Starting today, we bring you the ability to reorder the sections on your LinkedIn profile via drag-and-drop. This enhancement, one of the most highly-requested profile features from our users, gives you the ability to highlight the skills, expertise, and/or experiences that make you stand out.

Your profile is an important part of your online professional identity. At LinkedIn we’d like to provide you with all the tools you need to build and maintain a profile that can showcase your unique professional value. Now you’re in complete control over your professional brand. Given below is a quick demo of how it works:

Want to showcase your work experience or education above everything else? Do you want testimonials from your references to be the first thing people see when they find your profile? Have you synced your WordPress blog with your profile or built a great presentation with SlideShare that you want to feature? Now your LinkedIn profile offers the flexibility you need to put your best foot forward.

Customizing your profile’s section ordering is quick and easy. You will notice that the headers of each of the sections on your “Edit Profile” page now have handles that can be dragged. To reorder a section, all you need to do is click and drag one of these section headers up or down the body of your profile. When you release the mouse, the section will drop into place where you dragged it, and your adjustment will take effect immediately.

The ability to reorder the sections on your profile is just the first of a huge number of enhancements that are coming to your LinkedIn profile in the upcoming months. And, as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions about how LinkedIn can help you to represent, manage, and share your professional identity.

As a company that’s based on the mantra “Relationships Matter”; we want to make it easier than ever for you to find, organize and stay in touch with your business connections. Over the next few weeks, you will start seeing improvements to your LinkedIn address book that will help you be more productive. Feature details after the jump.

Browse and find your connections more easily

The most noticeable update is a new browse panel that allows you to browse your connections by their current companies, locations and industries. In addition, you can search your connections by entering their first name, last name or current company in the search box above the browse panel.

You can also browse your new connections and your connections who may have recently added a new connection by using the Recent Activity filter in the browse panel.

Mini-profiles and up-to-date contact information

View mini-profiles of your connections to see if they have changed their current positions, added any new connections or send them a message through a third column on the right.

You can look up contact information like phone numbers, email addresses and physical mailing addresses. You can also add this information yourself by editing the contact information of connections in your address book.

This new look offers the following additional features:

• Connections automatically tagged with keywords such as “colleagues”, “friends”, “partners” and “group members” based on information you provide when inviting them to connect with you
• Organize your connections into different groups via tags
• Send a message to multiple connections at once based on how you’ve organized them by tags

We look forward to hearing your feedback on these enhancements as we optimize their user experience. Note that these enhancements are currently in beta and you can opt-out of them during the trial period. Check out LinkedIn’s newly redesigned address book here.

It may be a rainy day here in Silicon Valley, but a little sunshine has just poked through the iTunes App Store.  Earlier this morning, the new LinkedIn for iPhone v3.0 app went live.

Download LinkedIn for iPhone v3.0

On the heels of the opening of our LinkedIn platform, this new version represents the next step in our efforts to bring LinkedIn to whereever you work.  Professionals are increasingly mobile, and we believe that mobile business applications are better when they are built over a platform of your reputation & relationships.  This app has been redesigned and rebuilt from scratch to help you keep your professional network in your hands, whenever and whereever you need them.

New User Experience

The minute you launch the new application, you’ll immediately see the difference.  We’ve worked to bring the most common and important features to the top of the application, to make it easy to get what you need as quickly as possible.  We wanted to make sure that even if you only have thirty seconds to spare, you can get something done.

LinkedIn for iPhone v3.0

The Power of Search

Never walk into a meeting unprepared.  Whether it’s an interview, a client meeting, or a sales pitch, now you can go into any meeting knowing who you are going to meet with, and what you have in common.  LinkedIn for iPhone v3.0 includes a completely new search interface, making it trivial to easily find people whether they are in your connections list, or one of the 55 million professionals who now belong to LinkedIn.  Whether you type in a name or keyword, LinkedIn will get you the information you need whether it’s five days or five minutes before your important meeting.

The new application has revamped the profiles screen to quickly provide you:

• A summary of details about the person
• A review of their education & experience
• A list of the people that you both know in common
• The ability to mark that person a favorite

The new Favorites functionality makes it incredibly easy to keep track of people, so you can find them later in seconds.   In addition, all of the new Updates views let you filter your updates to see only updates from your favorite people.

LinkedIn for iPhone: Profile

Your Professional Updates

Professionals increasingly need instant access to news and updates from their professional network. This new application also features a redesign of our updates functionality, giving you up to date intelligence about your network. There are now four modules to help you quickly check your updates: All Updates, Status Updates, Profile Updates, and Discussions.  You can even filter your updates to see only those from your favorite connections.

More importantly, these updates are now actionable. Based on heavy demand from our users, we have added the ability to read and submit comments on updates, right from the iPhone.

