Yammer has updated its design and added a number of new features. These include:

•  “Likes”
•   Threading
•   Advanced search
•   iPhone app version 2
•   Broadcast (admin feature)
•   Password Expiration (admin feature)
•   Lightboxes for Images
•   Cleaner, simpler UI

Keep reading to get the full scoop on all the new features:

Likes

A new “Like” action on messages enables users to express their approval. Liking a message will automatically re-post it to your followers, enabling popular content to quickly spread throughout your network. Your Liked messages are saved in a feed for future reference. (Likes replaces the old Bookmark feature.)

Threaded Mode

There are two ways to view messages on Yammer: as a stream (like on Twitter) or in threads (like on Facebook). Yammer allows you to toggle between these views at the bottom of every feed, where you’ll find a control to turn threading on or off.

The benefit of threading is that it shows all the replies to a message underneath the original update, making it easier to follow conversations. However, unlike the stream view, it requires a page refresh to see new messages. (An alert at the top of the page will prompt you to refresh when there are new messages to see.) When a thread gets a new reply, it moves to the top of the feed.

We’ve improved the look of threads by always displaying their two most recent replies, along with a link to expand the thread fully. A new reply box at the end of each thread makes it easier to contribute to the conversation.

We expect to make threaded view the new default; however, users will be able to set their own preference. Also, if you prefer the old threaded view (with no replies expanded by default), you can opt for this in your appearance settings.

iPhone 2.0

We've released the new version of our iPhone app (pending approval from Apple's App store). Here's what's new:

• Composing Updates: A ‘compose update’ button in the upper-right corner opens the new compose mode with these improvements:
  • Auto-saving of drafts until they are submitted or erased
  • Automatic wrapping of text to the next line
  • Landscape mode option for typing an update
  • A camera mode to quickly attach a photo. You can take the photo then or choose one from your existing photos.

• Push: Push notifications are now available to alert you of new messages. Customize Push notifications in the Settings tab to configure sound, sleep hours, and which feeds to Push.

• Received tab: The “Home” tab is now “My Feed” and the second tab is now “Received” so you have easy access to this important feed.

• Cached Feeds: Messages are now cached from the last update to improve performance; this is especially useful for using the app without network access. An “Updated (time)” banner shows the last time your feed was successfully updated. The Feed and Directory lists are also now cached.

Advanced Search

New search filters improve Yammer’s capabilities as a knowledge base. You can now search messages by a specific user, in a specific group, and/or between specific dates. You can also limit results to messages by colleagues you follow. You can also choose whether to include RSS feeds.

Broadcast

Network administrators can now send important updates to their entire network using the new Broadcast feature. For more information about Yammer’s admin tools, please click here.

Password Expiration

Password Expiration has been added to our password policy package. Network admins can set recurring password expirations in parallel with password complexity requirements as security measures for their networks. For more information on Yammer’s security features please here.

Lightbox Images

Instead of breaking up your work-flow by opening images in a new page, Yammer will now open images in lightboxes on the same page. Lightboxing highlights and brings images to the fore-front, allowing you to quickly browse through while maintaining your site-experience.

Updated Styles

With all of these features comes a sleek new UI with brighter tones and simpler navigation. The right-hand panel is better organized: feeds and groups have been separated and categorized, basic network information and applications have been added, and icons help differentiate your various feeds.

As always, we want to hear what you think about these new features and how we can continue to improve Yammer. Please post to our Feedback Forum.