Major SezWho Upgrade

A major upgrade of SezWho, the tool Entrecard uses to help bloggers earn additional credits by commenting and rating on other blogs, has been released.

There were dozens of new additions and performance upgrades in Version 2.2, so I'll be outlining them below.

1. Support for Local CSS and JavaScript (for WordPress).  These files will now be served from your local server, not from SezWho.
2. JavaScript has become more compact, meaning faster loading blogs for WordPress and Blogger users.  Take a look at the comparison: Uncompressed - 90K (Old), 35K (New); Compressed - 19K (Old), 14.3K (New), meaning your page will load 25%+ faster.
3. Support for both new and classic blog templates.  This will also improve the performance of Blogger by preloading the SezWho user interface.
4. Support for templates for comments, so you can have threaded comments and using four different looks and feels (provided) for the comment templates.
5. Thumbs up and down for ratings - this will be the new default setting.
6. Support for configurable popups (popup on hover or not).
7. Support for WP-MU and multiple installs in the same WP database.
8. Easy upgrade - just update your SezWho folder with the latest code and configure the new settings from the plugins > SezWho configuration page.
9. Improved support for filtering.

On the Entrecard side, the algorithm has changed.  A credit will be given to people who leave comments that get rated 2.5 or better, once per day per blog.

You can read the announcement post at Entrecard.

My Opinion: It looks like these changes are for the better, as the previous system didn't contain a whole lot of flexibility when it came to how your comments are threaded/displayed.  Plus, the performance is another key issue addressed - making the plugin even more valuable for the people who have it installed.

In addition, SezWho is holding a performance upgrade giveaway, in which you can win a "SezWho" polo t-shirt, by telling them the improvements in load times (leave a comment on their blog post).