MockFlow update: Support for custom colors in Icon component

Colored

Today's build brings in a couple of updates worth mentioning. 

(1) Colored Icons:  This feature was done based on customer requests. Now you can change the default black color of the icons to almost any color of choice by simply manipulating its RGB sliders (as shown in the figure above)

(2) MockFlow Desktop performance: The application startup and the mockup loading time has been now highly optimized for the MockFlow Desktop Client (http://www.mockflow.com/desktop), We recommend using the desktop client especially when you want high performance & offline capability for your design work.

MockFlow update: New 'Web Snap' feature for the Desktop Client

Websnappages

We are very excited to release back-to-back big updates for MockFlow. Today's build introduces a new tool called "Web Snapshot" feature that is exclusively meant for the Desktop Client of MockFlow. Using this feature, you can enter the URL of a webpage, select any region in the page of any size and then hit the "Capture" button. This would take a picture of the selected region and upload it directly to your mockup's asset library.

The "Web snapshot" function is listed under the tools menu of the MockFlow desktop client and also in the Image manager.  See the video below for a short demonstration:

As it is integrated within MockFlow, it makes it very easy to capture whole or parts of web pages and use it in your mockup instantly.

MockFlow update: New Dashboard with project logs & team updates

Dashboard

As you may have noticed, MockFlow now features a new Dashboard for managing your mockups effectively. The redesign is not only aesthetically pleasing but is aimed at Teams for easier sharing and to track project activities.

The default dashboard screen presents two columns. The left column contains all your mockups and the right column provides 'Team updates' and 'MockFlow News'.

  • 'Team updates' provides notifications when other members of your team has shared / removed / changed your permission of their mockup projects and also of any comments added to your mockups.
  •  'MockFlow News' displays upto date information about any features, fixes, interesting additions to MockStore and even usage tips about the application

Clicking on a mockup project provides 'Logs' and 'Members' :
  •  'Logs' is used for tracking project activities such as changes, revisions, comments, sharing... from you and the mockup's collaborators.
  •  'Members' makes it easy to invite and share the mockup with your team

All the tracking is automatically done by MockFlow as you make changes to your mockup projects. We hope that this big update makes life easier especially for teams.

     

MockFlow Release: FREE Desktop Editor for PC & Mac with OfflineSync

Desktopclient

We are very excited to begin this New Year with a useful gift to all our users - a FREE desktop client for Mac & PC with OfflineSync.  The desktop client complements its online version by providing all its web features in addition to the following functionality (also mentioned at http://www.mockflow.com/desktop) :

  • Native: Provides better desktop integration by running MockFlow in its own window with native menus and keyboard shortcuts for both PC & Mac
  • Offline Sync: All your changes are automatically stored locally. So you can edit and view mockups even if there is No net-connectivity. And optionally sync back when you regain connection.
  • Fully Loaded: Once you install MockFlow Desktop, it isn't necessary to visit MockFlow.com. Since it provides all the features such as sharing, chat, real-time collaboration and more...
  • Super Fast: Since it runs directly in your desktop, it is faster and more reliable. The mockup's data & images are smartly cached to load instantly.
  • Continuous Backup: All your mockups are not only securely backed up online multiple times but also they are continuously backed up locally in your computer to ensure that your data is never lost.
  • Exclusive: Simplified interface - Detects net-access & auto switches between online/offline mode - Pushed updates
With the desktop client, you can design your mockup seamlessly without worrying about connection drops. Also without losing your productivity in places where
Internet access is unavailable. Simply the benefits are many fold.

MockFlow BIG feature: Integrated Whiteboard tool for drawing doodles on your mockup

Whiteboard

We are very excited to announce a new feature called Whiteboard to our recently introduced 'Tools' section in MockFlow. As its name suggests, the "Whiteboard" behaves like its real-world counterpart, it provides markers consisting of four colors: Red,Blue,Green, Black and ofcourse an Eraser. This is how it works:

Switch your mockup to presentation mode, click 'Tools' menu and select 'Whiteboard'. This prompts you to select any page from your mockup to add to the whiteboard. After selection, the tool loads up and you are ready to draw doodles over your mockup.

