January 31 updates (v0.8.1): Games, search, and immersion mode

Created by Clarissa Forbes
Last updated: Jan 31, 2024
3 min read

The FirstVoices development team has been working hard on the new FirstVoices release. All new updates have been prompted by the hard-working Language Teams and community members, whose valuable feedback, ideas and suggestions have been crucial in making FirstVoices a better platform.

If you have questions about any of the updates listed below, or have ideas for ways to improve FirstVoices, please contact us at: hello@firstvoices.com

 

 

What’s new?

FirstVoices Games are back!

Screenshot of 3 tiles for FirstVoices games - parachute, phrase scrambler, wordsy

After a short wait, we are excited to bring back two classic FirstVoices games, rebuilt for the new platform: Parachute and Phrase Scrambler. These are great games for players at both beginning and intermediate levels of their language learning journeys, helping to provide introductions to spelling and grammar.

We are also excited to add a new game to the FirstVoices game collection: Wordsy. This is an advanced-level game that tests players' spelling and vocabulary by asking them to guess a daily word.

  • Knowledge Base article (for teams): Building content for FirstVoices games

  • Added three games to each FirstVoices site: Parachute, Phrase Scrambler, and Wordsy.

  • Added a toggle on the create/edit form to customize whether words and phrases are included in FirstVoices games.

Search all of FirstVoices.com

Screenshot of a search for Happy new year across all of FirstVoices, with results from several sites
Search across all language sites on FirstVoices

Need to find a common phrase used in many languages? Looking for a word, but don’t know what language it is from or which site to browse? It is now possible to search all of the FirstVoices website at once to find what you are looking for.

  • Updated the FirstVoices homepage with a link to the search page.

  • Added a search box in the top navigation bar when you are on the Explore Languages page.

Immersion Mode is now available

Immersion is known to be the best route to language fluency. Language teams are now able to translate parts of the FirstVoices interface so that visitors to their site can learn language just by clicking around and exploring.

This feature is available on request. If your team is interested in adding Immersion Mode to your language site, get in touch with FirstVoices staff at hello@firstvoices.com! We will support you in enabling the feature and getting started with translation.

 

What’s improved?

General improvements

  • Expanded homepage. Added new About, Keyboards, and Support pages instead of linking to our FirstVoices Knowledge Base.

  • Quick links to FirstVoices support. Find a link to our support page in the navigation bar, no matter where you are.

  • Show audio recordings at the top of story pages. Now you can hit play when you are at the top of the page, and scroll down while you listen to the recording.

Bug fixes

  • After searching in the Dashboard, always show top results. Fixed a bug about the order of search results if you were using a custom sorting filter in the Dashboard Advanced Search area.

Knowledge Base updates

 

What’s next?

  • Link videos from Youtube/Vimeo onto your language content

  • Photo Galleries

  • Edit and delete content in your Media Library (audio, images, etc)

  • Search the Explore Languages page

Got feedback?

For feedback, suggestions, or tech support, contact the FirstVoices team at hello@firstvoices.com.

The new FirstVoices is in its infancy and we rely on your feedback to continue to improve it. We love to hear about how you use FirstVoices, and we welcome your thoughts!