More topics

About a week ago our reader Chris told us that he missed being able to browse by specific topic right from the frontpage (as did a few other anonymous commenters on the site). We thought about it for a while, did the coding, and finally it is up on the site for everyone to use an enjoy → the fabulous "Choose Topic" button (pictured right)! Now, each of the 20 topics featured on the site is one click away, and, in fact, we'll add a few more topics in due time.

You may notice an additional link in the topic menu that says "Other topics & keyword search". If it seems out of place, let us explain why it is there. The link points to our search page which is much more than a simple search page. It allows to search for things that aren't explicitly categorized on the site, but might be interesting for researchers and thoughtful readers, and allows to subscribe to search results via RSS feeds. For instance, one can search for "education technology", "racism"(which we do not endorse) or "mobile technology" and receive updates each time a story about this subject appears on Polymeme.

P.S. you may have noticed that the dropdown menu has been inspired by the 37signals Basecamp Project Switcher - we are using Basecamp to manage out projects and we love it!

Talk to Polymeme, hear it Tweet back

Almost two weeks passed since we introduced the new design and we got enough positive feedback to feel confident it was a move in the right direction.

Of course we did not get any chance to sit back and relax or go on vacation, but worked around the clock to finish off all the inconsistencies, the remaining bugs and answer each and every email we received from you.

On top of that we are working on improving the meme detection mechanisms and a few exciting new features that will be rolled out soon. Today we are happy to announce that you can follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/polymemedotcom)

Since we are always interested in meeting our readers face to face (sorry about the pun), you can also join our Facebook Group and participate in discussions, write on the walls, post screenshots of bugs or just drop by to say Hi! :-)

What's new at Polymeme: continued

As you may have already noticed, we have — belatedly, as some of you might say — embraced the principle that less is more. You can already see it in our new cleaner and slicker design. We will also be slightly decreasing the total # of items we publish daily but we'll try to increase their relevance, breadth, and scope. Also, to make Polymeme more appealing, the vast majority of memes we run would have Flickr-based photos to accompany them.

Our initial 20 sections are still with us, they are now just a bit less obvious: after all, we are after the true polymaths, who'd rather read the most important news from all 20 sections on the front page (it's also quite likely that we would be expanding beyond the initial 20 sections and include memes from an even wider assortment of topics). Also, to avoid the culture of "enclaves" within our community, from now on we'll be publishing ALL news that we used to publish to sections-only to the front page. Thus, the front page becomes the central marketplace for all ideas traded on Polymeme.

The most interesting items would appear in the featured spots and the header; everything else would be in chronological order. This means that our editors would need to work even harder to present you with the news and ideas that matter in the global/polymath context &mdash and not just anything that's buzz-worthy.

We have also finally embraced some basic moves towards community features. The very first basic step that we have made is making it easier for you to comment on "memes". We are also planning more community-based features to take full advantage of our intelligent audience and their news-smarts. Stay tuned for news about that direction.

The new Polymeme is online!

Polymeme has a new design, and behind the scenes almost every aspect has been rewritten and rechecked, made faster, lighter and more seamless to use. We think it's easier on the eyes too.

We've tried to address all concerns that you wrote to us about: the smallish text fonts, dark colors, unusual green links, unnecessary complications with login etc. We've also added useful information on the FAQ and about pages and more.
By the way, URLs of all sections and informational pages have been kept the same, so you won't have to update bookmarks or change your habits.

We hope you like the changes. If there are any issues or if you think old design was better — please write to us. As always, we are around pretty much 24/7 and will try to fix problems once you let us know.

There will be more pictures on this new Polymeme and we hope you'll like what you see. Please be advised that commenting on items is open now, smart remarks are waiting to be made there.

More new features are in progress, and soon all Polymeme users will get their accounts upgraded in functionality. Yet, we will try to keep all extra features simple and unobtrusive so that Polymeme stays clutter-free. Thank you for being with us!

Announcement: Polymeme upgrade in progress

Dear polymaths,
we are upgrading Polymeme and moving to a new server.
The updates will be slower while we make the changes, but we should be fully open for business tomorrow (Monday) morning.

Thank you for your understanding!