It’s been almost two months since our last release so this one is jam packed with lots of goodness!  We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 76, r26081 r26136 r26183 26272) which includes a large number of features, bug fixes and enhancements.  As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• New Skins: The “Windows 7″ skin now has 8 new variants by @derekerdmann.  Access them via Preferences > Skins.
• Windows 7 Support: Digsby takes advantage of jump lists for easy access to common tasks and top buddies (by log size).  We also use taskbar grouping to let you jump to conversations, see typing notifications and unread conversation counts.
• Better Popups: Social networks will no longer show a separate popup for Alerts and the titles will no longer say “Facebook Newsfeed” with a generic Facebook icon.  Instead, you will see the friend’s picture and name with a small badge in the top right for each network. You can also comment/like Facebook items right from popups.
• Trending News: We’ve partnered with the folks at OneRiot to bring the latest trending news stories to your social feeds.  You can enable/disable via Preferences > General & Profile.
• Facebook Dislike: We’re amazed by how many people wanted to “Dislike” Facebook posts.  The Dislike Button Facebook page has over 3.2 million fans!  You asked for it, you got it.
• MySpace Newsfeed: We’ve revamped the MySpace newsfeed to support their new APIs so it looks a lot more like the Facebook/Twitter feeds including the ability to comment on statuses.
• MySpace Achievements: Back in September we introduced achievements for Facebook and the functionality is being ported over to MySpace.  You will be asked if you would like to enable or disable this functionality and you can turn it on/off by editing your MySpace account in Preferences.
• Yahoo HTTP Support: Restrictive firewalls and proxies should no longer be an issue for Yahoo Messenger users.  Edit the account in preferences and set it to “Always use HTTP”

We’re excited to get this release solidified and pushed out to all users so if you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

If you would like to become an alpha tester and get new releases before everyone else, download this file and place it in the main program folder. Keep in mind that as an alpha tester you may get a release with a few bugs every now and then.  We are looking for people who are proactive in reporting these issues so we can fix them before builds go out to all users.

Update 1 (2/1/2010 5:00pm EST): We just pushed out a patch fixing many of the issues you’ve been reporting.  The new release number is r26136.  We are still working to fix issues with the taskbar like it not obeying the don’t show preference and the phantom Digsby window.  We’ll push these out ASAP.  For now, here is what the new patch fixes.  Let us know if you run into new issues or continue to see these bugs:

• Fixed a bug that caused the CPU to spike for some users
• Fixed a bug that caused some Hotmail accounts to fail to connect
• Fixed a bug that caused email actions to break for some Hotmail accounts
• Fixed a bug that caused MySpace to show the login window instead of failing to connect when there are network issues
• Fixed a bug that caused ICQ incoming messages to get cut off or lost in some cases
• Fixed a few bugs that caused docking and auto-hide to break after double clicking the tray icon
• Fixed a bug that caused MSN authentication request popups to show on login
• Fixed a bug that caused IM unread counts to stick around if closing an IM window using the taskbar preview panels
• Fixed a bug that caused Twitter to show an unread count even if all tweets were read
• Ensure that at least the four main Facebook filters make it into the dropdown
• Disabled the “top buddies” portion of the jump list for now while we optimize its performance

Update 2 (2/4/2010 12:00pm EST): We pushed out another build fixing most of the remaining issues in this alpha release.  The new release number is r26183.  MySpace login will still fail for some users and we’re working on that now along with final polish.  List of changes:

• Fixed a bug that added a fake Digsby window to the taskbar previews
• Fixed the “show in taskbar” preference on Windows 7
• Fixed a bug that caused MSN authorization popups to show every time you log in
• Brought back the top buddies position of the jump list
• Improved performance for calculating log sizes so the jump list doesn’t slow Digsby down
• Removed status icons from the jump list because once you pin a buddy we can no longer update the icon unfortunately
• Fixed a bug that caused taskbar previews to show as black icons for some AIM buddies without a buddy icon
• Fixed a bug that caused buddies to open in an IM window without a tab if you previously closed that tab using the taskbar previews
• Fixed a bug that caused buddies to not show in the taskbar previews if you drag them out into their own window and then drag them back in
• The folks at MySpace fixed a bug which prevented their set status API from working properly
• The tab key now finishes a Twitter autocomplete (in addition to Enter)
• Fixed a bug that caused Digsby to freeze when there’s an invalid JID on your Jabber buddy list

Update 3 (2/8/2010 6:30pm EST: This build patches up the rest of the known issues with this alpha release and introduces support for commenting on MySpace statuses.  MySpace login will still fail for some users but they should have this fixed by tomorrow.  Please let us know if any new issues were introduced or if any bugs remain which were new in this series of alphas.  List of changes:

• Added support for commenting on MySpace statuses!
• Fixed a bug with the new Yahoo HTTP support that caused it to disconnect regularly
• Fixed a bug that caused buddies with underscores in their username to be ignored when making jump lists
• Fixed a bug that caused Facebook Chat buddies to be ignored when making jump lists
• Fixed a bug that caused Facebook popup notifications to break when clicking “Like” in some cases
• Another attempt to fix a bug that caused MSN to get stuck in “loading contact list”
• Fixed a bug that caused the “typing” badge to show on the wrong taskbar icon in Windows 7 if your tabs are not combined
• Fixed a bug that caused taskbar previews to show out of order if you drag a tab out into its own window and then dragged it back in
• Fixed a bug that caused status to get set incorrectly when returning from invisible
• Optimized diagnostic logging to improve overall Digsby performance
• Twitter popups will show your timeline tweets before search results
• When clicking the taskbar icon if the buddy list is hidden, slide it back into view

We moved the blog commenting system over to Disqus to provide a richer user experience.   Major differences you will see are:

• You can now reply to comments and the replies are threaded making them more like a conversation
• You can ‘like’ comments
• You can comment with your Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Yahoo, or Disqus account to tie them to your real identity
• All the comments you make on blogs that use Disqus are available in one central place
• Easily post your comment back to Facebook or Twitter to share it with friends

With over 200 submissions and hundreds of fan votes, the Digsby Twitter Background contest has ended and we are excited to announce the winners!  Before we do though, we just want to say how amazed we are by the talent of our fans.  It was a very difficult decision.  There were some incredible submissions so we’re highlighting the top 10 on our Spread the Word page along with buttons and banners that you can place on your blog or website to promote Digsby.

Without further ado, here are the winners of the Digsby Twitter Background Contest:

1st place (by @letusdare2think)

2nd place (by @wemps)

3rd place (by @Jerlyn)

The winners will receive Amazon Gift Cards, Digsby T-Shirts and Digsby USB Drives!  We can’t thank you enough for your participation and hard work.  Be sure to keep a look out for more fantastic contests and check out all 10 top picks on the Digsby Spread the Word page!

We just pushed a new release (Build 75, r25261) to all users!  We’ve made some big changes to Digsby making it faster and better than ever!  This release includes all the features, bug fixes and enhancements in Builds 71,  72, and 75 on our Change Log.  Notable changes include:

• Crash Fixes: Thanks to the help of our dedicated testers who have been running the DEBUG version, we fixed the most common crash causing bugs in Digsby.  Based on the volume of crash reports, we expect Digsby to crash for less than 0.1% of users on any given day.  Now that’s solid!
• Memory Leaks: We took some time to hunt down and fix the most serious memory leaks in Digsby, many of which were introduced in the new Twitter implementation.  This will improve performance significantly when running Digsby for an extended period of time or on older machines.
• Twitter: We fixed numerous issues with Twitter including tweets being show out of order, incorrect unread counts, connection issues, etc.  It is still a work in progress and we’ll continue to improve our Twitter implementation.
• Block Indicator: Blocked buddies now show a “blocked” icon where their status icon would normally appear on the buddy list.
• Win 7: We added support for aero snapping and fixed several windows 7 specific bugs.  We will release more Win 7 enhancements in the next build including jump lists and badges on the taskbar icon.
• And More: Over 100 other bug fixes and enhancements!

We will keep pushing to make Digsby even better and want to thank all of you for your continued feedback and support.  If you want to tell the world about the Digsby, here are some ways you can help:

• Share Digsby on sites like Digg, Twitter,  Facebook, or Reddit
• Invite your friends to try Digsby via Facebook or Email
• Write a review of Digsby on your blog and include the Digsby Demo Video
• Use the “ShareThis” and “Buzz” widgets below to share the news

If you experience any bugs in this release, please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us.

Update (12/9/2009 2:45pm EST): Facebook is having issues with their API servers, which is causing the newsfeed to fail to connect for some users.  This will fix itself when they resolve the problem on their end.

RIT recently opened its brand new Center for Student Innovation, a 24/7 facility where students can come together to turn ideas into innovative products and solutions.

Digsby started as a class project at RIT.  It was taken from idea to reality by a team of RIT grads so our CEO was asked to give the keynote address at the grand opening.

The video below offers some good advice for college students:

We just pushed an update to alpha testers (Build 75, r25077 r25091 r25144 r25261) which includes a large number of bug fixes and enhancements.  As always, you can read the entire list of enhancements on our Change Log. Notable changes include:

• Fixed several of the most common crash causing bugs
• Fixed several issues with Twitter that caused Tweets to show in the wrong order on the timeline
• Blocked buddies now show a “blocked” icon where their status icon would normally appear on the buddy list

We are close to pushing the release to all users so if you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

If you would like to become an alpha tester and get new releases before everyone else, download this file and place it in the main program folder. Keep in mind that as an alpha tester you may get a release with a few bugs every now and then.  We are looking for people who are proactive in reporting these issues so we can fix them before builds go out to all users.

