Soapbox Progress Report: July – October 2024
Spoke at Nostriga, launched Cobrafuma for Brazil, shipped Web Push notifications, PWA support, language detection, machine translations, captcha, and database overhaul.
Cobrafuma.com
With X banned in Brazil, we launched cobrafuma.com — a Ditto server and gateway to Nostr for the people of Brazil. Soapbox+Ditto was fully translated into Portuguese with a custom logo, color scheme, and brand.
Web Push Notifications
Although Ditto is not a native app, Web Push allows it to send OS notifications on iOS and Android. This improves user engagement and enables reaching subscribers in a privacy-friendly way (without requiring an email address).
Language Detection & Filtering
A tiny neural network (lande) has been embedded into Ditto to detect post languages. This enables filtering posts by language and opens the door to trending posts by language, machine translations, and more.
Machine Translations
Integration with DeepL and LibreTranslate has been added. Admins can enable this and a "Translate" button appears beneath posts in other languages.
Login/Registration Overhaul
Login and registration were redesigned with a friendlier and more approachable UI, including an onboarding flow for new Nostr users.
Zap Splits
Admins can configure zap splits so users can help contribute back to their server whenever they post or zap.
Captcha
A custom puzzle captcha was built from scratch to protect against spam. New users drag a puzzle piece into the correct position when they join.
Database Overhaul
The database adapter was rewritten to be specialized for Postgres, with 10x performance improvement especially for tag queries. SQLite was removed and replaced with PGlite for local development.
Nostrify: Domain & Web of Trust Policies
New relay policies can require valid NIP-05 names (with domain whitelists/blacklists) and restrict events to a user's web of trust.