# data[].attributes.body
Use the new Padlet app for Zoom to present interactive, lag-free presentations, collaborate, or take notes with Padlet during Zoom calls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Use the new Padlet app for Zoom to present interactive, lag-free presentations, collaborate, or take notes with Padlet during Zoom calls.

Padlet is used and loved by tens of millions of users worldwide to collect, organize, and share their thoughts and content in beautiful visual boards. We are already available on browsers and mobile apps, but we want Padlet to eventually be used everywhere, within any application. We are excited to launch the first step of this journey - Padlet's own app for Zoom.

Why Zoom? Zoom is used by people everywhere to talk to each other online - joyous catch-up calls with far-flung friends, virtual classes where teachers try to wrangle distracted teenagers and serious corporate meetings where only half the attendees are wearing pants.

So much of modern life takes place on Zoom. We think Padlet would improve life on Zoom.

With the Padlet App for Zoom, you can access your padlets to take notes or share a padlet within the call and collaborate live together. You can also use our latest Slideshow feature to present lag-free, interactive slideshows that will capture everyone's attention

We hope these features will bring a little bit of joy into the sizable portion of our life that has been taken over by Zoom.

Here are some ways we think you will enjoy using our own app for Zoom.
1. As a meeting attendee, keep notes on your own personal padlet
Listening to a speech in real life can be boring. Watching people (or their icons) speak for an hour on a little computer screen in front of you can be mind-numbing. It's easy to drift off and get distracted, then lose attention entirely.

Opening a padlet in Zoom as your digital notebook can snap the meeting back into focus. Instead of passively listening, you can actively process what is being said by writing notes, adding links and screenshots, or even doodling, right within the Zoom window. You can also refer back to the padlet afterward to revise whatever you've learned from the meeting.

Your padlet will be yours and yours only, unless you choose to share it.
2. As a Zoom host, collaborate live on an engaging padlet
Imagine going through an entire year of schooling without a pen or paper. All you do is go to class and listen to your teacher as he/she writes on the whiteboard. There are no worksheets, homework, or group discussions. Would you master what was taught in class?

Probably not. Practice and active collaboration are essential to learning. Unfortunately, Zoom meetings often feel one-sided. The host goes through some content, participants just listen and sometimes, if they are feeling particularly brave, they raise their hand in Zoom to ask a question. It is hard for the meeting participants to remember what was said (unless they're taking notes) and more shy participants sometimes just fade into the background.

That changes with our new app for Zoom. Get everyone on the same page (literally) by launching collaboration mode with Padlet open. Everyone in your meeting will go to whichever padlet you are on, even as you change padlets. Anyone in the meeting can contribute to the padlet and as the host you can grade, like, and comment on each post, or let the meeting participants do the same.

Take these use cases for example:

A math teacher can whip out a Padlet after introducing a concept and every student writes out their response. The teacher can go through correct and incorrect responses to clear any misconceptions

In a seminar, instead of going around with quick introductions punctuated with awkward pauses, open a padlet where each attendee can add a post to introduce themselves

Other use cases: Brainstorming with your team, keeping meeting agendas, reviewing files together.

As a Zoom host, Padlet empowers you to get all your meeting attendees to contribute and participate, and for you to understand and adapt to what each meeting attendee thinks (not just the vocally active ones)
3. More engaging, lag-free presentations with Padlet Slideshows on Zoom
With our existing Slideshow feature, you can turn any padlet into a beautiful slideshow. These slideshows are 10x more beautiful than presentations made with other software and take only 10% of the time to make. Presenting your Padlet Slideshows on Zoom takes your presentation game even further

Padlet Slideshow allows you to do better than a simple screenshare

1. Your participants will be able to see a full-resolution, pixel-perfect presentation, instead of a blurry, pixelated screen

2. You control the slide on everyone's screen - they follow you as you go through your slideshow. But a participant can also go back or forward to a different slide if they want to. They will still be able to see your slide in the corner, and clicking on it brings them right back to the slide you are on as the host.

Padlet Slideshows are already easier to create than classic presentations, and with the Padlet App for Zoom, they're more engaging to your Zoom audience.
Installation and Usage
Interested? Install it here!

We hope our app will breathe some color and creativity into your Zoom meeting!

P.S. We're hiring! If you believe in Padlet, we'd love to hear from you. Apply now!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use the new Padlet app for Zoom to present interactive, lag-free presentations, collaborate, or take notes with Padlet during Zoom calls.

