Lemmy 0.19.0-rc.3 and Development Update 2023-10-20

Here is our regular update that explains what we have been working on for the past two weeks. This should allow average users to keep up with development, without reading Github comments or knowing how to program.

We published a new release candidate for Lemmy 0.19.0. Note that this so-called release candidate is really a beta. In the future we will use more appropriate version names.

Most importantly it includes the new feature to export user settings, and later import them on another instance.

The Docker image was changed from Alpine to Debian which should improve stability and performance (). This unfortunately broke ARM builds, so we’d need some assistance getting them working again for debian.

The remaining changes are mostly minor improvements and bug fixes, you can see them in the full changelog. Please test the new version on voyager.lemmy.ml or by installing tag 0.19.0-rc.3 on your server. If you encounter any problems, report them on Github.

For Developers: This version includes various API changes compared to rc.1:

  • The endpoints for exporting and importing user settings are at GET /api/v3/user/export_settings and POST /api/v3/user/import_settings. Note that the returned json is not meant to be parsed, but directly stored to disk ().
  • /api/v3/login now sets the auth cookie automatically, so clients might not have to handle it anymore. There is also a new endpoint /api/v3/logout which clears the cookie and invalidates the auth token ().
  • There is a new endpoint /api/v3/user/validate_auth which returns errors in case of invalid auth token. This is necessary because other API actions silently ignore invalid auth and treat the user as unauthenticated. We are changing various endpoints to return simply {“success”: “true”} (, (not included in rc.2)).
  • The endpoint /api/v3/post/mark_as_read can now take an array post_ids instead of single post_id value but remains backwards compatible ().

@nutomic improved the way that titles for Mastodon posts are handled (). He also worked on various minor fixes and enhancements, see here.

@dessalines is nearly done with the redesign of join-lemmy.org. You can see it here, and check the pull request to provide feedback / suggestions. Also worked on cleaning up stale lemmy issues.

@SleeplessOne1917 reworked a much cleaner 2FA interface for lemmy UI (), fixed a bug with the emoji picker (), and added an enable_animated_images setting to users (). Also worked on lemmy-ui-leptos.

Support development

@dessalines and @nutomic are working full-time on Lemmy to integrate community contributions, fix bugs, optimize performance and much more. This work is funded exclusively through donations.

If you like using Lemmy, and want to make sure that we will always be available to work full time building it, consider donating to support its development. Recurring donations are ideal because they allow for long-term planning. But also one-time donations of any amount help us.

blawsybogsy,

i was going to test these new changes out for my client, but it seems that voyager.lemmy.ml is down?

blawsybogsy,

ah its back up now, thanks.

Die4Ever,
@Die4Ever@programming.dev avatar

this is really cool jointest.lemmy.ml:1234/?showJoinModal=true

once it’s permanently on the real website it’ll be a great link to share to get people onto Lemmy

nix,
@nix@merv.news avatar

The join website needs more screenshots imo. Or at leaat screenshots that are bigger on mobile and show the mobile ui. People dont read paragraphs of text they look at screenshots.

Molecular0079,

Okay, that join-lemmy redesign needs to make its way to actual Lemmy instances. It looks so sick. Love the color palette and the animations.

Amir,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

Ay I’m finally on the donate list, thanks!

Kory,
@Kory@lemmy.ml avatar

Wow, this is BIG. Especially the export option. You rock!

otter, (edited )

Looks great! I like the section with the apps. I’ll have to check the issues later to see if these are already listed, but some feedback for the join-lemmy redesign I wanted to note down while I still remember:

Add ‘regional’ category to the join-server list

  • This was important to me as a lot of the relevant communities to me are regional (what’s happening in my city, province, country, school, etc.). I have interests in FOSS, science, etc., but I wouldn’t pick my instance for any one of those.
  • It could also help with latency/efficiency if the users and server are in a similar geographical area one region
  • users would have more control where the data is stored or how organizatin/non-profit is set up. I like knowing that my instance is setting up a non-profit in my country, and that it is following our local privacy / security laws.

Design changes

  • the ‘More Features’ section on the home page could be reorganized in some way? They don’t really stand out, and there are so many to read through that users may give up and miss the cool ones. The icons could be bigger and some elements could be combined (ex. Some things are interface related, some are accessibility, some are about hosting). I don’t like how busy joinfirefish.org is, but it does advertise the features a lot better.
  • everything feels a little too ‘big’ for me? I don’t know how to explain it. I need to scroll around to see the description for one app for example, the cards for instances or news entries feel too large
  • add hover styles to things like the links under “For a more detailed comparison of Lemmy servers, see:”. A short description of each one would also help

Not design / structure related, just missing information:

  • Add browser extensions
  • Some apps and front ends are missing

Overall it looks really nice! My suggestions aren’t vital, just stuff I thought would be nice to have :)

dessalines,

Thx for the suggestions! You can comment these in the github issue, but the regional stuff I probably won’t add unless there’s a clean way to do it. Places are infinitely specific, and a regional dropdown could have potentially millions of entries.

nutomic,
@nutomic@lemmy.ml avatar

cc @dessalines

retiolus,
@retiolus@lemmy.cat avatar

Love jointest.lemmy.ml:1234 !!!

Coelacanth,
@Coelacanth@feddit.nu avatar

Loving these development updates and it looks like you’re making good progress, I really appreciate all the work that you guys do. ❤️

I had a look at the join-lemmy redesign too, and it looks slick, much better than before.

lemann,

That redesign looks SWEET!! Great work @dessalines 🏆

dessalines,

❤

Dave,
@Dave@lemmy.nz avatar

It looks great but I’m wondering why there are interest categories with zero servers in them (religion and sports). Maybe don’t show them if there’s nothing in that category?

JetpackJackson,

Thanks for all your hard work!

AlmightySnoo,
@AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world avatar

Any news on the onboarding of SleeplessOne1917? I think donors deserve to know whether their money will serve to hire someone who repeatedly said “all Israeli citizens are valid targets” or not.

Blaze,
@Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

@dessalines is nearly done with the redesign of join-lemmy.org. You can see it here, and check the pull request to provide feedback / suggestions. Also worked on cleaning up stale lemmy issues.

Looks very nice: jointest.lemmy.ml:1234

LocustOfControl,

Looks good, but this bit made me raise an eyebrow or two:

Powerful Mod Tools

This is patently false - the like of Beehaw are thinking of moving off of Lemmy because the moderation toolset’s almost non-existent and the devs don’t seem to think it’s important.

Blaze,
@Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Most importantly it includes the new feature to export user settings, and later import them on another instance.

That’s great!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • lemmy@lemmy.ml
  • ngwrru68w68
  • DreamBathrooms
  • tacticalgear
  • mdbf
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • Youngstown
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • slotface
  • Durango
  • cubers
  • kavyap
  • cisconetworking
  • JUstTest
  • GTA5RPClips
  • modclub
  • tester
  • khanakhh
  • everett
  • provamag3
  • osvaldo12
  • Leos
  • normalnudes
  • ethstaker
  • megavids
  • anitta
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •