indieguana Rollout Notes

It’s the official beta launch of indieguana (developed under the name indieguana.com).

This is the first entry in site updates, so I’ll try to list out as many new features and fixes as I can remember. I’m going to strive to keep better dev notes as I work from here on out. I will also be moving future updates from the GenreDB Project (deprecated) to this blog category.

• The indie book discoverability platform launches under its branded name and domain: indieguana.com
• The shelf feature is tested and working. Users can choose from three options — queue, reading, or finished — to indicate their interest in a book. Currently, this feature only appears in the main Books archive or individual book pages. This is our launch social proofing tool, and will eventually be augmented with a full review system.
• Author following is now an option. Users can follow from book pages or author profiles. The new “My Feed” page will populate only with books and Updates from authors they follow.
• The Wizard feature on the homepage will help readers find their next book. It’s sparse right now because it depends entirely on a lot of new books being added! Once enough books are on the site, we’ll expand this feature.
• Complete UX rebuild.
• Improved project (book) creation form. It’s now two steps, with the Press Kit step being easily skippable. We’ve also added theme previews to the form so users can see theme styling without trial and error.
• Beta tester indie authors will be given First Edition member status permanently on their author profile. This awards a badge and motion halo.
• New users will only be added to Authors archive if they publish a book. This is automatic. Users who don’t want to be listed on the author database can just remove their projects to be cut out.