Almost one year after [first enabling federation](https://lemmy.ml/post/42833), we now federate with other projects for the first time! According to some people's definition, this finally makes us part of the Fediverse.
It took a lot of work to make this possible, so big thanks to [NLnet](https://nlnet.nl/) for funding our full time work on Lemmy, and to [@lanodan](https://queer.hacktivis.me/users/lanodan) and [@asonix](https://masto.asonix.dog/@asonix) for helping to figure out how Pleroma and Mastodon federation works (it's difficult because they have almost no documentation).
## Major Changes
### Federation code rewrite
The rewrite of the federation code started by @nutomic in August is now mostly complete. As a result, the code is much cleaner, and has tests to guarantee no breaking changes between Lemmy versions. As a side effect of this rewrite, it was now relatively easy to enable federation with other projects.
Mastodon and Pleroma users can:
- View Lemmy communities, user profiles, posts and comments
- Follow Lemmy communities to receive new posts and comments
- Replies (mentions) work in both directions, including notifications
In addition, Pleroma users can exchange private messages with Lemmy users.
Note that Pleroma and Mastodon rely on a compatibility mode in Lemmy, which means that they won't receive events like Deletes or Votes. Other projects whose federation works similar to Pleroma/Mastodon will likely also federate.
### Hardcoded slur filter removed
Lemmy finally has essential moderation tools (reporting, user/community blocking), so the hardcoded filter isn't necessary anymore. If you want to keep using the slur filter, copy [these lines](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/blob/b18ea3e0cc620c3f97f9804c09b92f193809b846/config/config.hjson#L8-L12) to your config file when upgrading, and adjust to your liking.
## Upgrade notes
Federation with Pleroma/Mastodon works automatically, you don't need to change anything, assuming that your allowlist/blocklist configuration permits it.
Note that Mastodon and Pleroma are much, much bigger than Lemmy at this point, with a combined 3 milion users and 4500 instances, compared to 20.000 users and 35 instances for Lemmy ([source](https://the-federation.info/)). The existing mod tools in Lemmy might not be adequate to handle that at the moment.
Be aware that if you have federation enabled in the Lemmy config, Mastodon and Pleroma users can now fetch all posts and comments, to view them and share with their followers. The Lemmy blocklist/allowlist can not prevent this, it only prevents posts/comments from blocked instances to be shown on your own instance. The only solution to this problem is disabling federation, or waiting for [signed fetch](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/868) to be implemented.
If you want to use federation, but review new instances before federating with them, use the allowlist. You can switch from open federation to allowlist federation by pasting the output of the command below into `federation.allowed_instances` in the Lemmy config.
The [`lemmy.hjson` `additional_slurs` field has changed its name to `slur_filter`. ](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/blob/b18ea3e0cc620c3f97f9804c09b92f193809b846/config/config.hjson#L8-L12)
Follow the [Docker or Ansible upgrade instructions here.](https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/administration.html)
## Lemmy-Ansible
We've now separated our ansible install method (the preferred way to deploy Lemmy) into its own repo, [lemmy-ansible](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ansible). Let us know if you need help migrating existing installations over to it.
## Changes
### API
- There is now a `GetUnreadCount` in the API to check the count of your unread messages, replies, and mentions.
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.13.0 -> 0.14.0-rc.1](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.13.0...0.14.0-rc.1) .
