Dreamwidth News

Dreamwidth News: 12 Apr 2012

2012-04-12T19:40:09Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! I'm eagerly watching the clock until the weekend getaway I have planned with my lovely wife -- and boy howdy do I need a vacation -- so in order to pass the time, I bring you an offering of hopefully-useful Dreamwidth information. Behind the cut:

* Development
* Javascript modernization: release candidate
* Paying via credit card
* Request for comment: username squatting
* Spam (not the singing Vikings kind)
* Default theme poll
* Arts and Culture: Changing Seasons

( Dreamwidth News: 12 Apr 2012 )

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Dreamwidth Update: 17 Mar 2012

2012-03-17T05:52:40Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! As usual, I bring you apologies for the long gap since the last dw_news post (there is always something to prevent the good long chunk of time I need to write one, but I'm sick and tired of doing things that won't pan out for ages by now!) and a whole slew of interesting things to discuss and share.

Behind the cut, we bring you:

* Development update
* Text Captcha
* Icon-Related Changes
* A note from the antispam team
* Custom dictionary expansion
* Default styles poll
* Dreamwidth Arts & Culture - "Delights"

( Dreamwidth update, 17 March 2012 )

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Dreamwidth Update: 2 February 2012

2012-02-02T21:48:40Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! It's been a busy month for us, and we have some nifty things to announce. Behind the cut, we bring you news on:

* Development
* Community Imports
* Claim your OpenID
* A note from the antispam team
* Invite Codes
* Abandoned Accounts
* Volunteering with DW
* State of the Servers

( Dreamwidth update, 2 February 2012 )

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Dreamwidth Studios is against SOPA/PIPA

2012-01-18T21:32:41Z

Hi all,

You're probably aware of the ongoing protests against SOPA/PIPA, two laws that are being considered in the United States legislature that, I believe, will fundamentally harm the Internet as we know it. Today, we have joined the ongoing protests against these laws:

http://www.dreamwidth.org/sopa

We have not completely blacked out the site. We debated it and while I believe it would provide a more accurate and stronger statement of protest, we decided not to because Dreamwidth is a platform that gives people a voice. We believe in our Guiding Principles and do not want to silence your voices, even if only temporarily.

While I won't say that we will never do that -- there certainly may come a time when it truly is the best way to protest -- we don't feel comfortable doing that right now. We'll see how the rest of the fight against SOPA/PIPA goes, though, and will keep everybody informed.

Thank you for using Dreamwidth. We truly wouldn't be anything without each of your contributions -- readers, writers, users, random passers-by, everything! I am truly honored to be working on a site like this.

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Dreamwidth Update: 6 January 2012

2012-01-06T12:52:40Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! We're ringing in 2012 with a collection of useful information and news from the DW head office (aka my house) and auxiliary offices (aka Mark's house and Fu's house). Behind the cut you will find information on:

* Development, Coding, and Styles
* Community and Icon Importing
* Site Growth and Stability
* Invite Codes
* SOPA
* The Ada Initiative
* Paid Accounts, PayPal, and DW Business
* The Great Community Rec-O-Matic

( DW Update, 6 January 2012 )

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Community importing is live.

2011-12-30T00:21:29Z

Hi all -- I wanted to post a quick news post to let you know that community imports are now live. There's also some other content inside... down past the cut!

( Dreamwidth News for December 29th, 2011 )

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Dreamwidth Update: 25 December

2011-12-25T07:25:17Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! I come to you with an out-of-cycle news post to announce a super special end-of-year present to all y'all ... but while I've got you on the line, I might as well go through a few other things. Sorry, you're gonna have to wait for the good stuff ;)

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Dreamwidth 101
* Import delays
* Site stability
* Aid to the Philippines
* Holiday points bonus + paid account creation
* A request regarding official DW journal comments

... and ...

* HAPPY HOLIDAYS, DREAMWIDTH, HAVE A SHINY THING (soon)

( Dreamwidth news, 25 December )
EDIT 12/26 11:45pm EDT: Hey, guys, as a personal favor to me, before asking questions in the comments could you please try to read the existing comments? I know there are many, many comments to read through, but most of the questions I'm seeing now are repeats and duplicates, and there's only one of me to answer them all. Thanks. :)

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Dreamwidth Update: 16 December

2011-12-16T08:58:14Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! This news post is full of a lot of exciting things, so I will dive straight in.

