Adding more features
Follow mod authors, update notifications, engagement points and more
I'm staying busy adding or improving features on the site, so I wanted to call out some of the latest additions or improvements on the site.
Notification System
There's a new bell icon in the header and "alerts" link in the footer. This is part of a notification system used with a few of the new features on the site you'll read about more below. Eventually, I'll give users the ability to turn on email notifications (for those that want that option), but right now it's just alerts on the site.
Follow Mod Authors
When you visit a mod on the site, there's now a Follow button next to the mod author's name. Click that to start following that author's work. Anytime they create a new mod, you'll receive a notification about that.
Update Notifications for Favorited Mods
One of the things buggy in the Creations menu in game is the update notifications. I can download the latest update, but the mod seems to never leave that section. You'll now receive a notification for any mod you favorite when we detect it has received an update. You can then mark that notification as read once you've updated it in your game. I thought it could be useful - especially for Xbox players. However, like everything, we'll continue to evolve the functionality as needed moving forward.
Engagement Point System
I created an engagement point system to track contributions on the site better. This awards points to the user for virtually everything you can do on the site. The most active users list on the Community page has been updated to Top Explorers sorted by points.
Here's the point breakdown right now:
- 1 point: Like or favorite anything on the site
- 5 points: Rate a mod (without leaving a review)
- 12 points: Create a public or private collection or load order
- 15 points: Rate a mod and write a review/comment
- 25 points: Upload an image from your game
Flagging System
As the community grows, I know there will be a need to log questionable or spam content for review and, if needed, removal from the site. It's a boring but necessary feature, and it took some work so I'm including it. Any flagged content will trigger a notification alert to admins/moderators - which, right now, is just me :)
Miscellaneous
- I'm continuing to use the site a lot on my phone to find ways to improve how well the site works on mobile. That includes things like moving the Rating/Review elements higher up on the page for mobile users and making that process smoother for those users.
- Added tips/instructions on the Community and Create Collection pages to give users more ideas of what they can do with that feature.
- These latest videos reviewing Continuum mod helped me notice that mod didn't exist on the site. I wrote a couple of scripts to help import one-off or batches of mods the auto-sync may have missed. I think there were a few that had been missed during a small window between the backlog importing and the constant auto sync, so this helps fix that.