Home : Blogs : ActiveRain Real Estate Network : The Official ActiveRain Blog

Major ActiveRain feature release - Tuesday morning

We are doing a large release of new features on ActiveRain.com very early Tuesday morning (4:00 am PST). The main item in this release will be the beta launch of Groups on ActiveRain.

For several months it has become very clear that for ActiveRain to continue growing there needs to be a way for members to break off into their own self regulating communities. The groups will do just that, whether you want to create a group for "Northwest Real Estate Agents" or "Home Stagers". These groups will eventually have many of the same features as the full ActiveRain community such as forums and the ability to group leaders/moderators to manage the groups and feature posts. We will integrate in other community features such as event calendaring and chat. It's something I'm very excited about and should really add a spark to ActiveRain.

Some of the other changes:

Fixed a common complaint with blog tags and tag clouds. All of your tags will be displayed if you are logged in.
Made changes to the left hand navigation in profiles to fit in groups. Don't worry we didn't remove anything, but it should be easier to understand now.
Numerous bug fixes...

-Matt Heaton

Posted by ActiveRain Real Estate Network on 11/26/2006 05:39 PM

Comments (42)

activerain, activerain updates, activerain features

42 Comments on Major ActiveRain feature release - Tuesday morning

Thanks for keeping us posted...we look forward to the changes.

11/26/2006 05:47 PM

by Netta Blackwood - REO/BPO Expert (Keller Williams Realty At The Lakes)

(All together now...) Yay!!!

I am really looking forward to these changes.

11/26/2006 06:04 PM

by Mariana Wagner ~ Colorado Springs REALTOR® (Wagner iTeam -Keller Williams Clients' Choice)

Sounds really interesting. Will set alarm clock!

11/26/2006 06:08 PM

by Maureen Henry - Rockland Home Staging (www.rocklandhomestaging.com)

I am very excited Matt! This is going to be awesome. And thank you for the 'tags' fix too. I may have to miss my Tuesday morning office meeting for this!

11/26/2006 06:19 PM

by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

Sounds good Matt. Can't wait till Tuesday....Yippee the Patriots just won!!!! just gotta run the clock!!!

11/26/2006 06:23 PM

by Monika McGillicuddy~REALTOR®~ N.H. Real Estate Broker & Trainer (Prudential Verani Realty/Hampstead)

cool dea; these sound like awesome changes..................

11/26/2006 06:26 PM

by Eddy Martinez (Nationwide Funding Group)

sounds exciting....can't wait!!!

11/26/2006 06:34 PM

by Linda Davis (RE/MAX Realty Group)

Looking forward to it!

11/26/2006 06:47 PM

by PGA National, BallenIsles, Mirasol - Marc Blasi (Leibowitz Realty / Knightlines Mortgage)

Can you fix the "viewed" count so that it doesn't register every time the agent clicks on? The counts are misleading if the agent keeps looking at it.

Thanks!

11/26/2006 06:48 PM

by Elizabeth Ruvo CRB - All Florida GMAC Real Estate (All Florida GMAC Real Estate)

Wow, something that's already great, keeps getting better!!! You guys are awesome

11/26/2006 07:19 PM

by Chris Tesch College Station, Texas Real Estate (RE/MAX Bryan College Station)

Poor Matt. You can keep some of the people happy some of the time. But, you can't keep all the people happy all of the time...I say you guys are doing a great job. And just imagine it's FREE...TLW...ROAR!

11/26/2006 07:19 PM

by "The Lovely Wife"...Broker Bryant's Wife... (Co-Owner Tutas Towne Realty, Inc.)

Quick question with groups... can a person be a member of multiple groups or are they limited to one group? I like the idea and can already see some potential avenues to run with it.

Thanks...

11/26/2006 07:25 PM

by Knightlines Mortgage Services, LLC

Jason: Yes people can be a member of as many groups as they want.

11/26/2006 07:35 PM

by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

Matt, these sound like interesting changes, I hope they work out as well as you expect them to. I have a busy day on Tuesday, but I will be checking this out as soon as I have a break. Thanks for all the hard work, now give yourself a raise...LOL.

11/26/2006 07:41 PM

by George Souto (McCue Mortgage Co.)

I've been a member about a week and enjoying the free updates! Keep up the good work!

11/26/2006 08:03 PM

by David Elya ABR, e-PRO, GRI - Broker Owner (WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Excel)

Welcome to Active Rain David, and the AR guys will continue to blow you away, mark my word.

11/26/2006 08:09 PM

by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

Alright, thanks for keeping us posted and for listening!

11/26/2006 08:14 PM

by Cynthia Sloop (Community Property Manager)

Matt

The updates will begin at 4AM PST or end then?

I am hoping end, so that we can access AR during the day on Tuesday.

Chris

11/26/2006 08:42 PM

by Christopher Howard (Fillmore Real Estate)

Chris: In theory the updates should cause less than a minute of downtime.

11/26/2006 08:45 PM

by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

I'm happy to hear that the blog tags issue will be improved.

