A number of weeks ago MyWibes users were informed that the service was shutting down. In light of those news, we have gotten in touch with their staff and offered to continue hosting MyWibes accounts on our servers and integrate them into our building tool, to ensure that the sites remain available in the future and users can continue to maintain them. We have completed the move and MyWibes users will be glad to know that they can now login into their sites via http://xtgem.com/mywibes

In other news, we have a meaty update for XtGem planned within the next few weeks. Namely: Updated site templating, container support and a completely rewritten markup parser.

Markup parser is the core technology of XtGem, providing the link between the building tool and text editor. Current parser, while does it's job, has not aged well - it has been in use since the very first day of XtGem. More advanced XtGem users are well aware of it's negative nuances - having to use the text editor exclusively to ensure that the building tool does not mess up their markup. Those same users will be very happy to hear that, after a lot of careful planning, we have rewritten it from scratch. Once it is deployed into production, building tool and text editor will work in harmony and you will not have to worry about losing code indentation, whitespace or, in extreme cases, code.
Since this is an update to a very critical part of XtGem, we will be running a beta test to make sure that it works as expected and we have the opportunity to squash the remaining bugs. Keep an eye out on XtBoard for more information once it becomes available!

This updated parser has allowed us to expand the functionality of the building tool as well - and the very first thing that we focused on is container support. Containers are basically separate builder blocks that can contain blocks within themselves. They allow for a better separation of page sections - for example you might want to have a container for header elements, another one for navigation items and the third one for page content. You will be able to collapse them and have complex content hierarchies, which will speed up content maintenance by a lot.
But we did not stop there! XtGem will be able to recognize block context from the parent container and support blocks that are specific to it. You will, for example, be able to create a navigation container and add navigation items to it, or set up a gallery container and add images to it using a dedicated UI.

Given the support for more markup structures and blocks, we have spent the past couple of months working on another huge feature - updated site templates.
Currently site templates simply apply a basic CSS file to the whole site - which works fine, but leaves something to be desired. Updated site templates will be a lot more sophisticated, providing professional-quality look, vast configuration options and device-specific functionality. You will be able to tweak template look on the fly (or choose from a bunch of predefined presets) and XtGem will generate cross-device-compatible markup and CSS - including appropriate containers, stylesheets and code that will make your site work on a variety of devices, from feature phones to smartphones to desktop browsers. Site templates and containers will launch shortly after the updated parser hits production.

We are very fortunate to get as much feedback and suggestions as we do. Since adding support for PHP, some of the most-requested features were FTP and MySQL support. I won't disclose the specifics yet, but assure you that we are currently testing various ways to implement these two technologies into XtGem. Stay tuned!

After months of development, extensive private and semi-open beta testing, we are finally releasing the completely-reworked XtGem building tool to public!

Click for full-size image

To make the transition easier for users, existing WEB tool will remain available for now - to access the updated version, either click a corresponding link on xtgem.com or head straight to http://xtgem.com/v2

Here are some highlights of what's new:
Much faster and smooth user experience. We called this updated tool a 'WEB application' for a reason - it acts and feels like a proper desktop application - except you won't need to install anything and it's always accessible, wherever you are!
(1) Easier file management. Navigate through your files with ease, create and upload new ones or manage existing content without having to worry about opening new browser windows.
(2) Building tool has been updated to be more intuitive to use as well as speed up content management.
(3) Preview changes right away. See how your site looks on a smaller resolution screen - and if something doesn't seem right, all the tools you will need to make the changes are readily available.
(4) Easily switch back and forth between different content editing modes. Add or modify content, tweak looks with an updated WYSIWYG CSS tool or switch to a text-mode for the nitty-gritty.
(5) After you're happy with your site, we have made it much easier for you to let others know about it.
(6) All the tools, settings and other details are neatly placed for easy access.

That's just a quick overview of main changes - many more things have been improved and we did put in a lot of attention to detail - we really hope you will appreciate the redesign. Let us know!

