This is the brand new VideoSift platform. There are so many new goodies that I'm not sure where to start. -but let's begin with the wide angle.

VideoSift has migrated off of the honorable open source Pligg Content Management System. We're now on a completely new platform, built from scratch to be just for VideoSift. The software was wrought completely from the blood and guts of our resident code ninja, Rommel (Lucky) Santor - and it's called VaroCMS. (Ask Lucky about the name).

We're also on a brand new server. Without going into too much detail, I want to mention that the whole platform is built for performance. We've removed almost all images from the layout, and static content like thumbnails, scripts and style sheets are stored on a Content Delivery Network (CDN). So no matter where you are in the world, you'll be downloading the heavy stuff quickly from a server near you.

We've also replaced the video listings with thumbnails instead of the actual embeds. This helps us in a couple of ways. It whacks off about 400K from a front-page load (10 embeds). It also lets you close a video window and move on to the next one. If you are a regular Sifter, you know what I'm talking about: You're watching something- get bored and move to the next video down, but the previous video is still downloading, even though you don't want it to. That's fixed.

Finally, comment threads now expand dynamically under video posts- so you can check out the discussion without having to interrupt a playing video.

Channels

Member created Collectives have been merged with Channels. If you were a Collective Manager, you are now a Channel Manager.

Channels have been made into real sub-communities with individual "Talk" areas and queues.

We're sorry that we were not able to migrate your Collective CSS styles to the new VideoSift - but- now channel managers can change almost everything about a channel's UI. Go crazy.

Comments

I mentioned that comments expand under video posts. The other big change is the "applaud" system for comments. Five applauds of a great comment gives the commenter a star point. Alternatively, five "inappropriate" votes will make the comment disappear from view.

I know there's some trepidation about this feature in our community - but I think it will be a change for the good. I expect it will be used much more to reward all of the time people put into crafting good comments around here. We don't want the "inappropriate" button to be used for vendettas, grudges or even when you disagree with a comment. It's really for the gross stuff - use your judgement and err on the side leniency.

The recent comments page also now tracks comments in other places like profiles, Channel Talks and Playlists.

Invocations

This is my favorite feature on VideoSift- because it grew organically out of the community. I love how Sifters work invocations into comments to make a kind of meta speech. Now, videos can be assigned to channels by invoking the short title (sub-domain) of the channel. *WTF, this is going to fun, *woohoo, lets *rocknroll.

There are also a lot more admin invocations that are available depending on your star level. The complete list is here.

The Dead Pool

Bronze Stars and above have access to a special area called "The Dead Pool" It's more of a hospital really, but the name stuck. When a video is marked *dead, the original poster is notified by email, and they have 48 hours to find an alternate source for the embed. If it's not fixed in that time, it goes to the The Dead Pool.

In the Dead Pool, the video code can be swapped out by any privileged Sifter and returned to the live site. The fixer receives a star point for fixing the video, but the original poster keeps ownership of the video.

Thanks

Thanks go first to the man of the hour. Lucky's had very little sleep, so be nice to him. Every line of code from VideoSift 3.0 has sprung fully formed from his forehead - and that takes a lot out of someone. I don't know how we got a coder of L's calibre working for VideoSift, but we appreciate him greatly.

Thanks next to the alpha and beta testers who ran the code through its paces. That was invaluable, and shines a nice light on what the shared brainpower of a community can do.

Lastly, thanks go to Ricardo Galli, and Pligg, the creators of the CMS that we are leaving. In my un-media-savvy attempt at getting some publicity for VideoSift 3.0, I did some damage to Pligg that I didn't intend. I regret that. We are very grateful for having a platform like Pligg for the last 18 months.