# data[].attributes.body
If you’re a keyboard user, you will notice some of the updates right away: we have corrected the use of landmarks, improved our labels and headings, and added visible focus styles to all interactive elements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Accessibility update: The Log in pages are WCAG A compliant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Padlet takes another step toward site-wide WCAG A accessibility.

# data[].attributes.body
When you use a custom wallpaper, your padlet will feature accent colors that complement your wallpaper. Can you believe it? Padlet is becoming even more beautiful.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When you use a custom wallpaper, your padlet will feature accent colors that complement your wallpaper.

At Padlet, we believe in the transformative power of customization. Our goal is to provide a platform that is simple, elegant, and tailored to each user's unique preferences. We offer a stunning array of wallpapers and curated colors that are carefully chosen to complement each other. But we also recognize that some might want to use their own wallpapers that reflect their personal style, evoke cherished memories, or showcase their favorite things. It's not just a tool for preference, but also to create a sense of ownership and identity on Padlet.

As a software engineer new to front-end design, I was challenged to enhance the custom padlet experience for our users. One way this could be done is by generating a color palette that would seamlessly blend with any custom wallpaper, resulting in a visually appealing and harmonious design. This would mimic what we currently have with the existing wallpapers that we offer. Thankfully I had Alec, one of our talented designers, to work with.

The Journey

As you can see in the above, our sidebar color here is white which doesn't really match our background wallpaper very well. My goal was to generate a color for that sidebar and other secondary colors as a function of the background wallpaper.

To do this, I thought of extracting a dominant color from the custom wallpaper and using it for our sidebar color. My first thought was to use the average color. I summed up the red, green, and blue RGB pixel values and divided them by the total number of pixels in the image. The problem with this is that sometimes the average color returned would not be within the color palette of the wallpaper. An example would be a background heavily weighted on red and blue would return purple. We wanted our dominant color to be closer to either red or blue.

So I turned to color quantization. The idea behind this is that we use a clustering algorithm such as k-means to narrow down the color palette of the wallpaper and then return the most dominant cluster. The good thing about this method is that Padlet already uses this for generating the section title bar color so it was nice and easy for me to reuse some of the code.

I soon hit a roadblock. Although the sidebar looked nice for the initial prototype, I struggled to find colors for other components that would create contrast, such as the "Add new post" button. I experimented with inverted colors and lighter/darker shades, but they did not seem right, at least in terms of color, so we had to come up with a different solution.

Color Matching

The idea of color matching came to us as a potential solution to all our customization problems. Padlet had already carefully curated a selection of colors that complemented our existing wallpapers and were mapped to various components. I realized that if we could use these pre-selected colors to match the dominant color of a custom wallpaper, it would result in a simple yet elegant custom padlet.

Finding the Algorithm

I was eager to dive straight into finding an efficient algorithm for color matching. My first thought was to use the Euclidean distance. Since colors are represented by 3-dimensional vectors in a finite space in their most common representations (RGB, HSV, HSL), calculating the L2 distance between two colors could be a possible measurement of how 'close' two colors were. The hypothesis was that the lower the distance, the more visually close the two colors were.

Upon testing, we quickly realized that this problem was much more daunting than anticipated. RGB, HSV, and HSL have non-linear dimensions meaning that the distances between two colors could be numerically small but perceptively huge when it comes to 'seeing' the colors. To account for this, I experimented with adding weights to each dimension in RGB and HSL and although the results looked better than using raw L2 distance, the root problem remained - the dimensions are non-linear.

We also experimented with our own 'perceptively weighted' algorithm which achieved better results.

Here are some samples of colors generated by these algorithms.

However, these results still didn't meet our expectations.

Introducing the CIE

I wanted to find a perceptively uniform color space. In other words, the difference between two colors in the same color space should correspond to the perceived difference between those colors by the human eye. And this is how I ended up with the CIE Lab*.

The CIELAB color space, also known as CIE Lab* or simply Lab, is a globally recognized and widely used color model developed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1976. It is also the result of many years of research to design a perceptually uniform color space.

For a brief intro, CIELAB consists of three dimensions: L* represents lightness, ranging from 0 (black) to 100 (white); a* represents the red-green axis, with positive values indicating red and negative values indicating green; and b* represents the blue-yellow axis, with positive values indicating yellow and negative values indicating blue. To calculate how close two colors were, we would simply apply the Euclidean distance using the Lab coordinates.

