We are completely giddy about sharing some amazing news with you — After many months, and 1,344 votes — UserVoice is proud to announce that the idea for translating UserVoice to multiple languages can now be marked as Completed!  We think this is going to hugely increase our ability to help Companies get closer to their Customers!

To get things started, we’ve stepped forward with four of the more popular Western European tongues:

French – German – Spanish – Dutch

This is a huge step for us, but is of course still a bit “alpha,” so if you see glitches, please feel free to post them on our pbwiki.  We expect to be rolling out many more languages as we produce localized files.  Special thanks to those who’ve helped us get started — If you’re interested in seeing UserVoice in your language, please join the team and help us out!

In addition to language translation, the UV Elves have been slaving away with some other zesty goodness:

Set Your Own Custom Vote Counts

This is another request we’ve been getting – the ability to set your own default vote count.  So instead of the the default of 10 votes, you could bump the default to 25… or maybe 3?

Look for this ability to be included for Bronze account holders and higher service levels!

Customize Your Page Titles

For all of you SEO fans out there, we’ve added the ability to customize your Page Title.  This is a great opportunity to tweak your settings and get the most bang for your buck out for Search Engine results! Settings are customizable for each individual forum, so you can optimize accordingly. Increase your Page Rank and be found on Google – better users find you and see you’re listening, than have them find a competitor!

Again, look for this feature to be included on Bronze accounts on up.

Speedier Service

You’ll also notice the speed of our service increasing. We’ve been very diligent to offload services that were slowing the service down. That coupled with a number of enhancements and updates to the backend, and you’ve now quite the zippy experience!

Improved Search

Let’s face it, our Search feature was a bit on the stinky side.  Consider it Fabrezed!  Your new searches will be faster, more accurate, and downright fresher smelling!

Finally…  Introducing Our New Chief Technology Officer

None of this would have been possible were it not for our new CTO, Dr. Scott Rutherford. Having jumped the pond from London, Scott delivers a wealth of experience, depth of  humor, and an occasional meandering around particle physics – we’re thrilled to have him aboard and his efforts are already paying off in huge dividends.  If you’re not already following him on Twitter – link him up @scottrutherford

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UPDATE: Seesmic Chooses UserVoice

A few weeks ago, @Loic Le Meur approached us about setting up a branded UserVoice page for their video conversation website, Seesmic.  This is a nice example of how forums can be modified to match your company’s look & feel.

Check it out: http://feedback.seesmic.com