on November 1st.

Halloween-themed header contest - LiveJournal service pages across the site will feature a Halloween-themed header during the last week of October. Choose your favorite of the five finalist submissions today at

lj_contests. The Halloween header poll is open until Monday, October 3rd. The winning submission and the finalists will receive 2,500 and 1,000 tokens respectively. Good luck, finalists!

Prizes for the costume and pumpkin carving contests will be announced in the next couple weeks. Keep an eye on

news and

lj_contests for further details regarding these upcoming Halloween events!

For news about LJ_Scribe and LJ_Photophile and recent contest winners, we'll see you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Tags: be a star, bullying awareness halloween contests, header design contest, journal theme contest, kindle giveaway, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, release notes

Release notes, iPad/iPhone version update, Contest updates, Free vgift for paid users

: theljstaff wrote in news; August 22nd, 17:11

August 22nd, 2011 - Greetings all! Welcome back to another edition of the

news! We hope you're keeping cool as we pass through the last few weeks of summer. Hot topics this edition include mobile app and site updates as well as new contest info. Also, a special thank you for your patience as we resolve issues with the Rich Text editor on our Update Journal and entry editing pages.
We kick things off with a rundown of recent feature additions and updates.

Important things to know

Features and Changes

Spam protection is now available for your Inbox in addition to post comments! If you have enabled the Spam Protection setting, messages sent to your Inbox which are suspected as being spam will be automatically moved to a Suspicious Messages folder. Once in the Suspicious Messages folder, your messages can be reviewed and moved back to your Inbox at your discretion.
The Filter and Calendar items on the navigation strip no longer pop up when you mouse over them; you need to click these items to access their respective dialogs.
We've updated the Rich Text Editor on our Update Journal and entry editing pages. The interface update includes new icons for existing features and there is now a button for the LJ-Like feature.

Old icons:

New icons:

For more information on the changes in this release, please visit

lj_releases.

iPad/iPhone app version updates

We've recently updated our iPad/iPhone app to version 1.1.1. Updated features in the new version include:

The ability to read any journal from the app
Journal viewing history
YouTube and Vimeo video support
Addition of 'lj-like' tag to entries via toolbar
Links to LiveJournal entries and comments now open within the LiveJournal app interface
Improved support for Hebrew, Arabic, and Japanese languages
Various application bugs fixed

Journal style contest winners update

The wait for the winning journal theme styles from our last contest is almost over. The Spring Daze theme (pictured below on the far right) is currently available on the journal style selection page. The other two themes will be available in our next release.

Halloween header design contest

The next header design contest theme is Halloween. The winning header will appear on LiveJournal throughout the second half of October. We'll be accepting submissions for the Halloween header design contest from Monday, August 22nd, through Monday, September 19th over at

remixed. Five finalists will be selected by LiveJournal staff members for your review. The winning submission and the finalists will receive 2500 and 1000 tokens respectively. We look forward to seeing your original works! Good luck, artists!

Let the sun shine in!

If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send five free Sunflowers now until Friday, August 26th, at 4pm, PDT! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 gifts displayed until you've sent them to your friends. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and check your settings. Make sure the box beside 'Disable sponsored only' is NOT checked! Enjoy!

For news about LJ_Scribe and LJ_Photophile, we'll see you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Tags: free vgift for paid users, header design contest, journal theme contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, release notes

Paid compensation for site downtime

: theljstaff wrote in news; August 1st, 16:26

As many of you are aware, LiveJournal underwent an attack last week which resulted in some downtime and caused other accessibility issues during this time. While the attack is over, some intermittent issues remain which we are in the process of fixing.

We want to take this time to let paid members know that we will be extending your paid time by 2 weeks if you had a paid account at any time between July 25th and July 31st. This time will be added to your account a few days from now. Thank you for your continued patience while we get the site back to normal.

Release notes, AIDS Walk fundraiser, Contest updates, Free vgift for paid users,

: theljstaff wrote in news; July 1st, 10:22

Greetings, users!

