Disqus and JS-Kit both recently made major updates to their commenting systems, bringing them into the world of realtime. Not only can you see new comments show up immediately, but both also aggregate comments from across the social web. So, what’s the difference between the two? Why would you choose either?

Disqus has actually split into two separate but complimentary services. Disqus Comments and Disqus Profile. Disqus Comments is the popular commenting solution that the company is well known for. If you’re already a Disqus user, you don’t have to do anything special to activate the latest features. Simply change to the new default theme Narcissus. Besides all the standard features your used to, comments update in realtime. Under your real comments, you’ll find the social reactions from people across the social media world who have talked about your post. The reactions are powered by uberVU.com and Backtype.com. According to their blog, the new Disqus also includes:

• New moderation panel. We started from scratch to make it the best way to moderate both large and small volumes of comments. Partially inspired by an email inbox, it was built to cut down on the amount of time spent on moderation.
• Improved automated tools, including a new spam filter and new ways to combat abusive language in comments.
• Other improved moderation tools such as multi-site moderation, multiple moderators, blacklists and whitelists.
• New theme customization options, such as the ability to set default avatar pictures for your site. These features are meant to give you better integration with your site.

Disqus Profile is a way for commentators to control their comments. The new Disqus will actually go out and find comments that may be yours so that you can claim them. Other features include:

• Vanity URLs. You can now access your public profile by going to disqus.com/{your username}
• Enable the option to automatically share your comments on Facebook, Twitter, and other services.
• Full shared control with publishers. You have the ability to edit and delete comments without impacting the site that the comment is on.

Disqus and JS-Kit are different products with different goals. While Disqus seems to be focused on the actual comments and commentators, JS-Kit seems to be more about generating buzz for the actual content creator. We here at Black Web 2.0 have chosen JS-Kit, but which system you choose depends on exactly what you’re trying to do.

What service handles your comments?

Nokware talked last month about Honey Magazine’s latest incarnation as a web-only publication with a substantial $10 million investment behind it. The site recently went live and is currently in beta.

The new Honey Magazine site design shuns the familiar brown and orange of previous site designs and went for an edgier, darker look with various shades of magenta and selected grunge elements used throughout. Honey’s affiliated social networking components are more prominent on this new site, with login information prominently displayed and integrated in a few places. Commenting on any of the articles or blog entries requires you to register for “The Hive”, the new name of the HiveSpot.com integration. There is the ability to “share” articles, create user profiles, and join different content groups as well.

One major oversight I caught while navigating through the site is that none of it can be syndicated. For blogs particularly, I looked for an RSS feed, but none were available. I also couldn’t discern the benefit of “sharing” the content since a) you had to be a registered member of the site, and b) the articles aren’t set up to link to other social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Delicious, etc.). The footer links were all broken when I visited the site, and the right sidebar modules don’t offer a clear demarcation between categories upon first glance (the latest activity module, for example, lets you toggle between groups and blogs, but it’s hard to tell which is the active content tab). Even the link to give feedback, which is only on one page of the site), doesn’t jump out at you immediately, which could confuse users. The front page also mixes plain text with graphical text which makes the site less dynamic and accessible. There’s also no mobile version like I know in the last Honey Magazine post suggested they should have.

Overall the site is a definite visual departure from the tried and true Honey Magazine style. What do you think?

Sister 2 Sister magazine, a black entertainment and celebrity lifestyle magazine that targets black women, recently relaunched its website using the drupal platform. Drupal is a great out of the box open-source solution for building communities and blog networks, that’s if you have a developer that knows how to customize it.

I was excited to see the new site and explore what it had to offer. So let’s start with the good. One of the first things I noticed was the ease of navigation. I didn’t get lost and it was easy to find my way back to the home page. The color scheme — particularly its bright blue background — was unsettleing at first, but it has grown on me. Overall, the design was a departure from the run-of-the-mill, and I was happy to see that they stayed away from many of the Web 2.0 design trends.

The site also features a nice blend of content. They cover a little bit of everything, with a main focus on celebrities. And they have even customized their own video player. Even though I am an advocate of using services like YouTube so that people can find your content via other means, it still makes sense for the site.

Now here’s the stuff that’s not so good. The fist thing I noticed when I visited the site was that the header image needs to be cleaned up. There is a gray area behind it that really takes away from the overall aesthetic of the page. I think that whoever made the image forgot to turn off the background layer in Photoshop when they saved it. Also, the image is rather large, with a bunch of blank space. With the search bar being in there it isn’t big enough for a 728×90 ad unit so I’m not sure what the justification for it is.

