Well dear reader, it really is just my luck that the day after I try to post a helpful blog entry, tumblr changes the whole dang site on me. Thus, I'm attempting to bring you explanation tumblr a second time, and maybe -- this time-- it will last a little longer than 24 hours.
I would first, read Explanation Tumblr take 1. I'm going to be doing a little bit more compare and contrast here. So, to get the basic terms and all, I would check out that first entry. Posting is still the same; so is reblogging and liking. At least the basics are consistent right?
The biggest, and in fact most visible change to tumblr, is the new dashboard. The appearance is much more clean with larger negative space in relation to type and images. Something I was able to capture today that I didn't in the last entry is the red think box. (The little red box above "dashboard".) This box will have a number and that number is the amount of photos/quotes/text posted since you last refreshed your dash. Short version: You see that little red number, click on your dash, and you'll see new posts from the blogs you follow. Now lets do a dashboard side-by-side comparison:
Alright! So, if we compare, you can see the sidebar has the greatest changes. The new sidebar on the main dashboard screen now just has a link to the peeps you follow and the posts you've liked. To get to your own lists of posts/reblogs/likes, your messages, and queue you now need to click on your blog's name up at the top near "dashboard".
As you can see I have 2 blogs. A lovely girl, which is my personal tumblr, and anything period, better known as fuckyeahcostumedrama. For this howto, so that I can show you what other people reblogging and liking your posts looks like, I'm going to click on anything period.
And now we can see all our old sidebar information! To your left, you see that your posts with the amount is right on top (well after open your layout, customize, and settings, but its up there!) followed by those following your blog, members-if you have a 2nd blog after your main one, messages, drafts, and queue. Not too different after all, is it?
Really, what the new tumblr dash is doing, is highlighting features that were already in place, but under-used. With more and more people joing tumblr every day, I think the website team is focusing more on friendly usability and streamlining features. Hopefully, we'll see a lot less error messages now.
What is great about this second blog post, is I get to highlight how others liking/reblogging/friending your posts/reblogs look. Actually, it will look like the list highlighted in the above screencap. FYCD is kind of a special example. Because I only post 1-2 photos day, and it has lots of members, it looks slightly different than your average dash. Normally, you're posts will be mixed in with the likes/reblogs like this:
No, the previous screencap did not have to be that large, but your welcome for the surprise Fassy on this entry ;D. As you can see, the fantastic steerpike liked a photo I posted in between the time I reblogged iamonlyamaid and bohemea. It all falls together seamlessly once you see it in action, I promise.
Hopefully, this adds to the helpfulness of explanation tumblr part 1. Please let me know if you have any questions!