Working on MakeFive can be a little strange, as it’s something so different. We’re not really modeling it on anything that already exists, which means that we’re really trying a lot of different things to see what works. A few weeks ago we realized that although the community component is working well, we have to spend a little more time thinking about you… the individual.

As such, I’m happy to unveil some of the features we’ve added to MakeFive today.

Share your thoughts on your blog

By just copying a few lines of code from MakeFive, you can now feature your MakeFive lists on your own blogs and websites. It’s a great way to share your opinion, allow readers to contribute to your lists, and add link-strength to your website. BTW – It’s ready for you to use today and looks like this:

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Use MakeFive content on your site

See a great topic on MakeFive that you’d like to share? Well, we’re going to make this a lot easier for you. You can now use the aforementioned blog widget and embed any top five on MakeFive on your blog. (You don’t even have to vote on it.) The great part about this is that it automatically updates as the voting changes on MakeFive. So, you have up-to-date lists on your website, without much work. See:

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Show off what you think

The Community Response on topics is great, but sometimes you just want to share your faves. We understand and as such, we’ve tweaked the pages for your lists. Just click on “Me” and “Lists”, and you’ll find that the boring “lists” section is now on steroids. Each page showcases nine of the items that you’ve voted on or created. So, share this page with your friends who want to know more about you. (It’s a bit of a window into your personality.) This is what mine looks like.

But why?

I look at a lot of lists and wonder why people chose the things they did. If you really want to share your opinions, there’s a great place to do this. For every topic you vote on, a permalink page is created just for you (like this). In it you can share your thoughts for specific items and then send this link to your friends. For example, you could compile a list of your favorite movies, explain your choices, and then email the list to your friends and family. (To access the permalink page, just go to the “My Top Five” tab on the topic you’re interested in, and look for the text “Go to your extended list”.)

I think this will give you a lot of new ways to use MakeFive. Have fun and happy holidays!

Eric