Tumblr's new Labs program lets users test experimental features

Tumblr has launched a new program that will let its users text experimental features before they're made available as standard. The initiative — called Tumblr Labs — is available to any Tumblr user who opts in by selecting to do so in their web dashboard. Individual experiments can be selected for trial once a user has agreed to enroll in Tumblr Labs, and you can also back out of the program at any time by flipping the option off again in their settings menu.

People who choose to use Labs' experimental features can do so now, but company warns that as the standard version of Tumblr is updated in the future, these options may not continue to work. The program launches with four new features available for people to test, including graphs showing your posts' reblogs, more advanced scheduling options for queues posts, better tools for group Tumblrs, and an option that lets you change the color of your posts to the color of your Tumblr.

While these features are neat additions, they fall short of the kind of extensive suite of options many Tumblr users have asked for, and third parties have provided. TechCrunch notes that XKit, for example, gives users far more customization options than vanilla Tumblr or the new Labs options do — but as Tumblr's experimental program expands, we may see more advanced features put in the hands of its users.

• ViaTechCrunch
• SourceTumblr