Rondayvoo Newsletter #2 October 2008
Thanks again for using Rondayvoo! This is our second monthly newsletter to let you know about all the improvements we are making to Rondayvoo. You can find this and previous newsletters published on our discussion forum where it is easy for you to comment and give your feedback.
Rondayvoo by SMS
If you update your location on Rondayvoo by SMS (just text rdv followed by your location to +447786200350), Rondayvoo will send you an SMS message when any of your friends are nearby. If you update your position from your PC using the main Rondayvoo web site Rondayvoo will send you notifications by email instead. Of course this all relies on Rondayvoo knowing your mobile phone number. If you haven't done so already make sure you update your profile to include your mobile phone number. Click here to access your profile
Internet Explorer Support
We've done a lot of testing and tweaking this month to ensure that Rondayvoo will work using Internet Explorer. Apart from a few minor formatting issues everything should now work in IE just as it does in Firefox. As an added bonus we were also able to test using Safari on the Mac. If you are an IE or a Safari user and find any issues please feel free to let us know on the discussion forum.
How "Nearby" is "Nearby" ?
If you tell Rondayvoo where you are, Rondayvoo will let you know when your friends are nearby. But what does "nearby" mean? Currently "nearby" in Rondayvoo is set to 5 miles (yes we know that some of you prefer to work in Kilometers - we'll address that later). To help illustrate this, this month we introduced the "nearby circle" to the map on your home page. Now when you tell Rondayvoo where you are you also get to see a red circle around your location and any friends that are nearby.
Earlier this month we introduced an "enhancement" that due to some immediate feedback and concerns about privacy we promptly removed! The enhancement allowed the current location of all your friends to be shown on your home page map whether they were nearby or not. The concern was that other people (in your friends list) could track you without you realizing. We take privacy very seriously here a Rondayvoo HQ so decided that the only way to come up with a solution that is acceptable to everyone is to consult our community of users. You can find more details on the discussion forum, feel free to give us your opinion by replying to the post.The Rondayvoo Challenge
Last month we challenged you all to invite 5 friends, family members or colleagues to join Rondayvoo. So how did you do? The more friends you have on Rondayvoo the more opportunities you'll have to meet up with them! Why not try again this month. Inviting people to join Rondayvoo is easy, just click on the "People" tab and then "Invite your friends". You can send an invite to many friends at once as well as customizing the text of the message they receive.
Thanks again for using Rondayvoo!
Regards
Ron.
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Should the map show where all your friends are or just those friends who are nearby ?
We are having a philosophcial debate here as to what the map on your home page should show. We take your privacy very seriously here at Rondayvoo so we'd like your feedback to help us decide which is right.
Remember, the whole point of Rondayvoo is to help you and your friends meet up with each other, not to track where people are at any time.
We are considering two choices for your home page:
- Show markers on the map for ALL your friends that Rondayvoo knows the location of.
- Show markers on the map only for your friends who are nearby you.
Please bear in mind the following :
- Option 2 is how Rondayvoo currently works
- Both these options require Rondayvoo to know your location too.
- The "Friends Nearby" list will match the markers shown on the map in option 2.
- You receive a message any time a friend is in your "Friends Nearby" list.
- The Activites list currently shows you when any of your friends update their location, regardless of whether they are currently nearby or whether Rondayvoo knows your location.
So which option would you prefer? Would you be worried about your privacy with option 1 ? Should we remove your friends movements from the activities list altogther ? How do you feel about your movements appearing on all your friend's Activities list ?
Please, please, please reply and give us your feedback on this topic.
Re: Browser Issues
We've done a lot of work on improving the user experience on other browsers and we've been able to test on IE6, IE7, Safari 3 and our favourite Firefox 3. I'm pleased to report that Rondayvoo is now working consistantly on all four browsers. We still have a few minor formatting tweaks to perform here and there but these are mostly cosmetic.
As always, if you experience problems that you think are browser related please feel free to post them here.
Rondayvoo Newsletter #1 August 2008
Dear Rondayvoo'er,
Thank you for using Rondayvoo! This is our first monthly newsletter to let you know about all the improvements we are making to Rondayvoo and to invite you to give us your feedback.
Rondayvoo Forum
To help you get the most out of Rondayvoo we have created a discussion forum where you can interact with the Rondayvoo team as well as other Rondayvoo users. The discussion forum is the best place to to ask questions, share your knowledge and give your feedback on any aspect of Rondayvoo. Your feedback is crucial to making Rondayvoo a success and ensuring we provide you with the best service possible. The link to the forum is on the bottom of every page, or you can link to:
Mobile Phone Number
Rondayvoo works best when you are out and about and usually away from your PC. If you haven't registered your mobile phone number with your profile you are missing out on the best feature of Rondayvoo! Once registered you will be able to tell Rondayvoo where you are by SMS. You don't need any special phone or built-in GPS to use Rondayvoo, simply text rdv and your location to +447786200350. Why not click on your profile now to make sure your mobile phone number is registered.
Click here to access your profile
Invite a Friend
The more friends you have on Rondayvoo the more opportunities you'll have to meet up with them! Why not take the Rondayvoo challenge and invite 5 of your friends, family or colleagues to join you on Rondayvoo. Inviting people to join Rondayvoo is easy, just click on the "People" tab and then "Invite your friends". You can send an invite to many friends at once as well as customising the text of the message they receive.
Thanks again for using Rondayvoo!
Regards
Ron.
Browser Issues
We've just started to look at Rondayvoo using other browsers and it looks like there are some problems to iron out. Our primary browser is Firefox 3, so if you want to get the best experience with Rondayvoo I suggest you go with the flow and stick wih Firefox at the moment. It is on the to do list to make sure the user experience works on IE7 and Safari 3, but there's a lot of other things to get done first ! If you are on IE6 or earlier, you are out of luck, I'm affraid it won't be possible to do any testing on those antique browsers.
If you are using IE7 or Safari and find anything that doesn't look right, please feel free to reply and let us know.
Welcome Message to New Members
Regards
Ron.
