Dusting off the cobwebs
Over the past couple of weeks, we have slowly rolled out a spiffy new version of Tumblr on the web. Here’s a smattering of goodies in the update:
- Dark mode is now available on the web! Along with a few other color schemes, too. Just click the silhouette figure in the upper right corner and then click “Change Palette” to cycle through all of ‘em.
- You can now view your likes page in the default view or in the new grid view.
- Same with any tagged pages. Here, try it out with the frog tag. A glorious grid.
- Copying the link to a post, reporting a post, or blocking someone whose content you don’t enjoy is easier than ever. Just click the meatballs menu (●●●) in the upper right corner.
Some of these visual changes are obvious, but the biggest transformation is the one you can’t see. This wasn’t just a facelift, we completely updated the web interface. The old one was outdated—over a decade old. Adding features to it wasn’t always easy, fixing bugs wasn’t always quick. It was clear that we needed to update the whole dang thing. So update the whole dang thing we did. The result? A faster Tumblr. The experience is smoother, it’s easier to add new features, and we’re able to squash any pesky bugs quicker than before.
XKit
This kind of web interface change means that some of your Tumblr browser extensions may not work. We understand how important these extensions are to those of you who want to customize your Tumblr experience as much as possible. Throughout this process, we’ve stayed in close communication with the people over at @new-xkit-extension to make sure our update was one that they could work with. We provided them with APIs they needed to begin moving over to this new platform. This also gave us the opportunity to discuss the benefits their extension brings to the community. Having their input on what makes their service valuable to the people who use it has been a true treat, and one we are grateful for. While XKit isn’t an official Tumblr tool, it’s one we know is dear to many of you, and we don’t take that lightly. If you have any concerns, we encourage you to read more about what they have to say over here. Be sure to follow them to stay updated on their process!
We want to hear from you
Yeah, you. When we first began testing this new interface with a small selection of you, we received some really useful feedback. We want to make sure that continues, so we created a survey. While we always read the reblogs on our announcement posts, this survey is the best way to let us know exactly how you feel about this update. And don’t worry—it’s anonymous. We won’t know who you are unless you make it your business to tell us so. Head on over there and share your thoughts now.
