A certain stage of development has ended - a prototype was created that allowed me to verify whether such a form makes sense in the #fediverse. Until now, it was a project that I developed in my free time. Now, thanks to the great people from Nlnet, I will be able to devote much more time to it. This time, we have already outlined a plan for the next few months officially: https://nlnet.nl/project/Kbin/

The progress of the work can be followed here: https://dev.karab.in - this is the version set up on the cheapest server, and it will remain so until all stages are completed, because one of the goals is to create a lightweight platform that will have very low requirements in its basic version, and therefore low maintenance costs for instances. With each passing day, more subpages and features will work.

Many of you are working on cool projects, it’s worth calling on the Open call for funding ;-) https://nlnet.nl/news/2023/20230201-call.html

Soon, the kbin.social instance will also officially launch, now work on the server is still underway.

Stage 1 Frontend - refreshed, modern and accessible layout
To save time, the /kbin prototype was created using tools such as Bootstrap. Due to frequent iterations, good interface development practices were often overlooked. The goal is to create a clean, modern, responsive and accessible layout based on feedback from the community, which will work on any device, also without the need to use JS.

Stage 2 Backend - upgrade
Updating the environment, PHP, Symfony, API-Platform, etc.

Stage 3 Search module and alpha release
Currently, the search engine is based on Elasticsearch, which significantly increases the minimum server requirements. The goal is to eliminate Elasticsearch and create a search module with the ability of contextual filters and prepare the first alpha release.

Stage 4 Backend - refactor existing services.
Update of frameworks and tools used in the project. Refactor existing services. Refinement of existing services in order to achieve efficiency. Writing documentation for other developers, admins and visitors. Preparing a repository for contributors.

Stage 5 Federation improvements
Optimization of communication using ActivityPub. Completion of integration, creation of documentation for fediverse developers.

Stage 6 Admin section and user UX improvements
The goal is to provide tools for Kbin instance admins and to improve instance community sections.

Stage 7 Prepare for stable release
The goal is to release a stable version of the platform, solve problems reported by users and, using appropriate tools, develop the highest scalability and efficiency.

Stage 8 Implementing Events (incl. ‘stretch goals’)
At this stage, kbin will also become an events aggregator.

Stage 9 ActivityPub federation of Events (incl. ‘stretch goals’)
The events module will communicate with other platforms via ActivityPub (e.g. Mobilizon)

Currently, I am at stage 1/2/3.

Other instances:

@fediversenews

  • zd@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    I definitely prefer this over Lemmy. Clean and easy to figure out without the shady development decisions.

  • DisgruntledGoat@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    Don’t know if this is the right place for suggestions, but I have a few that were immediately obvious. (Please let me know if there’s somewhere more appropriate to post these!)

    • I started a new thread in a quiet sub where the last post was 2 months ago. However, my thread didn’t show up at the top (when using the default “hot” view). That would be understandable for busy subs but if the latest post is months old its “hotness” should have decayed enough that a new post goes to the top.
    • I also got an error when submitting the thread, although it did go through. I ended up double posting because of that. (Also it wasn’t totally clear it was an error at first as the page itself didn’t say “error”, only the title on the browser tab.)
    • The dropdown menus suffer from the “diagonal problem” where they disappear the instant the mouse moves out of the hitbox. For starting a new thread, I hover over the + then move diagonally down and left towards “add new thread” but the menu disappears.
    • Someone else mentioned it, but comment folding is a must.
  • alexm42@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    Two questions: Is there any plan to add the ability to collapse comment chains? That’s, like, the one big UI thing from Reddit that I’m missing. The other question is, is having the comment box for adding a top level comment at the bottom an intentional design choice, to encourage people to read the threads before commenting? I think at the very least adding a shortcut to take users to the comment box near the top would go a long way to improving usability.

    Other than that, if the goal is to be a replacement for Reddit refugees, my first impressions are that this has the right recipe. Very impressive work so far.