July 1st, 2011 - Welcome back to another edition of the news. We've got a few pieces of information to pass along before everyone stateside disappears for the Fourth of July weekend. We start with a brief description of new features added during our release update on Wednesday.

Important stuff to know

Features and changes

Sort community posts by user - We've added navigation options which allow you to more easily sort community entries by poster! The 'Sort by poster' option now appears in the Navigation Strip when you're viewing a community. Roll your mouse over or click 'Filter' on the navigation strip, type in a username, press 'Enter', and voila! You can now view all the posts created by the specified user in the community. Additionally, when you're viewing a community, the menu which appears when you hover over a person's userpic will also include an option to view entries in that community by that poster.
Improved post sharing/promotion functionality - We've incorporated a variety of buttons which can be used by to easily share or promote entries on FaceBook, Google, Twitter, and vKontakte. Additionally, we've included a button which allows other users to donate LiveJournal Tokens to you. Please note, these buttons are not displayed by default. Instead, you can opt to add them to any entry by including the <lj-like> tag.

The default <lj-like> tag will display all available buttons. You may also customize which buttons are displayed in the post. For example, <lj-like buttons="fb,go"> will only include buttons for FaceBook and Google. The two-letter code for each available service is as follows:

Facebook fb

Google go

Twitter tw

vKontakte vk

LJ Give lj

In action, using the <lj-like> tag will look like this, depending on the buttons you've selected to show:

Tweet
Give 1010

AIDS Walk San Francisco

It's sometimes hard to comprehend how much HIV/AIDS has affected the lives of people around the world. Today, there are over 30 million people from all walks of life who are coping with HIV/AIDS related conditions. There's no cure yet but united we can take action against this formidable pandemic. This year, July 17th to be exact, LiveJournal staff members in San Francisco will be participating in AIDS Walk San Francisco. We invite you to join the cause! There are a couple ways to contribute:

We're currently offering an AIDS Walk SF charitable vgift in the 'Charity' section of the vgift store. There are three denominations available: $2, $5, and $10. 100% of your charitable vgift purchase will go to AIDS Walk SF.
We've setup up a donation page and a team signup page at the AIDS Walk San Francisco website if you prefer contributing in a more direct manner.

If you live in the San Francisco area and you're already signed-up for the event, we invite you to join us on July 17th as we take to the street to promote a worthy cause! Message

mike if you'd like to meet up to walk together.

Header design contest

Congratulations to

jussy_baby, winner of this month's header design contest. You'll be seeing this lovely design displayed atop LiveJournal during the month of July. Speaking of header design contests, we previously mentioned that the contests will no longer be held on a monthly basis. Instead, the contests will be held a few times a year. Sit back, relax, and rest up because you'll need to scare up all your creative energies for our next header design contest. Oh wait, did we just give away the next contest theme? Well, the black cat's out of the candy bag so we may as well come clean.

The next header design contest theme is Halloween. The winning header will appear on LiveJournal throughout the month of October. We'll be accepting submissions for the Halloween header design contest from Monday, August 22nd, through Monday, September 19th. Don't worry about missing anything, we'll remind you a few more times in

news before the contest starts.

Journal theme contest update

The three winning themes from our last design contest are scheduled to go live with our next update, which should be approximately three weeks from now. We'll keep you updated should any changes arise. Thanks again to the winners. The new journal themes will be a wonderful addition!

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of pic-a-nic baskets!

If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send five free picnic baskets now until Monday, July 4th, at 4pm, PDT! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 gifts displayed until you've sent them to your friends. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and check your settings. Make sure the box beside 'Disable sponsored only' is NOT checked! Enjoy!

For news about LJ_Scribe and LJ_Photophile, we'll see you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Have a safe and sane (or your preferred equivalent) holiday weekend! See you next time!

Tags: aids walk fundraiser, free vgift for paid users, header design contest, journal theme contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, release notes

News community changes, Release notes, Free vgift for paid users, Contest updates

: theljstaff wrote in news; June 10th, 11:52

Greetings, users!