We are very excited to announce that XtGem has turned 5 recently. The service has indeed came a long way since the very first public release - back then it was a single-man hobby project, built out of passion for mobile web and without a clear vision for the future. Nevertheless, it grew at an unprecedented pace, quickly gaining momentum and traction. Fast-forward to current day, it is an amazing feeling to reflect on all those years, full of 7-day work-weeks, sleepless nights, caffeine-fueled coding sessions and maintenance headaches, and realize how influential this little service of ours has become to thousands, if not millions, of people. We are loving every minute of this experience - and we are doing our best to make sure that you are too!

Although we are celebrating half a decade's worth of progress today, there still is a long way to go until perfection. And we aren't planning on slowing down any time soon! There is a long list of features and improvements that we are planning to implement and we really hope that you will stick with us for the foreseeable future!

To commemorate this event, we are running a competition and giving away domain names, premium subscription upgrades and XtGem-branded merchandise - make sure head on over to our Facebook page and check it out!

As some of you might recall, we have been working on a completely fresh look and user experience for WEB users. As we near the public release, we would like to receive some feedback from existing users, work out any of the remaining kinks and polish the leftover specks. To do that, we have decided to make an open call for beta testers.

Basically, here is how it works:
1. Head to http://xtgem.com using a web browser (make sure you are using the WEB template) and log in.
2. Click here: http://xtgem.com/poll/web2
3. Fill out the application form - it's very brief and straightforward, just 3 fields.
4. All done - we will select a limited number of beta testers and get in touch with them.

It has been quite a year since we incorporated last October - we have completely re-written the backend (the inner workings) of XtGem, introduced paid options, opened the widget marketplace, launched a rich mobile version, re-worked the standard mobile interface and as a result of all the hard work we put in, XtGem's traffic more than quadrupled!
We have now spent the past month working on the next iteration of the WEB interface and we cannot be more excited about things to come.

We are ditching the dated web-service feel and are going for a fully-featured web-app. It will allow for a more streamlined site building experience, as well as contain many significant user interface tweaks.

It is not live yet, although we plan to do a closed beta test in October. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to be notified!

Since we have launched a touch-friendly XtGem webapp we have received plenty of positive feedback from our users claiming that they love the look of it, so we have taken upon ourselves to update standard mobile version of XtGem accordingly.

I am happy to announce, that today updated mobile version goes live. If something doesn't work or shows up weird on your browser, let us know!

We are glad to announce that we have just pushed a couple of new features into production. One of them allows for developers to publish content more easily and collect feedback from their users about their work.

Although the current implementation of the blog is pretty basic and as bare-bones as it gets, it is still perfectly functional. We will be improving and fleshing out the system in the future - feel free to send us your suggestions and requests.

Another feature we have recently introduced will help newcomers to set up their sites a lot easier.

When user logs in into XtGem for the first time, he or she will be prompted to select a default look... [Continue reading]

XtGem is a free service (we only charge for premium features that cost significantly more to maintain) and all of our revenue comes from ads published on user sites. We spend a lot of time tweaking our ad delivery system and while most of the tweaks that happen are invisible to the end-user, we are currently rolling out an updated ad display.

Instead of a plain text link we have been displaying previously, an updated ad look has begun rolling out into the production environment. Let us know how you like it!

I would like to announce the next significant improvement of XtGem - a touchscreen-friendly mobile version of the service.

As iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) and Android devices continue to gain traction globally, it becomes apparent, that there is a need for a mobile web experience that is more rich than ordinary mobile sites, yet not as complicated as a full web experience.

For the past couple of months we have been working on XtGem experience targeted at touchscreen-centric devices to address this niche. While it is not yet ready for prime-time, we are hoping to release it in May.

This template will sport completely... [Continue reading]

The dust has finally settled after v2 launch and I'd like to take a moment and share our future plans.

First and foremost, we are still working on fixing bugs - we realize that XtGem is a huge project with a very complicated code base and there will be issues popping up occasionally. Please report them via XtGem contact form and we will get on it as soon as possible.

We will be moving into a bigger, more spacious office this march that will give us more room for expansion.

Speaking of expansion, we will be hiring additional talent to help out with the rapid development pace... [Continue reading]