Behind the cut:

* Development news
* New Create Entries beta
* New themes and styles
* Also new in the last code push
* Open account creation
* Reminder: holiday promotion
* Possible import/crosspost problems
* Deleted accounts purged
* The Ada Initiative
* Version 2.0

( Dreamwidth news, 16 December )

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December Holiday Promotion - Points Bonus on all orders!

2011-12-03T22:55:51Z

It's that time of year again -- the calendar year is drawing to a close, the end-of-year holidays are nearly upon us, and Dreamwidth would like to say "thank you" to everyone who decides to give their friends (or themselves) a holiday gift of DW paid time.

From now until the end of December, all orders made in the Dreamwidth Shop will receive a 10% points bonus for future use. For instance, if you buy yourself a 12 month paid account (350 points), we'll give you 35 points to spend later when you complete your order.

This is our way of saying "thank you!" to everyone who helps to support Dreamwidth, and helps us to continue being independent, user-supported, and ad-free. Our commitment to remaining free of fiscal pressure from outside interests and 100% devoted to providing our users the best service possible is only possible because of you, and we'd like to thank everyone who supports us.

Happy holidays from Dreamwidth!

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Dreamwidth News: 21 October 2011

2011-10-21T15:10:20Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! First off, I would like to heartily apologize for the delay in this update; September and October plagued me with a slew of annoying medical problems that have, among other things, prevented me from typing for a while. I'm still recovering from the emergency surgery to correct the latest one of them (I'm okay now, don't worry), but I took the first chance possible to get this written. (Meanwhile, if you're waiting for a response in a staff-only support category, I apologize, and will get back to you as quickly as I can!)

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Future Improvements
* Expanding Comment Threads Now a Standard Feature
* Accessibility Win: Comment Hierarchy
* New Entry Creation Page
* Privacy: small profile change
* Importing Problems
* Updates from our Volunteers

( DW News: 21 October 2011 )

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Dreamwidth Update: 11 August 2011

2011-08-12T19:29:45Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! It's been an ... eventful few weeks, hasn't it? Welcome to those who are just joining us, from Google Plus and LiveJournal -- we hope you find Dreamwidth an excellent home. (This week we passed 100,000 personal accounts on the service, and over one million accounts total, which is very exciting news indeed.)

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Update on site problems
* Welcome to Dreamwidth!
* Paid Accounts
* Anonymous spam
* dw_codesharing
* Non-native-English celebration fest
* Request for brainstorming

( DW update: 11 August 2011 )

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Dreamwidth (quick) Update: 24 July 2011

2011-07-25T03:01:17Z

Hey all -- I'm sorry about the radio silence for the past few weeks (I've torn my rotator cuff and dislocated my wrist, and have been on minimal-typing for a while). I was hoping things would improve enough for me to do a full update, but enough people have been asking that I'll at least do a quick-hits:

* Check out erika's first Code Tour for development news.

* For the rest of 2011, we're concentrating on Mission: Feature Development. August's hackathon is usability bugs, so if you've been thinking of diving into DW development, check out the usability Bugzilla keyword for a list of the bugs eligible for a points bounty.

* We're increasing the bounty on styles submitted to dreamscapes, to help recognize the fact that creating a style is far more involved than creating a theme.

* Speaking of, there are new styles available for your journal: Five AM is now live, and Crisped and Dusty Foot will be going live with the next code push.

* I've been working on the dw_suggestions backlog, and will be moving more things over to Bugzilla in the coming weeks, so if you haven't stopped by for a while to give your opinion, now's the time.

I will be back with a more detailed update as soon as I can type more reliably! In the meantime, if you're having problems, Support is standing by to help you.