Welcome back to another edition of the news. Before we get into recent news, we've got a quick update regarding the schedule of news posts. We'll be moving away from weekly updates from here on out. Expect to see news posts about twice a month, as system updates are implemented or vital information comes to light. With that being said, let's dig into some news!

Important stuff to know

Features and changes

Follow entry tag-specific content from journals and communities - You can now have your friends page display content from journals and communities based on tags! You can set options to either show only entries with specified tags, or to exclude only entries with specified tags. You'll be presented with these options when you add a friend or begin watching a community. Also, you can modify your settings for any journal or community you follow from the Edit Friends page under the "selected Tags" column.

Google Identity accounts - You can now use your Google account to identify yourself on LiveJournal. Google Identity accounts will appear with this custom userhead: and will behave in the same way as other identity accounts.

Addition to the LiveJournal mobile Devices page - There is now an Android tab on our mobile Devices page.

'Share' button improvements - The 'Share' button in the navigation strip now only appears on public entries.

Comment thread expander - Earlier issues with the comment thread expander have been fixed.

LiveJournal iPad/iPhone app updates

We're pleased to announce version updates for our iPad and iPhone apps! In this update, we've improved the application by by improving existing functionality and adding a couple new features. Changes in the new version include:

Full commenting support
An improved entry loading interface
Russian localization
Japanese and Russian language support

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome. Let us know how you like the app.

What's the scoop?

If you have a Paid or Permanent account you can send five free servings of ice cream now until Monday, June 13th, at 4pm, PDT! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 gifts displayed until you've sent them to your friends. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and check your settings. Make sure the box beside 'Disable sponsored only' is NOT checked! Happy snacking!

Header design contest

Submissions for July's header contest will be accepted through Monday, June 20th. The finalist poll will go live the following day, Tuesday, June 21st. Another important item to note: after July, the header contests will no longer be a monthly occurrence but will instead run a few times a year. Stay tuned to the

news for updates on the next header theme contest!

For more fun with Photophile and LJ_Scribe, we'll catch you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time!

Tags: free vgift for paid users, header design contest, journal theme contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, news community changes, release notes

Header design contest, Weekly vgift, Weekly contests, Did you know?

: theljstaff wrote in news; May 27th, 14:33

This week we've got contests galore! We start things off with our recovering gamer, Frank. Two weeks of intensive board gaming (and platter after platter of denim tamales) was just what the doctor ordered. Now that he's had his fun, he's ready to take on scholarly pursuits. Suggest a really fun summer class for Frank to join (a matching userpic is a wonderful addition) and he'll send you his favorite study aid, a hypnotoad (up through the first 10 pages of comments)!

Header design contest

The last days of May bring with them the finalist poll for our June header contest. Fifteen finalists have emerged from our rigorous review process. We invite you to vote for the design you'd like to see on the top of LiveJournal during the month of June. We'll begin accepting entries for the next header design contest next week. All submissions that came in after the deadline will be automatically entered into the next contest. We thank you, again, for making LiveJournal your canvas!

Did you know?

We all dance to the beat of our own drummer. Sometimes that beat has an irresistible rhythm and infectious grooves. Whether you like to 'Rock the Casbah' or peer out from behind your 'Poker Face,' music is a fun and creative way to add your personal touch to a LiveJournal post. When posting, add your current music by typing it into the Music: text box provided below the body of your post. If you signed up for a Last.fm account and installed the Last.fm widget for your music application, you can also autofill that field from Last.fm scrobbler information. You'll need to enter your Last.fm username under Contact Info on your Edit Profile page for the name of the currently played song on your computer to autofill the Music text box.

For more fun with photos, LJ_Scribe, and Frank & Meme, we'll catch you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week!

Tags: did you know?, frank & meme, header contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, photo of the week, vgifts

Navigation strip update, Favicons, Identity account improvements, Free vgift for Paid users

: theljstaff wrote in news; May 11th, 18:29

UPDATE: We've fixed the issue where the by-journal-type filter options went missing from the navigation strip -- you can again sort by 'view journals only', 'view communities only', and 'view feeds only'. We've also fixed the problem with comment subject line icons.

