Xanga members receive a "Xanga Site", a web site made up of a weblog, a photobook, a video blog, an audio blog, a "Pulse" (mini-blog), and a social networking profile. Members also have the option of joining or making blogrings.
Xanga (ZANG-uh) is an Internet Web host that provides its users (community) with access to their own online diaries and journals (often called blogs). A person who belongs to the Xanga community is called a "Xangan". If someone has a Web blog on Xanga, they are being referred to as "having a Xanga." Xanga services are most popular with youth and young adults. Along with its popularity among younger people, Xanga has been mentioned in major news publications worldwide as many law enforcement agencies believe that many of the 91 percent of some 40 million users aged 13 to 29 are revealing too much personal information about themselves on Xanga journals. Protected Posting allows users to restrict access of each post to a list of specified friends. Xanga Classic protected lists can hold only up to 10 members; you must obtain Xanga Premium in order to get a protected list of unlimited size. User Blocking allows users to block certain people from commenting or subscribing to their sites. Xanga launched Xanga Lock, a feature that restricts access to a given site to only other Xanga members. If a casual web browser who is not logged in to a Xanga wished to view someone's Xanga, he or she would first have to log in to a registered account, or else he or she would see only a page indicating that that user has chosen to "lock" their Xanga. Xanga Lock also prevents the site from being indexed by Search Engines. Members can combine Xanga Lock with the Footprints feature to create a means of controlling and monitoring access to a given site.
To address the issue of clean content, Xanga has created a rating system that, among other things, limits access to age-inappropriate material. Xanga Safe Browse, also known as Xanga Ratings, allows people to set their Xanga sites to one of five levels. A Xanga site set at the highest level (Explicit Content) can be viewed only after credit card verification.
In September 2013 Xanga relaunched under the assumed name of Xanga 2.0. Xanga/Xanga 2.0 is no longer a free blogging web space. Users will now have to pay an annual fee of $48.00. The intellectual property of many users has since been lost. Xanga only saved archives from users that posted in the last five years (2008-2013). On their webpage they mentioned the merger, but accidentally forgot to include their mobile users (mobile app users). Xanga claims they are currently still working on the issue; however they are not forthcoming with a solution plan or an ETA on when they will come to a solution.
As of November 2013, new users can no longer join Xanga via Xanga's only current user solicitation at Crowdhoster. The "Join In" buttons are now no longer functional and the number of "backers" has been constant at 1,175 for several weeks.