Changelog

New product updates & features team Outverse.

Documentation sections, forum grid view + more

Feb 23, 2024

Docs sections

You can now create 'sections' within your knowledge base for an additional layer of hierarchy and organization. Sections can contain both documents and categories and can be easily reordered in the sidebar via drag-and-drop, along with the items within them.

Forum grid view

We've added a new format/view option to Forums – further extending their flexibility and utility. The forum grid/gallery view enables a more visual representation of forum activity.

Maximize thread height

You can now specify individual threads to not truncate when in Expanded forum view, locking the card to show the entire thread content. This is particularly useful in announcement/changelog forums, enabling users to browse the entirety of announcements directly on the forum page (without navigating into the thread view itself).

Team members can maximize a thread card's height via the ... dropdown on the thread card.

Improvements & fixes

• Teams can now specify a light and dark mode custom icon variant for channels

• Improved accessibility of forum & thread notification options

• Hovering an emoji reaction will now show the list of reacting users

• Fixed a bug where in certain scenarios the @ mention menu was returning an empty user list

• Fixed a bug where the color picker for custom role badges was not rendering in workspace settings

• Fixed a bug where occasionally a new doc was being created when the knowledge base route domain was loaded by a team member

• Fixed an overflow bug in the table editor block

• All hyperlinks in a workspace are now themed to the workspace's accent color

• Improved UI styling for custom roles badges

Private labels + custom channel icons

Feb 06, 2024

Private labels

You'll can now create private labels within your Outverse workspace. Private labels can:

• Only be added to threads by team members

• Only be seen on threads / filtered for by team members

Private labels will appear with a lock icon next to them, so team members will be able to easily differentiate them from normal labels. To create a private label, head over to Workspace settings > Community > Labels and create / edit a label. When editing a label, toggle between normal and private mode using the eye<>lock icon button.

Custom channel icons

You'll now be able to upload a custom icon (we suggest an SVG) for each channel, which will display instead of the default icon in the sidebar and also other places across your workspace.

Improvements & fixes

• Improved user experience for workspace admins on custom domains

• Fixed a bug where the labels page in workspace settings was occasionally not loading all label content

• Fixed a bug in the gallery block when deleting the final row

• Improved styling for thread solutions UI

• Improved styling for unpublished docs UI

• Improved build size and chunking

• Added an optional noindex flag to prevent all content indexing (including public content)

• Fixed a bug where the OpenGraph image preview in workspace settings was not rendering correctly

• Improved styling in docs sidepanel UI

• Improved styling and accessibility of callout block UI

File embeds + reader-optimized view

Jan 24, 2024

File embeds

Files can now be embedded in both docs and forums within Outverse. To add embed a file – simply drag the file into the composer. You can then further drag & drop the file to position it wherever you'd like. Outverse supports all major file types.

Reader-optimized view

Teams can now specify whether their forum channels show in full width or reader-optimized width by default. Users can easily update their own preferences using the Display controls within forum channels.

To set a default view option in your workspace, head to Workspace settings > Community Settings and use the 'Default forum view' toggle.

Improvements & fixes

• Increased number of optional external links in navigation top bar from 1 to 3

• Fixed a bug where doc titles where showing a delay upon update

• Fixed a bug where the workspace notifications modal was flashing upon first open

• Fixed a bug where knowledge base categories where resetting order upon drag-and-drop

• Improved callout block component design

• Improved scroll interaction when deep-linking to specific replies in forums

CodeSandbox embeds

Jan 08, 2024

CodeSandbox embeds

You can now embed CodeSandbox sandboxes within Outverse documents and forums. To embed a sandbox, open the / formatting menu and select the CodeSandbox option – before entering the embed URL when prompted.

Alternatively, you can simply paste an embed URL directly into the editor – which will automatically embed the sandbox (e.g. https://codesandbox.io/s/new).

Table components & team doc drafts

Jan 04, 2024

Table component

You can now added informational tables to your docs in Outverse. Tables can be added by opening the / formatting menu and selecting the Table option.Use tables to display information to your customers in a structured way and can anything added to them, including code blocks, images, and videos.

You can read more about formatting components in our doc here: .