This week we've got new systems features to pass along, our weekly contest winners, and vgifts. We kick things off with our main goat, Frank. He really took advantage of the great weather we've had here over the last couple weeks and he's exhausted. Right now Frank just wants to relax indoors and play a game. Tell him your favorite board game (a matching userpic is always welcome), and Frank'll throw a pair of dice your way (up through the first 10 pages of comments).

Navigation strip update

The Navigation strip has been expanded and divided into two sections, allowing you easy access to commonly used functions. For those who don't know, the Navigation strip is the menu interface accessible along the top of the page when you're viewing journals and communities. The section on the left will always display links to the same features:

Message inbox with message counter

LJ Tokens with remaining token indicator

Home

Post to journal

Friends page

Account settings

FAQs

The right side of the Navigation strip will change to display links often associated with the page you're viewing. The strip changes when viewing pages like: your own journal, someone else's journal, a community you moderate or maintain, a community you're in, and a community you have not joined. You may also customize (or activate/deactivate) the Navigation strip to suit your browsing style.

Important stuff to know

Favicons: A favicon, or favorites icon, is the little image associated with a particular web page that you see to the left of the URL on the web browser bar. Starting today, the favicon used for your personal journal will be your currently selected userhead (including custom userheads). On supported web browsers, the favicon will appear in all or some of the following places: the address bar, next to the name of web page in your bookmarks, and next to a page's title if your browser supports tabbed-browsing.

Identity account improvements: Identity accounts (OpenID, Twitter connect, Facebook connect, etc) can now post entries in communities.

Thread expander feature: The thread expander feature, which allows comment threads to be expanded without reloading the entire web page, is now available in all S2 journal styles.

It's raining jelly beans!

If you have a Paid or Permanent account (or if you've signed up for our free Paid Account trial), you can send five free handfuls of jelly beans now until Monday, May 16th, at 4pm, PDT! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 gifts displayed until you've sent them to your friends. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and check your settings. Make sure the box beside 'Disable sponsored only' is NOT checked! Happy snacking!

For more fun with photos and LJ_Scribe, we'll catch you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week!

Tags: favicons, identity accounts, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, navigation strip

Tornado relief, ONTD newsletter, Header design winner, Journal theme winners

: theljstaff wrote in news; May 6th, 12:20

This week we're focused on creative contests and helping those afflicted by the recent natural disasters in the United States. But first, Frank is celebrating May birthdays. If you were born this fine month, please tell Frank your fondest birthday wish (a coordinating userpic is always a treat), and he'll send you a delicious dessert waffle (up through the first ten pages of comments)!

Tornado relief

In April, natural events pummeled the midwest and southern regions of the United States, breaking the national record for most tornado outbreaks in a given month. In response to these catastrophic occurrences, we're offering a charitable vgift to aid the recovery efforts. LiveJournal will donate proceeds from the sale of our 'Charity:Tornado Relief' vgift (we'll cover all processing fees) to Heart to Heart International, a volunteer-driven program assisting people in the area.

We'd also like to give a shout out to

helpthesouth, a charity fandom auction created to assist those affected by the recent storms. LiveJournal donated two annual paid accounts to support their efforts.

ONTD newsletter

Hot off the digital press, the new bi-monthly ONTD newsletter is the great way to catch up on all the best entertainment gossip and commentary dished out by the ONTD community! Track down the latest scandal with 'Top Stories of the Week,' check out what the ONTD community is saying about celebs in 'Overheard on ONTD,' or test the limits of your own witticism by entering the 'Caption Contest.' Sign up for the ONTD newsletter today (on the right side, halfway down the page)!

Header design winner

Congratulations to

chocolate_coke, who won this month's header design contest with a beautiful floral arrangement! You'll be seeing this lovely design on the top of LiveJournal during the month of May. We'll accept entries for our next contest up through Monday, May 23rd at 4PM, PDT. If you submitted a header after the last deadline, it will be entered into the next contest. Just a reminder: The winner gets 2,500 LJ Tokens. Finalists receive 1,000 LJ Tokens. All other participants get 500 LJ Tokens (a limit of one award per user). We thank you, again, for making LiveJournal your canvas!