LinkedIn for iPhone: Updates

More Powerful Inbox & Addressbook Integration

The response to the recently launching Inbox on LinkedIn for iPhone v1.5 has been phenomenal. On average, our iPhone users are now checking their LinkedIn messages twice a day. v3.0 brings with it significant improvements to the Inbox, including an improved design, dashboard badging, and most importantly, support for sending invitations from a profile without the email address.

The Connections feature has been enhanced as well.  Now your connections are just a touch away, and you can easily send any of them a message on LinkedIn.  If your connection has a matching entry in your iPhone contacts, their phone numbers and email addresses will automatically show on their LinkedIn profile.  You can now also choose to download your connections into your iPhone contacts, and the application will alert you when you have a new connection who has not yet been downloaded.

LinkedIn for iPhone: Invitations

Connect In Person

LinkedIn for iPhone has added a number of new features, but we expect many will want to try out In Person.  Leveraging the new Bluetooth capabilities in iPhone 3.0, In Person allows you to find and connect with other people running the LinkedIn application in real time.

LinkedIn for iPhone: In Person

What are you waiting for?

There are too many features in the new application to detail them all here – the best way to get familiar with LinkedIn for iPhone v3.0 is to download it now.

This application represents just the beginning of our mobile efforts in 2010.   We’re just putting the finishing touches on our first native application for the Blackberry, and planning a long stretch of mobile products and enhancements in the year ahead.

If you are one of our LinkedIn for iPhone users, please join the conversation in the LinkedIn for iPhone group.  We’re very excited to hear from you and hear suggestions for new features and improvements.

Since September of 2008, LinkedIn members have earned over $1 million by participating in targeted research surveys on professional topics. Over 100,000 members from more than 85 countries have shared their experience and opinions on topics spanning from cloud computing to healthcare reform to real estate through these research surveys. LinkedIn Surveys enables members to share their valuable experience, help shape important business decisions, while also earning a reward for contributing their opinions.

Members who qualify and complete a survey can receive an honorarium between $5 and $100, which they can select from a variety of options such as Amazon e-certificates, Paypal transfers, Starbucks cards, books, song downloads, or donations to global charities. Over the past year, LinkedIn members have donated over $150,000 of their rewards to charities like Doctors without Borders and the International Red Cross. Here are thoughts from one of our users, Warren Sypteras:

“I was sent an invitation to do a survey  from LinkedIn.  I normally hate doing these things because I spend my time giving data for free.  Ergo;  the surveyors only benefit.  I was surprised to find that LinkedIn actually DO value the opinions they get.  Thanks!”

Launched late last year, LinkedIn Surveys allows business professionals, market researchers, consultants, or investors to gain market insights from targeted professional audiences around the globe.

Participation in research studies is by invitation only and members are selected based on their profile information and relevance of their expertise to the research topic. You can improve your chances of participation by making sure your profile is complete and up-to-date.

Here at LinkedIn, we believe that people search is one of the most valuable new areas of search technology. Late last year, we announced the launch of the new people search platform, rebuilt from the ground up. Since that launch, I’m happy to report that the enhancements have resulted in nearly doubling overall search activity on LinkedIn. Thanks for tons of great feedback you provided since we launched that has helped spur these numerous improvements.

Today, I am excited to announce the release of another huge improvement to LinkedIn’s People Search experience: “Faceted Search”.

“Faceted Search” offers dynamic filters that are automatically generated based on your actual query results. These filters let you quickly and easily hone your query over 50 million LinkedIn profiles based on 8 facets: current company, past company, location, relationship, location, industry, school, and profile languages.

A new module titled “Refine By” will include a list of the most relevant facets, based on the actual results of your original query.

The filters are generated in real time for every query by parsing all matching results and extracting the most important attributes. We then present those to you in an intuitive interface that lets you select one or multiple filters per facet. You can refine, expand or stumble upon insightful information by simply clicking on the search options that matter to you.

Faceted Search offers the following benefits to your search experience on LinkedIn:

• Enables True Guided Navigation: A list of filters are generated dynamically for every search in order to guide you through the optimal path to find the most relevant people

• Provides Intuitive Interface: Refining your search is easier than ever with an intuitive user interface that allows you to slice and dice search results by 8 facets

• Improves Precision: As LinkedIn continues to grow by the millions, increasing search space requires increased precision to help you find exactly the right people

• Increases Efficiency: Find talent, business partners, customers or a former colleague faster than ever before.

• Reduces Need for Complex Queries: It significantly reduces the need for complex Boolean queries. This was a particular need we heard from many of our power users.

Here is a quick video that highlights the key elements of Faceted Search:

We believe these improvements will help augment your productivity and we’d love to hear your feedback, questions and suggestions.