Here's an example of a table component:

Team doc drafts

Knowledge base document drafts are now saved team-wide (as opposed to locally per user) – enabling better collaboration on doc authoring and editing within teams.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where team logo was not showing next to non-admin team members

• Fixed a bug where a double tooltip was displaying on the RHS panel's [expand<>collapse] icon button

• Improved reply composer UI to prevent thread content being blocked

• Improved navigation UX within settings interfaces

• Fixed a bug where thread card height was jumping on first forum page load

• Fixed a bug in the create workspace form

• Improved SSR performance within forums

Performance improvements + interface/UX polish

Dec 19, 2023

Upgraded performance

We've made a number of changes that have significantly improved Outverse performance across the app. You should now experience improved performance when loading and navigating channels & documents – and also when filtering content/threads within channels. We’ve significantly improved load times in channels by:

• Better optimizing the sequencing of essential vs non-essential data requests

• Switching to server-side rendering to load data in faster

• Reducing the number of loading states across the app

New emoji picker

We've been working on a number of UX / usability improvements to end the year. As part of this, we've built a new emoji picker from the ground up, inclusive of:

• Hover for a quick-view list of favorites / recents

• Compact <> expanded picker size for higher density viewport
  

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug in the Overview section of workspace settings

• Added H1 tag to thread titles to improve indexing

• Fixed a bug where the reply composer was not auto-focussing when opened

• Fixed a bug where thread annotations where not rendering upon initial page load

• Fixed a bug where the reply list avatar stack was not showing skeleton loading state

• Fixed a height issue with the small variant of image embeds

• Fixed a bug where the upload state spinner was not showing for video uploads

• Improved styling on channel inline mentiones (e.g. )

• Added < navigation icon button to user and workspace settings for improved navigation

• Fixed a bug where occasionally doc drafts where not saving across users

• Fixed a big where the reply composer would occasionally obstruct thread content when open

Doc tabs + workspace settings refactor

Nov 20, 2023

Document tabs

Workspace settings

Improvement and fixes

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where document contents panels were not sticking upon scroll

• Improved sidebar accessibility in light theme

• Added channel color representation to the sidebar

• Fixed a copy & paste bug caused by the document contents panel

• Fixed a bug where thread contents where not updating when navigating via semantic relationships

• Fixed a bug where occasionally thread page was not reloading after a reply was marked as solution

Document tabs

You can now add tabs to knowledge base documents via the / formatting menu.

To add tabs to an doc, hit / to open the formatting menu and select the Tabs option. You can add any formatting within a tab. New tabs are added by clicking the + button in the top left-hand corner of the tab component.

To rename a tab, switch over to the tab you would like to rename and focus (click into) the tab title – you will then be able to update the name of the tab inline. To delete a tab, switch over to the tab you would like to delete, and click the delete icon next to the the tab's title.

You can add as many tabs as you like to the tabs component – once the number of tabs exceeds the width of the tabs component, users can horizontally scroll the tabs top/title bar to navigate additional tabs, using either a trackpad/mouse of the > < icons.

Read more about organization components in our doc here: .

Workspace settings

We've upgraded our workspace settings interface to make it more structured, organized and navigable. Different settings categories are now divided into into individual sections, accessed via the settings sidebar. To access workspace settings, click the ... button next to your workspace name in the the top left-hand corner of your interface.

Read more about workspace configuration in our doc here: .

Teams, global navigation & accordions

Oct 26, 2023

Workspace teams

We've introduced Team roles to Outverse workspaces. You can now manually invite and promote admins and team members from your workspace settings - Workspace Settings > Team

Within forums, admins and team members will be easily identifiable by the workspace logo that appears next to their name. Read more about teams in our guide.

Inviting team members:

Invite new team members or admins by gong to Workspace settings > Team > Invite team member . Users can be directly invited as either an admin or a team member via the dropdown in the invite modal.

Entering the user's email and clicking Send will send a unique invite to the user which will be valid for 1 week.

Improved navigation

We've improved navigation across Outverse workspaces – making it easier and more intuitive.

We've moved the Knowledge base, Channels, Resource library, and Workspace CTA tabs into the new global topbar – along with workspace-wide search.

Accordion formatting

Accordion blocks (or 'toggles') can be used to add a dropdown component for showing <> hiding content.

Optionally add an accordion to a doc by using the / command and selecting the Accordion option from the dropdown menu.

