At midnight we launched Profile 2.0. (You'll see the link for it on your Edit Profile page and in the profile menu drop down 'Customize Profile'.) Almost everything we add to MySpace comes from the feedback I receive from users. The new profile 2.0 is based on requests I've received for several years about what users want. We did beta test launches of 2.0 to smaller groups around the world. Now it's ready for everyone! 

For many of you, however, I know that change is no fun. If you like your profile the way it is right now, don't upgrade. If you're feeling adventurous and want to try something new, give it a try. You can always go back. (Just click the 'Go Back' link in the top right of the editor page.) Unfortunately, 2.0 is not available to IE6 users. The advanced features of the editor just can't work with IE6. It's also not yet available for musician, filmmaker or comedian profiles.

Why Upgrade to 2.0?

Now of course there's plenty of reasons to upgrade. I hope you all do, because the new profile is faster, more customizable, and offers more privacy. Profile 2.0 retains the flexibility in customization people have come to expect from MySpace. You are capable of doing almost ANYTHING with this new profile--you can still take over your entire page and basically create your own website, ignoring the structure and basic styles that we offer. So if you really like your current profile style but want to try the new features of 2.0, you will, with some effort, be albe to get a style that resembles your old page. It's not the same as before, though, so it's going to take some exploring.


There are four big ideas with profile 2.0:


Privacy. Profile 2.0 is designed to give you granular privacy control -- you can hide or show parts of your profile, rather than making the whole profile public or private. Maybe you only want your top friends to be able to see your calendar? Or maybe you only want your work friends to see what other companies you've worked at? With Profile 2.0 you can use your friend categories as privacy switches. (If you haven't created a friend category, get with the program! :-) We launched them almost a year ago. Just go to the friends page.)  Many users have asked for the ability to hide their last login date or age, and profile 2.0 now has that option. You can also hide entire elements of your profile. If you don't want anyone to see your comments or friends list, you can make them private, while leaving the rest of your profile public or friends only, or viewable to a specific friend category.
 Note: There is no longer a single setting for "public" vs "private" profiles. When you switch to 2.0, all your modules default to public. Click the pencil for a module to change it to friends only, or to assign it as viewable to a specific friend category.

Speed. The new profile loads faster than profile 1.0. You can also modify each module for faster load time, like displaying only 5 or 10 comments instead of 50. It's also faster to edit and style because you edit information while looking at your profile rather than going to a separate edit screen. It's faster to style by picking themes right within the editor. You dont need to go to a layout site, since we will have many internal themes. (Note: We are only launching with a few themes, but plan to incorporate many more.) You can hide sections without using special codes, so you don't need to search the web for special MySpace hacks.


Customization. You can now drag and drop any module on your profile to any location, including apps. (Note: When you convert, you have select each app from the module screen to make it appear on your 2.0 profile--this is a bug that will be fixed soon.) You can also use basic templates to change the columns and basic 'containers' that hold each module. You can even have a single open box to make your profile freeform, or to hold any HTML you'd like to input. Applying color, font and background changes is built-in, and you won't have to use profile layouts sites unless you want to. We still allow users to completely take over their profile and have created a specific CSS box for users to input themes and layouts from third party sites.


Web Standards. The new profile is fully W3C compliant. It allows profile creators much more granular control by giving names to more objects. We still expect the third party layout market to flourish and will still allow users to use themes from layout sites. When you go to third party sites, look for layouts marked 'profile 2.0' because the classic layouts won't work on the new profile.) (Note: The header and footer of every MySpace page is not fully compliant, but we'll be working towards changing that, and it should have no impact on your profile style.)

Feel free to post your thoughts/feedback on this blog.   Making the feedback public will allow everyone to benefit. Enjoy!

What About My Old Layout?

Old style (1.0) layouts will not work with 2.0. That does not mean you can't have background images, styles and customized profile layouts. It just means that all the theme/layout templates you copy & paste into your profile are going to have to be designed for the 2.0 version of the profile. On the new profile you must put your CSS in the CSS box (we don't allow it to go in any other field). We will continue to add our own custom themes. but we're still counting on all the creative people out there who've made profile layouts in the past to continue to design templates for the world to use. We are not trying to replace the theme / layout sites, just updating our underlying profile design.

How Do I go Back to 1.0?

You can switch back and forth between 2.0 and 1.0 whenever you want. To go back to your old profile, go to the profile menu choose "Customize Profile" and once the editor is loaded look for the "Go Back" link in the top right. Just click it and select 1.0 and your old theme/profile will be restored.

P.S. No, we are not forcing people to switch to this profile, and don't intend to. I know some people are happy with MySpace just the way it is.