Sam Goto, Software Engineer
Photos have long been a popular feature of orkut, which is why we have engineers working full-time to make it easier for you to upload, share and browse photos on orkut. Recently, we increased our photo capacity so you can upload as many as you like, and we made it easier for you to organize your photos once you have them in your orkut albums. This week, we launched photo tagging so that you can label your orkut friends in your photos.
Here's how it works: when you're browsing your own or your friends' photo albums, simply click the "add tag" link below the bottom right corner of the photo. Then click your mouse over the friend you would like to label. A box will appear, prompting you to type your friend's name. As you type, the field will auto-complete so you can easily find the orkut friend you'd like to tag. When you browse tagged photos, hover over the name of a person to see which person he or she is in the photo. If you click, you'll be taken to his or her profile.
When one of your friends tags you in a photo, you'll receive an email. If you'd like to turn this notification off, you can go to notification settings. If a friend tags you in a photo and it's not you (or just a bad photo of you!), you can click on the trash can next to your name and delete the tag for good. The photo owner also has permission to delete any tags on his or her photos. If you'd rather not let your friends tag your photos, or be tagged in any photos, you can disable the feature completely in your privacy settings. Many people have already begun tagging their photos. Happy tagging!
Tag- that's me!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 1:30 PM
Sharing YouTube videos on orkut made simple
Monday, June 09, 2008 3:07 PM
Narayan Kamath, Software Engineer
Have you ever been watching a funny video on YouTube and decided halfway through that you must share it with your orkut friends? Previously, you had to go to your orkut "favorite videos" page and copy-and-paste the video URL to post these clips. Now you can share videos on orkut directly from YouTube! Click on the orkut logo under the video you are watching on YouTube, and you'll be taken directly to your "favorite videos" page on orkut. The URL of the video you're watching will already be loaded, so all you need to do is hit "add video" to post. Now that it's easier than ever, go ahead and share videos with your friends on orkut.
Private communities for your work or school
Thursday, June 05, 2008 5:56 AM
Posted by Kuldeep Gharat, Software Engineer
Communities on orkut come in all shapes and sizes. Large, open communities are great for meeting new people and getting news on topics you care about, while smaller ones help you keep in touch with friends and people from your school or work. When we launched private communities several months ago , we let community owners decide who could access content in their communities -- all orkut users or just members of those specific communities. Recently, we added additional functionality to let you create communities that are only open to people who share your email domain. For example, I have an @google.com email address for work, so I could create a community that is only accessible to those who also have @google.com email addresses.
How does it work? First, enter the email address for the domain you share with your classmates or colleagues into the contacts tab of your profile. When creating a new community, simply choose the "validated - email validation required" option, then select the domain from the drop down box. Anyone who wants to join the community will first be required to validate his or her email address from that domain before being allowed to join.
A faster, lighter version of orkut
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 1:08 PM
Nishant Redkar, Software Engineer
A few weeks ago we launched a low bandwidth version of orkut that makes your experience on orkut faster. This is especially helpful if you are using a 56.6 or 64 kps modem, or if you are on a DSL connection with many users. How does it work? The low bandwidth version of orkut avoids downloading images unless you really want them, which lets you navigate through the site more quickly.
When orkut pages seem to be taking a long time to load, you'll receive a prompt that lets you switch to the low bandwidth version. Similarly, orkut also prompts you to switch back to the regular version if the pages start downloading quickly again. If it seems like your connection is slow and you don't see a message, you can manually switch to the low bandwidth version by going to the general settings tab.
Although some things are displayed differently in the low bandwidth version compared to the regular version (for example, your friends and communities will appear as simple lists, rather than photos), people who have tried the low bandwidth version have told us that they are sticking with it: it's saving them money (if they pay by amount of data downloaded) and is making it more efficient and fun to browse the site. So give the new version a spin -- it may save you time or money or both!
If you're in India and feel like a change of scene...