Accordion's can have other blocks added within them and can be dragged positionally by clicking and dragging the toggle icon.

Below is an example of an accordion in action:

Read more about accordions and other organization componentd in our guide.

Knowledge base index galleries

Oct 13, 2023

Knowledge base index galleries

You can now added index galleries to your knowledge base on Outverse. Index galleries are organizational components that can be used to create index and category pages within your knowledge base.

Index galleries can have both categories and / or individual docs added to them, enabling flexible composition. To add an index gallery to a document, use the / command menu and select the Index gallery option. You can then you the + buttons on the x and y axes to add rows / columns. For each item, you will be able to add a short description.

Below is an example of an index gallery in action:

Upgraded reply composer

We've improved reply UI and interactions with forums. The reply composer is now pinned to the bottom of threads in a minimized state. Clicking the composer will open it, ready for composition. You can still reply directly to individual replies by clicking the Reply button directly on the reply card or using the ⇧R keyboard shortcut when an individual reply is focussed.

Improvements & fixes

• Improved styling of inline code within docs and forums

• Improved accessibility of callout blocks within docs

• Fixed a bug where non-images could be embedded in the image embed block

• Fixed two styling issues within dropdowns / context menus (right-aligned chevron and invisible tooltip)

• Fixed an issue where explainer copy was not showing for privacy types in the 'Create channel' modal

• Improved performance & UI in the 'Manage members' section of workspace settings

Search engine optimization & video embeds

Sep 13, 2023

Search engine optimization

We’ve been working on making Outverse more accessible to search engines – meaning discussions and documentation within your Outverse space will be more accessible via organic search.

This release changes the way we render content in Outverse. Ultimately, this now means that individual pages can be indexed by search engines. This begins with public forums, with knowledge base doc indexing coming shortly.

We’ve also given URLs an update so they’re easier for humans and search engines to read: Outverse content now uses clean URLs that include the forum name and the thread title. If you’re an Outverse admin, you don’t need to do anything: all URLs will automatically redirect to their new location. We’ve also improved the way we handle title tags for individual threads so they now reflect the contents of discussions.

Video embeds in forums

Video files can now be natively embedded within Outverse forums. Forums will accept all major video file types up to 1GB in size. To add a video embed, simply select the video embed option from the / formatting menu when creating a thread or reply.

Improvements & fixes

• Improved performance within forums

• [Accessibility] Alt attribute is now mandatory for all images

• Fixed an alignment issue re image preview on small devices

• Fixed a bug to enable all labels to be removed from a space

• Fixed a bug where users could occasionally not click through within the search modal

• Fixed an issue with button disabling within the create channel modal

• Fixed a browser shortcut clash when copying a reply URL

• Fixed a visual issue with the date/time input field

• Fixed a bug where the Home forum activity feed was topping at 50 threads

• Fixed a bug where content library images where loading with incorrect aspect ration on certain browsers

Labelling, per-user channel permissions & thread shortcuts

Aug 02, 2023

Labelling in forums

Labels are now available within all community spaces and can be used to organize, filter and search within forums. You can create new labels in your community settings and can specify whether forums have labels active within your channel settings. Within forums (and the home index view) you can now filter be able to filter by labels. We'll be adding further functionality soon, including:

• Specifying specific labels to specific forums

• Adding the ability to gate the labelling permission within forums to particular roles/users

Per-user channel permissions

Channel permissions can now be set at the user level (in addition to the custom role level). This includes:

• Gating channel access & visibility to specific users

• Gating intra-forum permissions (e.g. thread creation, reply creation) to specific users

• Private channels will display users who have access in the top bar for easy visibility

Thread keyboard navigation

We’ve improved keyboard navigation on the thread view within Outverse forums. Additional keyboard shortcuts/actions:

• Up / Down: navigates through replies (if none focused, will focus first reply)

• Enter: open reply side panel

• C: copy link of reply

• E: edit reply (if author of reply)

• ⇧R: open reply modal to reply to thread (i.e. create a reply)

• R: open reply modal to reply to a reply (i.e. create a nested reply)

• ⇧T: toggle visibility of nested replies (if any)

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where search was not functional within the forum switcher dropdown when composing a thread

• Fixed a bug where items in doc contents where not truncating

• Improved label UI on mobile

• Fixed a big where admins where not showing in member directory search results

• Fixed a big where advanced blocks where occasionally accessible in the thread composer

AI-powered semantic relations & keyboard navigation in forums

July 13, 2023

Semantic relations between discussions <> docs

Leveraging LLMs is a core part of the Outverse vision in building knowledge rich ecosystems for software communities. Our team has been hard at work over the past months working on a number of knowledge retrieval and team workflow features, powered by AI.