### Lemmy Server
- More federation compat ([#1894](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1894))
- Adding clippy:unwrap to husky. Fixes [#1892](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1892) ([#1893](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1893))
- Remove header guard for activitypub routes
- Add federation test cases for Smithereen and Mastodon
- Reduce stack memory usage in apub code
- Remove ActivityFields trait, deserialize into another struct instead
- Check if post or comment are deleted first. Fixes [#1864](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1864) ([#1867](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1867))
- Correctly use and document check_is_apub_id_valid() param use_strict_allowlist
- Convert note.content and chat_message.content to html (fixes [#1871](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1871))
- Upgrade background_jobs to 0.9.1 [#1820](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1820) ([#1875](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1875))
- Renaming to slur_filter. Fixes [#1773](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1773) ([#1801](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1801))
- Three instance inbox bug ([#1866](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1866))
- Remove ansible from this repo. ([#1829](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1829))
- Rewrite collections to use new fetcher ([#1861](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1861))
- Dont blank out post or community info. Fixes [#1813](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1813) ([#1841](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1841))
- Format config/defaults.hjson before committing ([#1860](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1860))
- Create a custom pre-commit hook, generates config/defaults.hjson ([#1857](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1857))
- Add cargo metadata to all crates ([#1853](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1853))
- Add both (De)Serialize to all models ([#1851](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1851))
- Adding GetUnreadCount to the API. Fixes [#1794](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1794) ([#1842](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1842))
- Dont allow posts to deleted / removed communities. Fixes [#1827](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1827) ([#1828](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1828))
- Dont swallow API errors (fixes [#1834](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1834)) ([#1837](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1837))
- Fix federation of initial post/comment vote (fixes [#1824](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1824)) ([#1835](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1835))
- Fix clippy warnings added in nightly ([#1833](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1833))
- Admins can view all reports. Fixes [#1810](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1810) ([#1825](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1825))
- Adding a message_id to emails. Fixes [#1807](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1807) ([#1826](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1826))
- Generate config docs from code ([#1786](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1786))
- Trying a background_jobs fix. [#1820](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1820) ([#1822](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1822))
- mark parent as read on reply ([#1819](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1819))
- Move code to apub library ([#1795](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1795))
- Adding honeypot to user and post creation. Fixes [#1802](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1802) ([#1803](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1803))
- Add database host back into config file ([#1805](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1805))
- Using i18next compatibility v3 ([#465](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/465))
- Show original created time tooltip ([#462](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/462))
- Revert version of i18next to fix plurals. Fixes [#451](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/451) ([#460](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/460))
- Fixing cross-posts showing on initial load. Fixes [#457](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/457) ([#464](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/464))
- Show bot account info. Fixes [#458](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/458) ([#463](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/463))
- Very weak password check ([#461](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/461))
- ui changes for marking comment as read on reply ([#454](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/454))
- hide mod actions appropriately fix [#441](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/441) ([#447](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/447))
- Add honeypot for user and form creation. Fixes [#433](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/433) ([#435](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/435))
- Clean up reporting ([#1776](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1776))
- Implement webmention support (fixes [#1395](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1395))
- Move jwt secret from config to database (fixes [#1728](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1728))
- Set a 10 char minimum password length.
- Dont pass accept-encoding header to pictrs (ref [#1734](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1734)) ([#1738](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1738))
#### API
- There are no breaking API changes, only the addition of reporting endpoints.
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.12.0 -> 0.13.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.12.0...0.13.0) .
- Password strength meter ([#427](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/427))
- Fix community display name overflow. Fixes [#390](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/390) ([#425](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/425))
- Fix up post, profile and community forms. Fixes [#409](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/409) ([#423](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/423))
- Adding markdown audio and video embeds. Fixes [#420](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/420) ([#421](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/421))
- Adding Si simplifier ([#418](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/418))
- Use my fork of inferno-i18next. Fixes [#413](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/413) ([#415](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/415))
- Add version to package.json . Fixes [#411](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/411)
Since our last release in April, we've had [~80](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/0.11.0...main) commits to Lemmy.
### Lemmy Server
#### Major Changes
*Note: Issue links are below.*
-@nutomic did a major rewrite of the federation code. It is much simpler now, and reduced from 8000 lines of code to 6400. Functionality is mostly the same, but future changes will be much easier.
- You can now block users and communities, and their posts / comments won't show up in your feed.
- Removed IFramely: Lemmy can now fetch site metadata on its own.
- New API docs at: https://join-lemmy.org/api
#### General
- Fix prod deploy script and clippy ([#1724](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1724))
- Adding more site setup vars. Fixes [#678](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/678) ([#1718](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1718))
- Dont append ? to url when cleaning it ([#1716](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1716))
- User / community blocking. Fixes [#426](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/426) ([#1604](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1604))
- Swap out iframely ([#1706](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1706))
- Adding ModTransferCommunity to modlog in API. Fixes [#1437](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1437)
- Make sure bots aren't included in aggregate counts ([#1705](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1705))
- Don't allow deleted users to do actions. Fixes [#1656](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1656) ([#1704](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1704))
- When banning a user, remove communities they've created ([#1700](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1700))
- Distribute Lemmy via crates.io
- Simplify config using macros ([#1686](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1686))
- Simplify lemmy_context() function (dont return errors)
- Blank out extra info for deleted or removed content. Fixes [#1679](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1679) ([#1680](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1680))
- Invalidate current logins on account deletion. Fixes [#1602](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1602) ([#1603](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1603))
- Upgrading api test deps ([#1608](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1608))
- Fix nsfw posts showing for non-logged in users. Fixes [#1614](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1614) ([#1615](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1615))
- Updating to rust 1.51.0 ([#1598](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1598))
- Remove brotli, zstd dependencies for faster compilation
#### API
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.11.0 -> 0.12.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.11.0...0.12.0-rc.1) .
