Appatic

 

There is not really much to see right now if you visit Simler.com:

But soon enough there will be and it is worth a preview of what you could expect from it. So this is not a review because Simler is not Open and it is also not feature finished either.

Simler is like….

First of all, it is not like Twitter. Should not be compared to it, But it is more than expected people will call it Twitter-like or Tumblr like. Both camps will be wrong and should not be paid attention to their claims. Simler closest in model are the long gone Pownce and Rejaw.

Tags are the key

Simler main differentiator is its focus on Tags. This is the way you start a note in order to mark what it is about. If you don’t mark a note, Then it is auto-tagged with your username-tag. To distinguish them Simler makes those Blue to mark that they are Personal. Every other Tag is Pink and this means that it can be used by anyone and that anyone can join that tag.

Personal Tags will show up only in your Profile Page and in your Friends pages. Pink tags or Simler Tags will show up to those subscribed to that Tag. Tagged notes also have the distinction of being able to be marked as favorite.

Tag Directory

Given that Tags are the driving force of Simler. One of the most important parts of it is the Tag Directory:

In here you can see all the Tags indexed in Simler. The default view for them is based on Activity and they are ranked in the list based on the sum of 3 factors:

1.-How much activity they got,

2.-How commented the notes marked with a certain tag are

3.-How many people have added a tag to their own tag list

You can sort the Tag index beyond activity and only see it based on how many people is using it, If it is a new tag, if it is a Simler featured tag or Alphabetically.

In the picture you can see that when you see tags in the directory, if you have the tag in your own tag list, It will appear fully colored and if you don’t have It will just appear grayed out. If you want to add any tag, you just hover it and then a “+” sign appears, you click and it is instantly added to your list.

The Tag Directory also shows a sidebar where it push featured tags and suggested tags for you to add. I ignore how exactly these sidebar lists are made but i will ask on that for when i get to revisit this post as a actual review.

People Directory

Simler is keen on Conversations around common interests (contextually provided by tags) and that also means it is keen on meeting people and they show with the best user index i have ever seen in a Social Messaging Network.  You will not have to wait for third party user directories like with Twitter or jump to other people profiles via comments like in Pownce or Rejaw.

No, you got a detailed way of finding people to have conversations and to friend.

Like with the tag directory, you got sort options. In this case the default view is “Most Simler”. This is powered by the Tags and by your Friend List.  So the first people that will appear to you is going to be the ones that got more tags in common and more friends in common. This is great because if you see someone with 10 tags and 10 friends in common. It is a given you should get along and that it is someone you may want to request as friend.

From there you can sort it and see the list based just in Friends in common, Distance (closest to you),  Newest or Last Login. But if you want to go beyond that. You can with its Advance search:

Then you can sort by age, gender,status, location or tags.

Notifications

As a way to make sense of your daily activity, Simler got a notification system and it gives to a inbox where you can track what is happening in simler that relates to you.

Simler puts them as a Notices list and these are also sent to you via E-mail. In that mode you can also set which ones you want to receive. There is also a RSS feed in case you want it.

In-site you can see up to 99 notices in your inbox and then they get erased as you get new ones beyond that.

Profile Page

The profile page (Simler CEO in pics) is very simple but it is also very straightforward as it shows the visitor your note stream by default and it then it let them navigate to your friend list or tag list directly. there is also a tag filter/searcher they can use if they know what Tag they are looking to see if you got.

As you can see it also got a indication if you want post directly into someone’s profile. This is the way to message someone publicly by generating a friend personal-tag note via post box that slides out.

Other things you can see in someone profile are the indicators to send a private message, friends in common indicator, a send friend request or remove friend indicator,  the last logon, tags in common and a preview box for that user friend list.

Home Page

Finally the Home Page where also your note stream and private stream reside. he very first thing you see when you log into Simler is this page and from here you can see the overall site navigation. you got a suggestion/auto complete based searchbox works for people and tags.

Your update post box for to make your notes, A people box that suggests users to check out.

Later you can see the streams. The “All” stream aggregates all your notes, your friends notes and all the notes for tags you have subscribed to.  It also shows your private stream for messages you have sent or received, A notices box that will remind you how many unseen notices you got, If you have friend requests, Invites you have left (you get 10 invites when you get accepted or invited to simler) and a sidebar module that shows you the top ten tags in your tag list based on its rank.

More to come

This is not everything there is to know of simler but since there are things that remain unfinished. These should be left for post simler launch. Right now you can go to Simler.com and join right away to check it out get in the invite list or ask me here for a invite and i will get you one as soon as possible. Appatic got 20 invites to give away.*

Overall right now i think Simler is the best new Social Messaging Network i have seen and it could no be more clear how focused is about conversations thanks to its clear focus in Tags and in the People using the tags when in Simler.

Linkage

Simler

Simler is now DEAD

*UPDATE* (15/10/09) You No Longer Need Invites

*UPDATE* (16/10/09) The Site Features Have Been Upgraded

*UPDATE* (01/11/09) Parts of this post are now outdated, info will be updated in the full review version of this post.

*UPDATE* (09/12/09) You can now check out a interview with the CEO of Simler for another look into the concept of the site and its future direction.

*UPDATE* (07/23/10) Simler is now dead.