Release notes: Dialogue v1.6.1

Below are the latest changes we’ve implemented, and some new features which are so cool, we just have to share them. Using these options with your Dialogue will make it more engaging, and encourage participation, which can only be a good thing.

Updates

Here is what we've been up to:

Embed third party content into your discussions

With your Basic or Gov-grade Dialogue, you now have the ability to add all sorts of third party content such as videos, slideshows, interactive Google Street Views, etc. This allows you to bring your discussions to life and provide participants with a more personal experience. 

Adding maps to your discussions

This is exciting stuff - you can now add a map to your discussions! You could use this feature in a number of ways, from micro use, e.g. showing the proposed locations of new bike racks in a specific street, to macro use, such as to indicate potential international office locations on a world map.

Using the map feature can help participants see the location of proposed changes as well as the location of other participants - people can put their idea on a map. This can help them to more clearly understand the impact the idea or change might have on them, and help them feel more connected to the discussion.

We’ve created an article that gives an in-depth overview of the new mapping feature. Vattenfall, one of the biggest wind power operators in the UK, are using this map feature on their ‘Conversation Wales’ Dialogue.

The map feature requires some set up from our end. If you would like to use the map option, please speak to your customer success manager.

Change to domains vs subdomains

It used to be that a Dialogue lived on a subdomain url, like this: dialogue-app.com/yourdialogue. This meant it was attached to the main dialogue-app.com site with everyone else’s Dialogue. We decided it would be better practice to create individual domains for each Dialogue instead, e.g. yourdialogue.dialogue-app.com. This change makes each Dialogue domain more secure, as each is separated from all of the others.

If you used to have a subdomain type address for your Dialogue, it will automatically redirect to the new domain name - you need do nothing.

Keeping the private in ‘private discussions’

We’ve taken the Facebook and Twitter sharing buttons out of private discussions so that they will indeed remain private. That’s all we have to say about that.

Release date: 13.08.12