If you have been following our blog you may already know that this summer the elves here at Elfster were busy as bees. Elfster loves the many creative users that are building community and having fun on the site. By popular demand, we have added some great features. We know that using Elfster and sharing your information about your gift exchanges will be more fun and easier than ever before.
Here is a brief rundown of what is new:
1. Say thank you with a photo. You can now upload a photo of your choice when you send a thank you note following your gift exchange. To do this, you can either click on the email reminder following your exchange, or go to the requests section of your home page once your exchange date has passed. You can enter the text that you want to send to your friend, then click to browse and upload your photo. What a great way to show how much you love your gift. The thank you note and photo will be shared with the other members of your group via the group news feed.
2. Link accounts you manage. If you are in charge of using Elfster on behalf of someone else, such as your kids or boss, you can set up their accounts to be linked to yours. To get started, click on the gear icon from your home page and then select, “Use Elfster As”. From there, you will need to enter the username and password for the accounts you want to link. Once you have linked the two, you will be able to easily switch between accounts by choosing from the “Use Elfster As” section.
3. Help Elfster discover cool gifts. Elfster has always relied on the good taste and wishes of our users to source our trending gifts listing. We now show the name of people who have found a featured gift. If you like what you see, you can click on the name of the person and see what else they are wishing for. You may be responsible for the next big gift trend!
4. Share your blog address. Let others know where they can find you! We have added a blog address field to the profile section. To get there, click on the wishlist tab from your home page, and enter the URL of your blog on the left side. This is a great tool for people participating in gift exchanges within an online community as it can be the perfect way for people to get to know more about you.
5. Share your exchange activity. Easily share what is happening with your exchange group on your site. All you need to do it copy and paste the activity widget, which will then be shown on your exchange home page to your blog. We even allow you to customize the widget to the size and shape that works best for your blog.
6. Add your nickname. Elfster is home to numerous swaps where participants are known only by their screen names, so we’ve added this option to your profile. Select the wishlist tab from your home page, then edit your nickname in the leftmost column.
7. Latecomers Sign Up. Now everyone can join in the fun, even if they miss the sign up deadline. If a person attempts to respond to an exchange past the deadline, we will accept their RSVP and get in touch with the exchange leader. The organizer will then be prompted to accept the latecomers to join the exchange by matching together any other tardy members, while leaving the rest of the group assignments intact. This makes organizing an exchange easier than ever.
We always welcome suggestions and feedback, so feel free to drop us a line anytime at help@elfster.com, tweet us @Elfster, or leave us a comment on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/elfster
photo credits: Andreas, http://www.flickr.com/photos/124330160/
weddingmusings, http://www.flickr.com/photos/27812617@N07/
