Better caching system
I have finished implementing a new caching system which has turned out pretty effective. I have done some split tests with you guys - 10% of your visits on Iconfinder is with the old caching 
That way I can measure the effect of the new caching system. It turns out that the conversion rate (the percentage of users who download an icon) has increased with about 20% based on 5,300 visits.
I have bought the new server at Media Temple and will launch a redesigned interface (and new features) - hopefully before christmas.
Google-style “Did you mean …” have been implemented
I have just finished implemented a nice little feature. If you search with one or more keywords with no results you’ll get a Google-style suggestion. It takes your keywords and matches it against all the tags stored in the database and the one it find with the highest match (in percent) will be shown as a suggestion. When you click this suggestion you’ll will always get search results.
Try it here: http://iconfinder.net/index.php?q=foldertest
Hope you like it.
Donation for the new server
I just want to thanks those people who have donated money (Update: $30 so far) for the new Iconfinder server. I have planned to buy the server at Media Temple (http://mediatemple.net/webhosting/dv/) because of the easy upgrading if it is necessary. The price is ranging from $50 to $200 per month so I buy the best one I can afford from both donations and AdSense.
New feedback tool added
I’ve added a little feedback tool. Since I’m going to be updating Iconfinder in December 2008, I want to give you, the users, a possibility to influence what is going to be changed.
Please feel free to give me suggestions to make Iconfinder better.
Right now what you’ve been asking for are:
- More icons
- Faster server
- Easier browsing features (based on icon package or designer)
- Easier way to limit the icon sizes
- Fit results to the active browser area so you dont have to scroll
Iconfinder Gadget for Vista Sidebar!
My dear friend,
and to all users of Iconfinder,
I have created a gadget that enables search on Iconfinder directly from the Vista Sidebar. It’s not rocket science, but I missed such a gadget myself (and seeing that there was a gadget for OSX on the site) I thought the Vista users out there might be interested in having a gadget also
The gadget can be downloaded directly from my site here: http://www.pixelexpose.com/Iconfinder.gadget
Comments are welcome. Hope you like it.
/Gents (mg@gentsimports.dk)
New logo
I’m happy to present the new logo for Iconfinder. Hope you like the logo and the layout changes on the site.
New server
I have now upgraded to a faster server which should make Iconfinder much faster!I have also added a Feedback form which I hope a lot of you, users of Iconfinder, will use. I have planned to spend a lot of time and money on improving Iconfinder in 2008, so please give me your comments on which features you think should be added.
Use icons from Iconfinder in Mac OS X
You can replace the icons in Mac OS X (works with Leopard also) with a tool called Folder Brander. This little app is simple to use:
- Just drag the folder you want to change the icon to the application.
- Go to iconfinder.net and download an icon
- Drag the icon to the application and the icon is change.
It easy to change back to the original icon from the Folder Brander application.
Download Folder Brander here: http://www.yellowmug.com/folderbrander/
Battle of the icon search engine
Some days ago I ran into this comparison of Iconfinder and Iconlet. Allthough Iconlet is a competitor it’s still nice with some competition to stay motivated You must all choose side now!
http://healyourchurchwebsite.com/2007/08/13/iconfinder-v-iconlet-battle-of-the-icon-search-engine/
I’ve just read the book, Getting Real, from 37signals.com and it’s really worth the time. It’s about creating web appliactions with a technique they call Getting Real which I totally agree on.
You can find it here:
One month after (re)launch
It has been one month since the (re)launch the 16. of July and there have been 75.ooo visits. Many of these visits are by returning visitors which means you are overall satisfied with this site.
Right now I’m working on tuning the design and fixing the tag voting system. At the same time I’m cleaning up the code and making it all I’m rewriting it to object oriented because it was getting a bit messy with lots of functions :-/
It takes some time to do this but I’ll launch it as soon as possible. Some other features in the m aking are: bookmarking icons, downloading multiple icons and a new more graphical search cloud.
Please let me know if you have ideas for this site.
