A few things have changed on the website that I’ll officially post about to keep you guys in the loop.
External links that use embedded content is now disabled in forums and activity views. Why? When a frame or resource is shown in an embedded view (like YouTube video previews) it actually pulls the resources straight from the other website and that can allow tracking users by external sites. Therefor, it is now completely disabled. Users can still follow links to content if they are interested in seeing that content. The goal in this recent change was to reduce the amount of external javascript and cross-site scripting used here.
Photos and Galleries can now be created and uploaded to the site. Users have storage they can use to upload their MeseCraft creations to share with the community and their friends.
Disabled Google fonts (we used the Ubuntu font from there). Same justifications as the embedded content mentioned before. More privacy for users.
Disabled Font Awesome menu icons. Similar pro-privacy reasons as above but also makes loading faster.
Some user profile fields removed that included things like location, real name, favorite music, food, etc. Have been removed. This was originally meant as a fun way to make your profile stand out, but removing these increase privacy.
MeseCraft has it’s own built-in tracking and analytics functions. We don’t rely on third parties for analytics. Also, identifiable information on users such as IP addresses is obfuscated so that it does not expose IP addresses even in the event of an attack. This site also honors “do not track” requests from browsers.
Also, I’m thinking of adding a XP system and awards system (badges) to the site. Let me know if that sounds interesting to anyone.
Happy surfing.
Komodo
3 thoughts on “Quick Update on the Website”
Yeah, I think an awards system would be cool
It is very reassuring to know that the issue of privacy is taken seriously.
As for the XP and award system, I have only a vague idea about it. But it makes me curious. That’s why I think: Sounds good.
The XP would be granted whenever someone makes a post. You could level up your profile as you contribute more content.
I’ve also been thinking about adding “MeseCoins” which would be likely be given when someone likes a comment you made.
Mesecoins maybe could be used to purchase merchandise from the shop. Sounds fun, but you need to keep in mind that this would be an expense for the project. So, it would need to require a lot of mesecoins or they would need to be thought out well. Maybe MeseCoins are not a good idea in this way.
Awards/Badges, would be given out when you do something on the site. Kind of like leveling up your profile but maybe awards for like lots of comments or lots of forum posts or other things on the site.
These are meant to encourage interaction and quality content on the site, but not to be abused just to get $ and fame and generate low quality content in mass. But rather more like rewards for your interactions and content.