Tumblr Streamlines User Interface

19 Gadgets That Changed The World

Microblogging site Tumblr has been overhauled, resulting in a refined interface and an enhanced queue process that cuts the time required to organize posts.

"Sorry for the delay. It took longer than we were expecting to port your existing queues," said Tumblr founder David Karp, in a web post.

The queue allows bloggers to stagger posts -- or tumbleblogs -- over hours or days, enabling writers to keep their blogs active and consistent, according to Tumblr. Under the prior system, queues could be hundreds of posts long, resulting in an onerous, time-consuming process. Now, bloggers drag and drop to reorder posts; previously, Tumblrs needed to move one post at a time.

The average Tumblr user creates 14 original posts each month, and reblogs three, according to the New York-based company. Half those posts are photos, with the remaining 50% split between text, links, quotes, music, and video, Tumblr said. In September, the website received more than 2 billion page views, according to the company.

The company is backed by Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Betaworks, John Borthwick, Fred Seibert, Albert Wenger, and Martin Varsavsky. Famous Tumblr accountholders include singer John Mayer, who recently traded in his Twitter account for a blogging badge.

Competitors include blogging sites including WordPress and TypePad, as well as Posterous which on June 22 created a tool to allow Tumblr users to simply port their blogs to Posterous.

"Tumblr is a pretty cool service. They offer easy set up, loads of funky themes, and super-simple reblogging," Posterous said at the time. "But blogging on Tumblr is sort of like being in high school. But you know deep-down that you can't be in high school forever. Eventually, you have to move on."