This is very useful when making presentations to your team and also you can snap a picture of the whiteboard with all your scribbling and then email it. Just imagine projecting your computer's monitor to a big screen and using this tool :-) (p.s. we already tried it and it works awesome for presenting/reviewing ideas).


MockFlow BIG update: New 'Compare Pages' function & Introducing Tools section

Comparepagestools

We are very excited to bring back-to-back big features to MockFlow. This update introduces a new section called tools which is found in both edit and presentation modes as shown in the pic above.
The new iconic tools menu now consists of 'SiteMap Visualization' and 'Compare Pages' operations. While the former already existed, we have now added the ability to select and compare any two pages of your mockup instantly. This helps in A/B testing to spot differences easily and helps in iterating your design process faster. In the future, we hope to implement more such useful tools to make user interface designing a pleasure.

You can try these right now by opening the samples from http://www.mockflow.com/samples

MockFlow update: New navigation components

Bars

Today's update brings in a set of new navigation components to MockFlow. All these components can be styled and linked to multiple pages.

Wedge Bar: A horizontal array of buttons which are shaped like a trapezium. Commonly found in software like Chrome browser

Tab Bar: Provides a set of curved buttons

Horizontal Button Bar: This component already existed in mockflow library, but now the bar can be rounded.

Vertical Button Bar: A vertical layout of a button bar.

MockFlow update: New! Mac 'Expose' like snapshot & re-designed export menu

Expose

At MockFlow, we are continually innovating stuff to provide the best value for our beloved users. The highlight of today's update is a unique mockup export operation called 'Expose shot' that should sound familiar to Mac users. We aptly named it so, as this function takes snapshots of multiple pages of a mockup project and smartly arranges it in a single page like seen in the screenshot above. Users can even set their preferred resolutions based on the number of pages. During our testing, we found this type of export highly useful when exchanging design information within our team here.

'Expose shot' can be used to:

  • Quickly provide an overview of your mockup project
  • Make side-by-side comparisons of design
  • Print your wireframe design in a single sheet of paper
  • Generate visual thumbnails of your wireframe
  • Exchange information cleaner and faster
Another update worth mentioning is the re-designed export menu. The export menu is now larger and visually appealing.

MockFlow update: New components galore

Newcomponents

If you are a regular MockFlow user, you might notice that this tool is updated frequently with new features and performance upgrades, most of which go un-announced. Also the recently released MockStore is already filled with useful stuff that is contributed daily.  Today's update brings in the following new components to MockFlow:
  • Tree List
  • Rounded Rectangle
  • Checkbox Group
  • RadioButton Group 
The tree list has an icon and non-icon mode as shown in the picture above. Besides these, we have some exciting announcements coming soon...
 
 

Introducing MockStore - an integrated design library for MockFlow

Mockstoress

We are very excited to officially announce a new addon service called MockStore. MockStore is a design library that provides a one-click access to an extensible list of 3rd party components and templates created with MockFlow. This accelerates the process to design, share and import user interface mockups contributed by the user community and also our MockFlow Team. It already has some very useful stuff such as:

  • Facebook application components
  • Mobile phone interfaces (Nokia,iPhone)
  • Browser Frames (IE,FireFox,Chrome)
  • Desktop backgrounds (Win Vista,Mac OS X)
  • Colored Charts
  • Website & Blog templates.... to name a few

MockStore is nicely integrated within the MockFlow editor for easier access and also available as a standalone service at http://www.mockflow.com/mockstore. MockStore is free for all users except certain components (labeled with a star) will be available only to premium users.

Video demo for using MockStore (1:11):

Video demo for submitting components to MockStore (2:33):