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.
- Project site
- Repository && Issues
- Weblate translations
- Devlog in Polish
- Devlog in English (soon)
- Kbin on NLnet
Other instances:
Very impressive for a prototype 👏 Excited to see where this project is headed 👀#kbin #reddit #redditalternative
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.
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.
Same. @ernest is this something you are considering?
@TheK @alexm42 There’s an open PR to implement this. In the meantime, this userscript implements the collapsing functionality.
Thank you!
I wonder if it’s not a good thing that you’ve had to jump from phase 1/2/3 all the way to phase 7 thanks to the Reddit departure. The fact that the site is as strong as it is, and is starting to develop communities, shows that you’ve done a great job.
One more reddit refugee here. Thanks for all your work so far and your devotion to the project. Growing pains are normal, especially when you’re asked to ramp up this fast. Keep up the good work. We’ll be patient!
How do favourites and up/down votes work? What are the different purposes of each?
I see this post is current at +24 and has 12 favourites. If I click on favourites (or boosts) at the bottom then I get a list of who favorited it. But if I click on favourite in a comment, it just adds 1 to the favourite count.
The up arrow is the equivalent of a boost on Mastodon, adding to favorites is represented by a star. The down arrow is equivalent to the Dislike button on Lemmy and Friendica, Mastodon probably doesn’t have an equivalent (Dislike will be federated this week). Compared to Lemmy, it works a little differently, as the up arrow there is the equivalent of a favorite.
The comment activity can be checked by expanding the “more” menu and selecting “activity”
Is there any way to make “votes” (equivalent thereof) private? I don’t want to have to think “do I want other people to know that I’ve liked this” every time I vote on something and that was a big draw to reddit for me compared to something like twitter.
They aren’t visible from your profile. Only under the activity details of each comment. Someone would have to be really stalking you to keep track of all your upvotes.
Or someone checks through the activity of obscure posts and happens to find someone they know liking something they dislike or disagree with. It’s not me, but my suggestion stands!
I think this is a sensible suggestion. Maybe it could be implemented through privacy settings. Right now, you can hide your subscriptions (they are public by default btw, fyi). Maybe it’s possible to make it so you only upvote anonymously.
Pardon my ignorance, I checked faqs at the repo, and I’ve searched a bit here, and can not find privacy settings (fwiw I’m on mobile); how do I find it?
Thank you.
Tap on your username at the top, select Settings, and you should find a privacy section. Right now you can only toggle showing magazines or users you follow.
Is there any chance that a certain threshold of down arrows can auto-hide or auto-prune entries as the platform becomes more user heavy?
Another suggestion might be to move the comment box up to the top section of comments since its pain to scroll to the bottom to comment
Is there any plans to expand the OAuth support outside of the 3 providers that are currently set up? Looking at the source, it seems like each has it’s own configuration which pulls in things like the user’s avatar and whatnot. It would be nice if generic OAuth was supported.
I’d be interested in this.
I like @ernest
Very nice to see that the project is taking off. I’m hoping for this to be my Reddit replacement. However it seems that comments to posts by myself on other federated platforms don’t show up on kbin.social. Is that a known bug?
I definitely prefer this over Lemmy. Clean and easy to figure out without the shady development decisions.
users should be able to copy external links without having to enter the thread,
It’s absolutely WILD that this is a prototype. It’s always a treat to be on the ground floor of something new, so I’m excited to participate and add value to kbin’s growth.
Can we add a Stage 10 Branding?
The foundation of the Fediverse lies in it’s values, ActivityPub, and communities, but that doesn’t mean we can’t match the aesthetic values that exist outside of our rich inner world. Personally, would love to see a name change and clean colour palette. Kbin is a fairly UNIX-esque name and we do want people with less affinity for tech to enjoy kbin with as little barriers as possible.
Just my $0.02 on the subject. I’m here to be a cheerleader and support what’s being build :)
Looks really interesting! Is there a way to create magazines on kbin.social yet? Looks like most of the existing ones are moderated by ernest which I’m assuming is by design :)
Yes, you can create a new magazine here: https://kbin.social/newMagazine - there are some time limitations. Don’t worry, all the magazines will be handed over to the community. I have a lot of work to do with the code, so I will definitely need help here ;)
Very cool thanks!
Looking forward to seeing how everything plays out in the future.
It looks good and provides a much-needed service. Thanks for the effort