Our latest AI release means that all knowledge items within Outverse (including forum OPs, replies, and docs) now show other semantically related items in their right-hand side panel.

To view any object's semantic relations – simply open the right-hand side panel using the expand <> collapse icon or ⇧P.

Multiple objects from the same discussion will be grouped together to help with context management and orientation as you surf Outverse spaces. We've got lots more on the way...

Keyboard navigation on forums

Outverse forums are now keyboard navigable, with increased keyboard shortcuts. When on a forum (including the Home view), you can now hit the down arrow on your keyboard to navigate through threads. Hit enter to navigate directly to the thread, C to copy the link, or E to edit (if you have the required permission to do so). Stay tuned for more on this soon.

Mor granular timestamps

We've added more granular timestamps across Outverse objects for improved line-of-sight and reporting. Hovering over any timestamp in Outverse will now display a detailed date/time.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a search-related bug in the # dropdown menu

• Added ⇧J shortcut for joining a community

• Improved handling of expired session tokens

Cross-forum index view

July 09, 2023

Cross-forum index view

We've evolved the space home view to be a cross-forum index. Team and community members can now view all forum activity and apply cross-forum filters and other display options directly from the Home view.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where doc titles were occasionally double-updating

• Added light box modal to images and GIFs within forums and docs

• Updated member gallery card UI

• Added shortcut to expand<>collapse the right-hand side panel (⇧P)

• Improved performance on the member gallery view

• Fixed a perpetual loading state issue on notifications tabs

Custom domains, SSR & more

June 16, 2023

Custom domains

Custom subdomains are now live – community spaces can now exist at your own subdomain e.g. community.domain.com – with custom root domains arriving later this year. To set up a custom domain – send us an email at hello@outverse.com with your community name and requested custom subdomain.

Once you've requested a subdomain, you'll need to go to your domain host’s platform (e.g. Google Domains, Cloudflare) and set up a new CNAME record. When adding a CNAME record, transfer the exact Host/Name and Target/Value information copied from your community’s custom domain settings and paste it into the CNAME record editor to avoid errors.

You can read more about custom domains in our support doc here: .

Server-side-rendering (SSR)

We're rolling out SSR across the Outverse app in preparation for our optimized SEO indexing functionality that is arriving soon. The recent SSR changes have improved performance across key parts of the Outverse app and also introduced micro-features including custom favicons and page titles.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where edited thread posts where not rendering updated markdown

• Fixed a bug where custom role permission toggles were non-operational

• Improved search behavior in multi-select dropdowns across the app

• Fixed a bug within knowledge base docs where occasionally doc editor markdown headings were not editable

• Improved icon button accessibility across the app

The knowledge base, improved thread nesting & user favorites

May 30, 2023

Knowledge bases on Outverse

v1 of the native Outverse documentation suite is now live. Teams can now set up a knowledge base within their Outverse community – which is comprehensively searchable and reference-able from anywhere within Outverse. Enabling a knowledge base is done via your Community Settings > Knowledge Base – from which teams can specify enable and name their Knowledge Base.

Once enabled, teams are able to create folders and documents whilst also specifying document access, permissions and authors. Documents can be easily referenced/mentioned within community channels by hitting # followed by selecting the document they'd like to mention.

Here's an example of some Outverse documents in action: or .

Improved thread nesting

We've updated the way in which nested replies within threads display in community forums.

User favorites

All users (both community members and teams) can now pin their own favorites to their sidebar. This enables you to have quick access to items that you frequently use or are particularly interested in tracking the progress of. Currently, the following items can be added as a favorite:

• Forum channels

• Threads (both discussion and Q&A)

• Documents

To add an item to your favorites, use one of the More actions dropdown menus associated with the item and select the Favorite item option. Favorites can be removed by following this same process.

