Our new feature 'Zuul' is aptly named after the demi-god which took over Sigourney Weaver's mind and body in the 80's classic film 'Ghostbusters'. Zuul referenced itself as 'The Gatekeeper' and that description is a befitting title for our new release.
This new feature empowers the publisher to serve as Zuul by erecting a virtual gate around their readers online experience. Readers are able to access external web content from within the Flip Page edition but the interaction is gated within a lightbox window.
What is a lightbox?
A screen capture depicts a video within our newsletter Flip-it! using the Zuul lightbox.
A lightbox is a window that appears above the Flip Page edition when clicked. The lightbox displays the intended media but does not include any of the features of a typical browser window such as address bars, icons, and tabs. The lightbox fades the background content so that the lightbox media is highlighted.
How is this relevant?
Consider a Flip Page edition magazine with a multitude of external links to advertiser websites. When a user clicks on the external link a website or landing page opens in a new browser tab or window which channels the user outside the publishers gate. This applies to publisher websites with banner or Pay-per-click ads as well. Using the Zuul tool a reader is able to access all of the website content but the experience is held within the confines of the magazine. The publisher acts as the gatekeeper but still provides a key to advertisers content. Win-win.
The practicality of Zuul extends to retail publications such as catalogs and flyers. Flip Page retail publications that have external links to product specific ecommerce pages can open in the lightbox window as opposed to a new browser tab or window. This provides a more seamless and intuitive shopping experience for the end user.
Want to see it in action? Click here.
Want to harness your inner Zuul? Simply select 'Lightbox' when creating an external link in the Flip Page link editor!