#### Federation
- Move resolving of activitypub objects to separate api endpoint (fixes #1584)
- Center spinner, make smaller. Fixes [#203](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/203)
- Fix font issues. Fixes [#354](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/354)
- Have setting to disable notifs for new posts. Fixes [#132](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/132) ([#345](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/345))
- Remove max length constraints on actors. Fixes [#350](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/350) ([#351](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/351))
- Removing community and user routes in favor of shortnames. Fixes [#317](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/317) ([#343](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/343))
- Don't use default subscribed for communities page.
- Adding Listing type to communities page, default local. [#190](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/190) ([#342](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/342))
- Fix language bug on mobile browsers
- Collapse sidebar on mobile. Fixes [#335](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/335) ([#340](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/issues/340))
If you'd like to make a DB backup before upgrading, follow [this guide](https://join.lemmy.ml/docs/en/administration/backup_and_restore.html).
To upgrade your instance to `v0.12.0`, simply follow the instructions in the documentation:
- [Upgrade with manual Docker installation](https://join.lemmy.ml/docs/en/administration/install_docker.html#updating)
- [Upgrade with Ansible installation](https://join.lemmy.ml/docs/en/administration/install_ansible.html)
### Clients / Apps
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.11.0 -> 0.12.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.11.0...0.12.0-rc.1) .
Since our last release, we've had [~30](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/0.11.0...main) commits to Lemmy, and [~60](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui/compare/0.11.0...main) to Lemmy UI.
### Lemmy Server
- Blank out extra info for deleted or removed content. Fixes [#1679](https://github.com/LemmyNet/Lemmy/issues/1679)
- Added `show_new_posts_notifs` boolean to `SaveUserSettings`, and `LocalUserSettings`.
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.11.0 -> 0.11.3](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.11.0...0.11.3-rc.4) .
### Federation
- No changes in this release, but there will be many soon.
## Upgrade notes
To upgrade your instance to `0.11.3`, simply follow the instructions in the documentation:
- [Upgrade with manual Docker installation](https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/install_docker.html#updating)
- [Upgrade with Ansible installation](https://join-lemmy.org/docs/en/administration/install_ansible.html)
- Added `ChangePassword` as a separate endpoint from `SaveUserSettings`
- No other breaking changes, but many fields that were previously required are now optional.
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.10.0 -> 0.11.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.10.0...0.11.0-rc.13) .
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.10.0 -> 0.11.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.10.0...0.11.0-rc.13) .
Since our last release in February, we've had [~150](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/0.9.9...main) commits to Lemmy. The biggest changes, as we'll outline below, are a split of Lemmy's user tables into federated and local tables, necessitating a `v3` of Lemmy's API, federated moderation, i18n support in join-lemmy.org, and lots of back-end cleanup.
- Rewrote config implementation, finally allowing us to use newer Rust versions.
- Removed categories.
- Various refactors.
#### API
- A full list of the API changes can be seen on this diff of [lemmy-js-client: 0.9.9 -> 0.10.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.9.9...0.10.0-rc.13) .
- Login invalidation on password change, thanks to @Mart-Bogdan
#### Federation
- It is now possible to add users from other instances as community mods.
- Federating Matrix ID.
- Many changes for better compatibility with ActivityPub standard.
#### Database
- Split the `user_` into `person` and `local_user` tables.
- Strictly typed commonly used ID columns, to prevent DB errors using `i32` as ids.
- Strictly typed URL fields, thanks to ajyoon.
- Created default DB forms, now used in all the unit tests.
### Lemmy UI
- Now using utf-8 emojis.
- Support for all the above changes to Lemmy.
- Typescript-safe i18n strings, thanks to @shilangyu.
- Added expandable post text (click on open book icon).
- Prettier cross-posting, which does smart quoting.
- Bugfixes for restoring scroll position on post page, custom site favicons, and autocomplete for login fields.
- Rewrote in inferno isomorphic, added i18n support via [weblate](https://weblate.yerbamate.ml/projects/lemmy/joinlemmy/).
- Added a section on the support page thanking contributors.
- Changed some page urls / titles
## Upgrade notes
**Important**: there are multiple breaking changes:
- Configuration via environment variables is not supported anymore, you must have all your config in the [lemmy.hjson](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/blob/main/ansible/templates/config.hjson) file ( except for `LEMMY_CONFIG_LOCATION` ).