Internal team badges

Users with a community team role (such as Admins) will now display a community team icon next to their name – helping better identify them within forums and other community channels.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug where the community color was being incorrectly referenced

• Improved community creation experience

• New communities are now created with a default template to assist with onboarding

• Improved tooltip accessibility across the app

• Fixed a bug where images where occasionally not be rendered in thread OPs

GitHub auth & thread peeks

Feb 15, 2023

GitHub authentication

We've added GitHub as a new authentication method when signing up to Outverse. To auth via GitHub, select the 'Continue with GitHub' option when creating your Outverse account.

Thread peeks

You can now peek into a thread within forums without navigating away from the forum. To peek into a thread, hold Shift (⇧) when clicking on a thread – this will launch the thread peek in an interactive modal. From a thread peek, you can either decide to enter the full thread view, or close the peek and continue browsing the forum.

Improvements & fixes

• Improved results highlighting in search UI

• Fixed an issue with re-sending of email verification email

• Fixed an issue where the community sidebar was not loading all spaces upon user navigating back from community settings

• Fixed an issue where the member peek sidepanel was not closing when navigating between communities

• Improved search accuracy within the 'Manage members' dashboard
  

Switching forums and custom text coloring

Feb 03, 2023

Switching forums during composition

You can now change the forum you are posting to when composing a thread via the forum switcher component within the reply composer. This can also be used by community admins to change the forum that a thread sits in for moderation purposes.

Customizable text colors & highlighting

Text within forums and documents can now be colored and/or highlighted using the text formatting menu. Custom text styling is automatically optimized for both light & dark modes.

Improvements & fixes

• Fixed a bug were auto-scrolling within thread pages was occasionally not operational

• Fixed minor content overflow issue in the member peek panel

• Fixed a visual bug where the 'Admin' role badge was not automatically showing in permissions lists (visual only)

• Fixed a visual backdrop-blur issue on Firefox browser

Collapsible sidebar, quick theme switcher & callout blocks

Jan 23, 2023

Collapsible sidebar

The Outverse community sidebar is now completely collapsible – enabling you to further reduce distraction & noise when in a community. The sidebar can be collapsed by clicking the icon in the bottom RHS (of the sidebar) or by using the ⇧S keyboard shortcut.

To expand the sidebar, use the icon next to the community logo in the top LHS or use the S keyboard shortcut. Note, shorcuts can also be accessed via the / command menu.

Quick theme switcher

We've added another quick method via which users can toggle between interface themes. You can now use the Light<>Dark theme switcher in the bottom LHS of the sidebar . You can also update your theme via the / command menu: ⌘K > Theme > Select option.

Callout blocks for documentation

Callout blocks can be used to highlight particularly important information in docs. To add a callout block, use the ! shortcut, or select 'Callout' from the / command menu when editing a document/

Improvements & fixes

• Improved quality of images in documents

• Fixed a bug where author could not drop more than one line if the space contents block was present in the text editor

• Fixed a bug where the sidebar was showing a delayed response to data updates

• Fixed a bug where author was unable to undo in text editor when space contents block was present

• Style polish on notification toasts

Profile peeks, community CTA & more

Jan 15, 2023

Member profile peeks

Version one of member profile peeks are now available in Outverse. Click a community member’s name to bring up the profile peek – within which you can view their recent activity along with additional member information & links. You can also filter member activity based on the forum or thread you are viewing. We’ve got more functionality coming to profile peeks over the coming weeks so stay tuned.

Community CTA

Communities can now add a call to action to their community sidebar via their community settings. When adding a community CTA, you’ll have the option to set a tag, image and URL.

Author badges

Replies within threads from original thread author (OP) will now show an “Author” badge for easier identification and contest management within threads.

Improvements & fixes

• Added lock icon identifier next to private spaces in community sidebar

• Polished styling of ‘Reply’ buttons on thread interface

• Polished styling of thread badges

• Fixed a bug where lock, pin, hide thread options were not displaying in the thread dropdown on the thread page

• Fixed a bug where focus mode was occasionally not loading when composing a reply

• Polished styling of all dark-mode modals

• Improved loading state for all embed blocks within the text editor

• Improved accessibility on forum interface compact view

• Fixed a bug where member profile peek was incorrectly ordering recent activity list

Public channels + more

Nov 25, 2022

Public forums & docs

Any space (forum or page) you build in Outverse can be turned into a public space, creating a navigable and searchable forum or page. When a space is public, anyone on the web can read it and interact with certain components. Note: within public forums, non-members will be able to read all threads and replies – but will need to join the community before being able to create threads or replies themselves. When a space is public, you still have control of the advanced permissions within the space, e.g. specifying which community roles can post/reply/edit.

