Coming soon: An updated FirstVoices!

The FirstVoices development team has been working hard on a brand new mobile-friendly version of the FirstVoices site, which we're excited to announce will become available in early 2022! This new version has been envisioned and designed in close collaboration with several hard-working Language Teams, with input from hundreds of community members. The updated FirstVoices platform is truly a collaborative endeavour, more smooth and easy-to-navigate than ever before, and we can't wait to share it with everyone. Hence this sneak peek!

Customizable homepage

In the new FirstVoices, Language Teams will be able to design their own unique site homepage. The new homepages are designed to be central landing pages for information about the community and the language, and updates about additions to the language site. They are fully customizable to showcase information that the community finds most important, with search front and centre.

Homepages will be available at simple, memorable URLs for each site, and equally usable on desktop or mobile devices.

Widgets for site highlights

Homepages are customizable thanks to a collection of useful widgets, meant to give visitors a more interactive experience with easy access to new information right on the site homepage. Some of the existing widgets include:

• Word of the Day (automatically-generated)
• Photo Galleries
• an embedded First Peoples' Map
• Statistics about the number of words, phrases, stories, and songs on the site
• quick access to the Alphabet

...and more! We welcome your ideas about more interesting widgets to add.

All-inclusive search and new ways to view content

The heart of the FirstVoices platform are the Language Teams, and the amazing language content that they have spent years meticulously collecting and documenting. The new platform provides an easy search interface that lets visitors search across all types of content at once: words, phrases, songs, and stories. Details about content can be viewed from a panel without leaving your search results! That means you can view related images, listen to linked audio and related phrases, and view grammar and acknowledgements for a word – all without leaving the page.

Other views allow you to easily browse words and phrases by different criteria, such as letter of the alphabet, or vocabulary category.

Simple navigation and custom pages

You'll always be able to find what you're looking for on the language site thanks to the new navigation bar available across the top in every view. Included are quick links to mobile apps, keyboards, and their installation instructions.

Teams are also able to create custom pages to give detailed information about any topic of their choosing.

Redesigned Kids area

The updated FirstVoices also comes with a totally redesigned Kids area. From the Kids area, you have access to all language site content that's marked as kid-friendly, laid out in a semi-immersive view which places more emphasis on images and icons than English translations. Check it out and have fun exploring, no matter what age you are!

Watch the webinar

If you'd like to see a full-length webinar, showcasing these sneak peeks and more, you can watch it here:

Bug fixes

• There was a serious bug that broke the FirstVoices Keyboards app on devices that upgraded to iOS 15 – it's now fixed! If you're on an iPhone and iPad and are having problems with a blank keyboard showing up, we recommend you update or reinstall the app (installation guide here).
• We fixed a bug that prevented notification emails from being sent to Language Administrators after a New Member Request. Language Admins, please check your dashboards for any registration requests that you may have missed!

Contact us

Send us your questions, concerns, ideas, bugs and feedback at hello@firstvoices.com!