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Note… This must be done from the desktop version, not the app.

Here’s a Sneak peak at our login page! 

We’ve got an update. And it’s a big one.

As you may already know, we are developing a social media platform for adult content where you can post all sorts of hot stuff. We wanted to give you an update which walks you through our multistage implementation process, our goals and some deadlines we have. We ask that you please read this entire statement, as it should answer a number of your questions and concerns!

Stage 1: Backend We focused HEAVILY on the backend so that we are prepared to handle an enormous amount of data, so we can properly balance the load of all of our users and their content. We have multiple servers to handle the uploading, viewing, sharing, re-blogging, commenting, liking and more. This stage is nearly complete.

Stage 2: Cumblr Web App We are creating an easy to use web-app for all of our users so they can start uploading their blogs, or so they can create a brand new one. Our web-app is currently in development and the beta is nearing completion. Our development team is confident that we will have the beta version open to the public on or before the evening of Monday, December 17th. At this time, you will be able to create an account and get going with posting all the things that make you cumblr. If you have followed the instructions on how to save your blog as a ZIP file, we are working on a method of allowing you to upload it to cumblr. The great news is, if you have already saved your blog to a ZIP: YOU DON’T HAVE TO RUSH TO UPLOAD IT BY THE 17th! That’s right! As long as you have saved your zip file, you will be able to upload it to cumblr at any time. Even if we don’t have the upload functionality ready to go by the 17th, your blogs will still be able to be uploaded later on! Just make sure you follow the steps to download your old blog.

Stage 3: Cumblr Mobile Optimization Once the web-app is complete, it will be very easy to touch up the front end to run smoothly on mobile devices. We are hoping to have a sound mobile optimization by end of the month. We will be releasing Android and iOS apps. With this in mind, there is a very good chance that Apple and Google Play will not allow us to be on their app stores. If this is the case, we will have direct download links to these applications which can be installed using a technique called “sideloading”. This allows you to install apps that can’t be found on the Apple or Google app store. We will be transparent with both Apple and Google when asking them if we can be on their stores. We will comply with all of their terms and conditions. If we are still denied the opportunity to be on their stores, we will provide direct download links to our application which you can download at your own discretion. We aim to get this going in the next few months.

Stage 4: Monetization for Cumblr, and its users We currently rely on your generous donations, and we thank you for being so supportive already! Stage 4 will include a number of ways to implement monetization. Cumblr will always be free for our users, but we will offer additional perks and benefits with some form of optional, paid subscription. We will also have some interesting features planned for those of you who are “original content creators”. Those of you who are posting stories, pictures, videos etc, of yourselves (or you are working with a group or team to produce any original content); we plan to allow YOU to make money with our platform as well. This is scheduled to be implemented over a 6-12 month timeframe. We also plan to serve relevant, sponsored posts from niche markets which will help us continue to grow. These posts will allow us to continuously update our website and make it the best platform for the community. At this time, WE WILL NOT host generic ad space on Cumblr, for we believe it is against what our community desires.

Stage 5: Illicit Content Detection and Removal Over time, we plan to develop additional methods of detecting, and automatically removing certain content, which will be outlined in our terms of service. We hope to begin development of these features within 6-12 months of initial release. Fighting illegal content will be a major focus here at Cumblr. We want to make sure that our users follow our guidelines and more importantly, follow state and federal laws. We want to make sure we have an intuitive way to remove content that does not comply with our terms of service. We allow a very large number of categories of adult and mature content, but some content (As will be outlined in our Terms of Service) will absolutely not be tolerated. Our old blogging home was shut down due to people posting things they shouldn’t have. It is partially up to you to help us moderate this environment. All users will be able to report posts that they believe do not comply with our Terms of Service.

There will be many more info-blasts like this to come, and we want to keep you in the loop! For now, make sure to subscribe to our mailing list by visiting our site, www.cumblr.com. We plan on sending out emails as we implement each of these stages, and to tell you if we’re adding any other great features.

Some good news, I’ve been talking to two developers now and got them working together, we just had a meeting with the guys behind an existing large (millions of users) site similar to Tumblr, with a vibrant and open-minded community, and more importantly, it has open-minded owners who believe in free speech. They think we can get something done here to rescue the whole community.

I’m not allowed to reveal the site name yet. I can tell you it’s mainstream, open to everyone, open-minded and welcoming. (It’s not WordPress or any site owned by Facebook or Twitter. It’s not Pillowfort, that’s in closed beta. It’s not Ello, that’s mainly for artists. It’s not kinkspace or fetlife, those are too specialist. It’s not jux, that seems to be closed. It’s not Soup, that seems still in development and too small.)

One of the reasons for delaying the announcement for next few days is they don’t want a “land grab” where people take the names of current popular Tumblr users over there (cyber squatting). So they are looking at ways for existing Tumblr users to keep the same names on the new site.

More info over the days to come.

The plan is, broadly:

1. By December 9th, announcement of the new site and how to secure your username there

2. By December 10th, an online tool for bloggers to copy their existing content to the new site automatically, with the same tags and captions.

3. Bloggers will need to copy their content across between December 10th and December 17th if they want to use the automatic tool.

4. My understanding is that after December 17th there will be no public access to any “flagged” posts on Tumblr, but the original poster will still be able to see the flagged post (for a short time at least). Therefore, the original poster may still be able to manually download a post to their own PC or phone, after December 17th, and manually upload it to the other site. But if you have lots of posts that will take a long time, it will be better to use the automatic tool before December 17th.

Please understand that these dates are approximate and may change for technical or other reasons.

There may be a few rough edges or not so perfect looking site design on the transfer tool. Everyone is doing their best. The main goal here is to help as many people as possible preserve access to their content, in the short space of time Tumblr has allowed us, and preserve as much as possible of the Tumblr community spirit somewhere new.

The new site will cater for photo, GIF, text and html posts. It will not offer video and audio posts, due to cost reasons - maybe in future, but for now you will need to preserve video and audio content yourself in some other place.

If your Tumblr blog has a mixture of original content and reblogs, or all reblogs, all of that can be copied over to the new site. Reblogs will become “your” original content if nobody else posted them yet, otherwise they will be shown as reblogs. The devs are looking at ways to preserve attribution of reblogs back to the original Tumblr poster, if that person also moves to the new site.

Important: your Likes cannot be copied from Tumblr to the new site. You will have to go find the same posts again on the new site, and like them afresh.

(Similarly, existing reblog comments, asks, messages and other user interaction on Tumblr cannot be copied to the new site - that’s just too much to do, in the short time available.)

If you want to preserve any of your existing Liked posts on Tumblr, you will need to either: (1) download the post to your own PC, or: (2A) reblog it now to your own Tumblr blog, and then (2B) use the automatic tool, before December 17th, to move your whole Tumblr blog across to the new site.

If you have Liked a lot of posts here on Tumblr, the gridllr.com webapp should be able to help you do steps 1 and 2A quickly, I mean download or reblog.

(Someone complained to me today about the appearance of Gridllr on a phone. It’s best to use Gridllr on a PC, Mac or Tablet with a large screen.)

If you have liked a post here on Tumblr and the original poster decides to delete it, or even to delete their entire blog, some time before December 17th, then that post will be permanently lost. So if you want to be sure to preserve any of your Liked posts, you should best download or reblog as soon as possible. If it’s reblogged to your own blog it is safe from deletion, at least for next few days.