Can you explain a bit more about how the new 'groups' feature will work? Like...

How do you invite others to a group?
Will only the one who started the group (or leaders/moderators) be able to invite/accept members into the group?
Any incentives (points or otherwise) for being a group leader/moderator?
Will there be a limit as to how many group leaders/moderators can manage each group and feature posts?
Do we have to join a group (or groups) or can we decide individually to stay 'with the whole'?
... etc.

11/26/2006 08:46 PM

by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

LOL I can hear Matt sighing now. Matt, this is a major change, so however long it takes and whenever you do it, we will live even if we are in withdrawals. : -) My name is Carole and I am an AR blogaholic

11/26/2006 08:46 PM

by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

LOL... good one, Carole! Your next assignment is to re-read and follow Mary's blog post, 12 Step Program to Managing Blog Addiction.

11/26/2006 08:56 PM

by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

Leanne, do I have to stop tonight? I know if I wait until tomorrow, and have just one more night of AR post reading, I can stop tomorrow anytime I want! :0)

11/26/2006 09:05 PM

by Carole Cohen Realtor®, ePRO (Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office)

Go to bed, Carole! LOL... sound familiar? :-)

"I can stop anytime I want"... now there's a classic line!

11/26/2006 09:22 PM

by South Florida Real Estate • Leanne Paynter (HomesCo.com)

Very cool idea... I think I'll start a group on RE marketing. Anyone interested??

11/26/2006 09:34 PM

by Justin Smith - Blogging Coach {Blogging, SEO, SEM, SMO} (Real Estate Tomato)

The organization it can creates is brilliant! Another nice bit of work gang!!

11/26/2006 09:50 PM

by Barnett Associates Real Estate, LLC

Excellent...waiting for the next AR improvements...Eli.

11/26/2006 10:03 PM

by Eli Magen (New World Mortgages,(Mortgage Company))

Just keeps getting better and better :)

11/26/2006 10:33 PM

by Carl Guild - Central Connecticut Real Estate (Prudential Connecticut Realty)

The skys the Limit!

11/26/2006 10:46 PM

by Wilmington NC Real Estate Ginger & Roger Sala Keller Williams (Keller Williams Wilmington North Carolina)

I can't wait to play with the groups function as I think it will be helpful for the MREA book club. Thanks for adding more cool features!

11/26/2006 11:16 PM

by Ken Smith (Suburban House Hunters)

OH this sounds fantastic...THANKS!..as always

11/26/2006 11:33 PM

by Asheville's GREEN Land & Homes ECO-Steward Realty

Very cool...can't wait to see the new features.

Pete Willner
Who Will? Pete Will!
Broker Direct Real Estate
Murrieta, CA.
www.petewill.com

11/26/2006 11:36 PM

by Pete Willner (Broker Direct Real Estate)

How this will be different from our Associate Groups? Does it create another category of blog visibility? I'm sure you'll have an overview blog posted once the Groups feature is successfully installed.

11/27/2006 01:18 AM

by John Novak - Las Vegas and Henderson NV Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace)

Matt Congratulations on the 6 month anniversary. You have created a wonderful and useful tool for Real Estate Professionals Nationwide. A creative information netwrok which is enjoyed by an ever growing community. Thank you for your committment to excellence and pursuit of perfection!

11/27/2006 05:26 AM

by Allison Stewart REALTOR ®St. Cloud Florida (Florida Pines Realty, Inc)

Thanks for the new features - we'll all spend the day in anticipation. As John just mentioned, I'm sure you'll hae an overview blog posted.

11/27/2006 06:52 AM

by Sharon Simms St Pete Florida CRS CIPS CLHMS (RE/MAX Metro)

Groups are a good idea... hope it works well...

11/27/2006 08:19 AM

by Michael Roberts (Real Estate Professionals of Glynn)

Sounds like you guys have been busy little beavers. Can't wait to see all the changes.

11/27/2006 09:07 AM

by Mary McKnight (1parkplace)

Matt, thanks for continuing to develop such a great tool and support center. We at Salt Lake Real Estate fully support the Active Rain Community.

11/27/2006 11:13 AM

by Keith Jeppson - Salt Lake City Real Estate (Keller Williams Utah Realty)

Great news Matt, especially the groups feature, can't wait for all the new changes.

11/27/2006 11:23 AM

by The Blog Artist - marti garaughty (The Art Of Marketing You)

Matt,

based on the new system of "Groups", do i take it you`re doing away with the point system? That makes more sense...

11/27/2006 12:06 PM

by Scott Daniels Florida Real Estate 2.0. Agents Earn 100% Commission. (Florida List For Less Realty, Inc. Broker/Owner. )

Scott: The point system won't be going away, we will still use to to reward contributing members by giving them and their content on ActiveRain (and our consumer sites).

11/27/2006 12:26 PM

by Matt Heaton (ActiveRain Corp.)

this will be the first place i log into tomorrow

11/27/2006 05:01 PM

by Tom Burris | FHA VA & Conv. Texas Mortgage Loans (DallasLoanGuy.com)