Update 1 (11/16/2009 2:50pm): We just pushed an update fixing an issue that caused sent IMs to ICQ users to show as HTML.  The new build number is now 25091.

Update 2 (11/17/2009 1:25pm): One more small patch just got pushed out.  This one fixes the HTML in IMs issue for Pidgin buddies, fixes a bug that broke blocking in AIM, and updates the icon for MSN buddies that you block right away instead of when you click away from them.  The new build number is 25144.

Update 3 (11/24/2009 11:00am): Another small patch that includes two fixes for Twitter: a bug linking URLs that included the “#” character and an improvement made to the way “new style” re-tweets are displayed. The new build number is 25261.

We just pushed out a small patch to alpha testers (Build 74, r24927) fixing buddy list retrieval for Facebook Chat.  If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

We still get crash reports from a small portion of users.  These are issues we aren’t able to reproduce here so we need your help to hunt down the buggers causing the crashes so we can squash them!

• Does Digsby crash for you at least once a week?
  
• Do you have Visual Studio installed?

If the answer to both questions is a yes, then you can help!

We created a debug version of Digsby that does a lot more diagnostic stuff under the hood.   If you can get it to crash, the diagnostic log it generates will be extremely helpful in figuring out the cause.  If you would like to help, here are the instructions:

1. IMPORTANT: If you don’t have Visual Studio, the debug build won’t run.
2. Download this file and put it in the Digsby folder. If you already have a “tag.yaml” file, edit it to change the tag from “alpha” to “debug”
3. Restart Digsby so it can auto-update.
4. Log in and click Help > About to make sure you now have build r24922 r24945 r24959 r24978.
5. Next time Digsby crashes, if you get a dialog asking you to submit a crash report, submit one.
6. Instead of telling Windows to close the program, choose to debug it in Visual Studio (prior experience would help)
7. In the menu choose Debug > Save Dump As… and make a minidump of the current state of Digsby
8. Email that minidump to bugs@digsby.com

Thanks for your help!

Update 1 (11/5/2009 5:45pm EST): We pushed out a patch fixing a crash related to viewing chat history in the log viewer. New release number is r24945.

Update 2 (11/6/2009 6:45pm EST): Another day, another crash fixed. New release number is 24959.

Update 3 (11/10/2009 5:10pm EST): Keep those reports coming and we will be crash-free in no time!  New release with one more crash fix is 24978.

We just pushed out a small patch (Build 73, r24920) fixing buddy list retrieval for Facebook Chat for non-alpha users. Alpha testers will get a new release tomorrow with this and other fixes.

If you experience any issues please use “Help > Send Bug Report” in the main menu to submit a diagnostic log or email us at bugs@digsby.com.

We noticed our Twitter background page was getting kind of stale and we wanted to add some personality to it.  So, we thought we’d give our fans the chance to show their love for Digsby and win something in return. We’re excited to launch the Digsby Twitter Background Contest!  Everyone is encouraged to participate in the contest and submit their entries.  Here are the details:

When can I start?

• You can start submitting today! The contest will start from November 2nd, 2009 and will end on November 23rd, 2009.

Where do I go to submit?

• We’re using Twitter Background Gallery to make it easy to vote and view everyone’s submissions. Head on over and start start submitting!
• Please Note: After submitting your design please keep your original files safe and secure. The winners will need to send the original files to Digsby for use. We will contact the winners with details.

Who gets to choose the winner?

• Winner will be chosen by the Digsby team (with strong emphasis given to votes)

What do I win?

• 1st Place: $100 Amazon Gift Card, Digsby T-Shirt, Stickers, Digsby USB Drive
• 2nd Place: $50 Amazon Gift Card, Digsby T-Shirt, Stickers, Digsby USB Drive
• 3rd Place: $25 Amazon Gift Card, Digsby T-Shirt, Stickers, Digsby USB Drive

Official Rules:

• To win you must be following @Digsby on Twitter (so we can let you know you’ve won)
• Submit as many entries as you want
• All artwork must be original
• You may use our logo found at the Digsby site  http://www.digsby.com/contact/
• Digsby team chooses winners (with strong emphasis given to votes)
• By submitting your design, you release your rights and give Digsby full use of the design
• We reserve the right to make changes at any time
• We will contact winners for their original file
• All entries will be viewable by the public

Things to Keep in Mind:

• People will be viewing our page in a variety of screen resolutions so having something that fits well across multiple resolutions is a plus.
• Must be upload-able to Twitter so test it on your twitter profile first.
• We’ll feature good designs throughout the competition by tweeting them from @digsby.

Help Us Spread the Word!

The more the merrier! Tell your friends, retweet it, post on walls, sing it on the rooftops.  Just make sure to submit.  We’re very excited to show off what our fans can came up with!

Digsby Twitter Background Contest