22Slides

The “Tiles” layout we introduced a little while ago (based on the layout made famous by Pinterest) has proved to be very popular, but as some of you noticed, it loaded slower than the other layouts.

This was because the page had to wait for every image to load before it could figure out how to fit them together in those unique grids, but we just made it smarter!

Now the “Tiles” layout will display each image as they load, rather than having to wait until everything is loaded. This means your visitors won’t have to wait so long!

We released a new add-on that allows visitors to leave comments on your Tumblr blog posts. Visitors can now leave a comment as a guest (without signing in), or they can sign in using their Facebook, Twitter, or Google accounts.

It uses the awesome service Disqus to do this. So you’ll need to create a free account with them to use the add-on.

Instructions can be found here: http://help.22slides.com/article/blog-comments

We’re happy to report that early Saturday morning we made some big server changes to improve both page speed and overall reliability. This means pages should be a bit snappier than before, especially when there are lots of images to display.

The graph above shows the average time our servers took to deliver pages. Things were fast before, but now they’re even better and more consistent.

For those of you that like to dig into the details, here are some specs on our new setup:

• Intel® Xeon® E5-2670 processors
• RAID 10-protected, data-center-grade SSDs
• 40 Gigabits/second network throughput
• Triple-replicated file storage
• Files are distributed across 219 locations around the world, to ensure people get fast performance, no matter where in the world they’re located.

New Website Layout

We’ve introduced a new responsive site layout that features a full-width design, allowing your images to span your viewer’s entire monitor.

New Text Page Layouts

Along with a new site layout, we’ve also introduced new layout options for text pages. Now you can put your image to the left, right, or centered above your text.

Sharper Home Page Images

Home page image resolution has been increased from 1600px to 1800px along their longest side, so your home page should display your work more clearly than ever.

New Temporary Placeholder Page

If you’ve ever wished you could hide your website temporarily while you work on it, now you can. A temporary placeholder page can keep visitors out of your site until you’re done working.

Improved Contact Form

Our contact form got a facelift, complete with better alignment, larger text, and “required” field indicators.

Improved Formatting for Mobile

We’ve made big improvements to the way our “sidebar” layout is displayed on mobile, allowing your site to be displayed on mobile devices almost exactly like it is on desktops.

Other Stuff

• The design editor now allows customization of space between images in horizontal-scrolling galleries.
• Improved page naming. Page names will be much more predictable when multiple pages have the same name.
• Improved alternate home page URLs, so the home page will always be at the root level address, not matter which page is assigned as the home page.

One thing I think makes 22Slides different is the fact that it’s run like a freelancing business, because that’s what we started out doing: freelance photography, design, and web development.

What does that mean? It means we can relate to our clients, we appreciate efficiency and actively search for the best tools for any job. In doing so, we’ve found some services that we find extremely useful to not only us, but anyone running a small business, and I’d like to share our favorites with you.

1. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a great online billing and accounting service. I’ve been using it for years with my freelance work and couldn’t imagine working without it. Their customer service is amazing, and is actually a huge influence on how we run customer service at 22Slides.

With it, you can send invoices to clients, collect payments online, keep track of expenses, client contact info, and it will even spit out reports for your taxes at the end of the year… basically all the stuff that’s no fun to do yourself, yet extremely important to running a home-based business.

My favorite feature though, is the fact that it can automatically send payment reminders and apply late fees to overdue invoices. No one likes tracking down a client for payment, so it’s a welcome relief to let FreshBooks take care of that part. And, because the reminders are coming from a 3rd party (FreshBooks, rather than yourself), I’ve found that problem clients are actually more likely take it seriously and pay up, because they know they can’t negotiate with it.

2. Square

Making it easy for clients to pay is important, making it borderline fun is even better. Square allows you to accept credit card payments with your phone, which is great for collecting deposits for work on the spot.

There’s no setup fee, and you only pay a small percentage of each transaction, so there’s really no reason to not sign up and get a free card reader, just in case you need one.

3. HelloFax

I don’t have a home phone, but still need to send/receive the occasional fax. Driving to the local office supply store and paying for each page gets expensive and takes way too long. Having to tell a client that I don’t have a fax machine is even worse.

With HelloFax, you can send faxes straight from their website and receive faxes to your email. You don’t need an extra phone line or a fax machine. It’s all handled with PDF files, which is great for those trying to cut down on paper.

Google Drive

Microsoft Office is as expensive as it is terrible, and many find Apple’s office apps to be a bit “weird”.

Google Drive is a solid (and free) alternative that works really well. You can create documents, spreadsheets, online survey forms, and even powerpoint-style presentations.

It’s also worth noting that Google Drive’s iPhone app is the best spreadsheet editor I’ve found for the iPhone.

5. Google Voice

Don’t want to give clients your cell number? With Google Voice, you can create a new business phone number that’s just routed through your existing phone.

You can have a custom voice message recording, and a nice little bonus is that it will let you send free text messages.

6. Dropbox

Dropbox puts a folder on your computer that syncs with any of your other computers/phones/devices. It’s a great way to keep things synced up if you have multiple machines for your work.

A lesser-known use though, is for backups. Dropbox will keep multiple backups of your files. This means that if you accidentally erase or overwrite something, you can go to their website and recover it.

You can also use it to send large files to people, and 22Slides even has an add-on that uses Dropbox to create a client review area to your site.

7. A Physical Mailbox

Clients treat you differently when they realize you’re working out of an extra bedroom. Getting a mailbox somewhere will make your business look more professional and offer more privacy, as you don’t have to share your home address.

UPS Stores offer a really good mailbox service. They’ll give you a real address (not a PO Box, which is good for a few reasons), let you call in to ask if you have any mail, and offer a mail forwarding service.

US PO boxes are a lot cheaper, but don’t accept certain kinds of mail, don’t work for some business directories, and don’t allow you to call in to see if you have mail.