Last week we launched a new version of Twingly Channels, which more than every focuses on group communication and microblogging. We received a lot positive and encouraging feedback and got even covered on The Next Web, one of the leading tech blogs out there.
In this post we will give you an overview about the core functionality of Twingly Channels.
Before we get started, one important note: You don’t need to have a Twingly account in order to view Channels, but being logged in to Twingly will enhance your experience with Twingly since it enables you to share links or status updates, comment and like items, subscribe to existing Channels or create new ones.
In this tutorial we show you how Twingly Channel works when being logged in with your Twingly account. If you don’t have one yet, head over to this site to quickly create one.
The Channels homepage
This is the first page you see after having signed in to Twingly – the Twingly Channels homepage. It shows you a recent stream of user comments and likes across the Channels you’re subscribed to. The new version of Channels puts the user activity at the heart of the service, and this stream shows you how Twingly users in different Channels are engaging with the content that is being pulled into a particular Channel.
When you see an item that you are interested in, click on it and you will be send to a profile page for the item, showing you the source and blog reactions from across the web as well as comments and likes from Twingly users. Another option is to click on a user’s profile photo next to an item, which brings you to the user’s public page highlighting his/her latest activity on Twingly.
You can add content to any Channel you are subscribed to directly from the homepage. Simply type or copy your comment (and/or link) in the field titled “What do you want to share” and choose the Channel you would like to publish it to. Voilà!
The activity stream and the sharing feature on the homepage are great ways to discover new conversations, discussions, links, Channels and to quickly share your opinion or content. Below the activity stream on the homepage you find a list of your current subscriptions to Channels (if you are new to Twingly you won’t have any yet) as well as a couple of featured Channels that we recommend you to check out! You can click on any of those icons to access the Channel, or directly enter them through the unique link, e.g. http://www.twingly.com/ipad.
On the right to the activity stream we present you with the option to create a new Channel (here is a tutorial explaining how to do that) or to view the Top 100 most Subscribed Channels.
Now let’s say you enter a Channel of your choice:
The conversation view
Each Channel offers two different options to view it: The conversation view and the links view. When entering a new Channel, the default is the conversation view. This is one of the main features of the new Channels release. As on the Twingly Channels homepage the Channel-specific conversation view shows you posts, comments and likes by users who are subscribed to that Channel. If a conversation item is connected to an incoming piece of content clicking on it will get you to the item’s detailed profile page. Each item can be commented or liked. Comments and likes appear in realtime.
The links view
With the two tabs “Conversation” and “Links” on the top of each Channel page you can easily switch between the two different views. As in the older versions of the Channels tool, the links view allows you to either see a selection of the most popular content during the past 24 hours or a stream of the latest incoming links. Every piece of content you find in the links view is imported either through a feed or a keyword-based blog search. The admin of a Channel can add or remove feeds or search terms. Even in the link view you are able to like and comment on items – your activity is naturally also shown in the conversation view.
Give it a try!
The homepage with the activity stream as well as lots of Channels each consisting of a conversation and a link view – that’s what the new Twingly Channels is about. And at the centre of everything: Your posts, comments, conversations, links and likes. Share and discuss, like and enjoy.
Go to www.twingly.com and give the new Twingly Channels a try!