This color model however was superseded by the 1994 and 2000 formulas, as the CIELAB space was discovered to be less perceptually uniform than originally planned, particularly in areas with high saturation.

At Padlet, we seek perfection in our designs so there was no question nor doubt for us to use the best possible color matching model - the CIEDIE2000.

CIEDIE2000

The CIEDIE2000 algorithm is a complex algorithm that involves quite a bit of math. Its main purpose is to address the limitations of the earlier formulas (CIE76 and CIE94) that often resulted in inaccurate or inconsistent color difference measurements. It incorporates advanced features such as varying levels of chroma and hue, as well as a more refined consideration of lightness. The formula considers the non-linear relationship between color coordinates in the CIE Lab color space and human color perception, resulting in more accurate and reliable color difference measurements.

One of the key improvements in CIEDE2000 is the inclusion of hue rotation, which compensates for the tendency of the CIE94 formula to underestimate color differences in the blue region of the color space. Additionally, the CIEDE2000 formula introduces a weighting function to provide better agreement between calculated color differences and those perceived by the human eye. This enables it to deliver more reliable and consistent results which is exactly what we wanted.

Here is a sample of what CIEDIE2000 algorithm returns us.

If you want to explore more about CIEDIE2000 you can read more about the formula and the observations here.

Results

This is what we had before:

And now this is the newly updated padlet with our new colors.

Looks so much nicer right? And the equivalent slideshow

Launching

This was my first project at Padlet. I began only two weeks after starting and I feel extremely grateful and excited to start with such a cool project. The world of colors has definitely been giving my head quite a few scratches for the last couple of days, but seeing Padleteers all around the world use my work makes it all worth it. I want to give special thanks to my amazing team and Alec for the initial design inspiration.

All in all, to sum it up.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coloring the padlet experience through custom wallpapers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When you use a custom wallpaper, your padlet will feature accent colors that complement your wallpaper. At Padlet, we believe in the transformative power of customization. Our goal is to provide a platform that is simple, elegant, and tailored to each user's unique preferences.

# data[].attributes.body
Reporting content is now a three-step process that takes place entirely on the padlet in violation. You select the report button, select the category of violation, and provide additional information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We've streamlined the process for reporting posts and padlets that violate our content policy.

You're a graphic artist.

For weeks you've been holed up in your tiny apartment grinding away on your next masterpiece. You've rejected invitations, you've barely been eating, and you don't even remember the sound of your own voice. Photoshop is your only friend. Sleep is a foreign concept.

You've been grinding and grinding and now you're finally finished. Victory. You confirm the final touches and post your beautiful creation online. You take a long, much-needed shower and by the time your hair is dry, you discover that someone has stolen your work. They've posted it on a padlet that's being used to judge a graphic design contest.

Intellectual property violation is against Padlet's content policy, so you'll report it. Previously, you would have had to Google "how to report a post on padlet", find our contact form, copy and paste the link, and describe the violation. Now, you can simply select the report button, and click through the menus we provide.

How to use the new report button

Reporting content is now a three-step process that takes place entirely on the padlet in violation. You select the report button, select the category of violation, and provide additional information.

You can report violations in individual posts or on an entire padlet. In either case, you'll access the report button in the menu provided when you select the three-dot ellipsis (...).

Our support team will evaluate reported posts and padlets, and if they violate our content policy, they will be taken down immediately.

Safety has never been simpler.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Report posts and padlets that violate our content policy with the new "Report" buttons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We've streamlined the process for reporting posts and padlets that violate our content policy. You're a graphic artist. For weeks you've been holed up in your tiny apartment grinding away on your next masterpiece. You've rejected invitations, you've barely been eating, and you don't even remember the sound of your own voice.

# data[].attributes.body
Life is a dangerous game and sometimes a bit of danger is fun. We’re not going to restrict you from visiting whatever links you want to visit, but we are going to warn you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The new link verification system detects dangerous links and warns you before you visit them.

The internet is full of dark alleys and creepy caves. You know this. There are all sorts of scary links that you probably shouldn't click and sometimes they end up on Padlet. To combat the dangers of the internet, we've implemented a link verification system that detects dangerous links and warns you before you visit them.

Your friend sends you a padlet. He tells you to click the link in the first post. He's laughing. You ask him why he's laughing and he tells you, "don't worry about it. Just open the link." You look at the link. It's unclear what website it leads to. Curiosity gets the best of you. You click the link. Padlet displays the page below.