Another thing I noticed was the featured content module with its gray sort nav that is displayed at the top of the page with the title overlays on feature images. It isn’t completely stylized and the red button and the text don’t go with the rest of the site theme, at all. Besides it sort of does more than just overlay the photos — it completely covers about half of the photo. It kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, which isn’t good because it isn’t completely functional. When you click on the story links from the side bar, they don’t go anywhere. They just bring the story up to the main module window. That is one click too many to get to the actual story for me.

The next issue was with the Jamie’s Kitchen section of the site that features video. While I enjoyed the videos, they are all on the same page rather than individual pages with their own comment sections. It just isn’t the most user friendly experience, plus, videos on multiple pages = more page views.

There were a few other small things, like the break where the breadcrumbs are and the color choice there making things get lost, and the lack of ad space, but, overall, I think they are off to a good start. They have a few things that need to be fixed, but once those are done, the site has the potential to be a nice supplement to their print offering. They have lots of good multimedia content and an e-commerce offering, though I’m not sure what they’re going to sell as it is empty right now. But I’ll check back regularly to watch their progress.

TheRoot.com, covered before here on Black Web 2.0, rolled out their new design this week. According to managing editor Lynette Clemetson, the site’s new look and feel is designed to make it easier to find content sections, writers, and topics. The Root released a link to the new design (accompanied with a five question survey) just before Thanksgiving.

The Root’s new design uses the familiar grid layout, and simplifies the flow of information with shorter blurbs and columns of information on the front page. A huge ad block does stick out like a sore thumb (ads are not the same size, so it shifts other content down the page), and an animated spinner underneath loads the latest blog entry from one of the site’s columnists. There are also dynamic content modules for the latest five links from the Washington Post, Newsweek, and Slate Magazine.

New sections and secondary pages are introduced as well, such as Multimedia for video and image galleries (as well as a soon-to-come podcast). TheRoot brings back the site’s family tree mapping section. The Fam, an unfinished section, looks to provide a social networking aspect to the site, including user profiles and an interactive message board. There is even a new Jobs section which is powered by Careerbuilder.com.

Spacing and readability have been enhanced with this new design, but I think a better choice of typography (Arial and Times New Roman are everywhere) and maybe a unified style guide for links and section colors should have been used to help bring these new sections out and keep related sections together. My hopes are that they are using the data from the aforementioned survey to help shape and refine the look of the site for a future redesign.

What do you think? Is The Root’s new look a vast improvement over the old version?

Want the latest information on Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant? It’ll cost ya.

The recently relaunched KB24.com sports not just a clean charcoal and chrome design courtesy of Ground (CTRL) and nineindustries, but some social networking and fan interaction features (video, audio, photos, chats, personal profile pages, etc.) and a $50 price tag to access them all.

Oh don’t worry, you also get a T-shirt with that purchase. See? It’s not all bad.

If you’re looking to go the free route, Kobe’s new site still offers some information. The “News” portion of the site functions a bit like a blog, offering information on Kobe’s media appearances, games, and new kicks available in the KB24.com store. You can also check out the Lakers home and away schedule and purchase tickets through TicketMaster.com. The “Media” portion contains over 85 videos of Kobe in various behind-the-scenes footage, and “Camps” provides information on Kobe Basketball Academy at Loyola Marymount University in July 2009.

At a time when more NBA players are taking command of their web presence not just through sites like Twitter, but through the NBA as well, $50 seems a steep price to pay for features which some sites offer for free. I’m hoping the T-shirt makes up most of that price, but even if it doesn’t, I’m curious as to how many diehard KB fans are going to shell out a Grant for that access.

Last week Global Grind launched yet another redesign/facelift I am guessing to help improve their user experience.  The design and layout is noticeably different, the new look masks the Digg like interface and functionality into a more editorial friendly design, programming submissions as editorial content.  What is also noticeably different is that the navigation is now broken down into Channels, Globalview, Groups, and The Daily Grind.

Channels play into the whole editorial theme that seems to have taken shape across the site.  Some of the “Channels” you are use to are still there while others like Technology aren’t.  I guess I really shouldn’t say technology isn’t there, it appears to be subliminally included in the Entertainment category of all things. 

Globalview is more or less the same as it was, collecting content from a variety of sites across the web.  The Daily Grind, which is the site’s daily newsletter, is published in blog format.  I am not sure if this is a change or not, I don’t clearly remember it being there though it could have easily been hidden.  Not so sure about the shocking change of interface though when you come to this section of the site, mainly because it is in the top level navigation and the user already expects to see more of the same with slight differences at most.

