With Screencast.com's recent Library redesign comes a particularly interesting enhancement that many may have missed.

In the old design, you could upload anything to your Library. Some people might have a bunch of loose content that wasn't in any true folder. Further, this content is "Public" - meaning anyone that knows your display name can see your Library.

Take a look at my public offerings at http://www.screencast.com/users/d.frazier You see two public playlists that I've created, and four folders that are publicly visible and able to be browsed. What's not showing up are all the individual pieces of content that are stored at my Library level.

When you log into your account using the old UI, you find yourself in a "My Library" view by default. Here's a snapshot of some of my Screencast.com account now with me logged in:

Uploading content by clicking the "Upload Content" button results in your file being stored at your Library level, i.e. not in a specific folder. (You can of course upload content into a specific folder by navigating to that folder level and initiating the upload process.)

Previously we had no way of implementing any level of privacy at the Library level other than "Public." With our new UI, and particularly by displaying all folders in the left hand navigation area, we can now treat the Library as a real folder (and it is now called "Default"...by default. Clever, I know). Now with the new UI, when you log into your account you find yourself not in your Library, but in a "view" - specifically the "All items" view.

When you choose to upload content from this view, your content goes into your Default folder - for the time being. (A logical enhancement for us is to put a folder picker on the Flash-based uploader, but that's for a different discussion.) The point here is that because the Library is now a real folder, you can set the privacy of it to something other than "Public".

If you set it to "Hidden", anyone browsing to your account by using your display name won't be able to see any content that's been uploaded to your Default folder, until you send someone a direct link to it, or move it into a "Public" folder of your choosing. I see this as a benefit to most who want to upload lots of content in bulk (through the Desktop Uploader application or Camtasia Relay for example), not have it be instantly, publicly browseable, and then decide later how to organize and share it.

Our intention is to one day index all public content in Screencast.com in order to provide discoverability both internally (as related content perhaps) and externally through the various search engines. Additionally, we will one day make the new UI the only available viewing option for content owners. When we do that (and for those who don't realize that their Library/Default content is publicly browseable), we have an opportunity to set everyone's Default folder to "Hidden" (by default), without affecting any of the content or links to content that have previously been shared. If after that update, you want your Library/Default folder to be browseable, you can easily set its privacy level back to "Public", but it will be you that initiates that action and not us, on your terms and with your understanding.

For now, if you want to take advantage of this new degree of security, feel free to update the privacy settings of your Default folder and rest assured that any content you upload into your account that's not uploaded directly to a Public folder, will be hidden from view until you decide to share it.

You have so many choices when it comes to deciding how to present your video to your audience. Instead of trying to explain pros and cons or delve into feature comparison lists, we tried something a little different.

This info graphic attempts to convey some of the more unique reasons why you may choose to produce your video to Screencast.com directly from Camtasia Studio on Windows or Camtasia for Mac.

What do you think of having the information presented this way?

Here's a quick list of popular ways in which educators are leveraging the privacy of Screencast.com and how it's easy to get your content from a TechSmith product to Screencast.com where designated people can view it.

• Host instructional videos and provide links to parents and students. Parents and students can view the videos 24/7.
• Create a MediaRoll that is hosted on the class or school webpage. The MediaRoll is automatically updated when videos are uploaded to the corresponding folder.
• Have students use Jing to explain a concept. These Jing videos or images are shared with just the teacher, the class, or maybe the world. Here's an example: http://mrshedge.squarespace.com/all-videos/.
• Host classroom "lectures" or any type of instruction or presentation with Camtasia Relay. Just record, and Camtasia Relay does all the processing. When the video is done, you're emailed the link to where it's hosted on Screencast.com.
• Host files (attachments) such as PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and PDFs. Selected people are able to download the materials.

Have you tried Screencast.com in education? What tips do you have?

This week I'm cheating. I'm dipping into the Jing feedback folder to respond to a few similar questions, and draw attention to the fact that Jing and Screencast.com are connected for a reason.