- The config format for `allowed_instances` and `blocked_instances` has changed, and you need to adjust your config file manually:
- now: `allowed_instances: ["ds9.lemmy.ml", "enterprise.lemmy.ml"]` , and only one of the `allowed_instances` or `blocked_instances` blocks can be set.
- The API has been upgraded from `v2` to `v3`, so all clients need to be updated: [lemmy-js-client: 0.9.9 -> 0.10.0](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client/compare/0.9.9...0.10.0-rc.13) .
Despite ongoing efforts to speed up compilation, it has actually gotten slower when comparing with the same Rust version. Only thanks to improvements in newer Rust versions has our build process gotten faster. This could be simply because we added more code, while Lemmy v0.9.0 had 22.4k lines of Rust, v0.10.0 has 23.8k (an increase of 6%).
v0.9.0 build graph:
v0.10.0 build graph:
We extracted the crates `lemmy_api_crud` and `lemmy_apub_receive` from `lemmy_api` and `lemmy_apub`, respectively, and renamed `lemmy_structs` to `lemmy_api_common`. In the second graph you can see how parts of the api and apub crates are now built nicely in parallel, speeding up builds on multi-core systems.
On the other hand, some crates have gotten much slower to compile, in particular `lemmy_db_queries` (6.5s slower), `lemmy_apub` (6.5s slower if we include `lemmy_apub_receive`). And `lemmy_db_views` is quite slow, just as before.
- Added some active user counts, including `users_active_day`, `users_active_week`, `users_active_month`, `users_active_half_year` to `SiteAggregates` and `CommunityAggregates`. (Also added to lemmy-ui)
Since our last release in October of last year, and we've had [~450](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/v0.8.0...main) commits.
The biggest changes, as we'll outline below, are a re-work of Lemmy's database structure, a `v2` of Lemmy's API, and activitypub compliance fixes. The new re-worked DB is much faster, easier to maintain, and [now supports hierarchical rather than flat objects in the new API](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1275).
We've also seen the first release of [Lemmur](https://github.com/LemmurOrg/lemmur/releases/tag/v0.1.1), an android / iOS (soon) / windows / linux client, as well as [Lemmer](https://github.com/uuttff8/Lemmy-iOS), a native iOS client. Much thanks to @krawieck, @shilangyu, and @uuttff8 for making these great clients. If you can, please contribute to their [patreon](https://www.patreon.com/lemmur) to help fund lemmur development.
- [Moved views from SQL to Diesel](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/1275). This was a spinal replacement for much of lemmy.
- Removed all the old fast_tables and triggers, and created new aggregates tables.
- Added a `v2` of the API to support the hierarchical objects created from the above changes.
- Moved continuous integration to [drone](https://cloud.drone.io/LemmyNet/lemmy/), now includes formatting, clippy, and cargo build checks, unit testing, and federation testing. [Drone also deploys both amd64 and arm64 images to dockerhub.](https://hub.docker.com/r/dessalines/lemmy)
- Split out documentation into git submodule.
- Shortened slur filter to avoid false positives.
- Added query performance testing and comparisons. Added indexes to make sure every query is `< 30 ms`.
- Updated the [lemmy-js-client](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client) to use the new `v2` API. Our API docs now reference this project's files, to show what the http / websocket forms and responses should look like.
- Drone now handles publishing its [npm packages.](https://www.npmjs.com/package/lemmy-js-client)
### Lemmy-UI
- Updated it to use the `v2` API via `lemmy-js-client`, required changing nearly every component.
- Added a live comment count.
- Added drone deploying, and builds for ARM.
- Fixed community link wrapping.
- Various other bug fixes.
### Lemmy Docs
- We moved documentation into a separate git repository, and support translation for the docs now!
- Moved our code of conduct into the documentation.
We've been working at warp speed since our `v0.7.0` release in June, adding over [870 commits](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/v0.7.0...main) since then. :sweat:
Here are some of the bigger changes:
### LemmyNet projects
- Created [LemmyNet](https://github.com/LemmyNet), where all lemmy-related projects live.
- Split out the frontend into a separete repository, [lemmy-ui](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui)
- Created a [lemmy-js-client](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-js-client), for any js / typescript developers.
