With the academic year underway, I'm beginning to see evidence that fall is upon us. Besides the leaves changing color and the back to school sales, months of development is wrapping up and we're ready to show you what we've been working on.
Introducing "Fall '07", the quarterly upgrade to the systems and services available to you at Voices.com.
Search Engine
In this round of exciting new features and design updates, we've placed a strong emphasis on creating an outstanding search experience.
This starts with making it more obvious that anyone ( registered and non-registered users ) can visit Voices.com, type in a keyword and listen to professional voice over talents who match their search query.
How do we do this?
Simple. First, we are updating the look and feel of the "header", the top portion of every page of the website that contains the Voices.com logo, navigation tabs and help links. Yes, there is a search box there now, however many people simply don't see it there. After a few dozen calls from clients asking how they can search for voice talent profiles, we recognized that we needed to change how we presented the search engine. For that reason, the Voices.com search engine is now colored in lime green located prominently at the top of every page.
New Voices.com header for when people are logged out.
New Voices.com header for when people are logged in.
Notice how we've provided options to search:
- All Voices.com
- Male Voices
- Female Voices
There's also a link to the Advanced search page where power users can refine their search query by narrowing the location, category of work, and more.
Search Results
The search results have also received a face-lift. We've extended the area for the voice description, meaning the results display more words so the people searching can learn more about the voice talent they are about to click through to. You'll also see a jumbo-sized Flash audio player. Playing audio from the search results has never been easier. Finally, we'll be adding in category icons, demo titles and your voice-over demo tags to provide even more info for searchers to understand what they'll be hearing before they click the play button.
Voices.com New Search Results
These updates will go live the weekend of September 29, 2007.
Now, it's your turn. What would make the search experience better for you?
Add your comments below to let us know.
If you'd like to test out the new search engine, also leave a comment below and I'll send you a login username and password to our development environment.
David
I'd love to test the new system.
Like to help with beta testing.
I'd like to participate. I participated in the V123 beta to a limited degree, and I'd love the opportunity to test drive the new features. :)
I'd like to help beta test, too!
Features I'd like? Some of the features of your competitor:
1) I'd like to know how many have already auditioned for a gig.
2) I'd like to know if my audition was ever listened to.
This is a great idea. I'd appreciate the opportunity to test this out pre going live.
Thanks.
themagicvoice
keep smiling.
I'd love to be a tester.
I would like to be involved in the beta test.
Regards
Loretta
Make me a beta tester!
Would love the site to respond faster. I login from 3 different broadband locations and it's slow from all of them so I know the problem is not at my end. When I hit the 'Leads' button, it takes between 15-25 seconds to load. Either optimize the database, get a faster connection or both.
David,
Thanks for your input. In fact, just this past weekend, we upgraded to PHP 5.1, the fastest, most stable version of the programming language as well as optimized our MySQL database.
I trust you'll find the the website more responsive now.
Your suggestions are always welcome.
It is a lot faster - thanks for being so responsive.