In fact, I could use this opportunity to point out that everyone who uses Jing should ALWAYS use Screencast.com as their hosting/sharing solution...but I'm biased of course. (for those who don't know, I'm the product manager for both Jing and Screencast.com :)) Even I know that users of Jing and other content creation tools have reasons for using those tools in their own way. I recently conducted several user interviews where I got to watch how people use Jing in their daily lives and the results pleasantly surprised me. I saw a lot of content being captured with Jing and then sent to Snagit and Camtasia Studio for further editing before being published to Screencast.com and other destinations. That's the kind of workflow that not everyone understands, but when you do, it opens your eyes to the unlimited possibilities that now exist.

Anyway, I digress. Here are two comments from Jing users that I hope this post can address:

By the way, I used Jing to take these snapshots and I sent the images to Snagit to make the neat curled edge effect. From Snagit's editor, I then sent the images to my Screencast.com account which immediately returned to me the HTML embed code that I pasted into this article. Simple, eh (that's for you Sharon)?

Ok, now on to the response: FOLDERS! Everyone needs to organize their content, and Screencast.com gives you a great way to do that with the Screencast.com object we call Folders. We thought folders were so cool, we even let you create them in our other content creation tools like Jing, Snagit, Camtasia Studio, and Camtasia Relay. "But where ARE they?" you might ask...

Folders are accessible in Jing through the Button Settings dialog in the Preferences section of Jing's More ball:

The idea is that, from within our tools, you can create a unique button for each folder to which you want to send content. Click on the button you want to customize, or click New to create a new button:

From here you can pick from any of the folders that are in your Screencast.com account, or you can choose to edit folders directly. This would allow you to create a new folder in your Screencast.com account, that you would then select back in the Jing interface.

Jing is smart, so if you have a folder that is private (requiring a password or user authentication to access it), you won't be able to have the button retrieve embed code. Embedding content is only allowed from Public or Hidden folders (Your Jing folder is a hidden folder on Screencast.com). You can have up to eight (8) buttons appear in your Jing preview window:

Now that I've demonstrated one way to use TechSmith's online hosting and sharing solution to do your organizing - what if you wanted to create a unique button to save your content into different local file system destinations (or FTP directories, or Facebook accounts, or...)? You can create new buttons that have unique file paths to your hard drive, FTP site, or Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/Flickr accounts.

We're always interested in hearing what you have to say, so at this point I guess I should quit yammering on and let you, the readers, tell us what you like or don't like about this particular point of integration. So let us have it! And of course, Happy Screencasting (and Jinging!).
- Dirk

This question posted through our Feedback form highlights one of the least understood features of Screencast.com - The MediaRoll.

Sometimes a seemingly simple question creates even more questions, with answers that run off on tangents. Widgets are objects that present information to the viewer. Sometimes they're embedded on webpages and blog posts, like a collection of Tweets or Digg entries. Other times they are displayed on your computer desktop as a Sidebar in the case of Windows, or as a collection of tools on the Mac Dashboard.

Widgetbox is an online resource that lets you create widgets from various sources, like an RSS feed, a collection of YouTube videos, or some other source of video or image data. TechSmith's public folders and public and hidden playlists can be linked to by RSS, which means you can provide a folder RSS feed link to Widgetbox and create your own embeddable widget that displays that folder's contents. Keep in mind that RSS feeds are primarily used to present a subset of source data - usually the most recent 20 or so "items". If you have a large collection you want to present through some kind of widget, RSS may be too limiting.

TechSmith has its own "widget" called the MediaRoll. The MediaRoll is a Flash based viewer of content that gives a viewer insight into a folder or playlist on Screencast.com.

When you choose to share a folder or playlist, copy the "embed code for MediaRoll" presented in the share dialog box and paste that into your Website or blog post. If you don't like the look of our MediaRoll, you can customize it by adding parameters called FlashVars. This Help Center article will show you what you can do.

I hope this gives you some ideas as to what you can do with widgets, RSS and the MediaRoll today. in the future, we'll be improving our MediaRoll customization experience and even incorporating video playback elements into the MediaRoll object. Then there's also Silverlight and HTML5 to worry about since the MediaRoll won't display on an iPad... There's always so much to do. :)

-Dirk

There are only a couple things left to do this summer. For instance, I have a gnawing project at home that I just haven't finished. I've been busy painting the house (how's that for a fun 'staycation'?). It's all finished, except for one spot; the ceiling in the entry way. Started it, just haven't finished the edges. It really wouldn't be so bad, except when I turn on the light at night for the front door and welcoming someone in. Then I suddenly remember, "oh yeah, I need to finish the ceiling in here..."

