Publish 0.8 release blog post

_publications/2022-03-01-portmaster-0.8-simple-toggles.md

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+---
+# possible values: blog video podcast
+category: blog
+layout:   blog
+title: "Portmaster 0.8 Available Now: Simple Toggles"
+date: 2022-03-01
+author: david
+custom_thumbnail_name: portmaster-0.8-simple-toggles
+portmaster_plug: true
+portmaster_update: true
+---
+
+Ever since the complete Portmaster re-design 15 months ago, our main focus on development has been technical stability and new features. Today, this changes, with some of the biggest design and usability updates to date!
+
+### Polished User Interface For Easier Control
+
+The Portmaster is powerful. But even with all its power, many new users who installed the Portmaster were overwhelmed or confused how to navigate the application or how to configure some of its settings.
+
+As a result, the focus of version 0.8+ was better user experience and easier control.
+
+### Settings Redesign
+
+The Settings is where all the magic happens. That is why we felt it more than appropriate to improve its styling and to make things more compact.
+
+The description for each setting can now be easily viewed by clicking the (i) next to the setting instead of filling the page with information. This makes everything more compact, giving you a better overview of your configuration with less scrolling. Oh yes, the "On/Off" switches have now been replaced with simple toggles.
+
+![image displaying both the 0.7 and the 0.8 Portmaster user interface](/assets/img/blog/release-0.8/global-settings-before-after.png)
+
+### Simple Toggles Replace Complexity
+
+The biggest learning curve for new users has always been the Network Rating, where you configure settings not only for the moment, but also for future environment changes. With Portmaster version 0.8+ new users now get simple toggles switches per default.
+
+![image displaying both the advanced network rating setting and the new simple toggle setting](/assets/img/blog/release-0.8/network-scope-before-after.png)
+
+#### How Do I (De)Activate the Toggles?
+
+_Note: Simple Toggles are the default for new Portmaster installs._
+
+- [How Do I Get the Simple Toggles?](https://docs.safing.io/portmaster/guides/network-rating#how-do-i-get-the-simple-toggles)
+- [How Do I Activate the Advanced Network Rating System?](https://docs.safing.io/portmaster/guides/network-rating#how-do-i-activate-the-advanced-network-rating-system)
+
+### Application Pages Now Have All the Details
+
+One thing you could not do but would feel so natural was hopping between an application's connection and its settings. Why not _view_ what an app does and then _react_ with just a few clicks?
+
+With the new Application Pages you can now easily switch between an applications tabs: Connections, Settings and its Details.
+
+![image displaying the newly designed app page within the Portmaster UI](/assets/img/blog/release-0.8/brave-app-centric-page.png)
+
+We love this new approach - we hope you do too!
+
+#### Delete App Profiles to Restore Defaults
+
+Also, in case you experimented too much with settings and broke an app - you can now easily fix that. Just open up its application's page, open its "Details" tab and then press "Delete Profile" in order to restore its defaults settings.
+
+### Thank You!
+
+To all our users and customers: Thanks for using Portmaster and the SPN, thanks for reporting bugs and for telling your friends. All of this is only possible through your support.