Life is a dangerous game and sometimes a bit of risk is fun. We're not going to restrict you from visiting the sites you want to visit, but we are going to warn you.

Explore the internet at your own discretion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stay protected from malicious links on Padlet

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The new link verification system detects dangerous links and warns you before you visit them. The internet is full of dark alleys and creepy caves. You know this. There are all sorts of scary links that you probably shouldn't click and sometimes they end up on Padlet.

# data[].attributes.headline
Updates to Slideshow: Autoplay, navigation bar, and QR codes

# data[].attributes.subject
Updates to Slideshow: Autoplay, navigation bar, and QR codes

# data[].attributes.body
Padlet Slideshow gains even more power: present with auto-play, use the segmented navigation bar with slide previews, and share by QR code.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Present with auto-play, use the segmented navigation bar with slide previews, and share by QR code.

You step on stage. The auditorium is packed. You remember the advice your dad gave you: Imagine everyone in their underwear. This feels borderline immoral but you try it anyway. It doesn't work. you're nervous. You pull up your Padlet Slideshow to make your presentation. It looks great, but you don't want to click through all the slides manually, you just want to talk. Don't worry! Slideshow now has autoplay.
Autoplay your slideshow

The autoplay button is located in the bottom left corner of the Slideshow screen. Autoplay advances slides at the time interval of your choice. The 'Auto' setting will advance slides based on the number of words in each slide. This is designed for speakers who want the slides to advance at the pace they speak.

So now you're presenting hands-free. Things are going well, but you want the audience to be able to follow along on their phone. You could display the link on your screen, and wait for people to manually type it in, or you could click one button and allow the audience to connect in seconds with a QR code.
Slideshow QR codes

Selecting the QR code button on the title slide displays a QR code that links directly to your Slideshow. If a user accesses your QR code using their mobile device, your Slideshow will automatically adapt to fit their screen.

You finish and breathe a sigh of relief. A hand shoots up. Someone asks a question about slide 2. Your hands are shaking as you approach the keyboard. Will you have to click back through every slide? Of course not! You'll use Slideshow's new navigation bar.
The navigation bar is similar to what you see at the bottom of a YouTube video. It will display a slide preview when you hover over it. For small or regularly sized slideshows, the navigation bar will be segmented to represent each individual slide. With many slides, the navigation bar will display as a continuous line, and slide previews will display at the slide's relative position in the slideshow.

You receive a standing ovation. Your presentation is a roaring success. Your dad finally respects you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Updates to Slideshow: Autoplay, navigation bar, and QR codes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Present with auto-play, use the segmented navigation bar with slide previews, and share by QR code. You step on stage. The auditorium is packed. You remember the advice your dad gave you: Imagine everyone in their underwear. This feels borderline immoral but you try it anyway. It doesn't work. you're nervous.

# data[].attributes.body
You can now sort padlets automatically by date, reaction score, alphabetically, or randomly. When you sort automatically, you won’t be able to drag and drop your posts. To use drag and drop, you’ll need to use one of the manual sorting options.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You can now sort padlets automatically by date, reaction score, alphabetically, randomly, or manually.

You get a job at a library. They tell you to make sure the bookshelves are sorted. Easy.

You sort the books by date published. You are fired instantly.

You get a new job at a grocery store. "Sort the groceries," they tell you. You've learned your lesson.

You sort the food alphabetically. Fired again.

You get hired by a casino. They tell you to shuffle the cards.

You sort the cards by similarity. Not only are you fired, you're sent to jail.

Moral of the story: Sorting is important, and different jobs require different sorting methods.

People use Padlet for all kinds of jobs. To make padlets more useful, we are introducing automatic sorting by date, reaction score, alphabetically, and randomly.

The posts appear in the order they're posted. Simple.

For a live Q&A, you might want the newest posts to appear first so that you can answer questions as they arrive. If you're filling out a timeline, you probably want new posts to appear last so that you can start from the beginning and move forward.

Sort alphabetically

When you sort alphabetically, your posts will be sorted by the first letter of the first word in your post's subject. If two posts have the same text in the subject, the tie will be broken by the date published. The older post will always come first. If a post has no subject, it will go at the end of the list.

Sorting alphabetically was a deceptively complex challenge. It seems simple at first; you look at the first letter and you sort. If two letters are the same, you move on to the second letter.