Journal theme contest

Congratulations to

ina_ami,

70, and

fuzps, who won our journal theme contest! We'll be making these awesome themes available to all of our users! Thank you to the all the winners and participants for lending their artistry to our theme contest.

Did You Know?

Want to make the most of those mood swings? Current Mood themes are a great way to share how you feel when you post on LiveJournal. There are many different families of themes to choose from, ranging from Brucie's Pengies and Juicy's CuteAliens to Neko's Kao Kitties. To switch your current mood theme, visit the Customize Journal Style page and scroll down to the Mood Themes section. In addition to the standard Current Mood themes, Plus, Paid, and Permanent users can also create custom mood themes. Once you select a Mood theme, you can pick a keyword (and associated mood icon) to let the LiveJournal world know whether you're feeling jubilant, nauseated, or morose!

For more fun with photos, lj_scribe, and Frank & Meme, we'll catch you under the cut! ( Read more... )

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week!

Tags: charitable vgifts, frank&meme, header design contest, journal theme contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, ontd newsletter

Android App, Header design contest, Journal theme contest, Free vgift for Paid users

: theljstaff wrote in news; April 28th, 13:05

We've had a great week here at LiveJournal. After a long and dreary rainy season, Spring is finally playing peekaboo. The balmier days have left Frank clamoring for the great outdoors. He's itching for suggestions on recreational activities that don't require a whole lot of coordination or endurance. Give him some fresh ideas (a matching userpic is always welcome), and Frank'll send you a pair of anti-gravity boots to keep you walking on air (up through the first 10 pages of comments).

Introducing the Android App!

We're delighted to announce the new Android App for LiveJournal! We know a lot of you have been asking for this, and we're so thrilled to help you enjoy LiveJournal on the go! Once you download the app, you can:

Post entries to your journal and communities
Upload photos
Create and post polls
Edit your last journal entry
Compose and edit drafts
 Manage your settings for mobile posting

Just a heads up: We'll be adding access to your Friends page in the next version. Have any comments or suggestions? We'd love to get your input. You can post your feedback to this post. And be sure to join ljmobile for regular updates.

Header design contest

It's that time of the month again! After agonizing review, we narrowed the selection down to 15 finalists. We invite you to vote for the design you'd like to see on the top of LiveJournal during the month of May. We'll begin accepting entries for the next header design contest next week. All submissions that came in after the deadline will be automatically entered into the next contest. We thank you, again, for making LiveJournal your canvas!

Journal theme contest

We're pleased to present ten journal theme finalists for your voting pleasure. The three themes that earn the most votes will be made available to all users for free! Thanks to all who participated, from the talented users who created these fabulous themes to the discerning aesthetes (i.e., YOU!) who will help us determine winners.

Nothing says party like a tinfoil helmet!

If you have a Paid or Permanent account (or if you've signed up for our free Paid Account trial), you can send five free tinfoil helmet now until Monday, May 2nd, at 4pm, PDT! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 gifts displayed until you've sent them to your friends. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and check your settings. Make sure the box beside 'Disable sponsored only' is NOT checked! Now, go forth and shimmer!

Did you know ...?

If you're the lucky owner of a Paid or Permanent account, you can choose from hundreds of premium journal styles. We just added a premium theme page to make it even easier to dress up your journal, so you can change your theme as often as you change your ... underpinnings. To check out our premium themes, choose the 'Journal Style' link in the 'Journal' drop-down menu, then click the 'Premium' link on the left column under 'Select a New Theme.' If you're participating in our free Paid account trial, you can slip on any of our premium themes (don't worry, we'll save your old settings). If you haven't signed up for a free two-week Paid account trial, we invite you to sign up now, so you can start enjoying an ad-free environment, extra userpics, LiveJournal and Google stats, and more!

For more fun with photos, Frank and Meme, and LJ_Scribe, we'll catch you under the cut!

( Read more... ) Thanks, again, for joining us. We'll see you next week!