Graphy integration

Graphy has now been added the Outverse integrations list. Graphy helps startups create charts, pull out insights, organise metrics, and more. Graphy visualisations can not be natively embedded in Outverse spaces by simply pasting the Graphy link, or selecting the 'Graphy' option via the / menu.

In-person events

In addition to hosting events natively within Outverse, communities can now schedule and organise events hosted elsewhere (both offline & virtual). When scheduling a new event, you can not choose between 'Outverse' and 'External' for the event location. If the event is set to 'External', you will be prompted to enter an address for the event (this can be a physical location or a URL).

Improvements & fixes

• Users can can log in/sign up for Outverse via a modal, rather than being redirected to a separate page

• Community's names now appear in the browser tab title

• Improved loading states on Chrome

• Hidden threads are now more readily identifiable by community admins

• Fixed a bug where communities where not displaying in alphabetical order in the community switcher

• Improved UI for the 'Create space group' modal

Advanced channel permissions

Nov 01, 2022

Private forums & spaces

Private spaces let you create spaces visible to select members in your community (based on their community role). The space and all of its content will only be visible to specified community roles (admins will always have access).

You can also specify permissions within a space, including which roles can create threads and replies within each forum.

Admins and any roles with the manage-community permission in the community can create new private spaces or make an existing spaces private.

Configuration

To create a new private space, open the Create Space modal and Select the ‘Private’ visibility option. You can then specify which roles will be able to see and access the space.

To make an existing space private or vice versa, go to Edit space **and update visibility settings.

Improvements & fixes

• Improved space creation flow

• Fixed a bug where unnamed custom roles were being hidden

• Improved mobile layout for space creation UI

• Updated community cover image placement

• Updated icon designs across the app

• Updated top bar format & design within communities

• Updated design for space mentions/embeds

• Fixed a bug where community cover images could not be removed by admins

Webhooks & Vimeo embeds

Oct 15, 2022

Webhooks

Outverse now provides webhooks which allow you to receive HTTP push notifications whenever data is created or updated. This allows you to build integrations on top of your community. For example, you could trigger notifications via different channels, update a CRM object and much more.

Webhook updates are currently supported for the following models (we plan to support more data objects in the future):

Spaces, Threads, Replies, Members, Custom roles, Scheduled Events

An example webhook consumer may look something like this:

const express = require("express");
const bodyParser = require("body-parser");
const app = express();
const port = 3000;

// Parse the request body
app.use(bodyParser.json());

// Receive HTTP POST requests
app.post("/my-outverse-webhook", (req, res) => {
  const payload = req.body;
  const { action, data, type, createdAt } = payload;

  // Do something neat with the data received!

  // Finally, respond with a HTTP 200 to signal all good
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

app.listen(port, () => console.log(`My webhook consumer listening on port ${port}!`));

Configuring a webhook

Webhooks can be configured via the community settings.

Your newly created webhook will be listed and is ready to be used. Your defined URL of http://example.com/webhooks/outverse-example will now get notified of any updates for your chosen models.

Vimeo embeds

You can now natively embed Vimeo videos in custom spaces and forums using the YouTube embed block. Our first embed blocks include: YouTube, Loom & Figma blocks.

To add an embed block to a custom space or thread/reply post, simply paste the Vimeo video’s URL directly into your editor or navigate down to the correct ‘Embed block’ option in your / command menu. Once you’ve added the block, you will be able to choose between small, medium or large sizing before hitting publish or send.

Drag & drop, updated compact view & unread filtering

Oct 01, 2022

Drag & drop to reorder

A much requested feature is now live in Outverse – community admins can now drag & drop to reorder spaces and space groups. We’ll be adding further drag & drop customisation to other parts of Outverse soon. Spaces can now be reordered within groups, moved between groups, and also removed from all group via drag & drop.

Compact thread UI

We’ve improved the UI for our compact thread view within forums. The updated compact view now contains a high density of information for quickly scanning and navigating busy forums within Outverse communities.

