The XING Jobs section has benefited from it for a while now, and now our XING Partner Ecosystem is getting the feedback treatment – with a new rating system for our range of apps.

The principle behind this system is just as intuitive as the one in XING Jobs: You install an application, try it out – and then rate it with just one click of your mouse on the main page (“canvas view”, where the app takes up almost the whole screen). You can of course go back and change your rating later, for instance if you’re impressed by a new feature that is added. (more…)

The list of modifications that go live today is long, and components all across the platform are affected, from OpenSocial apps to Company Profiles (and invitations, too). But let’s do one at a time:

Why did that person click on my profile?

If you’re like me, you’re probably curious about what motivates Visitors to your profile. You’ll be happy to know that starting today, we provide more information when a XING member visits your profile by clicking from an OpenSocial app such as “Ask XING”. You can use this additional information to help you decide whether the person could be a valuable contact to you or not. (more…)

We’re constantly improving our entire platform – thanks to your feedback. This week, our own OpenSocial apps are getting a few tune-ups.

More clarity on Ask XING

For some time now, our popular app “Ask XING” asks you to type in at least one topic when you submit a new question. This makes it easier for members to find questions, and improves the structure.

In addition to that, we’ve listened to the request of many members and added a full text search. Just enter your search term, and you’ll see the questions that match. You can now also choose a topic from a drop-down list. With both new functions, you can also filter the results so you only see the questions asked by your contacts.

Hot topics on Twitter Buzz

If you’re a Twitter user, you’re bound to know the popular topic cloud on the homepage – often referred to as “trending topics” – that clue you in to what’s hot with Twitter users at the moment. Now we’ve added a similar feature to Twitter Buzz: “Hot topics” lets you see which topics are getting the most tweets from Twitter Buzz users on XING. By clicking on one of these topics, you’ll also automatically add it to your personal tweet topic filter.

Anyone logging in to the application section with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) will now be asked to update their browser. Here are a few thoughts on this from me:

The logo from "IE6 must die!"

Oh, how we would love to shout: “IE6 must die!”. (Did you hear about the twitter movement? Or about this action from more than 70 websites?) Oh, how we would like to make our platform available in black and white to all Internet Explorer users (for the small proportion of the online world who remember the changeover from black and white TV to color…). But alas this is a helpless battle of the honorable Web Don Quixotes against the electronic windmills of the great multinationals of this world.

Why all this fluster you may ask? Here’s the reason: (more…)

In addition to the XING Partner Ecosystem, there are several other changes to improve networking on XING that went live. Now when you’re looking through Company Profiles and find one that might interest someone you know, you can recommend it to the contact. (more…)

Last week we launched the new XING Partner Ecosystem. We’re happy to see that the new apps are already being used by thousands of members. All apps are available to both basic and Premium members, free of charge. (For an overview of the XING app partners and what the apps offer for all XING members, please see the recent press release and our SlideShare presentation.) Some of our partners are offering special deals to XING premium members, e.g. more storage space, more functionalities or other extended features.

After adding file attachments and birthday reminders last week, we’re now giving our Premium Members more for their money. In the future, we’ll continue to work to make Premium Membership more attractive than ever.

These four partners are currently offering XING Premium members some extra goodies: Huddle, Mindmeister, Spreed and Zcope. (more…)

Editor’s note: This article by Tungle-founder and CEO Marc Gingras is part of a series following the launch of the XING Partner Ecosystem where the developers of the OpenSocial apps get the opportunity to present their applications.

Tungle is proud to be one of the first Open Social apps released on the Xing platform, and the only app that syncs with your existing e-calendar to bring click-to-meet technology to your Xing profile (see the full press release).

What’s Tungle.me?

Tungle.me is the simplest way to make meetings happen. It brings a widget into your profile that shows your real time availability and lets members of your network schedule meetings with you. (more…)

Dear readers, dear XING members,

I’m excited to announce that now, with the launch of Travelload, yet another external application from the XING Partner Ecosystem went live.  As our Chief Product Officer Jason Goldberg already stated in his previous blog post, the Partner Ecosystem is based on OpenSocial.

In contrast to applications that have been developed for proprietary environments, OpenSocial applications are interoperable within the context of multiple networks and build on standard technologies such as HTML and JavaScript. For XING, OpenSocial presents a great opportunity to expand our existing functionalities with a host of additional third-party applications, without having to relinquish control over our members’ personal data in the process.

To use an application, you need to add it to your XING account through our Application Directory. Once you have done so, you can start interacting with this application. XING currently supports three different locations where applications are rendered. In the Opensocial standard, these locations are formally known as Views: (more…)

Editor’s note: This article by Huddle co-founder and CEO Alastair Mitchell is part of a series following the launch of the XING Partner Ecosystem where the developers of the OpenSocial apps get the opportunity to present their applications.

In the age of social networking, email is no longer an adequate collaboration tool. Enter Huddle Workspaces, your own private and secure workspaces, on XING to help you work with your connections.

We have developed Huddle Workspaces specifically for XING and the launch of its Partner Ecosystem. XING is leading the way in business networking and Huddle Workspaces will make it easier for XING members to work better together on projects or brainstorm with new ventures.

Huddle Workspaces include all the key features of Huddle, our network of secure online workspaces that is currently used by companies including P&G, Kia Motors, Pearson and Nokia. Huddle is currently available in English, German, French and Italian, with more languages to follow. (more…)

It gives us great pleasure to announce The XING Partner Ecosystem.

Starting today, XING’s members will benefit from a wide variety of partner applications on the XING platform.

The XING Partner Ecosystem is made possible via the OpenSocial framework. XING’s partners are able to create applications using OpenSocial and then easily enable those applications to integrate into the XING professional network. The Applications are tightly integrated into the core functionality of XING, and are thus able to leverage XING’s “business graph” of connections between professionals to make the applications engaging and rewarding for XING’s users. (more…)