The NodeXL team has just released a new version of the application.

Version 320 of NodeXL has some important changes.

Most important:
All existing users of NodeXL
*MUST*
* UNINSTALL *
all existing copies of the application from their systems
prior to installing this version.

Benefits: NodeXL will now provide automated updates.  Everyday NodeXL will check for updated code and patch itself automatically.

This is the LAST update for NodeXL that will require user involvement.  We will push new features out to users as they are available and they will just show up in user’s applications.

Some additional features of the latest update:

• Imported Twitter networks now have an “in-reply-to tweet ID” column. This is a useful data element for building “paths” that capture how information flows through a network.
  

• When you lay out each of the graph’s groups in its own box, you can now select how the boxes are laid out. Go to NodeXL>Graph>Layout>Layout Options in the Excel ribbon. (Thanks to Cody Dunne for this feature.)
  
  
• The Check for Updates item has been removed from the Excel ribbon. NodeXL now automatically checks for updates once a day.  Once this release is installed, NodeXL will automatically update itself when a new release is available. You will no longer have to manually download and install new releases.  This release and those that follow will all be referred to as “NodeXL Excel Template 2014.” New releases will continue to have version numbers, but the numbers will be less important in light of the new auto-update feature.

• If you use third-party graph data importers, such as the Social Network Importer for NodeXL, note that the folder where the importers are stored has changed. See “Using third-party graph data importers in NodeXL Excel Template 2014” at http://nodexl.codeplex.com/discussions/522826.
• If you use third-party graph data importers, such as the Social Network Importer for NodeXL, note that the folder where the importers are stored must be specified in the NodeXL>Data>Import>Import Options dialog:

• If you use the NodeXL Network Server, an advanced command-line program that downloads a network from Twitter and stores the network on disk in several file formats, note that the program is no longer a part of NodeXL Excel Template. See “Using the NodeXL Network Server command-line program with NodeXL Excel Template 2014” at http://nodexl.codeplex.com/discussions/522830.

• When a Twitter network is imported, the hashtags in the “Hashtags in Tweet” (or “Hashtags in Latest Tweet”) column are now all in lower case.  Previously, identical strings with different case letters would be counted differently.  This is no longer the case and the result is that terms that had been divided are now unified.  These terms will now have higher values and there will be more diversity in the top ten list.

Thanks for using NodeXL and stay tuned for additional updates!