- Split out i18n [lemmy-translations](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-translations), that any app or site developers can import and use. Lemmy currently supports [~30 languages!](https://weblate.yerbamate.ml/projects/lemmy/lemmy/)
- Documentation for [admins](https://join-lemmy.org/docs/administration_federation.html) and [devs](https://join-lemmy.org/docs/contributing_federation_overview.html) on how federation works
- Upgraded to newest versions of @asonix activitypub libraries
- Full local federation setup for manual testing
- Automated testing for nearly every federation action
- Many additional security checks
- Lots and lots of refactoring
- Asynchronous sending of outgoing activities
### User Interface
- Separated the UI from the server code, in [lemmy-ui](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ui).
- The UI can now read with javascript disabled!
- It's now a fully isomorphic application using [inferno-isomorphic](https://infernojs.org/docs/guides/isomorphic). This means that page loads are now much faster, as the server does the work.
- The UI now also supports open-graph and twitter cards! Linking to lemmy posts (from whatever platform you use) looks pretty now: 
- Improved the search page ( more features incoming ).
- The default view is now `Local`, instead of `All`, since all would show all federated posts.
- User settings are now shared across browsers ( a page refresh will pick up changes ).
- A much leaner mobile view.
#### Backend
- Re-organized the rust codebase into separate workspaces for backend and frontend.
- Removed materialized views, making the database **a lot faster**.
- New post sorts `Active` (previously called hot), and `Hot`. Active shows posts with recent comments, hot shows highly ranked posts.
- New sort for `Local` ( meaning from local communities).
- Customizeable site, user, and community icons and banners.
- Added user preferred names / display names, bios, and cakedays.
We'd also like to thank both the [NLnet foundation](https://nlnet.nl/) for their support in allowing us to work full-time on Lemmy ( as well as their support for [other important open-source projects](https://nlnet.nl/project/current.html) ), [those who sponsor us](https://lemmy.ml/sponsors), and those who [help translate Lemmy](https://weblate.yerbamate.ml/projects/lemmy/). Every little bit does help. We remain committed to never allowing advertisements, monetizing, or venture-capital in Lemmy; software should be communal, and should benefit humanity, not a small group of company owners.
Federation is finally ready in Lemmy, pending possible bugs or other issues. So for now we suggest to enable federation only on test servers, or try it on our own test servers ( [enterprise](https://enterprise.lemmy.ml/), [ds9](https://ds9.lemmy.ml/), [voyager](https://voyager.lemmy.ml/) ).
If everything goes well, after a few weeks we will enable federation on lemmy.ml, at first with a limited number of trusted instances. We will also likely change the domain to https://lemmy.ml . Keep in mind that changing domains after turning on federation will break things.
To enable on your instance, edit your [lemmy.hjson](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/blob/main/config/defaults.hjson#L60) federation section to `enabled: true`, and restart.
### Connecting to another server
The server https://ds9.lemmy.ml has open federation, so after either adding it to the `allowed_instances` list in your `config.hjson`, or if you have open federation, you don't need to add it explicitly.
To federate / connect with a server, type in `!community_name@server.tld`, in your server's search box [like so](https://voyager.lemmy.ml/search/q/!main%40ds9.lemmy.ml/type/All/sort/TopAll/page/1).
To connect with the `main` community on ds9, the search is `!main@ds9.lemmy.ml`.
You can then click the community, and you will see a local version of the community, which you can subscribe to. New posts and comments from `!main@ds9.lemmy.ml` will now show up on your front page, or `/c/All`
We've [added a lot](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/compare/v0.7.40...v0.7.0) in this pre-release:
- New post sorts `Active` (previously called hot), and `Hot`. Active shows posts with recent comments, hot shows highly ranked posts.
- Customizeable site icon and banner, user icon and banner, and community icon and banner.
- Added user preferred names / display names, bios, and cakedays.
- User settings are now shared across browsers (a page refresh will pick up changes).
- Visual / Audio captchas through the lemmy API.
- Lots of UI prettiness.
- Lots of bug fixes.
- Lots of additional translations.
- Lots of federation prepping / additions / refactors.
This release removes the need for you to have a pictrs nginx route (the requests are now routed through lemmy directly). Follow the upgrade instructions below to replace your nginx with the new one.
- Fixed major issue with similar post URL and title searching.
- Upgraded to Actix `2.0`
- Faster comment / post voting.
- Better small screen support.
- Lots of bug fixes, refactoring of back end code.
Another major announcement is that Lemmy now has another lead developer besides me, [@felix@radical.town](https://radical.town/@felix). Theyve created a better documentation system, implemented RSS feeds, simplified docker and project configs, upgraded actix, working on federation, a whole lot else.
