Date set for moving all remaining old channels to new version

Hey folks - the remaining items on our to-do list for new channels have been taken care of (with a few remaining bugs expected to be fixed in the next two weeks), so we're planning on switching all user channels still using the older version on September 30 and all partners on October 14. Note that not all channels will switch over instantly; it'll take a week or two after the migration starts to complete converting all remaining channels.

We've addressed many of the items from the to-do list, including:

• Fixing some browser-specific layout bugs (especially IE6)
  
• Allowing you to default your channel to "grid" view
  
• Allowing you to re-order your uploads and playlists
  
• Adding transparency
• Implementing fixes for a lot of other bugs you helped find, such as grid view not always working correctly
  

We've also:

• Added the ability to right-click and open videos in a new tab or window
  
• Added a full screen capability
• Allowed transparency settings to go to 100%

We're excited to finally roll this out, and it's been very helpful to have your input from the past few months to help us shape and grow the product. And things won't stop here -- we'll continue adding new features and making changes over time based on your feedback. Please keep it coming and share links to some of your favorite channel designs in the comments below. We'd like to highlight them in an upcoming post on the main YouTube blog.

New: Video reordering, plus default to grid view

Hello new channels users - we're more than overdue for a new blog post. We've been hard at work taking care of bugfixes & the other remaining items from our to-do list, and we've got a few new things out today:

• Video & playlist reordering - you can now reorder your uploads, favorites, and list of playlists - just click on grid view in the upper-right corner of the video navigator, choose which set of videos you want to reorder (uploads, favorites, playlists), then click on the "arrange" link
• Default to grid view - you can now choose to have your channel default to showing videos in grid view when viewers land on your channel. Things will switch back to player view as soon as users click on a specific video.
• 9/1 update: The full screen button is now available
• 9/1 update: Partners can now customize the height of their banner
  

And some of the more significant bug fixes we've pushed out in the past few weeks:

• Things should now look much better in IE6
• Fixed some ad box weirdness when there's no ad to serve
• Took care of the "Unknown playlist requested, please try again" & "An error occurred while performing this operation" errors
• Fixed a case where the scrollbar sometimes wouldn't appear in the info box
• The handful of people with missing video navigators should now be fixed - let us know if you're not
  
• Can now add a video to a new playlist
  

So when's the new final date to convert all remaining old channels to new channels? We're getting closer, but we still have a few more things to do. Stay tuned - and thanks again for continuing to share your feedback and awesome bug reports!

Updates

Okay - it's time for some quick updates. We're plugging away on the to-do list (plus other bugfixes in general), but here are a few new things released in the past few days:

• Module transparency can now go all the way to 100% (though we cry just a little bit inside whenever someone puts fully transparent, hard to read text on a crazy background)
  
• You can now right (or middle)-click on videos to open them in new tabs, or in new windows
  
• Playlist titles were getting truncated a little too soon before - should be longer now
  
• Grid view should now always work in IE
  
• And a few other bugfixes
  

Also, as promised, we wanted to call out some of the more fun designs we saw using the new transparency settings. In no particular order:

• BirdKid8's channel - just wow
• WeAreProEU's channel - a great use of a single large image
• FlashFacilitoTips's channel - nice shadows framing the video navigator
• 0zmovies's channel - very creative use of the background to add a "custom" module, and a subliminal "subscribe!" command :)
• LaukkuTheGreit's channel - a simple but effective gradient
• DiscoveryChannel's channel - transparency is taking us under the sea
  
• IceflowStudios's channel - no stranger to this blog, and now updated with a new theme
• muzik4machines's channel - another blog regular, updated with a wild theme
  

Release date changing

Time for another update on the upcoming new version of channels. We want to give you a heads up that we're changing the day on which we'll move all remaining channels over to the new version. Why? Well, July 15th is almost here, and we realized that we still have a few bugs and things left on the to-do list.

Specifically, here's what we plan to do before we roll the new version out to all remaining channels:

• Fix some browser-specific layout bugs - in particular, IE6 has a few issues right now
• Allow you to default your channel to "grid" view
• Allow you to re-order your uploads & playlists
  
• Some other small things, including fixes for some of the other bugs you've helped find (such as grid view not always working in IE)

So when's the new date? That part's a little trickier - rather than try to predict it, we'd rather focus our time on taking care of the above list. But we'll announce the new date no less than 2 weeks before it happens - and yes, it's still coming this summer.

Keep the bug reports and feedback coming...

Transparency

Super quick update: We've now added transparency settings. Try it out under the "Advanced options" in the "Themes and Colors" section - and be sure to call out any designs you're particularly proud of in the comments. We'd love to show it off in the list of channels on the right hand side of this blog. In fact, you can now modify two different levels of transparency: One for the modules, and one for the wrapper. (The wrapper can even be completely transparent.)

Also fixed: The bug that occasionally caused Firefox / Chrome / Safari to crash.

More channel updates

As you've probably seen over at the main YouTube blog, we'll be coming out of beta soon and moving all existing channels over to the new design. But that doesn't mean we're all done with updates and bug fixes yet. Your feedback and bug reports have been invaluable in our ongoing development, and it's about time for another round of "here's what's new, and here's what's coming."

So what's new?

• Speed improvements - there were some reports of channels running a little sluggishly in a few cases. Let us know if you notice a difference. We might have a few other tweaks to play with here, too.
• Fixed the bug where scrollbars would sometimes break when an ad appeared
• The search box is now visible within the uploads section, no matter your background color
• URLs are now autolinked in the video description (and still coming for all channel descriptions)
• Lots and lots of other bugfixes

And what's on the todo list?

• Transparency - yes, we've sorted through a few of the stickier issues, and we now expect to offer transparency options before we move all remaining accounts over to new channels
• Custom ordering of uploads & your list of playlists
• Letting you default to either player view or grid view
• In-line branding options for partners (no need to go off to a separate page)
• IE 8.0 bugfixes - some things look a little strange right now in IE8
• Full screen controls
• Showing the upload date in the video "info" area
• Showing the video length in the thumbnail
• Other assorted bugfixes, many found thanks to your reports
• And more...

Thanks everyone - as always, drop us a line in the comments with your bug reports and feedback. Don't forget to mention your channel name if you have problems with your channel specifically. And for those of you in the US - happy 4th weekend!

-Brian

Sorting, ads, and more

It's about time for another beta update. As emoes guessed in the comments of our last post, we're getting closer and closer to the full launch for all users - though we were surprised to learn that hundreds of thousands of users are already using the new version of channels. Once again, your feedback and bug reports so far have been amazing - you've helped make the new version of channels better, faster, stronger over the course of the beta.

So what's new this week?

• Ads - partners, you've been asking for it: You can now have the full range of ads on your channel
  
• Sort controls - sort by most viewed, date added, or highest rated (yes, this was buggy for a few days, but should be fine now)
• Ratings stars can now be clicked
• Counts for the number of videos in each section (when in "All" view)
• When playing a video, the video title now links to the non-channel video watch page as well
  
• And, of course, bug fixes - including one where thumbnails were "pushed down" and had some black borders, rating stars rounding down, and more
  

And what's still coming?

• Ability to reorder your uploads, or your lists of playlists
• Making URLs autolink (in both the video description, plus the channel profile area)
• Showing the upload date in the video description
• More bugfixes (including fixing the scrollbar when ads appear, turning the search box background white within uploads, and making sure "autoplay the next video" only applies when playing a playlist)
• And more...
  

Keep the feedback & bug reports coming...

-Brian