2012 is almost here and before the holidays we rolled out a string of updates and new features. And there is more to come in the new year. In this blog post we will highlight some of the smaller and bigger changes we have made to our site these past weeks.

Layout improvements

In 2011 we’ve been rolling out our new layout but there were still some parts of our site that needed to be updated with the new look & feel. For instance the editing & viewing pages and the general dashboard pages that you come across when you are logged in. There is now more consistency throughout the site and the sidebar menu takes up less space.

The same page structure has been implemented within the view & edit pages. Besides being more efficient in terms of used space, this means they also look better when published or shared. By simplifying things both visually & technically we have also increased the general speed of our website significantly.

No more ads

Another thing that might be noticed by our Free users is that we got rid of the ads on our website as we think this this improves the general user experience and also the speed. In time we might experiment with some new sponsored content options that contribute to the general usability but for now the ads are gone leaving more room for new features we are working on.

Furniture menu

More noticeable for all our users: we have finally made the step to move the libraries to the sidebar. Some of the most requested changes regarding the libraries were the ability to search, see objects in 3D, have larger thumbnails and see more furniture at the same time. Because the amount of objects has been growing to an amount that was difficult to manage and oversee, a new search-based interface was necessary. Tags will help you find more selective sets like “design”, “gymnastics”, “ikea” or “cabinets”.

This hasn’t come without bumps and we are aware it’s still not perfect. We wish to thank all people commenting on the forums for their valuable feedback so far. In the coming year we will work towards more options for customization, like bookmarking items you use more often or furniture suggestions based upon the type of plan you’re making. Our libraries will be further expanding as always and get more specialized. We are open for your suggestions, just let us know!

3D server side rendering

We started beta-testing our new 3D serverside renderings. This feature (PRO users only) allows you to create a more detailed, lively image from your 3D plans in high resolution. With a simple 2 click operation you can have images sent to you by mail in a matter of minutes. These images can be used in brochures and websites and have a quality that you would normally have to pay someone for to achieve. We are aware that there is a lot of room for improvement and that is why we are rolling it out as a beta so, as always, feedback is appreciated as we will further improve upon this. We can’t wait to see the images you will be producing with this new feature.

More to come in 2012

Finally, we wish you all a very merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year. We have lots of new features and improvements lined up so drop by regularly. Happy planning in 2012!

A floor plan without furniture would be little more than a square. Without it, there would be nowhere to sit, lie, write, eat, or tastefully arrange architecture magazines upon. So, it goes without saying that furniture is a big part of what makes Floorplanner Floorplanner, so we're happy to announce a big change to the way you use furniture on the site.

First of all, we've moved our massive furniture library out of the library window and into the sidebar – a lot of heavy lifting. As stated earlier, good furniture is one of the foundations of a good floor plan, and we've made this choice in order to bring it to the forefront of the Floorplanner experience.

Not only is the new sidebar view more spacious, but it will also introduce you to something you should notice straight away: all of our furniture is now rendered in 3D, making it much clearer as to exactly what you're putting in your floor plan. What was previously a brown circle is now a table. Two ovals now find themselves to be an office chair. The benefits are obvious.

And finally, we've added something that is going to make populating floor plans with furniture a snap, and that's search. All furniture is now searchable, which means you can get a quick look at lamps, desks, mats – or whatever you like – whenever it takes your fancy. Just search.

We know that clicking matters. Every click counts towards the experience of Floorplanner.com - for better or worse - and the latest target of our click-awareness scheme is account information.

This kind information can be found in all kinds of places on the Floorplanner website – sometimes where people may not necessarily expect them to be. For our Plus and Pro customers this could become a little complicated, as you'd find your company details under one menu, invoices somewhere else, and subscriptions under another heading – it all adds up to a lot of clicking.

With that in mind, we've made things simpler for Plus and Pro customers and gathered all this information into the most logical place, the Floorplanner account page. From here you can oversee and modify your account to your heart's desire. Here's a quick overview, fittingly starting with the overview.

Overview

This tab gives you a quick look at your profile and company information, your latest invoices, and how many projects you've used out of your monthly allowance.

Profile

Here it's possible to modify all your account details, from your name to your profile picture. You can also change the language you'd like to use and what kind of measurement system you prefer, along with a few other options like changing your password or subscribing to the Floorplanner newsletter.

Company Info

Changed your company name? VAT number? Moved your headquarters to Brazil? Here you can edit your company details to reflect any recent changes to your business.

Invoices

From this tab it's not only possible to see all your recent invoices, their dates of payment and other details, but also to download them in PDF format.

Subscription

Lastly you can see your current subscription plan, alongside its monthly cost and associated benefits. You can also upgrade to other plans, cancel your current subscription, and see how much you can save if you pay per year.

And that's it. One heading, five menus, and far fewer clicks.

We are always working on improving our service. Normally, we take small steps: we fix a bug, we change the page layout, or add a new feature. However, some issues can't be solved this way. Some require us to make big changes. This week we rolled out a major update that simplifies our account system: making it easier for users to understand, and better for us to manage.

Projects, not publishings

You signed up to Floorplanner to create and share floor plans, and that's what we want to make as easy as possible. We also want floor plans to be the core metric of our accounts: not the number of active published projects, but the number of projects total. This is a more straightforward metric, making it easier for you to work with Floorplanner. You will get a number of projects per month/year and you can decide for yourself what you want to do with them: export a project as an image, publish it, or put it on your website or download it as an FML file.

Take a look at our new plans & pricing page.

Less accounts

Over the last few years, our account system has grown to accommodate 14 different account types. It's become too complex and it's time to change that. So we're cutting that number down to 5 accounts. For private users, we have the free Basic account and the upgraded Plus account. For professional users we have three Pro accounts (Pro S, Pro M and Pro L), depending on the usage. The Partner account is for companies that want to partner with us and work with our API.

Seamless change

Most users won't notice any changes, so you'll still be able to use Floorplanner the way you always do. If you do encounter a problem, please contact us so we can help you right away.

Though it’s tempting to kick back with a cool drink here in sunny Rotterdam, we’ve been working hard to improve your experience on Floorplanner. And last week, we released a big update to image exporting.

And when we say big, we mean big: we’ve built an entirely new system to handle the generation of floor plan images. It’s much more efficient, and this means we can do some exciting new things – starting with making image exporting available to everyone.

In the past, image exporting was only available to paid users of Floorplanner. But with the new system, users with Basic accounts can now export their floor plans to a 640x480 JPG file – perfect for your blog, Facebook profile, or Twitter.

Users with Plus accounts will now find they can export images all the way up to 2100x2800 pixels in size, a little over double what was available prior to the update. This means that whereas previously exported images could be used as a modest desktop wallpaper, it’s now possible to export images that will look clean and crisp in print.

Pro account users will see the most welcome changes, and for us, this is what the new system was built for. The first thing users will notice is that the new system is much faster, and far more stable. We hope that this alone will make an enormous difference to Pro account users’ experiences when exporting images. The second major difference is that image scaling has changed: whereas previously all designs in a project were resized to fit the image – making the scale of a large ground floor mismatch a smaller attic, for instance – now all designs are exported to the same scale, eliminating any confusion regarding mysteriously growing rooms.

Finally, we’ve added image exporting to the Floorplanner API. This means that portals and users with API access can request an image of any design in any size they like, and it’s as simple as that.

So we hope that you’ll find sharing and printing your floor plans easier than ever before, and we’ll be keeping you up to date with more improvements over the Summer.