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Dreamwidth Update: 10 June 2011

2011-06-10T06:28:40Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! I hope that those of you here in North America who are experiencing the same heat wave that Dreamwidth HQ is experiencing have managed to figure out ways to stay cool enough. (It's been brutal. Thank goodness the shipping company finally managed to find our last air conditioner that they'd lost in transit.) And, for those of you in the southern hemisphere -- anybody want a house guest to come join you for the winter months? Really, all I need is a couch to sleep on and internet access...

*ahem* Okay, really, being serious now. Behind the cut, we will find:

* Development
* Code Push
* New Update Page
* Deleted Account Purging
* Feature Tour: Importing
* Themes, Themes, Themes

( Dreamwidth Update, June 10 )

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Dreamwidth Update: 26 May 2011

2011-05-26T21:02:10Z

Hello again, Dreamwidth! I know it's been ages since the last update, but since I'm sure you all don't care about the trials and travails that have been preventing me from getting it done, I shall simply apologize for the delay and move on. (They were trial-icious and travail-tactular, though.)

At any rate, here! Have an update! Behind the cut:

* Development
* Code Push
* Themes and Styles
* JQuery Beta
* It's Business, Baby
* Seed Account Sale Results
* Spam/Not Spam
* Invite Codes
* Community Marketplace
* And A Little ♥ To Finish It Off

( DW Update, 26 May 2011 )

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Happy Birthday, Dreamwidth!

2011-05-01T00:17:27Z

In about another 45 minutes -- 9PM EDT -- Dreamwidth will officially be two years old! (Let's hope that we manage to escape the Terrible Twos.)

The first round of the anniversary Seed Account sale will begin at 9PM EDT (GMT -4). 100 accounts will go on sale at that point. 100 more will go on sale at 3AM EDT; 100 more at 9AM EDT, and the final 100 will go on sale at 3PM EDT. The process is manual, so it may not be 9PM precisely on the dot, but it will be as close as we can get it. (Poor fu and I will be awake for at least the next 18 hours!)

We will not be making individual dw_news posts for each sale. (News posts cause umpty billion notification emails to get sent out, which delays notifications for everyone, which might interfere with people getting their recipts, etc, from the sale and cause them to stress out.) We will mention them on the Dreamwidth offsite status Twitter.

We have tested heavily, but as always, there may be problems in production that didn't appear in testing. If you run into problems while trying to buy a seed account:

* Don't panic! As long as you have a seed account in your cart, we will honor that cart, even if you get errors while checking out or have problems that prevent you from completing your order before the rest of the accounts sell out.

* Report problems to accounts@dreamwidth.org, or open a support request in the Account Payments category, and not to general support. If you do accidentally open a request in general support, our support team will make sure it gets to where it needs to go as quickly as possible, but Account Payments is your best option.

* Please be patient! To avoid confusion or accidentally giving out incorrect information, I will be the only person handling payment-related problems, and I will handle them in the order they come in.

If you have pre-bought Dreamwidth Points for the seed account sale, and you aren't able to buy one at any of the four times they go on sale -- I honestly don't know how fast they're going to sell out -- we will happily refund all or part of your purchase if you'd like. Wait a day or two (just for my sanity, please!) and open a support request in Account Payments, from the account that you used to purchase the points, letting me know what you'd like to do.

Meanwhile, if you buy a seed account and have existing paid time on the account you choose to upgrade, we will either transfer that paid time to another account, or convert it back to points for you to use as you'd like. This is a purely manual process -- we couldn't automate it in time -- so again, please be patient with me! Once you have confirmed that your account has been upgraded to a seed account, open a support request in the Account Payments category (bet you saw that coming) and let me know if you'd like to transfer the existing time or convert it to points (and if you want to transfer it, which account should receive it).

Also, while I've got you all here, I just have to say:

Happy second birthday, Dreamwidth! Two years ago when mark and I were sitting in my old apartment at this point, frantically trying to handle the last-minute details before we flipped the switch at 9PM and everyone started beating down the doors, we didn't dare to imagine that it would turn out this awesome. I am constantly thrilled, honored, and amazed at how wonderful this place has turned out, and it's all due to you guys and how much you all believe in us and in what we're building here.