Groups by far is the biggest and most interesting addition to the site though I’m still not sure exactly what it is.  I get the concept of groups, it is a good one.  What I don’t get is the group activity as it relates to Global Grind’s core functionality which is (was) submitting content.  Group activity is categorized by Most Recent, Most Votes, Most Views, and Most Comments but as it relates to that specific group or the content that group is centered around or the users who belong to that group?  Confusing right?  That will need to be hashed out a bit more, hopefully it is not an attempt to recreate a Ning-ish hellish experience on every micro-niche or topic known to man.  Oh, one thing about the groups that I do like is the ability to grab a groups RSS feed.  My guess is that this group functionality will help support the Global Grind Publishers Network that will launch in late September 2008.  A snippet of what they are touting from an anonymous source:

…The GGPN provides a robust partnership – a publishing partnership, as opposed to just an advertising network!  As most advertising networks have shown, they can provide many sites with access to new advertisers and incremental revenue….

In addition to incremental revenue, membership in The Global Grind Publishers Network (GGPN) can provide your company with content syndication – getting your content in front of more readers…

Additionally, the Global Grind Publishing Network adds value by providing traffic generation via widgets, links, and badges across the entire network; delivering ads from premium advertisers; promoting your content in relevant content categories on GlobalGrind, and integrating your content within our blogs and newsletters…

Hmmmm, make sense now?  Lets not also forget about the basis of this publisher network, Glam Media.  Publishers who join the network can surely expect to get many of the same benefits they get from Glam especially regarding the distribution of widgets or syndicating content through widgets.

I also tried submitting content to see if the experience had changed at all but guess what?  I had to verify my account all over again, for the second time no less.  Every time there is a redesign of some sort I get this prompt.  I understand why it is being done, it is just kinda annoying, especially when I just want to use the product…so I skipped it and will get back to that later.  On another note traffic was way, way, way up for GG in July so perhaps these rounds of enhancements are working:

Prior to this story being published Global Grind was contacted for more info on the GGPN with no response as of today.

I had the pleasure of being able to talk with Brett Wright of UptownLife.net. UptownLife recently relaunched, a little over a couple a weeks ago, and is more or less the online version of Uptown magazine. See below for the full email exchange:

BW20: How were you all able to successfully transition your print creative direction on to the web? Did you run into any challenges across mediums that modified how certain design elements were treated on the web?

Brett: Our goal was to do the complete opposite. We did not want to have a magazine site online. Our objective was to have the Uptown brand represented online leveraging some of our assets but making it a lifestyle site for the Luxury Lifestyle. We have information that you can access on a more frequent basis and a wider range of content. Our goal is to inspire, inform and interact with consumers.

BW20: Aside from design what is UptownLife.net and it’s overall web strategy?

Brett: Our strategy is to be the premier destination for (AAA) Affluent African American consumers online. Rich Media, Features, Blogs and Lifestyle.

BW20: What is Uptownlife.net doing differently than other online publications?

Brett: We are different in a sense that we are not trying to be an online publication. We want to be a destination for information and discovery.

BW20: I noticed that Uptownlife.net also has additional offline presence in the form of a restaurant, how will this venture play into your web presence?

Brett: We are developing the brand vertically and horizontally. The magazine is the first phase and the foundation that will establish our credibility, the site will entrench us and the other ventures will connect us. Restaurants, Commerce, Products and Events eventually.

BW20: Are you able to delve into your plans for brand extension a little further?

Brett: At this point I can’t about future projects but the current ones include Uptown Restaurant in ATL, A Guide Venture with BlackBook, TV Show Uptown Life and Online Movie Production Partnership with Nehts.

BW20: Lately I have been noticing a trend of luxury lifestyle brands either extending a presence online or creating that presence online from scratch. What types of differences in web strategies (between “luxury” and typical) are there?

Brett: Not sure about the others but we are trying to figure it out as everyone else is. We strongly believe that there is great opportunity for luxury online as well as in the untapped AAA online.

BW20: So is UptownLife.net strictly a content play in regards to it being an online destination for AAA or will it possibly expand to something further and more interactive?

Brett: Right now it is content primarily we are looking at some other options around social interaction but not sure when or how that will net out. We will take our cues from the consumers as we roll out. As you know you have to be nimble and open to changes in the tech space.

BW20: What are your internal goals for user interaction with the site, with various forms of content being the main offering right now, what will keep your users coming back and engaged longer than a typical session?

Brett: We are focused on 3 pockets: Clique our photo section, Uptown TV our Broadband/Rich Media section and Our Blogs. This will evolve to include restaurant guide and more to follow.

