2009 CruiseCrazies Recap: Year in Review

Jason · December 27, 2009

This has been a very exciting year for CruiseCrazies. As 2009 quickly draws to a close, it gives me a lot of joy to reflect on what we've accomplished this year.

After a countless number of hours spanning the course of several months, CruiseCrazies underwent its largest site enhancement project ever. With a new look and feel, upgraded features, and the addition of a complete social networking platform, CruiseCrazies is now the Largest Social Network for Cruisers. Supplemental to the existing community, the new social networking features were designed specifically for cruisers and perfect for helping connect those sharing similar interests.

The recap below is pretty lengthy, however it's important that we not leave out any of the new features and enhancements introduced in 2009 - There were tons!! We've accomplished so much this year, and new features are already in the works for 2010 (a few words on this below).

So here we go, the 2009 CruiseCrazies Recap: Year in Review....

New Features:

► Groups - Create and join as many groups as you want, each based on similar interests. Each group is complete w/ a built-in Discussion board, Comments page, and a listing of all members in the group. Easily manage your groups from a single location!

► Polls - Vote in our Cruise Polls and Create your own! See what other cruisers are saying! Each Poll allows you to vote, view results, comment on the poll, and of course view others' comments. Manage all of your polls from a central location.

► Advanced Member Search - Seeking a cruise companion? New cruising friends? Search by location, cruising preferences, status, common interests, and dozens of other search criteria.

► "What's New" Activity Feeds - Publishes the recent actions of members online. Privacy settings allow you to adjust your published activities.

► Detailed "What's New" page - Includes the "What's New" Activity Feed, the number of times your profile has been viewed, Your Status, People Online, Recent Status Updates of other members, and more. This is a handy landing page to check out the most recent activity within the community. From here, you can also specify which actions you want to see.

► Detailed Member Profiles - Create your own profile. Share your basic information, cruising preferences, hobbies, upload a photo, and express yourself! You are able to share as little or as much as you'd like, within your profile. From your detailed profile you can easily access your Friends, Comments, update your "Status" box, view your comments and groups, and more. The profiles makes it very easy to find and meet other cruisers who share similar cruising preferences, or even members sharing similar non-cruising preferences.

► Detailed Profile Fields - Specifically designed for cruisers, each member profile contains fields such as "Favorite Cruise Line," "Favorite Shipboard Activity," "Number of Cruises," and more. Non-Cruising profile fields are also available, of course. Together, all of these profile fields help members get to know who you are and what you like to do for fun.

► Keyword Linking - With this popular feature, many profile fields are "linked", and separated by commas. This means that whatever data the member provides in these fields will be separated by commas and linked to browse pages. For example, in the field titled "Places I've cruised to" and a member enters "Jamaica, St Thomas, Grand Cayman", each of those words will be linked on the user's profile page. Then, when a viewer clicks "Grand Cayman", they are taken to a page that lists all other users that have listed "Grand Cayman" in their "Places I've cruised to" field.

► Easy Profile Access - Simple, 1-click access to your profile at any time via the profile link in the global header.

► While viewing a member's profile, you can:

View All Friends
View all Mutual Friends
Search Friends
View all Comments
View Recent Activity
Add to Friends / Remove from Friends
Send Message
Report this Person
Block this Person
View "Status" update
View any Groups the member may belong to
View Statistics – Join Date, Friend Count, Profile Views Count, Last Profile Update.
View Music Jukebox - Feature available for Site Sponsors, however if music has been uploaded to a profile all members are able to view jukebox and listen to the music
If the member has posted any Forum Topics, Forum Posts, or Photos, the count will be displayed and a link available to view their contributed content

► "My Status" - Allows you to show your "status" on your profile. Tell others what you are up to, your whereabouts, what's on your mind, etc. Each time you update your status, it is broadcast to the entire community, allowing your friends to stay connected with you!

► Friends - Manage your list of friends, and view Incoming/Outgoing Friend Requests

► Profile Comments - This is an excellent way to stay in touch with friends. Users also have the ability to choose who can post comments on their profile, among many other privacy options.

► Email Notifications - You can control which emails you would like to receive. Examples of email notifications include friend requests, group replies, profile comments, and more.

► Detailed Privacy Options - Allow you to block particular members, restrict your profile information, prevent your activities from being broadcast in the "What's New" Feed, and more.

► User Links Menu - While logged in, you can access your account features and settings from this location.

► Newest Members and Most Popular Members - Showcased on the new homepage

► Upcoming Friends' Birthdays - Menu available on your "What's New" page

► Chatroom and Profile Music with jukebox - Available for Site Sponsors

► New Private Messaging - Interact directly with other cruisers

► Global Search - From every page you are able to search the discussion forums and member profiles.

► Invite your Friends - This new page allows you to refer your friends to us. Upon submitting their email addresses, they will receive an automated message from us.

► New Homepage - Shows a condensed version of the "What's New" Activity Feed, Community Statistics, People Online, Forum Quick Links, Latest Forum Posts, Community Announcements, Random Photos, Newest Members, Most Popular Members, and more!

► FAQ Guide - Detailed topics help users understand how specific features work, and answers to the most frequently asked questions.

► Facebook and Twitter presence established! - CruiseCrazies is now on Facebook and Twitter. Become a Fan on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter!

Enhancements:

» Improved Header & Footer design - The global navigation design at the top and bottom of every page has been simplified and includes the most frequently accessed and most popular features.

» Increased account security - Additional account protection measures are now in place for the privacy and security of each member account.

» FAQ Guide - The simplified format helps you get your answers quicker

» Contact Form - Improved form allows you to quickly contact us with any questions or concerns.

» Detailed Privacy Options - Including the ability to Block Members

» Cruise News - Platform upgraded for increased stability

» Discussion Forums - Optimized to improve performance and maximize database efficiency

» Terms of Service - Updated

Event:

► Official 2009 CruiseCrazies Group Cruise, dubbed "Connie Goes Crazy" - In November, a large group of CruiseCrazies members boarded the Celebrity Constellation together for a CruiseCrazies Group Cruise. A fun-filled 13 night voyage sailing from Miami, the group sailed to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Aruba, and Curacao. The members in this group came from all over and had a great time together. Future CruiseCrazies Group Cruises will be planned in the near future, so stay tuned for details!

A Glimpse into 2010:

New and enhanced features are already in the works for next year, one of which is scheduled for release as early as January, and the 2nd will be released just several weeks later. The first is an upgrade to an existing feature, the second being a completely new feature which will change the way members interact with others within the community. After these 2 features, additional projects are already lined up....So you can expect the release of many new features for 2010, helping make CruiseCrazies an even more fun and informative social network and resource for cruisers!

For those who are active members of CruiseCrazies, thank you for sharing your cruise experiences with us. For those who have not yet joined us, we hope you become a member and begin connecting with other cruisers. If you've got friends who may be interested in joining us as well, please send them our way...The more, the merrier.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!