Tumblr Revamps Writing Tools in 'Big' Update

In an update Tumblr has described simply as “big,” the blogging service has introduced a bunch of new tools for creating posts.

The new features offer a more refined user experience, introducing more control over the creation of posts while maintaining the easy-to-use interface that’s long been popular with the Tumblr community.

Text posts can now be more easily formatted with a new tool bar that rolls out when a piece of text is highlighted, and new buttons make it simple to insert multimedia in any part of the text as you go.

‘Posts look like posts’

The New York-based team says that more than before, “posts look like posts,” in other words, the way your post looks to you as you create it is exactly how it’ll look to readers when you hit publish.

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As TechCrunch notes, some of the changes appear to have been inspired by elements of Medium, a fast-growing publishing platform known for its super-clean interface.

Related: DT’s pick of the best free blogging sites

Tumblr says the latest update to its service is so big that it’s going to take two days to fully roll out, so if you don’t have it yet, you soon will. It’s also released updates for its mobile apps bringing, for example, enhancements for notifications, as well as better integration with security apps 1Password and Authy.

Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo in May 2013 for around $1 billion. At the time, many Tumblr users feared the acquisition would result in the blogging service “turning purple,” though Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was quick to reassure the community by promising “not to screw up.” It’s fair to say that till now at least, she’s kept her word.

[Via TechCrunch]