Monday, June 02, 2008 6:55 AM
Nishant Redkar, Navneet Nair and Narayan Kamath
Since orkut first launched back in 2004, the site has had a soothing, blue color scheme that we've all come to know and love. When we redesigned the interface last August, we switched up some elements but kept the blue theme. While some of you love it, we've also heard that others would like more freedom to customize your orkut experiences, just as you customize your profiles. Now you can make your orkut profile reflect your mood for the day or change the theme to match the current season.
We recently began rolling out 12 themes to a percentage of our Indian users, and these themes should be available to all Indian users by the end of this week. We're currently testing this new feature, and if we hear that users like it, we plan to roll it out for everyone on orkut and continue offering more new themes.
How do you switch your theme? Click on the "change theme" link in the top navigation bar or go to the"themes" tab in the edit profile page. You'll then see our gallery page, where you can check out all the themes that are currently available. Alternatively, if you visit a friend's profile page and he has a theme you like, click on "get this theme." When you select a theme, all your orkut pages will have this theme: your profile, scrapbook, photos, videos, etc. When other users visit your profile or other pages, they will see your selected theme.
There is also an option to disable all themes in case you'd rather navigate orkut all in blue. There are times when you access orkut from slow speed connections, and images on the site may take longer than usual to download. On those days, it may help to disable themes completely so that your friends' profiles load more quickly.
So go ahead, be colorful! Express yourself. Let us know what you think of the themes at our orkut help group.
App highlight: BuboMe
Monday, May 26, 2008 7:01 AM
Posted by Connie Zhou, BuboMe.com
[Since apps recently went live on orkut, we're excited to invite orkut developers to guest blog and tell us about their apps here.]
BuboMe is a photo application that lets you pimp your photos or your orkut friends' photos by adding themes and speech bubbles.
The BuboMe photo app is currently available in 5 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. If you have friends who are not on orkut, they can still create a bubo by going to BuboMe.com.
What's going on next to our blog
Monday, May 19, 2008 10:43 AM
We noticed the other day, after we added yet another link to the right-hand nav of our blog, that there is quite a lot going on over there. We thought it might be helpful to provide a short description for each item, so here is a top-to-bottom list of the tools and links we have listed.
- Search box: search our blog for quick access to past posts
- "Join orkut" button: chances are good that you're already a member, but just in case ;)
- Site feed: learn how to read our blog's content through other feed reading services, such as netvibes, pageflakes, or iGoogle
- "+ Google" button: quickly add our blog to your iGoogle homepage or Google Reader account
- Archives: browse past posts by month
- Email us your thoughts: pretty self explanatory, but please keep sending your feedback!
- Orkut birthday gadget: add a gadget to your iGoogle homepage so you can keep track of your friends' birthdays without keeping orkut open all day long
- Orkut demographics: we added this link in response to popular demand
- Share your orkut stories: we have featured several of these on our blog and on the orkut site, so keep them coming
- We've also provided links to a number of other products that are popular among orkut users, as well as links to dozens of other Google blogs
Happy Mother's Day!
Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:40 AM
To honor the thousands of mothers and mothers-to-be that we have on orkut, we've put this special doodle on the login page today. We expect that you've already called home, seen your mom, or at least sent her a scrap, and if you haven't already, get to it! We know you care, because our largest community on orkut is for mom lovers!
What's new with you?
Thursday, May 08, 2008 6:21 AM
It is simple, quick and easy: go to your profile, type whatever you want to appear as your status in the box right below your name, and it is done! Now whoever views your profile can view your latest news. Permalink | Links to this post |
What do think of my photo? Make a comment!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 12:07 PM
Since photo sharing is one of the most popular ways to use orkut, we are constantly working to add more functionality to our photo albums. Last week we launched a feature that lets you rearrange your photos within an album, and we announced that you can upload up to 10,000 pictures to orkut (have you taken full advantage yet?). Today, we're happy to share that you can now comment on your friends' photos. Captions have always been a fun way to tell your friends what's going on in your pictures, but sometimes when you're looking at others' photos, you want to respond to the captions right there rather than sending a scrap or message. To post a comment, simply type your response in the comments section below the photo and hit "post comment." Your comment will show up below your friend's photo. If you decide afterwards that you'd like to take down your comment, you (or the photo owner) can always remove it.