A Message from Sidengo
Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Sidengo is joining OwnLocal, a venture-backed technology company based in Austin, Texas.
Sidengo started in 2012 with the intention of creating a truly simple website builder that could be used seamlessly by anyone, with or without technical or design skills. Our vision has always been to make a difference in as many small businesses as possible, and OwnLocal is the opportunity to do so and take our product to the next level.
It has been a crazy 3 years and we are so grateful for the opportunities, challenges, and learning experiences we’ve had along the way. We built a great product and are overjoyed that Sidengo will continue to grow into something larger than we are capable of doing by ourselves.
The OwnLocal acquisition will allow the Sidengo technology to advance and scale faster than we ever imagined. For users, this will only mean improvements. OwnLocal is an expert at small business marketing and will be a huge resource to everyone who works with our technology.
We have reached out to all of our customers, but if you missed our note or have any more questions, please contact support@ownlocal.com or call (512) 501-6265.
We would like to say thank you to our customers, advisors, and friends who have supported us along the way; we could not have done this without you. We really appreciate your support and look forward to joining the OwnLocal team.
— Gabriel & Jorge (The Sidengo Guys)
New Feature: Responsive Templates
Many of you have probably noticed this feature by now, since we launched it quietly a few weeks ago. Still, today is an important day for us, since we’re proud to officially announce our latest milestone: unique mobile layouts for each template.
Now your site has the same look and feel across all browsers, tablets, and mobile devices. Best of all, there’s no need to update your site - this all happens automatically.
Have a site with many sections? No problem! Our responsive templates now come with a mobile navigation that allows you to display all your sections without sacrificing screen real estate.
We’ve also taken the opportunity to freshen up some of the templates, giving them a more up-to-date styling. These subtle changes were done thanks to the fantastic feedback we’ve received from our wonderful users!
We plan to add a few more templates before the end of the year, along with a bunch of other new features. Stay tuned for more updates, we’ll be busier than ever these next few months!
Need to update your site? Simply go to your Dashboard to give these new responsive templates a test drive!
Introducing the Zopim Live Chat App
We’d like to believe that our live chat feature is huge for users because it allows us to guide them instantly when they run into an obstacle. Many of you have stated that you would like something similar for your site, something that would allow you to talk with your customers.
That’s why today we are proud to officially launch our latest site app: a live chat box powered by Zopim.
Just like in a real shop, Zopim lets you have live conversations with visitors on your website. Impress and convert them into loyal customers before they move on to the next site. Place a beautiful, customizable chat widget on your website, and start having genuine conversations with visitors within minutes.
To learn more about Zopim, check out the following video:
It’s the exact same chat you see when you talk to us, so you’re getting a the whole enchilada.
It’s super easy to get started using this app, simply create a Zopim account and paste your embed code inside your builder.
Looking back at our first year as a business
July 1st is a special day for the Sidengo Guys. Exactly two years ago (July 1, 2011) we left our jobs to start this wild project. Back then we had a vague idea of how the product would shape up, we didn’t have a business model and most importantly, we didn’t know how to code. The first year was dedicated to learning and launching a MVP.
It feels like yesterday when we announced our official launch in this blog. It turns out this happened exactly one year ago, also on July 1st.
It’s amazing to see how Sidengo has developed into a great website building tool. Months ago, we only had one template; we limited sites to three sections; we didn’t have a native photo gallery uploader; users were required to register their domains elsewhere. You could say we’ve come a long way!
In summary, we’ve had 16 major dates this past year:
August 1, 2012: The debut of the Section Manager, allowing users to have an unlimited number of sections in their sites.
August 16, 2012: We released our first additional templates - The Broadway and The Madison, allowing users to give their site a different look and feel.
August 31, 2012: The Arctic template debuted as our fourth template variation.
October 16, 2012: Domain name registrations came to life, giving new subscriptions a free domain name in their first year.
October 30, 2012: Submenus were released, allowing users to give a better structure to their navigations.
November 7, 2012: YouTube Channels became the latest Media section type, allowing users to display their entire video catalogs in a single section.
January 15, 2013: The Centric and The Polar templates debuted as our fifth and sixth template variations.
February 26, 2013: We released our Image Editor powered by Aviary, allowing users to edit their images inside the site builder.
March 4, 2013: Photo Galleries came to life, allowing users to create these without using Flickr or Facebook.
March 14, 2013: The Uptown template debuted as our seventh template variation.
March 20, 2013: The Chelsea template debuted as our eighth template variation.
May 3, 2013: We released the new, unlimited Awesome Plan, allowing users to have an unlimited number of pro sites in their account for a low, monthly $25 price.
May 10, 2013: In-place text editing became our latest feature, allowing users to edit their text straight from its section or element, with a simple click. Lets just say only a few folks miss the old text box!
May 19, 2013: Our Form Builder powered by Jotform saw the light of day, allowing users to create all types of custom forms, without the need of third-party services such as Wufoo.
May 29, 2013: Section Links made their first appearance, allowing users to link to a specific section of their site.
July 1, 2013: Today we officially released our seventh site app: Zopim Live Chat.
So, you might ask, what’s next? The next big feature will be an update to our templates. They’ll get leaner, faster, and responsive. Each template will be redesigned from the ground up to keep up with today’s web design standards. At the same time, each template will now have its own mobile version.
We have many other things in the oven, so don’t expect us to slow down anytime soon. We’re working on features that will benefit portfolios and showcasing (hint: better photo galleries), marketers (hint: analytics) and resellers.
Anniversary Discount: 20% off for the next 6 months
To celebrate these great 12 months as a formal business, we’re offering a special discount for all new subscriptions. When subscribing to the plan of your choice, please enter the coupon code summer2013 and you’ll immediately receive a 20% discount on your subscription for the next 6 months. This coupon needs to be redeemed before August 1st.
Here’s to the next 12 months! We’re really excited about them.
New Feature: Section Links
Have you been wanting to share one of your site’s sections directly? Or maybe trying to link to one of your sections from another one?
We have great news for you! This is now possible as we just released this feature.
Here is how it works:
1. Enter your section’s title in the builder or directly on the section.
2. Once your title is auto-saved, watch as the URL in the address bar changes automagically.
3. You can share or link to this URL so you can point anyone directly to your awesome section.
This works great for pointing to your menu, contact page, registration form, or any other thing you want to share.
Login to your Sidengo account and click on the ‘Edit Site’ button to try out this new feature!
Sincerely,
The Sidengo Guys