Have you found that your twitter interface has changed in the last month? Twitter have had a bit of a re-design.

You may have noticed some of the changes, one of the most noticeable being the new round profile picture style, which for some people has proved annoying as square logos and images have had the edges cut to fit the new round shape, if this has happened to you, just follow these steps to resize your logo and make it fit the new round style. The new logo style still works on 400 x 400 pixel dimensions but you’ll need to add blank space around the outsides to keep your whole logo displayed.

Your logo may have looked like this image on the right. Cutting important information out of the profile picture.

• Simply put the logo into a photo editing software such as Photoshop.
• Add a background layer the same colour as your logo background.
• Select the whole logo and resize it holding shift to maintain the logo porportions.

• Then centre the logo to the middle of the file.

• Save the file as a JPEG and upload it to Twitter.

Your new profile picture should look like this, keeping all the logo visable.

If you need help with this, don’t hesitate to get in contact, we’re happy to help you. Email georgia@function28.co.uk.

Other Features of the Twitter Design Update 2017

These are some of the changes rolling out across twitter.com, Twitter for iOS, Twitter for Android, TweetDeck, and Twitter Lite over the coming days and weeks.

• Profile, additional accounts, settings, and privacy – all in one place! A new side navigation menu and fewer tabs at the bottom of our app = less clutter and easier browsing. You told us you loved this change on Android last year and we’re excited to now bring it to iOS.
• Links to articles and websites now open in Safari’s viewer in the Twitter app so you can easily access accounts on websites you’re already signed into. (iOS only)
• We’ve refined our typography to make it more consistent, and added bolder headlines to make it easier to focus on what’s happening. Also, rounded profile photos make it clearer to see what’s being said and who’s saying it.
• More intuitive icons make it easier to engage with Tweets – especially if you’re coming to Twitter for the first time. For example, people thought the reply icon, an arrow, meant delete or go back to a previous page. We switched to a speech bubble, a symbol most know and love. We also made the icons lighter for more seamless interaction.
• Tweets now update instantly with reply, Retweet, and like counts so you can see conversations as they’re happening – live. (Not available on twitter.com and Twitter Lite)

Also, you’ll see additional accessibility choices such as increased color contrast and the option to always open supported links in Safari Reader view. (iOS only) (Source)

When posting on our Facebook page this morning I was greeted with this little blue notification from Facebook – ‘Tell More of Your Story. Instead of a cover photo, now you can use a video. It can be 20-90 seconds and should be at least 820 x 312 pixels.’

Facebook has introduced video cover photos!

No longer are we limited to boring static images for business page cover photos, we can have 20-90 second videos on loop. Facebook gave this official statement-

This is the most recent thing that Facebook has introduced to allow us to express our brands even better. Facebook was beginning to focus on video content and realising that it is the way that most people prefer to consume content, this can be seen through the introduction or Facebook live, Facebook stories, video ads and now video cover photos!

These video cover photos will follow the same upload process as a traditional cover photo, the suggested dimensions are 820 x 312 pixels and the videos can be anywhere between 20-90 seconds long, including sound if wanted. The video will automatically start to play when someone visits the page, immediately drawing attention to the page cover, in the bottom right there is a volume option to mute/unmute the videos, currently they start muted.

Keep an eye out for cover videos on Facebook as they will be introduced to more and more pages, start by taking a look at our new Function28 cover video!

Do you use these Keyboard shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts make our lives so much easier. It’s just a pain to remember them all!

I was reading an infographic on Keyboard shortcuts and how they can help WordPress users.

These shortcuts work for Windows Users and can be used for writing emails, updating your WordPress Website and writing Word Documents. Overall helping you save time and get more done in your work day!

* These shortcuts use the CTRL key for Windows Users, if you use a Mac, you’ll need to use the Command key in place of CTRL.