BW20: With that said what does a profile of your typical user look like?

Brett: It is still to early to predict user profile but it will probably mirror our readership.

BW20: How is UptownLife.net involved in online social media if at all? If so what elements of your brand are extended into that realm?

Brett: The social media piece is covered slightly with our Clique application and we are evaluating whether or not we will delve deeper into the genre.

There you have it…A Luxury Lifestyle Destination on the web for the Affluent African American. Do you think this “destination” will play into your life or work its way into your website rotation at all?

AOL has done an exceptional job positioning themselves in most major vertical markets, but more than just their presence AOL has completely dominated most of these spaces. Black voices is no exception, the industry leader in the Black Community News, AOL is starting to see the benefit from the success of BV and other niche focused websites. AOL property’s have hit an all time high in high in unique visitors and traffic in March, the company says. Page views to AOL’s network of sites are up 35% over the last year and unique visitors up 11% to 56 million (AOL as a whole draws 209 million monthly unique visitors, says Comscore). AOL attributes its recent success to its year long rebranding and redesign efforts, noting that every key vertical site has been redesigned. (Check out our coverage of the Black Voices Redesign).

AOL has also focused on rebranding many of their niche sites by allowing them to drop the AOL brand altogether. This gives the sites the ability to establish themselves as separate entities allowing them to build upon their own brand success while potentially mitigating the damage if the parent brand takes a hit (and vise versa). This seem to be an overall trend with the promotion of most corporate own websites (See the Washington Post’s launch of TheRoot.com or IAC’s Launch of Rushmore Drive ).  

Via: Tech Crunch

What do you get if you mix the blog searching capabilities of Technorati, the news capabilities of Google News, the product aggregation of Froogle, with a Digg-like article submission and ranking system? The answer is… Wikio, the European based personalizable news portal and media search engine. Wikio delivers the top news and videos from over 55,000 media sites and over 30,000 blogs. With Wikio you can customize, save and share your own personal news pages by adding any keywords, subjects, or RSS feeds that interest you. Your custom portal pages will then be updated as soon as the keywords you specify are found in any articles, site, or blog indexed by Wikio. Wikio’s approach on personalization allows users to be as specific or as broad as they would like, and the fact that they only index a small amount sites (that I assume go through some sort of verification process) means that the information you get will more than likely come from a viable source.

Wikio recently expanded its offerings in its recent redesign with the release of Wikio Shopping. Still in beta, Wikio Shopping aggregates over 70,000 products from a wide variety of vendors. Wikio Shopping leverages the sites’ strong points (community and site indexing capabilities) by allowing users to rate and review both the products and vendors and by linking products with up to date news from Wikio media sites and blogs. Wikio aggregates from all of the big vendors including Amazon, Buy, and New Egg, which means that it is a safe bet when you’re looking for a good deal on the web.

Wikio’s union of community, shopping, mainstream news, and user generated content is a wonderful mix of some of the best features from the web’s biggest players. We will be certainly watching their progression.

Who said the housing slump couldn’t be overcome with a new coat of paint? Well the same theory applies to your favorite professional networking site. The jury may still be out on this, but the LinkedIn home page is in Beta test with a completely new coat of paint, with one or two new upgrades as well.

The redesigned page boasts a much better information architecture, particularly as it relates to navigating to core functionality like the inbox, profile, contacts, and groups. Additionally it provides a nice and concise snapshot view of the user’s profile with profile photo, # of contacts, and a summary of the number of views in a given week.

It is the middle of the page which gets a bit diluted for me. The Inbox most recent 5 messages I get; however, it is the box below which contains a summary of news feeds for a company that is at the bottom of my profile and really not pertinent or newsworthy right now, and there is no intuitive way to change this that I can find right now. I struggle with why I need it at all on my home page. It is followed by Network Updates, which has proven very useful and insightful and something I would value seeing higher in the hierarchy of information on my home page.

Finally in the right rail is a part-time house promo ad highlighting some of the other new features including LinkedIn tips, as well as the new LinkedIn mobile (http://m.LinkedIn.com).
More importantly, what follows is what I would have expected for the center body of content, which is an AJAX enabled set of modules/widgets that I can move around, reorder, add and subtract to this rail. Perhaps as this whole page is noted as being beta capability that maybe the flexibility of the rest of the page is coming.

Overall, the new home page is a step in the right direction to make LinkedIn more accessible, but it is not clear whether it will help them grow to their next plateau of being ready for an IPO or an acquisition target.