Unread activity filters

Community members and admins can now quickly filter forum threads on unread activity/notifications. Threads containing unread direct replies, mentions or any new reply within a thread members are subscribed to – along with new threads within forums that members are subscribed to will all now show in the new notifications tab within forum spaces. Switch between compact and expanded views within forums by using the view selector in the top right hand corner.

Improvements & fixes

• Added notification count to thread card for high value unread notifications

• Fixed an issue where on rare occasions, locked threads could not be unlocked

• Fixed a member profile image display issue within forum spaces

• Improved accessibility on a number of button components

• Improved loading speed for forum spaces

Thread Embedding

Sep 15, 2022

Thread Quoting

At Outverse, we want to make finding & surfacing great community content as easy & seamless as possible. Thread embeds are the next step on this journey. Threads can now be embedded and referenced in both custom spaces and forum spaces, opening up new ways for communities to organize & unearth great content.

To embed a thread, simply copy the threads link (via hitting 'Copy link"in the thread card menu) and then paste it into your custom space or forum thread/reply. You can then choose whether to show the expanded or collapsed view of the thread.

Expect much more to come from thread embeds, including increased interactivity, in-line formatting, and more (and reply embeds are launching soon too 🦾).

Here's an example of an embedded thread 👇

Thread & reply drafts

One of our most requested features is now live. You can now close your composer when drafting both threads and replies without losing your changes. If you close your composer mid-draft, the draft will be automatically saved, ready for your return.

Horizontal line breaks

Another small but frequently requested feature is now live in custom spaces. Type three dashes or underscores “---” / "___" (without any intervening spaces) to create a horizontal rule and help organize & format your custom spaces.

Improvements & fixes

• Visual upgrade to the default spaces section of a community

• In-line space mentions are now drag & droppable within composers

• Fixed a bug where occasionally thread titles where not updating when updated

• Performance upgrade to search results querying

Community search, thread locking & quick-links

Sep 01, 2022

Community Search

v1 of community search has arrived in Outverse. To search within a community, hit the Search button in the top bar (alternatively, you can hit ⌘K).

You can now search across threads and replies with speed and accuracy – with results showing the author, thread and space.

This is just the beginning for community search – we’re working hard on further search features that will enable quicker, more granular filtering and more detailed results.

Thread locking

Thread locking is now live! Once a thread is locked, members will no longer be able to reply within the thread (until it’s unlocked) – although they can still emoji react tot the thread and its replies. Only admins or community members with the ‘Manage forums’ permission will be able to lock threads.

Thread locking can be used in a number of different ways – including…

• Preventing replies on particular community updates/announcements

• Locking a time-based discussion/event, whilst keeping it readable for the community

To lock / unlock a thread, click the menu button on a thread card followed by the Lock thread / Unlock thread option.

Quick-link to replies

You can now quickly copy links to replies within threads ⚡️. Reply links will also now auto-scroll to the specific reply, making it much easier to share community content!

Improvements & fixes

• Performance improvement to the ‘Manage members’ section of the community settings dashboard

• Fixed a bug where on rare occasions, duplicate replies where being posted

• Fixed a bug where on some posts, emoji reactions were being incorrectly ordered

• Optimized default rate limits for community thread posting

Thread pinning, minimizing & rich syntax highlighting

Aug 15, 2022

for fizzbuzz in range(1,100):
 
    # Number divisible by 15,(divisible
    # by both 3 & 5), print 'FizzBuzz'
    if fizzbuzz % 15 == 0:
        print("FizzBuzz")                                        
        continue
 
    # Number divisible by 3, print 'Fizz'
    elif fizzbuzz % 3 == 0:    
        print("Fizz")                                        
        continue
 
    # Number divisible by 5, print 'Buzz'
    elif fizzbuzz % 5 == 0:        
        print("Buzz")                                    
        continue
 
    print(fizzbuzz)

Thread pinning

You can now pin threads within forums! Pinned threads will be pinned to the top of forums and you can pin as many threads as you want at any one time. Thread pinning can be used in a number of ways, including...

• Highlighting threads you want to encourage activity in

• Highlighting threads for increased community visibility

• Adding specific space guidelines, instructions and descriptions

To pin/unpin a thread, simply click the menu button on a thread card, and click the Pin thread or Unpin thread option.

