myBalsamiq updates and Mockups 2.2 pre-release

Hello friends!

We've been heads down for months, but it looks like things are finally coming together and we can start sharing some exciting new stuff with you.

myBalsamiq updates

First of all, myBalsamiq. As you know, we've had a bit of a rocky road with its stability since launch, but the dust seems to have really settled now, the servers have been humming along for weeks now.

We have been pushing a new update every Monday morning, quietly and without any downtime (yay!), mainly to fix bugs.

Here's what's been fixed in myBalsamiq since our last announcement:

• In story view, don't show long left border in thumbnail
• Fixed uploading multiple images in the editor (thanks Abdul R.)
• Reduced the impact of RSS spiders on server load by implementing if-modified-since handling
• Fixed an issue with removing staff (thanks Noah P.)
• Setting site design settings to Default now correctly sets background to Pleather
• Uploading gif assets with transparency now works correctly (thanks Alex B.)
• Fixed an issue with deleting site assets (thanks Ed C.)
• Implemented a way for customers to cancel and stop auto renew so they can continue to use their site until the end of the payment period (thanks Rick New)
• Fixed an issue with deleting project assets (thanks Verónica T.)
• Fixed an issue with caching BPML urls, should fix blank new mockup on edit (thanks Kenneth S., Craig L.)
• Fixed missing edit note in email notification on mockup save (thanks Peter G.)

We are now working on improving the management of people and projects, as well as finishing up some infrastructure pieces.

Oh, and myBalsamiq has surpassed $200,000 in total revenue since launch! A nice milestone for what is still a pretty young product for us, yay! 🙂

Next up...

Mockups 2.2: a new skin for us, a new skin for you!

Version 2.2 of Balsamiq Mockups is coming soon, and it's AWESOME.

This new version brings two long-awaited features to Mockups:

1. A new look and feel - we're finally getting rid of my programmer art, and replacing it with a look that's cleaner and consistent, while still staying out of your way. Here's a bit more background on this change. Thanks so much to Mike and our friend Mims Wright for an EPIC effort on this.
2. An additional new skin for your wireframes - that's right, you can now switch to a clean, thin-lines skin. This is useful for presenting your work to your bosses or anyone else who thinks our default skin is too cartoony.

We hope to release it as an official release in a week or two, but we need your help! As you can see, this was a big change. We need your help in making sure it's solid before we ship it to the masses. Can you please start using it today and report bugs with it to support@balsamiq.com?

We suspect the bugs will mostly be cosmetic little things here and there, nothing catastrophic - that said, the usual disclaimer applies: this is a pre-release version, not to be used with data you're afraid to lose.

You can try the pre-release here on the web or download the latest 2.2 candidate here. Bookmark that page and check it daily! 😉

That's it for now, but there's lots more cooking, so stay tuned... 🙂

Onward!

Peldi for the Balsamiq Team