Upcoming Features - xShows

We are constantly looking at ways to upgrade xAggregate to improve its existing functionalities or crown it with newer features. We want you, our paying customer, to not be limited with the script you set up your business with, but instead be able to take advantage of the robust and ever-increasing features, so you can focus on what’s important - your business.

Here’s what our developers are working on right now.

1. Thumbnail previews: Users love to watch sneak peeks of videos before clicking on them. This lets them get a quick peek behind the curtain of what’s in store so they can make up their mind if they will like the video or if it’s best to keep browsing. As opposed to what one may think, the fact that this will make users spend just a little less time on the site is great, as it reduces user frustration of having to navigate between several pages back-and-forth to find the content they like. This, in turn, creates a loyal base, where they will be back for more, just for the sheer fact that it is easy to find good content on your site. So, how does it work? Well, hovering over any video thumbnail will show the preview (two seconds out of every five minutes stitched together).

2. Random videos: Let’s be honest. We all have days where we don’t want to be the pilot anymore. Some days we just want the universe to take the steering and surprise us. Well, we are doing just that for users for the days where they don’t feel like selecting a category, or typing something in the search bar after reaching into the farthest corners of their brain coming up with keywords that they think will return something good. Presenting “Random videos” section, where assorted videos greet the users that are truly random and not based on any other site, user, or video metrics. User can view this section by clicking on “Random” placed conveniently at the top of the website and have a looksy. If nothing piques their interest, well, fret not, just click on random again and see what universe has picked for them this time. 

3. Advertisement category filter: In the admin’s ad control page, finding the right ad you are looking for could be a task right now. That’s why we are adding a drop-down filter on this page that will refine the ad result based on the category you choose.

4. Clickable ads: All ads appearing on the site can soon redirect users to defined URLs. Clicking on the ads placed on site footer, video category page, or on the video page itself, will take users to the destined page within the site or other websites. Let’s get that affiliate money flowing in.

5. Notification ads: Ads using notification are perhaps the least intrusive than other types just for the reason that notifications by now feel intrinsic to any digital experience. Hence, xMember is being integrated with this new type of ad, which you can create and activate from the admin panel. These will slide-in from the top-right corner of the user screen. All they need is an image, a short heading, one-line body, and a URL (non-mandatory).

6. Show number of videos in each category: It helps if users can see the sheer amount of videos in each category. This also helps substantiate the large arsenal of the website. This gives users a sense of promise that they will surely find something new the next day as well when they come back for more. This is why all categories will show the number of videos under them.

7. Ads that feel like they belong: We can surely agree that ads that stick out are a big downer. On the other hand, well-integrated advertisements add to a user experience rather than taking away from it. Which is why all ads on xMember will feel like they belong and enrich the site’s browsing experience. Video and category page ads will be auto-scaled to fit the row that they are in with other videos. Same goes for footer ads so one doesn’t outgrow the other. Also, currently the footer ads get aligned left even if there are only one or two of them. Soon they will always stay center-aligned, for the OCD among us :)

8. Number of footer ads: Number of ads to be increased from three to four.

9. Text ads: Other than notification ads, we are also introducing text ads. The USP of text ads is its simplicity. No flashy GIFs or videos. Just cut-to-the-chase approach of advertising that appears on the top of all pages when activated from the admin panel, with embedded URLs. Making sure the subject is attention-grabbing is key in converting these into clicks. 

10. List categories on the homepage: All categories will be listed on the homepage alphabetically. Using this, users can jump to videos belonging to any category of their choosing.

11. Thumbnail sizes: There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to users. So it makes sense to give some level of control to the users when they are on your website. We are starting with letting them choose the thumbnail of the video grid. They can select from either compact, medium, or large and the grid will auto-adjust accordingly. And remember when we spoke of making the adverts feel like they belong on the site? Well, we sure do. Hence, changing the video thumbnail size will make the ads present in between the videos change their size as well.