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Here’s an update on the progress of Viewbook V3, the project name for ‘Viewbook Version 3′.

Viewbook V3 is a new portfolio website builder, developed completely from scratch. A first version of the new ‘page design’ system is ready. You could call it a fully functioning prototype and it’s great to see all our ideas actually working in real software. Here’s a peak into what we were busy with the last couple of months and what you can expect in the near future.

Interaction design
The central question here is: What solution makes it really simple for people to design and create their own portfolio website, without defining too much or too less of the website’s design up front? It’s the sweet spot we’re looking for; you should be able to start easily and design a website that ‘feels yours’ without having to start with a blank page. It is simply too hard for most of us to design something good completely from scratch (we will support designers and web-designers in V3 though!). On the other side, we don’t want to let you choose from tens or hundreds of pre-designed templates that feel like someone else’s idea. We’ve designed a unique solution and I think we have it now!

Visual design
Ronny, our new guy, has spent his time designing the interfaces and all the necessary interface elements like panels, icons, buttons, etc. We’re now at a point where we have a good idea about all the needed functionality and how it will work. Time to start defining the definitive ‘visual language’ for the new interface, in such a way that it becomes uniquely Viewbook’s.

Framework
The fundamental interaction ideas form the foundation for the ‘technical framework’. This is a technical system – the heart of the software – that provides the main structure and functionality. It supports the main configurations, modules, interaction and data retrieval and storage. A major part of this system is implemented.

Modules
Modules are pieces of functionality that you can drag & drop into your page, like galleries, text and video. We’ve started with the gallery module, which will be implemented in HTML5/Javascript and the basic functionality is already there. Other modules that take shape are the ‘image grid’ – a thumbnail grid that you can fully customize and a new ‘horizontal scrolling gallery’. We’re going full swing on all the new modules in the coming weeks.

So when will it be ready?
It is very hard to estimate time needed for completion. We do not work with a planning that’s clear from the beginning to the end. This is to keep the flexibility to iterate, and change things until we think they are realy good. What we do is plan features into cycles of two weeks. Within each cycle we try to make something that’s ‘potentially ready’. This way it motivates to finish things, before moving to other features and it keeps the team focused and on track. Until now we have only planned one or two cycles ahead.

Does it include feature X?
The new system makes it much easier for us to include new features and it is also more flexible in itself. A lot of features that are requested will be implemented automatically because of how the new system works; it allows much more flexibility in designing your pages. If you have any ideas that you would like to share, be sure to take a look at our feature requests page. You’re always welcome to add yours.

What you can expect next
Your patience will be rewarded, I promise. I’m very proud our team comes up with so many great things each day. I can’t wait to show you a first ‘visual’ peak into Viewbook V3 and what you can expect in the first release in one of our next posts.

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