After what feels like an eternity, Version 2.0(.0) is finally ready. It’s at a stage that I’m actually happy with... at least for now 😅.
Who knows what else I’ll come up with in the future. But first, yes, there are not just new features—some things have also been removed. Here is a brief list of what has changed (truly not exhaustive... I really should start keeping a proper changelog):
- Completely overhauled design
- Light and Dark mode (feedback on the Light mode is explicitly requested!)
- OLED mode is gone (but might return eventually)
- Login via Passkeys
- All interactions now come with their own notifications
- Replies to comments! (Finally... the last one was manually created by me in the database)
- Overhauled online status functionality
- Search now works dynamically and can be narrowed down via filters
- Ability to share files (for my personal use)
- Playtime tracker (also for me, might become a separate project)
Now you might ask, why is the OLED mode gone? Simply put, I just didn’t like the "pure black" look anymore with how the design is structured now. Combining pure black with the glass effects just didn’t feel quite right. But here's a little secret: you can still activate the rudimentary OLED mode through certain workarounds—I’m curious to see if anyone finds it.
But let’s briefly move on to some of the new features. First, the things that "you guys" won't be able to see anyway, such as the shared files:
Wouldn’t a simple directory listing via NGINX have done the trick just like before? Yes... but it wouldn’t be this fancy! Complete with access control! Ha! I still need to tweak the visuals here and there, but fixing the looks happens pretty quickly. I think.
The short-link functionality has also received a complete overhaul (I do love sending those...):
A lot has changed regarding the preview page that shows up before you reach the actual link, too. You will now be automatically redirected after a certain amount of time. (After taking the screenshots, I increased the timer to 10 seconds and fixed the CSP issues there).
Ah yes, CSP (Content Security Policy) is a wonderful thing—not.
The most noticeable new feature for everyone, however, is likely the color customization. I know not everyone shares my taste in colors, as it is quite specific according to some feedback—apparently not everyone loves pink as much as I do—but that’s solved now. You can simply decide for yourself!
By default on your first visit, the standard color layout will be applied. And who would have guessed: it consists largely of purple, pink, and red tones.
Aside from that, there are color layouts focusing on a single color. Currently, I think there’s something for everyone—but maybe there are more suggestions out there?
By the way, when you select a color layout or theme, the other selected option is temporarily not displayed correctly. This is a known bug that I've consciously accepted for now, as it's just a visual glitch. I’ll fix that down the road.
Many of the major changes, aside from the design, are hidden under the hood. The tech stack has been bumped to the latest version across the board, and quite a few things were removed. For instance, instead of heavy markup+JS combinations, native components are used wherever possible for things like dialogs and sheets (e.g., slide-in menus). This makes it future-proof and genuinely improves maintainability.
Some massive changes hit the "old" main section of my site: the gallery!
The overview of the various folders has been updated to match the more modern layout. The ability to toggle between grid and list layouts still exists, it just affects how they are rendered.
Inside the folders themselves, the view has completely moved away from the traditional grid layout. You will now find a Bento layout instead. I personally found this much nicer than before, as it no longer feels so rigid and static.
The view for the images themselves has also changed. The action buttons in the sidebar have vanished into a floating bar at the bottom, which is especially useful for images in portrait mode.
Alongside the familiar previous/next, random, share, and download buttons, this bar has received a brand-new one: Hide Info!
This hides the sidebar and clears up more space for the image. Of course, you can still click to enlarge the image... but this way, everyone can view it how they prefer!
PS: Downloads should be working again and will deliver the original file as usual—not the scaled-down WebP version.
Another new addition here: if possible, the system-native share dialog will be used. Here is an example from Windows:
If your operating system doesn't provide one, the old fallback dialog will be shown instead.
You might still encounter a few issues here and there, like the new infinite scrolling in gallery folders—I only noticed the bug there while taking the screenshots.
However, I’ll be fixing these kinds of bugs directly over the next few days. You are, of course, welcome to report these bugs, as well as share suggestions for improvement and general feedback.
All in all, I am extremely satisfied with this complete rewrite. The old design was giving me less and less "joy" over the last few weeks, especially with all the carried-over bugs and flaws that had piled up.
But that’s all from me on this topic for today. Over the coming days, I finally want to keep writing the reviews I teased here again, and somehow manage to run this whole thing more regularly in the future.