Minimizing the reply composer

When composing a reply within a thread, we’ve added the ability to minimize the composer – making sure you can always see all of the thread content whilst you’re composing your reply!

Rich syntax highlighting

We've added rich syntax highlighting to our code blocks in the thread & reply composer (along with custom spaces). To add a code block with rich syntax highlighting, simply type three back-ticks followed by the programming language name, e.g. ```python or ```css.

Improvements & fixes

• Performance improvement to the member directory

• Added the ability to hit ⌘ + ↩ to submit a reply within a thread

• Fixed a bug where emoji reactions were not being immediately re-fetched when navigating from thread back to forum

• Notification links now auto-scroll directly to the specific post

Keyboard Shortcuts & the command menu

Aug 01, 2022

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts & commands are a favorite of power users, enabling them to control their most common actions directly from the keyboard (and helping them find some of the less common!). We’re exciting to begin introducing more keyboard shortcuts to the Outverse product to help you navigate, explore and interact within communities.

To begin, bring up your command menu by hitting ⌘ + K – from which you will find a list of common/helpful actions along with any accompanying shortcuts.

Some of the Outverse team’s favourite shortcuts are:

• ⇧ + N to create a new thread within a community

• ⇧ + R to reply within a thread

• ⌘ + K > Theme to switch between light/dark themes

We've got a lot more commands and shortcuts in the works!

Embed block alignment & resizing

We’ve added the ability to align and resize embed blocks. Embed blocks can now be left, center, and right aligned – along with small, medium and large sizing options. To align or resize an embed block in either a custom space or a forum post – just hover over the block and select your desired options! This includes image GIF, YouTube, Loom, and Figma embed blocks (with more on the way!)

Improvements & fixes

• Improved forums and thread loading performance

• Improved member directory page/search performance

• Fixed a bug where placeholder text was hidden in the 'Create Thread' and 'Reply to thread' modals

• Fixed a bug where GIFs were occasionally overflowing on mobile

Integrate with YouTube, Loom, Figma & Giphy

Aug 15, 2022

Embedding blocks

You can now natively embed YouTube videos, Loom videos, and Figma frames in custom spaces and forums using the YouTube/Loom/Figma embed blocks.

To add an embed block to a custom space or thread/reply post, simply paste the URL directly into your editor or navigate down to the correct ‘Embed block’ option in your / command menu. Once you’ve added the block, you will be able to choose between small, medium or large sizing before hitting publish or send!

Here's an example of an embedded Figma frame below...

Giphy integration

GIFs have arrived in Outverse. Sometimes, a GIF can speak a thousand words – and they can now be added to both custom spaces and forums via our Giphy integration!

To add GIFs, use the /giphy command or the 'GIF' block in the / command menu.

Fixes & improvements

• Performance optimization in forum spaces loading time

• Fixed a navigation bug with the ‘Close’ button on user settings

• Added toast notification on ‘Verify email’ page when email is resent

Introducing inline blocks, focus mode & more...

Jul, 15 2022

New inline block: Mention Space

We believe it's important for communities to be able to seamlessly reference and embed other sections & objects within their Outverse community. We’ve made it easier to ‘mention’ a space inline in both custom spaces and forums using the # command or scrolling to the ‘Mention space’ inline block in the / command menu.

Focus mode

Outverse forums are built to encourage thoughtful discussion, interaction & collaboration. We’ve launched focus mode to do exactly this. Now, when you’re creating a thread or replying within a thread – you can enter a full screen view whilst composing to cancel out the noise and focus on your writing. To enter focus mode, simply hit the focus-mode icon when creating a thread or composing a reply.

Post notifications

We’ve added more granular notification settings for threads. You can now subscribe to receive notifications for all new posts within a thread, or just direct replies to you.

Hyperlinks

Custom hyperlinks can now be added in both custom spaces and threads. Like this!

Fixes & Improvements

• Improved performance of the member directory search speed

• Fixed a bug where tooltips where not showing in the member directory

• User theme now defaults to a user’s system theme preference

• User’s can now navigate to User Settings directly from the sidebar

• Fixed a bug where member role badges where limited to displaying 3 roles within forum spaces

• Added toast notification during email verification flow when user requests to resend email