But numbers are complicated. Alphabetically, 1 comes before 2. So a post titled "Post 1" will come before "Post 2". However, a post titled "Post 12" would also come before "Post 2". You probably don't want that. Padlet's alphabetical sorting is smart about handling numbers, so 2 will come before 12.

Sort by reaction score

Sorting by reaction score is the change that most expands what is possible with a padlet.

Within your community, you can create a padlet full of local restaurants, sort by star rating, and suddenly you have your own democratic burrito hierarchy. In a live Q&A, you can sort by likes, and allow the audience to decide which questions should be answered first. At the office, you can fill a padlet with ideas, sort by thumbs up/down, and end a brainstorming session with peer-reviewed action items.

Just like our alphabetical sorting, we've made reaction sorting smart. Here's an example:

Imagine two restaurants.

Restaurant 1: 478 reviews that average 4.7 stars.

Restaurant 2: 13 reviews that average 4.8 stars.

Which restaurant has better reviews? The raw average would say Restaurant 2 is better, but most would feel more confident gambling their evening on Restaurant 1. This intuitive principle is supported by Bayesian modeling (probability math), and we use it to sort posts by reaction score.

Sort randomly

Not everything in life needs to make sense. Sometimes spontaneity is essential. We've included a random sorting option that rearranges your posts randomly every time you update the padlet.

Use random sorting on a photo album to keep your memories fresh. Use random sorting on a playlist to prevent your songs from going stale. Use random sorting in the classroom to eliminate bias and ensure everyone's voice is heard.

The original manual sorting with drag and drop is still here.

If you like to drag and drop posts and arrange your padlet manually, don't worry. Manual sorting is still available. Just choose one of the manual sorting options.

With the manual sorting options, you decide whether new posts appear at the beginning or end of your padlet. You can then drag and drop posts wherever you want.

With automatic sorting, your alphabetical lists will stay alphabetical. Your random posts will continually change. And your rankings will update whenever a new reaction arrives. Automatic sorting allows you to create interactive padlets that function with zero maintenance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You can now sort padlets automatically by date, reaction score, alphabetically, randomly, or manually. You get a job at a library. They tell you to make sure the bookshelves are sorted. Easy. You sort the books by date published. You are fired instantly. You get a new job at a grocery store.

# data[].attributes.body
We’ve added search and filter to padlets. Access your search bar in the top right corner of the screen. Search for posts by content and filter by author, publish status, and color. Finding your posts has never been easier.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Finding posts is easy and beautiful with the new search bar

Is there any worse feeling in the entire world than losing something and not being able to find it?

Anyone who asks, "Do you remember the last place you left it?" should be canceled.

Be quiet. If I knew where I left it, I'd know where it is.

On Padlet, the search is over. To help you find your lost posts, every padlet will now have a search bar that can find your posts instantly.

On desktop, you'll find the search bar in the top right corner of your padlet. You can also access it by typing CTRL+F on Windows and CMD+F on macOS.

You probably already know this: you search by typing in the search bar. When you search on a padlet, only the posts that match your search will appear on the screen. Your padlet will go back to normal when you clear your search.

Here's the amazing part: you aren't limited to searching for text in the subject or body of a post. You can also search for certain file types, authors, captions, and comments. If you're looking for a post with a PDF, you can simply type 'pdf' and any post with a PDF attachment will appear on your screen. If you're looking for a post from John, you can simply type 'John.'

I once had a pet goldfish named Stanley. I had him for a very brief period of time. Apparently, filters are important. The new search bar has filters. Access filters by clicking the funnel icon in the search bar.

When you select a filter, only posts that match the filter will appear on the screen. You can filter by author, color, and submission status. You can use one filter or multiple filters at the same time. You can filter for red posts, posts by Sarah, or red posts by Sarah. Unlike goldfish, your padlet will return to normal after you stop using filters.

I'm sorry Stanley.

When you select the search icon on your mobile device, you lose almost no space on the screen. The keyboard slides up and the action bar becomes the search bar.

The transition from viewing a padlet to searching on a padlet is smooth and beautiful.

As padlets are used for bigger projects and tasks, the ability to find individual posts on a crowded screen becomes more important. The new search bar allows you to manage massive padlets on desktop and mobile.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Finding posts is easy and beautiful with the new search bar Is there any worse feeling in the entire world than losing something and not being able to find it? Anyone who asks, "Do you remember the last place you left it?" should be canceled. Be quiet.