If you're looking for more ways to celebrate the awesomeness that is Dreamwidth, three_weeks_for_dw is running through to May 15.

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Dreamwidth Update: 21 April

2011-04-21T06:50:36Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! I hope everyone (in the Northern hemisphere) is enjoying the fact that spring has sprung (and everyone in the Southern hemisphere is ready for the winter!) Over here, I'm just incredibly thankful for the fact that I grew out of my spring allergies as I got older; sarah is not as lucky. (Neither is Eldest Cat, Gabe -- there is nothing in the world more pathetically adorable than a cat with the sniffles.)

We have a very full update this week, so on we go!

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Code Push/New Stuff
* Fixing Your Layout
* Imports
* Beta Features
* Seed Account sale
* Non-US Payments
* Finding Neat Stuff
* Great Community Rec-O-Matic: Round Two!

( Dreamwidth Update, 21 April )

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Weekly Update: 6 April

2011-04-06T08:24:55Z

Hello, Dreamwidth! I'd like to start this update by wishing my wife sarah a belated happy birthday (putting her on the spot in front of tens of thousands of people) -- her birthday was Saturday, and she had a very good one.

Anyway, we've got a full update this week, so on we go!

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Technical Debt
* Biz Update
* Seed Accounts
* Styles Class
* Invite Codes
* Antispam
* Our Support for LiveJournal
* Our Farewell to Inksome
* Sad News

( Weekly Update: 6 April )

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Weekly update: 18 March

2011-03-18T05:39:32Z

Hullo, Dreamwidth! It's been a slow few weeks, and I haven't had much to update you on, but three weeks is a bit long to go without one of these news updates, so you'll get at least a brief walkthrough of what's going on in DW-ville. I even promise not to wax enthusiastic about our new kitten. (Who is TOTALLY ADORABLE OMG.)

it's also time to officially admit that I've been really lax on getting these updates out every week, and officially bow to necessity and say that from here on out these updates will be biweekly unless something really awesome is going on.

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Open Source Survey
* Help Japan
* Open Account Creation Results
* Paid Accounts
* Three Weeks for Dreamwidth

( 18 March )

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Weekly Update: 24 Feb 2011

2011-02-25T18:19:49Z

Hello Dreamwidth! First off: thanks to everyone who gave me a hand with the internet hell problems last time; the escalated executive customer service team did finally get the issues resolved. Secondly, I wish to announce that after, oh, two months of living in this house, we have finally set up the office so it is no longer a bunch of random boxes with a slowly-falling-apart kitchen table being used as a temporary desk. (Now I have my good old folding card table being used as a desk. No, really, it's an improvement, I swear.)

So, I am here to bring you this week's Dreamwidth News, now from my once-more-hooked-up spiffy awesome 28" monitor. Hopefully this will mean less shoulder and neck strain now that I am not hunched over my laptop screen.

A reminder: this week is Dreamwidth open account creation week! From now until 28 February, creating an account won't require an invite code. So, if you have anyone you know who's been unable to find a DW invite, this is the week to create an account! Welcome to everyone who's joined us so far. We hope you'll like your new home.

...I totally would have finished this update yesterday, except I slept through it. Yes, all of yesterday. I don't want to talk about it.

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Suggestions Bug Bounty
* Design Poll
* Location, Location, Location
* Embeds
* Nifty Mood Theme Tool
* Comment Cleaning Redux
* Sad News

( Weekly Update, 24 Feb 2011 )

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Weekly update: 10 February 2011

2011-02-10T08:02:48Z

People, I have to tell you this news, because it is the best news that has happened to me all year: I think (*knock wood*) that we finally have stable, reliable internet in our new location. This means that these updates may actually go back to being on time.

On a somewhat related note, and I do hate to do this, but: Does anyone reading this work for Speakeasy, now Megapath, and can provide me with contact information for corporate management? They were responsible for our six-week-long internet nightmare, in which the service worked (intermittently, even) for a total of six days before completely cutting out for the next six weeks despite multiple attempts to resolve the problem, and they have since failed to cancel the service at our old location, triple-billed us despite us having turned off auto-bill-pay, refused to issue a refund of that overbilling and of the credit on our account, billed us again despite having cancelled the service, and now charged us a termination fee for cancelling a service they were unable to provide. I have exhausted the possibilities of resolution with frontline customer service and am now attempting to get in contact with someone who has the authority to resolve this. I've already emailed their "executive customer service" mailbox and their board of directors, but if anyone has an inside contact, please PM me; thanks!