Tags: android app, frank&meme, free vgift for paid users, header design contest, journal theme contest, lj_photophile, lj_scribe, premium journal themes

Paid time extension, Spam comments page, Community URL, DDoS, Privacy

: theljstaff wrote in news; April 19th, 13:07

We're pleased to report that LiveJournal weathered the recent DDoS attacks without significant downtime last week. We implemented new systems and processes to cope with heavy traffic loads, and these new systems have been working very well. In order to show our appreciation for your loyalty and support, we'll be automatically extending two weeks of Paid Account time to all users holding a Paid account for any amount of time during the period from March 30th to April 12th, GMT. Once again, we wish to thank you for standing by us during these difficult times.

DDoS Update

While LiveJournal has largely recovered from the DDoS attacks, when we're experiencing high levels of malicious incoming traffic, we have no choice but to place temporary blocks on the IP addresses responsible for that volume. While it's frustrating to be blocked, it's necessary to keep the site up and running for everyone. If you receive an error page stating that your IP address has been blocked, we suggest you perform a malware and virus scan of your computer to ensure that your computer is not being used to help propagate these attacks.

Suspicious spam comments page

As part of our ongoing efforts to reduce spam on LiveJournal, we've introduced a new feature to help you identify and ban spam comments. When you visit a comments page in your journal or in a community you maintain, you'll now see a link indicating the number of suspected spam comments. These comments are screened and will not display on the entry. Click on the link to review suspicious comments. You can then delete and ban spam comments or click the 'Not Spam' icon--

--to unscreen the comment and move it to the entry page.

In creating this new spam-fighting tool, we updated the Account Settings Privacy page. You can screen comments from anonymous users (the default setting), non-friends, and all users. Immediately below this setting, you'll see a checkbox labeled 'Spam Protection' that activates this feature, which reads: 'Comments containing a link to a non-whitelisted domain will be marked as spam and moved to a special section.' This option will be selected by default.

Important stuff to know

Community URL formatting: In the service of improved usability, the URL for community pages has been shortened to '[community name].livejournal.com' instead of 'community.livejournal.com/[community name]'; URLs in the old format will automatically redirect to the new format.
Profile page text message link restored: The option to receive text messages from other LiveJournal users has been restored for Permanent, Paid, and Plus users. If you activate this feature, a 'Text message' link will appear in the Contact section of your Profile page. You can update where you receive text messages on your Edit Profile page. While LiveJournal does not charge for sending or receiving messages, your mobile carrier may. Please check your service plan for further details.
Enhanced Privacy Settings: We've added new settings to the Account Settings Privacy page that gives community maintainers more control over inclusion of community's entries in external search engines. Community maintainers now have the same options available as journal owners to control whether posts and/or comments are available or minimized in search engine results. Note: If you maintain multiple communities, be sure to 'Switch to' the appropriate community before making any changes.
Spam: In an effort to reduce spam on LiveJournal, the text string 'rel=nofollow' will be added to URLs for entries and comments posted from Plus and Basic accounts. This will help reduce visibility in search engines and make spam commenting less attractive to spammers.

Frank's weekly giveaway

This week, Frank has been down with a cold. He's been stuck in the house for what seems like forever, and he's dying to get some movie suggestions. Needless to say, he's particularly fond of films featuring animals. Give him some suggestions (a coordinating userpic always delights him), and Frank will send you sugary bunny to make your day (up through the first ten pages of comments).

Did You Know ...?

We recently relaunched our Community Directory to help you find entries and communities based on your particular interests, ranging from Advice & Support to Television. If you're a community maintainer and you'd like to submit your community for inclusion, you can use this submission tool to add your community to up to two Interest pages. You can also delete your community by visiting the Interest page where it appears, choosing the community from the drop-down next to 'Work as Community,' scrolling down to the bottom of the page, and clicking 'Remove.'

For more fun with photos, Frank and Meme, and LJ_Scribe, we'll catch you under the cut!

( Read more... ) Thanks, again, for joining us. We'll see you next week!

Tags: community url, ddos, frankandmeme, paid time extension, photophile, privacy, profile text link, scribes, spam settings, suspicious spam comments page

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