A few weeks ago we announced we were doing limited testing of a new navigation design for LinkedIn. Thanks to all of you who have sent us feedback. We are now in the process of rolling out the new design to all of our users. If you don’t see the change yet, you will sometime in the next week.

The first thing you’ll notice in the new design is that there is no persistent left-hand navigation. All global navigation is in the top navigation bar. We did this in order to free up space for page content – information about you and your professional network.

Another thing you’ll notice is that the new global navigation bar takes up less vertical space. Page content is moved up higher on the page – less scrolling!

The global navigation bar

The global navigation bar is always available and provides convenient access to all LinkedIn services. Pass your mouse over the bar and you will see menus that provide quick access to the most popular LinkedIn features. For example, the Groups menu has links for finding and creating groups; it also has quick links for the groups you access the most often.

Additional applications and services are available under the More menu.

Local Navigation

When you are in an area of LinkedIn  (such as Contacts or Groups) you see local navigation. The major sub areas are in tabs along the top of the page. If the page allows filtering of content (such as Discussions or Search Results) these options are shown on the left.

On some pages, the new navigation can increase the amount of space available for page content by almost a third. In the coming weeks and months, look for continually improved and relevant content to occupy this space. Stay tuned!

Ed. note: This belongs to a series of posts on how web sites and services are integrating LinkedIn functionality using the recently launched LinkedIn API. Thanks to Jeremy Glassenberg, Platform Manager at Box.net, for this week’s post.

Business today is complex. Not only do we need to share content with co-workers around the globe, we also need to connect and collaborate with clients, partners, and other key business contacts. Box.net’s latest initiative with LinkedIn is going to make sharing with all these parties much easier.

We recently debuted a new OpenBox action, making it simple for Box users to access and share content with their LinkedIn networks from within the Box environment. The process takes all of a few seconds: Box users can select the LinkedIn application from the OpenBox tab and click “Add Application.” From there, sharing your Box files with anyone in your LinkedIn network is just a few clicks away, as outlined in our blog post. This new functionality adds to our earlier integration with LinkedIn – the Box.net Files application – which makes it easy for LinkedIn members to manage and share documents, folders and presentations on Box from within the LinkedIn site. Now you can access your content and contacts whether you’re on the LinkedIn or Box platform.

Sharing your Box.net content with your LinkedIn connections

Box and LinkedIn have very similar philosophies: we believe in open platforms, and connecting those cloud-based platforms to address the needs of businesses. Our developers were thrilled to find that LinkedIn’s open API was very easy to use, so much so that writing this latest OpenBox Action took only a few hours. This kind of easy integration is critical for the adoption of cloud-based enterprise tools to begin the massive hyper-growth stage that we’re anticipating. Over the next year, we hope to see more companies working together and connecting their cloud offerings in much the same manner.

[Ed. note: This is the first in a series of posts on different web sites and services integrating LinkedIn functionality using the recently launched LinkedIn API. Thanks to Todd Pringle, VP of Product Management at Yoono, for kicking off the series with this initial post]

Here at Yoono we’ve just launched the latest upgrade to our social aggregation app, Yoono 7. It has many new features but one of the things our we are most excited about is (yes, you guessed right) LinkedIn integration! Our focus has always been deep integration with the most popular social networks (and instant messaging services) rather than supporting a hundred social networks in a half-baked way. For a while now the missing link (sorry, had to pun) for us has been LinkedIn – it’s consistently been the most requested social network addition from our users for over a year.

As professionals leverage their real time social stream more and more for content discovery and relationship management, LinkedIn has become a must have network for us.  Thanks to the new open LinkedIn Platform, we’ve been able to deliver that in an extremely short amount of time.

For developers considering the LinkedIn platform, we can say with confidence that it’s been extremely easy to develop on.  Within a couple days of getting our developer key we’d completed our initial integration that enabled our users to view their LinkedIn updates stream, update their LinkedIn status, or view and search their LinkedIn contacts.

Yoono already leverages oAuth for other supported social networking services such as Twitter, MySpace, and FriendFeed so it was a big bonus with LinkedIn’s embrace of oAuth as well. We’re already working on designing additional features supported by LinkedIn and most of all we’re excited about the possibilities.

If you’d like to learn more about Yoono 7, check out our blog post here.  You can download our Firefox add-on today with LinkedIn support as well as new features such as support for Twitter Lists, Facebook Inbox & Notifications, multiple accounts per social network, Groups (yes, you can add LinkedIn users to a group with friends from other networks then filter your updates stream by group) and full text search of your social stream so you can see what your LinkedIn connections have to say about a particular topic. We’ll also be updating our Yoono Desktop for Windows and Mac with LinkedIn support later this week, so stay tuned.

We recently passed 3 million downloads and we’re confident LinkedIn integration is going to further extend our reach and provide more value for our users. Congrats to the LinkedIn team on a great start for the Platform!

