After extensive Beta-testing, the launch of the new version is near and we could use some help with the translation of the new version. The goal is to have a full translated user interface for all languages our users speak.

If you want to contribute all you have to do is to send us an email with the following details: Your name, the language(s) you want to translate and optionally some details or background on why you would make a good translator. After we receive and approve your application, we'll soon send you a mail with all the instructions, the rules and a link to the translation dashboard.

Active translators will ofcourse receive a free PLUS subscription.

Floorplanner is proud to be nominated as a semi-finalist in this year's Adobe MAX awards in the category Rich Internet Applications.

This annual global awards event recognizes the best uses of Adobe software for creating engaging experiences. The finalists in each of the six categories will be invited to showcase their work at MAX 2008 and the winners are going to be announced live at the MAX event held in San Francisco on 17th November.

If you are interested in the competition, Viktor Kelemen from ZuiPrezi has a nice selection of semi-finalists of the 2008 MAX awards on his weblog.

We started testing the migration of accounts and plans to the new version. At this page you can enter your email address + password and your account and plans will be converted to the new Beta version where you can see your plans in 3D and experience many other improvements. Your current account will not be deleted but still be available through our main site so there is no chance of losing your existing designs by migrating.

Although we have tested the migration ourselves extensively there still might be some issues so please let us know your experiences with the new version through the feedback form on the Beta site

NOTE : This page will only work for FREE accounts at this moment, PLUS and PRO migration will be available soon.

We have been working very hard on the new version of Floorplanner for several months and today we are giving you a chance to testdrive the new version yourself.

By launching the Beta of Floorplanner 4.0 we hope to receive your feedback so we can iron out little bugs and inconsistencies before offering the new functionality to all Floorplanner users. In the coming weeks we will be making adjustments to this version based on your feedback and also will be offering an easy way to migrate your current plans and account to this new version.

There are many improvements in Floorplanner 4.0, here are some of the highlights:

Drawing improvements - Easier surface drawing, Copying and mirroring surfaces, presets for roomtypes, Maximized work area and more little improvements.

Graphic update - The style of the website and logo has been updated with more vivid colors and a lot less rounded corners.

3D objects - The most requested feature: We now have 3D objects! Although we haven't got 3D objects for all elements in the libraries yet (working on this) you can now play around with the available objects that can be found in the 3D category in the library

Improved loading and working speed - There have been many improvements behind the scenes that improve the loading speed of floors and designs significantly

Maximized workspace - Due to a more flexible integration of Floorplanner within webpages you can now maximize your work area by hiding the sidebar. You can also see a list of all elements being placed below your plan and it is now easier to work with multiple floors.

Interface elements - The navigation window has been replaced by a simpler way to zoom, pan and switch between 2D and 3D. We also tried to minimize the number of times a properties window appears when you work on your plans.

If you want to play with the new version yourself, go to the new demo to experience the new drawing functionality or create a test-account here. Please note that during this test period things might change a bit use it for EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY and please give us your feedback by the new feedback form.

Here at Floorplanner HQ we love seeing what you are creating with our tool and frequently amazed by the quality and complexity of the plans that are shown at our Fresh page but as there are many thousands of plans created everyday we needed a better overview of these plans. So we've set up Floorplanner.tv

At this page you can see an unfiltered view of the latest 200 public plans created with Floorplanner. You can easily browse through these plans and see what people are working on at this very moment. We've also included a Featured link that allows you to see a selection from these plans handpicked by our team. Just click on a plan to see more information on the plan or open that specific plan in a new window.

We really like this new view as it helps us to improve our product by seeing even better how people are using Floorplanner. and we hope it will be a source of inspiration and good ideas for all Floorplanner users.

Working together on a specific floorplan with different people within a team has become easier with the partnership between Octopz and Floorplanner. Octopz offers advanced online collaboration technologies built specifically for creative professionals. With fully integrated support for text messaging, VoIP and webcams, Octopz allows colleagues and partners anywhere in the world to work together securely in real-time, or individually at their own convenience.

At the Web2.0 Expo that is currently being held in San Fransisco, Octopz unveils the new version of their product and besides support for Flickr and Yahoo maps this new version will also have Floorplanner integration. In the near future users will be able to login to Floorplanner from within Octopz and import their plans into an Octopz session for review and feedback.

Since the first day we released Floorplanner.com (almost a year ago) there has been interest from students and teachers worldwide to use Floorplanner within the classroom. It is being used both for (homework) assignments as for actual classroom planning and it's being mentioned in educational resources and even podcasts. We regularly receive nice feedback like the following email we got recently:

"I used your site with my technology education class and they loved it. It was their favorite activity. Do you sell a version of this to schools? Thanks for letting us use your great product. Keep up the great work!"

We love this as we always have envisioned Floorplanner to be used for educational purposes and of course we want to stimulate this. That's why we are working on some refinements making Floorplanner even more usable in the classroom and testing a special version of our PRO account for teaching. Below you can find one of the many examples of classrooms being created with Floorplanner.

If you are using (or planning to use) Floorplanner within your classroom please let us know in the comments below. We'd love to hear how you are using our tool and how we can improve it for this specific use. Also leave a comment or contact us directly if you want to get invited to the beta program of Floorplanner for Schools that will allow teachers to collect and review all plans from their students through one account.

Floorplanner is currently attending the Keller Williams Family Reunion 2008 (blog) in Atlanta, Georgia with over 7500 of Keller Williams' agents. Keller Williams is the 4th largest real estate company in the United States and has one of the best training and consulting services in the market. Floorplanner showed a virtual staging demonstration where interactive floorplans can be used to help market luxury homes, new construction, and new housing developments.

Interest was very high for using Floorplanner as a key differentiator for agents who are competing in a very tough real estate market. Interactive floorplans are the next logical attachment to MLS listings that now have photos, virtual tours and maps.

For Keller Williams agents we have set up a special KW landing page for with samples, pricing and instructions how to upload existing floorplans and blueprints to have those converted into interactive floorplans that can be added or even integrated within listings. We are welcoming Keller Williams agents into our customer base and want to say thanks for having us at your Family Reunion 2008.

Steelcase, the global leader in the office furniture industry, helps people have a better work experience by providing products, services and insights into the ways people work.

To give visitors of the Steelcase website more tools to plan their perfect office a branded Floorplanner was integrated within the Steelcase web store.

Within moments an accurate floor plan of an office space can be created and a growing selection of Steelcase products can be added to this plan so users can test out various layouts. A "shopping list" is automatically generated based on the configuration and each item links to the productpage on the Steelcase store.

So if you are planning a new office space or your current work environment needs a rearrangement, visit the Steelcase store and take this tool for a spin...

A growing number of people are using Floorplanner to plan their garden or patio which has lead to some lovely plans. Over the past months we've been steadily growing our garden libraries and added fences, hedges and other functionality to make gardenplanning easier and more fun within Floorplanner.

Behind the scenes Nico has been working on all sorts of Garden planning functionality and this will be introduced in the coming period. A glimpse of what's ahead can be found through the Plantasjen Gardenplanner that was recently launched.

Plantasjen is a large chain of retailstores / gardencenters in Scandinavia and within their new website they integrated a customized Floorplanner that features their products and entire plant collection of over 2000+ plants. These plants can be selected and added from a HTML based plantfinder component outside the Floorplanner and a list of your plants is automatically generated while you are working on the design of your garden. These plans can be saved, mailed or printed for future reference or to take with you to the store as a shopping list.

The Plantasjen Gardenplanner is currently available in Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish and both the functionality as the libraries will grow in the coming months alongside the gardenplanning functionality in Floorplanner.