New Version Released: Getting followers with Version 13

[helene]

We’ve just released the latest update to VoiceMap’s apps! Version 13, codenamed Pepys, has a number of features that help you connect with your audience.

Here’s what’s new:

• Listeners can now follow you! Every time you publish a new tour, they’ll get a notification. It’s a simple way to get more eyes (and ears) on your tours.
• Listeners can follow destinations and when there’s a new tour there they’ll receive a notification.
• Listeners can subscribe to our new “Senses of Direction” newsletter. Just like many of our tours, it celebrates curiosity and the human connections that make travel meaningful. We’ll use it to highlight our favourite stories and locations across all of VoiceMap’s 450 destinations. You can subscribe by going to the footer of the website.

Some examples of what these look like:

Publisher dashboard updates coming soon

We’re also making some updates to your publisher dashboard, where you’ll soon see a follower count. There’s an example below.

We’re excited about this! We’re already seeing publishers gain followers and soon you’ll be able to track how many followers you have too.

Display your profile in multiple languages

Publishers with translated tours, available in more than one language, have been asking for a way to display their profiles in more than one language too. This is now live on the website, and it’ll be live in the apps by the end of this week.

To update your publisher profile, and add additional languages:

1. Click on Edit Profile from the My Account dropdown menu
2. Select the language from the dropdown menu on the page
3. Add your profile in the language you’ve chosen
4. Click save

We’ve seen a steady growth in returning users over the last few years, and the updates in Version 13 are all about encouraging listeners to come back and do another tour, and another one, and another…

I’m excited to hear how these new features help you connect with your audience and boost engagement with your tours! Feel free to check out the updates and share your thoughts below.

[annette]

And if you are wondering why the new update is called Pepys, then wonder no more.

Samuel Pepys – pronounced peeps (born February 23, 1633, London-died May 26, 1703, London) was an English diarist and naval administrator, celebrated for his Diary (first published in 1825), which gives a fascinating picture of the official and upper-class life of Restoration London from Jan. 1, 1660, to May 31, 1669.

The diary by which Pepys is chiefly known … extends to 1,250,000 words. It is far more than an ordinary record of its writer’s thoughts and actions; it is a supreme work of art, revealing on every page the capacity for selecting the small, as well as the large, essential that conveys the sense of life… One can open it on any page and lose oneself in the life of Charles II’s London, and of this vigorous, curious, hardworking, pleasure-loving man.

Pepys wanted to find out about everything because he found everything interesting. He never seemed to have a dull moment; he could not, indeed, understand dullness. One of the more comical entries in his diary refers to a country cousin, named Stankes, who came to stay with him in London. Pepys had been looking forward to showing him the sights of the town …

Pepys possessed the journalist’s gift of summing up a scene or person in a few brilliant, arresting words. He makes us see what he sees in a flash… Above all, Pepys possessed the artist’s gift of being able to select the vital moment.

Selections from Britaninca.com Samuel Pepys | English Diarist, Naval Administrator & Restoration Figure | Britannica

So now you know, VoiceMappers; our meters are high

[clive]

This is a great update! I like in the dashboard I have access to the comments of all my tours! Well done!

[helene]

Happy to hear that @clive! Yes, I didn’t mention it above, but on the “News and Updates” section on your dashboard, you can now see all your tour comments coming in and link directly to them in case you want to respond. We’ll also use this section for other VoiceMap news & updates.

[clive]

Hi @helene

I see that in the News and updated list in my dashboard each notification has a X in order to delete it… That X doesn’t seem to work? It would be good if I could remove any read notifications from the list.

Also, when clicking the link to a new comment it goes to the first comments page with the default setting of “relevant”. Shouldn’t that link go to “most recent”?

[helene]

Thanks for the feedback @clive we’ve noted it and are working on fixes.