Over fifty million users entrust their professional identities and relationships with LinkedIn, helping build LinkedIn into the largest global professional network today. However, professionals around the world use a wide variety of applications and Web sites to get their work done, and they have spoken loud and clear that they want the ability to leverage their professional networks wherever they work.

Starting today, developers worldwide can integrate LinkedIn into their business applications and Web sites. Developer.linkedin.com is now live and open for business.

The evolution of the LinkedIn Platform

Over the past months, LinkedIn has supported integrations with some of the most prominent and critical software applications in the enterprise. Partnerships with companies like IBM, Blackberry (Research in Motion), and most recently Microsoft, have given us time to invest in both functionality and scalability of the platform.

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oftware is moving to the cloud, and business applications need context for who people are and how they are related. LinkedIn now is the obvious choice as a provider for those services. It is hard to imagine a business application that would not benefit from LinkedIn integration.”

– Roger Neal, SVP/GM at BusinessWeek Digital, McGraw-Hill

At LinkedIn, we have always believed that business applications are better when they are built over a platform of professional reputation and relationships. In real life, our most valuable professional assets are the skills and experience we acquire and the trusted relationships we build. It’s not surprising that business software becomes more productive and valuable when it is built over these services.

How can I start developing for the LinkedIn Platform today?

Registering as a LinkedIn developer is as simple as filling out a form on developer.linkedin.com. The LinkedIn platform leverages the open OAuth standard to make integrations from almost any language and development environment as simple as possible.

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hat a breath of fresh air. We were able to go to http://developer.linkedin.com, request a key, and actually write functioning code in less than 15 minutes. It’s amazing to have access to such a powerful platform on tap at any time.”

– Iain Dodsworth, Founder and CEO of TweetDeck

A number of developers who have helped provide us with feedback and guidance in our development will be announcing integrations in the coming weeks. For example, TweetDeck is announcing full support for the LinkedIn platform in its next version. Now you can easily view or take action on your LinkedIn network updates from within TweetDeck, with the full integration of the LinkedIn profile information of the person who posted the update.

This is the beginning of a new set of opportunities for the LinkedIn platform, and we look forward to seeing the integrations that developers will launch in the coming weeks and months.

Stay tuned for additional enhancements over during the coming months as we learn and grow this platform together.

Today, Microsoft announces an exciting new addition to the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 – the Outlook Social Connector. The Outlook Social Connector is designed to seamlessly bring communications history as well as business and social networking feeds into your Outlook experience.

LinkedIn will be the first networking site to support the Outlook Social Connector. The LinkedIn functionality will be available in early 2010. Our big belief is that you can be much more effective if you have your professional network close at hand, and you can leverage your online identity in the work you do on a daily basis. The Outlook Social Connector will bring your LinkedIn Professional Network to where you work – right within your e-mail inbox.

Here are three key benefits you get from this integration:

1. Keep up with LinkedIn connections right from your e-mail inbox

One of the great things about LinkedIn is being able to learn what your professional connections are working on and thinking about. Just glance at the Network Updates on your LinkedIn homepage and you’ll be able to learn what articles & books your connections are reading, what conferences they are attending, and what questions they are asking and answering on LinkedIn. Many use this information to keep current with their industry and profession, as well as to learn new things and expand their horizons.

The Outlooks Social Connector makes this even easier – by automatically showing the latest activity (i.e. Network Updates) from any LinkedIn connection that sends you an e-mail. So now you can get the latest information from your LinkedIn network even without having to leave your inbox.

What’s more, for any connection with a public LinkedIn profile photo, you’ll even get to see their picture as you communicate.

2. E-mail your LinkedIn connections directly from Outlook

Know that perfect LinkedIn connection to help you with a business task or question but don’t remember their current email address? No longer do you have to go to the LinkedIn website to find their contact information before sending them a message, as your LinkedIn network is now available right within your inbox.  Just start typing the name of a LinkedIn connection in the “To:” field of an Outlook message and the connections’ e-mail address from LinkedIn will automatically appear as if they are an existing Outlook contact. In fact, the Outlook Social Connector will create an Outlook Contacts folder for all of your LinkedIn connections and bring down their contact information, professional details, and picture from LinkedIn into Outlook.

3. Keep building your professional network from Outlook

Working with someone new but haven’t had a chance to connect with them on LinkedIn? By bringing professional networking to where you work, the Outlook Social Connector again makes it easy. Just click a button next to any e-mail you receive and instantly send an invitation to connect to the e-mail’s sender. It’s that easy.

We hope that these functions start bringing some of the key elements of your LinkedIn professional network to where you work – your Outlook e-mail inbox, sometime early next year. But these are certainly just the first steps. Let us know what else you’d like to see by leaving a comment below.