With our first release of 2011, Socialtext now allows people to define a preferred name, navigate from cell to cell in tables, more easily insert web content on wiki pages and much more!
Set Your Preferred Name
If you would like to use a nickname like Bob for Robert or Jim for James, or to use a hyphenated last name such as Zeta-Jones, you can now set this preferred name in your Socialtext profile. Your new name will be displayed in all places names appear, such as the People Directory, in signals and on workspace pages. This feature is enabled by default and can be turned off in any account by your Socialtext administrator.
Easy Add Web Content To Pages
You can embed many types of web-based objects such as maps, slides, videos and photos albums on Socialtext workspace pages. Previously this required a little bit of advanced formatting, but now we make it simple via the new Insert HTML feature. First copy the object’s embed code from its web page. Next edit the Socialtext workspace page, click on Insert from the editor toolbar and select HTML. Finally paste the code you copied into the dialog box. When you save the page the object will be displayed. Similarly, you can also insert pre-formatted text and unformatted text using the Insert menu.
Reduce Duplicate Groups
Groups are a great way to interact with people around similar projects or interests, so the last thing you want is to have multiple groups of people collaborating on the same topic. To help eliminate this problem, you can now search group names and descriptions right from the group creation dialog box, reducing the chance of someone creating a new group if a similar one already exists.
Additional Improvements
Based on customer feedback, the following features have been enhanced:
- You can now filter the Socialtext Signals stream to show just the messages that you have sent, those that mentioned your name or those sent privately to you. Using the “Showing Signals From” dropdown menu at the top of the stream, choose “My Conversations”.
- When you are editing a table within a workspace page, you can now use the tab key (or shift + tab) to move forward (or backwards) between cells. You can also use the arrow keys to move left, right, up or down between cells.
- The Socialtext Search bar allows you to choose what type of content to search for: Pages, People, Groups, or Signals. Now the search selection is sticky, meaning the content type you choose will remain until you change it.
- When you click on a link from the Socialtext Dashboard (ex: a person’s profile or a page link) it will now open in the same window instead of opening an additional browser window or tab. If you prefer the old behavior, most web-browsers provide a right-click menu option to open links in a new window, or allow you to press the shift key while you are clicking on the link.
I hope you enjoy these new features and enhancements. As always, we look forward to your feedback.



