Updates

Website: Security, comments, and more

31-07-2024

This was supposed to be a smaller security/moderation-focused update, but oh well. I got carried away.

Let's go over the changes.

Moderation and security

This was the initial purpose of this update. Users can now be moderated more specifically than with site-wide bans (like comment bans, for example), and the report management has also been improved.
Banned and deactivated accounts now display a warning and hide the account info. This has been made for better privacy for deactivated users and to prevent harmful content from being shown for banned users.

Also, user profiles and Undertale user content now have their own report buttons just like comments. Please use them appropriately.

And one last thing! Some people may not like this, but it was necessary to ensure things don't go horribly wrong during maintenance. The whole point of a maintenance period is to keep everything quiet to make major changes. If the old code on the browser tries to communicate with the new code on the server and there have been structural changes, things can go VERY wrong.
Previously, if you kept a tab open, you could still do things like update your profile info or send comments. This is no longer possible, as it will throw an error warning about the maintenance.

Comments

We have made many security improvements to the comments. We found out that the way we made comments load had slightly unsafe bits, so we made it more robust.
While doing so, we also fixed the inconsistent scrolling and highlighting of selected and edited comments.
We also made it so banned and deactivated accounts are easily identified by having a and a icon over their avatars respectively. Mentioning these accounts will show the same icon next to their names as well.

We improved some format buttons: the hyperlink, image, and quote buttons so they copy the currently selected text into the modals. That way, you won't accidentally delete text anymore! On top of that, for links and images, if it detects that the selected text is a URL (must begin with HTTP) it will put it in the appropriate field to save you time. This doesn't make sure the URL is valid, though!

We also added a mention button to the actions submenu! This will let you quickly mention a user without quoting the whole post. Some may prefer it that way, as it takes a lot less space. Another change related to mentions: comment previews will now properly check if the mentioned username is correct and show the display name of the user as it will look once published.

Finally, another change some people will dislike. Comments have a spam-prevention cooldown now. Starting from the second comment in the same context, you will have to wait 5 minutes to post another one. We have seen A LOT of spam lately, so we decided this was necessary. Some people have been spamming hundreds of comments to claim "funny comment IDs", for example. Even though, 5 minutes is not that much unless your initial intention is to spam. Worry not, this feature will be adjusted if it becomes too annoying.

Demilands (Minecraft server)

We have made some improvements to the Demilands page. For starters, the server version will now update automatically, as the page asks the server when it loads. We also added the number of online and maximum players.
Your passport page will also show your balance and last played date. We are considering adding a Demilands tab to profiles to display this info (and more) in the future. Also, when a passport is accepted, the user gets whitelisted immediately now.
We have also fixed that one bug that would copy the HTML code of the icon when clicking on the server address to copy it.

Oh, and by the way: we just updated to 1.21! In case you are interested.

Translation system

The translation system has gone through a lot of internal changes. We have been working on this one for a long time, and now it's finally ready for release. The biggest changes have been made to the translation editor tools used by our translators, which should be a lot easier to use and more reliable now.

The internal structure has been made a lot more robust, which should improve performance too.

About me page

We made some changes to the contact section of the About Me page. The contact cards themselves are links now (instead of just the text). We have also removed the most likely unnecessary descriptions. Also, they will have an icon indicating if the card will open an external link or an information modal (usually with copyable usernames and more).

Also, we added ArtFight and ToyHouse links.

Closing thoughts

As I said at the start of this update, this was meant to be a way smaller update. I got a bit carried away fixing stuff that I wasn't satisfied with for a while and adding small but needed improvements.

In fact, this update was going to be bigger. I had to cut a whole section to keep it a reasonable size and to give more time to the cut features. Stay tuned, because these features are coming really soon!

And no, it's not about Kean.

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Changelog

Moderation and security

• Added proper checks to every bannable action to prevent restricted users from performing such actions.


• Banned and deactivated accounts now display a warning and hide the account info.


• Added a report button to user profiles.


• Added a report button to Undertale custom content.


• Whenever an admin reviews a report, the reporter will now receive a notification.


• Moderators can now see hidden comments.


• Improved the security of hidden comments by not sending any data if the current user is not a moderator.


• Any attempt at saving user data or sending comments during maintenance will now throw an error.

Comments

• Made many security improvements relating to the way comments are loaded.


• Banned users now display a icon over their profile pictures. Disabled accounts have a icon instead. Mentions to these accounts also display that icon next to them.


• The hyperlink, image, and quote buttons will now copy the selected text into the modal.




• For links and images it will attempt to check if it's a URL to put it in the appropriate field.




• Added mention button to the actions submenu.


• Comments now have a 5-minute spam prevention cooldown after the second comment in the same context.


• Bugfix: comment highlighting and scrolling is inconsistent.


• Bugfix: mentions in comment previews don't properly check if the username is correct nor show their display name.


• Bugfix: mentions of banned/deactivated accounts break quotes.


• Bugfix: the "pin comment" button is missing for profile owners.


• Bugfix: buttons in threads with blocked comments don't do anything when clicked.

Demilands (Minecraft server)

• Server version on server info now updates automatically.


• Added number of online and max players to server info.


• Added balance and last played date to your passport page.


• When a passport is accepted now it automatically adds that user to the whitelist.


• Bugfix: clicking on the address to copy it will no longer copy the HTML code of the icon.

Translation system

• Migrated all translations to a more robust structure.


• Only translations in English and the selected language will be loaded when loading pages.


• In the translation tools, database translations will always show up first.


• The editor can now open routes with no translations (useful for recently created pages).


• Translation codenames can now be filtered by text.


• Added a total translation count (will also show how many are included in the current filter vs the total).


• Translation fields now order vertically on mobile.


• Modifying a translation marks the field in blue.


• Trying to leave a translation page without saving will now show a warning.


• Removed the mandatory reload after saving translations.


• Many more improvements and fixes (can't even remember them all).


• Bugfix: news page translations are not properly ordered.

About me page

• Added "ArtFight" and "ToyHouse" links.


• Removed unnecessary descriptions.


• Reworked contact/social cards. The entire card items are links now and they include icons showing if they are external links or if they will show an info modal.

Other bug fixes

• Bugfix: wrong title translation on the UT Overworld Generator.


• Bugfix: in some cases a horizontal scroll shows up on mobile.


• Bugfix: table headers with centered text are not being properly placed.


• Bugfix: the text on the back button for Undertale user content is missing.


• Bugfix: the example image on the Undertale textbox generator help page is missing.