Mahalo Journal: A couple of new additions

You may have already noticed but last week a couple of new features were added to Mahalo Journal:

• Autogrowing input boxes

  Although Mahalo Journal encourages you to "keep it short and sweet" (255 characters being the maximum for each entry) I still found that there were times when sentences would get long enough that the text would scroll off screen making it hard to see what you were typing. That problem is now a thing of the past as Mahalo Journal automatically scales the size of the input boxes vertically as you type!

  

• "Recently updated" stars

  Reading other people's entries can be fun and inspiring. However, until last week, figuring out when people were updating their journals could be a bit difficult. Now, if you go to the list of users you will see little stars next to people who have recently updated their journals! Also, if you want to follow someone on a regular basis, RSS feeds are available for all journals by using the "Subscribe" link found at the bottom of each user's home screen.

  

• Feedback tab

  Hearing from people who actually use the site is a big part of what makes creating it fun! Last week I added a little "Feedback" tab at the bottom right of the site (visible when logged in), where you can write your thoughts or ideas about Mahalo Journal. The posting mechanism is wired directly in to my brain so I promise no comments will go unnoticed! What would you like to see Mahalo Journal do? What do you hate with a passion or think is great about the site? Let me know!

  

Using Mahalo Journal with Facebook Connect

As some may have noticed I have been secretly testing out integrating Mahalo Journal with Facebook lately and today I am releasing this new functionality for public use!

Using Mahalo Journal with Facebook Connect allows you to do some cool new things:

• Super easy signup & login If you already have a Facebook account all you have to do to sign up for a new Mahalo Journal account is to push the big blue "Login with Facebook"-button and grant permission to connect through Facebook. Your profile picture, name and time zone will all be automagically imported! You only have to verify your username and you're ready to to start using your new account. Subsequently you no longer have to remember a separate password for Mahalo Journal - as long as you're logged in to Facebook (and who isn't constantly logged in to this black hole of a social network...) you can always access your journal by the click of a button!
• Posting journal entries to Facebook Signing up through Facebook Connect will automatically enable wall posting to Facebook, so that whenever you make an entry in your journal it will also be shown on your Facebook profile page (this can be disabled from the "Settings" screen for people who just want the ease of logging in that Facebook Connect provides).

• I already have a Mahalo Journal, how do I get in on this Facebook goodness? Existing Mahalo Journal users wanting to take advantage of the new Facebook Connect functionality can do so now by going to the "Settings" screen and clicking "Connect with Facebook" to switch their accounts to a Facebook Connect account:

As usual, any feedback or comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy it!

Introducing Mahalo Journal

Mahalo Journal is a new web application I've been working on the past 2 weeks that allows you to keep a "gratitude journal" online. Today, I think it has reached a point where it is ready to be released for public use (although I am still making tweaks here and there)!

The idea for the site came to me after watching this video, where Harvard professor Tal Ben-Shahar briefly mentions the concept of keeping a gratitude journal, and how doing so can have a dramatic impact on your overall happiness.

The idea is simple: Each night before bedtime you type in 5 things, small or great, that you are grateful for. Doing this on a consistent basis will get you into the habit of noticing things that make you happy and gradually shift your focus to a more positive outlook.

Having used Mahalo Journal for a while now, "5 items a day" seems to be a good number as there are usually 2-3 obvious things that you think of right away, but filling out the remaining items really forces you to think through your day (and life in general!) and I feel like this process is making me better at finding joy in the small things.

If you're wondering: "Mahalo" is a Hawaiian word meaning "thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, respects" so I thought it would make a good name for the site!

Mahalo Journal is available now in 3 languages at www.mahalojournal.com!