Partner communities went live some time this month: india_writing (which was a sponsored community at first) and the newborn bollywoodclub. They have a special icon, which will look familiar to you if you were there during the sponsored comms saga, can be spotlighted but as marked as such, use tracking cookies, yadda, yadda. They don't seem to be very different from sponsored communities. In fact, it's quite unclear what's the difference between them.

Here's what the FAQ about partner communities says:

( Read more... )

And here's what the FAQ about sponsored communities says:

( Read more... )

While both types of communities have a banner clearly marking them as sponsored or partner on their layouts, only sponsored communities are clearly labeled as such in the bio section of their profiles. Account level can be anything so that won't help you if you're using the old, still default profile version as the various account icons are not shown in this one.

This post lists the issues with the Rich Text Editor this patch should fix.

A reminder: the LJ Herald is not an official community. The information given here may be limited, susceptible to change or even erroneous.

We bring you this patch release in order to address some problems that people have been experiencing with the rich text editor.

1. Miscellaneous JavaScript errors fixed.
2. The More Colors option on the text color selector is fixed.
3. No longer adds extra lines to drafts saved from the RTE.
4. The "Browse Server" button from the Insert Image window has been removed.
5. Insertion of Scrapbook images from the Insert Image window now works properly.
6. The Firefox spellchecker now works with the RTE.

A large percentage of reported problems with the RTE have been due to browser caching problems. As before, please follow these instructions to clear your cache before reporting any problems.

"If you are using Internet Explorer 7 and are unable to add lj-cuts to your entries in the Rich Text Editor, this may be because IE7 is blocking scripted windows. You can change this setting by going to Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Level and enabling scripted windows." (Source)

A reminder: the LJ Herald is not an official community. The information given here may be limited, susceptible to change or even erroneous.

I haven't posted here in a while about MultiLJ, as I wanted to get some of its kinks out before announcing again. But I've posted a new version of the client on the download page (accessible from the multilj community) now that some major changes have been made.

Most important among its changes, I've rewritten the communications code to the LJ server such that it is more reliable - it can even run under a 56K modem without trouble. There's also been improvements made in the Friends List and Custom Friends Groups code. There has been a number of bug fixes made, as well.

MultiLJ is a multi-window client for Windows XP and Vista. Its primary feature is that it uses internal browsers to display journals, rather than relying on one's default browser. It can display as many journals, profiles, and Friends Pages as one wishes, as well as hosting as many Post Editors as one needs. Post History is supported, as well.

Several users reported not being able to type text in the entry box or the lj-cut function not working correctly when using the Rich Text editor. Support says that "LiveJournal developers are aware that some users are experiencing problems with the Rich Text editor after the recent upgrade, but have been unable to reliably reproduce the issues that are being reported." Steps have been taken to troubleshoot these issues. (Source)

Edit (September 2nd, 4am GMT): "LiveJournal developers are aware that some users have been reporting problems with the Rich Text Editor since the recent upgrade, but have been unable to reliably reproduce the issues that are being reported. If you are having any problems with the Rich Text Editor, please disable all of your browser extensions, clear your browser's cache, and restart your computer, then try again." (Source)



A reminder: the LJ Herald is not an official community. The information given here may be limited, susceptible to change or even erroneous.

As we noted in our last News post, as of today users will be able to downgrade their account to Basic through the Manage Account page. In addition, visitors who are not logged in to LiveJournal will now be seeing ads on Basic accounts and communities; the experience of logged-in users will not change.

Consequently, all Basic accounts have now access to:

Change Journal Theme → 3. Choose a Page Setup → Ad Placement, and Ad Settings, presumably to choose which type of ads they want to show logged-out users and where.

ETA: Ad Settings does not work for Basic communities. Bug? Y/N? ETA2: Y.

Right here.

A reminder: the LJ Herald is not an official community. The information given here may be limited, susceptible to change or even erroneous.

Basic Accounts
As we noted in our last News post, as of today users will be able to downgrade their account to Basic through the Manage Account page. In addition, visitors who are not logged in to LiveJournal will now be seeing ads on Basic accounts and communities; the experience of logged-in users will not change.

Paid Account Sale
We are having a paid account sale starting today through September 30, 2008. During that period, you can purchase a 12 month block of paid time and receive a 20% discount – this paid time can be added to any account, or purchased as a gift for your favorite LJ-friend. For full details, see our Paid Account Sale page.

Announcing lj_advisory
We are pleased to announce the creation of the lj_advisory community, set up so you can find news and information related to the activities of the Advisory Board. We recognize that it has taken us a while to get this community up and running, and that has caused some frustration. From now on, we will post topics which will be discussed by the Advisory Board prior to the date of the meeting and summaries of meetings after they occur. Throughout the year, the Advisory Board may also post requests for opinions on topics which may be discussed at future meetings. This is the official community for communication with the Advisory Board – comments will be read by Advisory Board members who will respond as they feel appropriate.

RTE + Opera and Safari = <3
RTE stands for Rich Text Editor, which is the default method of posting entries from the Post an Entry page. Our Rich Text Editor is based on the open-source FCKeditor code. It allows you to make links or LiveJournal user tags, insert photos or videos, and format your entries without needing to know HTML. That is, unless you use Opera or Safari as a browser, in which case you couldn't use the RTE.

That will be changing today. We are pleased to announce that the RTE has been upgraded to the latest version of the FCK code, which includes support for Opera and Safari! In addition, many of the bugs in the old version have been fixed. If you've been using RTE, you will most likely need to clear your browser's cache in order to use the new version.

<strike> vs. <b>
Last year we changed the visual display of deleted and suspended usernames from a line through the username to a bold font. This had the effect of making the name unclickable - which meant that no one could easily determine whether the username had been deleted or suspended. We've reversed this display, returning deleted and suspended usernames to a struck-through and clickable state.

Flash Fiction Contest Update
The deadline to submit your flash fiction entry to "Quick Tales," LiveJournal's partnership with Caferati in India is fast approaching. Users who wish to find out more about this exciting contest should take a look at our india_writing community. Be quick! Entries must be received by midnight, September 7th, 2008 and the contest is open to all who have a mailing address in India, regardless of where they currently reside or citizenship.

Details are here.

A reminder: the LJ Herald is not an official community. The information given here may be limited, susceptible to change or even erroneous.