Turning to happier matters, behind the cut you will find:

* Development
* Code Push
* Adopt a FAQ Category!
* Volunteering
* Open Account Creation Week
* Changes to HTML/CSS Allowed in Comments
* The Ada Initiative

( Weekly Update: 10 February 2011 )

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"Weekly" update: 25 Jan 2011

2011-01-26T06:08:46Z

Dear Dreamwidth,

I know -- I never call, I never write. You're beginning to forget my name, aren't you? I'm so sorry about the delays on the updates. Our internet situation has been -- well, the less said about it, the better. There's a vague light at the end of the tunnel -- the DSL company swears they've figured out the cause of the problem ("the problem" being that the connection won't stay up for more than 15 minutes at a time), and we've allegedly scheduled an install with the Spawn of Satan, aka Comcast, to replace the DSL. If they ever get around to actually, you know, providing us service. (It's been two weeks since we started that process. I would think they'd be able to cough up an install date within two weeks, but apparently I would be wrong.)

Anyway, I've got hope that we might have functioning internet back sometime in the next week or two, and we can get back on a more regular schedule. (Believe me, I am this close to happening to someone if it doesn't get fixed.) I'll try to catch y'all up with the last month's worth of news, and then we can play the game of Let's See How Many Tries It Takes To Post This...

( Update, 25 Jan )

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Weekly update: 24 December

2010-12-25T00:06:41Z

Oh God, Dreamwidth, I do not even want to tell you what the last two weeks have consisted of in terms of moving. Much less in terms of internet access, the finding of. (I'll summarize: Our internet is not being installed for at least another week. And the cell phone company sold me the wrong wireless access point at first. And ... you get the picture. I'll save you the whining.)

But I am back now, or at least back long enough to write an update. (I've had to save the few minutes of access I've been able to get here and there for handling things like payment problems, etc, and it is nearly impossible to put together an update on the iPad.) So, onward to the summary of what's been going on lately while I was languishing in the depths of internetless moving hell.

...And then I have to deal with my email.

Behind the cut:

* Development
* December Promotion
* New Mailing Address
* Data Migration
* Design (and redesign)
* Project News
* Sad Project News
* Invite Code Distribution

( Weekly update, 24 December )

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Weekly Update: 2 December 2010

2010-12-02T09:16:34Z

Hullo, Dreamwidth! And a quick thanks to fu for taking last week's update out of sequence -- sarah and I were closing on our new house and doing all the important grownup things. (I still do not know how they thought I was enough of a grownup to be allowed to buy a house.) I pause in our shaving-down of hardwood floors (long story) and painting of walls and removing of wallpaper and scrubbing of all the things to write you an update.

...It may be a little less coherent than usual. *g*

Behind the cut:

* Development
* Code Pushed
* Holiday Promo
* Email Delivery
* Community Awesomeness

( Weekly Update, 2 December )

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Update: 2010 November 26

2010-11-26T06:14:44Z

Hi Dreamwidth,

Don't worry, it's not December yet. I've switched slots with denise to give her time to settle into her new home (last I heard, she was settling in quite nicely :-)). That means that the first week of December will be denise's instead of mine. In fact, December will be all denise all the time -- exciting!

Keeping it brief because I'm caught up in some really intensive code cleanup, which I'll need to dive back into as soon as I'm done here. So this week let's talk about:

* code
* community

( update, 2010 November 26 )

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Weekly Update: 19 November

2010-11-19T06:05:14Z

Very very quick update this week, since we are closing on our house in ohmygod three days. (I've been keeping the paper bag for breathing into at hand!)

Behind the cut:

* Development
* December Paid-Time Promotion
* Construction Warning
* Code Pushed
* New Themes
* Community Awesomeness

( Update )

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