Well, luckily TechSmith is a little better at getting stuff done than I am. This week we're pushing a handy little feature that we've been meaning to get to all summer; the ability to send custom email invitations.

Here's a little Jing video showing how this works:

What's nice is that we're still working on a lot of other features for Screencast.com. And, we really appreciate the feedback many of you gave us recently in our customer survey. We're looking at what you want closely. More than a few mentioned multiple user accounts (which we're working on) and viewer statistics and analytics.  Those are the top features on our list too.

So, keep the feedback coming and let us know what you think of the new custom email invitations. Happy screencasting!

We've talked about RSS (Real Simple Syndication) a little bit before, but I wanted to added a little more information to help everyone know how to use it, since it can be so helpful.

Kelly Mullins posted early the Screencast.com and RSS article a few weeks ago. As a follow-up to that article, here is a video (2:58 minutes) that will walk you through the following:

* What RSS is

* How content owners can use RSS

* How viewers benefit from RSS

* How users can subscribe to content using RSS

You can watch a larger version here: http://www.screencast.com/t/OAems4p9W

I know RSS has been a great tool for me to stay up to date on the blogs and sites that I like to regularly follow, but don't want to have to visit to find out what's new.

If you've never used RSS before, it's super simple to use. If you decide that you no longer the subscription, you can always get rid of it.

You can even subscribe to this blog to make sure you keep up to date on lots of tips, tricks, and news about Screencast.com. Click on the RSS icon to get started.

Did you know you can hide the Screencast.com branding on your view page? When the branding is hidden, your content is seen in a plain white wrapper and only a small Powered by Screencast.com logo is visible.

If the Commenting feature has been turned on for a piece of content, the comments will be still be available.

When the branding is turned off:

• The ability for your viewers to download content and attachments is disabled.

• The Details tab is hidden from view.

• The breadcrumb links leading back to your library are removed.

Note: Branding is turned on or off on a folder basis - individual pieces of content in the library or in a folder cannot have the branding turned on or off.

To turn off branding for a folder:

1. Hover over a folder in the library.
2. Click the Edit icon.The Edit Folders Properties dialog box appears.
3. To hide the branding, click the Viewers see content only option.
   
4. Click Done.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get here at Screencast.com is "Can I see how many times my video has been viewed?". The answer is a resounding "Yes, you can!".
And, it's quite simple to do - just toggle the view from Tile to Details while in a folder. The Tile and Detail icons are located in the upper right corner of the screen.

When in Details view, you can also see the:

• Last modified date for a content file in a folder or playlist
• Privacy level assigned to a piece of content.
• Number of files in a folder or playlist
• Total size of all the content in a folder or playlist

This Help Center article tells you more about viewing your content statistics in a folder or playlist.

I recently discovered one of the powers of screencasting. From the end of September until the second week of November I had been traveling a ton. As it sometimes happens when I travel my family tends to miss me, and in this case particular my eight-year old son was not happy to have me leave so much. It was especially tough when I traveled to California with a three hour time difference. (We're in Michigan)

During the last week of my travel schedule (only if I had thought of it earlier), I decided I would put the power of the screen to work. In the evenings when I had a little free time I would record a short screencast. In this case it was me playing a video game on Lego.com along with a web cam of myself. I would talk through the process of what I was doing and thinking.

Well, he loved it. My wife said that he was happier and I know I felt more connected.

Incidentally he's learned how to make recordings with Jing, and I look forward to seeing his screencasts when I go on future trips.

So, now it's your turn. Do you have a great use for screencasts that you want to share? Maybe you have a great screencast that you want to share. If you do, let me know.

We'd love to hear and pass on your stories. We'd also like to show off some of the screencasts that you all are making and hosting on Screencast.com. You can either leave a note for me here in the comments, email me at m.pierce [at] techsmith.com, or find me on twitter @piercemr.