Version 0.4.0

FAQ Off v0.4 is the most ambitious release yet. A lot of work has been done since v0.3.1, so let's dive right into what's new/different.

• Fixed: When an account is created, their Public ID is generated on-the-fly.
• Fixed: The ordering of the follow-ups to an entry is now deterministic rather than dependent on whatever random order PostgreSQL returns data in.
• The default theme is now prettier: More element padding, serif fonts for headers, etc. The navigation bar is less stupid in small devices, and the footer becomes abbreviated so it doesn't spill over onto multiple lines and break the sticky footer aesthetic.
• We moved from Zend\Mail to Laminas\Mail!
• Added: #12 - Question Boxes
  • Authenticated users can now leave questions (with or without attribution to their account) on other people's collections/entries.
  • We noodled over making this open to the public, but ultimately, we decided it wasn't a good trade-off. (Spam sucks, and the invite-only mode of FAQ Off prevents spam accounts from joining.)
• Added: #13 - OpenGraph/Twitter Cards
  • You can now include an OpenGraph image for collections or entries, and it will show up when you link to an entry on social media.
  • All entries now have a permanent URL with a randomly generated Unique ID.
• Administrators can now remove an account's invitation privileges without banning them.

Version 0.3.1

• Minor nuisances and bugs.
• Fixed invite tree link to edit account.
• Auto-preview when editing an author profile.

Version 0.3.0

• (Optional) Privacy-preserving aggregate statistics for what entries/collections are most heavily trafficked.
  • You can disable this in Settings > Global Site Settings by setting ``aggregate-stats => false,
  • The key used to hash IP addresses, user agents, etc. is rotated every 24 hours.
  • The IP addresses are converted back from hash function output to a fake (but deterministic) IP address.
• Collections now have a description field, to make them stand out more than just an index of entries.
• Administrators can now publish stuff on the front page. We call them notices.

Version 0.2.0

I'm happy to announce that the second release of FAQ Off is now available for early adopters and testers.

Thanks to everyone who tuned into my Twitch channel while I developed this project. Extra thanks to all my Patreon supporters.

Changes Since Version 0.1.0

For Users

• Fixed and Improved: Username/Password authentication
• Authors: Owners can now invite users (by their public id) as collaborators.
• Themes can be set for each collection (applies to all entries within a given collection).
• New: Administrator Control Panel
  • Edit virtually anything, including site configuration (local/)
  • Create custom files in public/local/
  • Create/edit themes for use by all users
  • Edit user accounts (including banning users)
  • View the invite tree to identify sources of irritation
• The front-end isn't nearly as ugly as v0.1.0. However, I do not profess to be a web design expert, merely an application security/cryptography nerd.

For System Administrators

• Running composer update should now automatically run SQL migration scripts upon the release of a new version of FAQ Off.

Version 0.1.0 - First Public Beta

As promised in the initial Patreon announcement in February 2019, FAQ Off allows users to build an interactive gamebook-style Q&A website. Its main purpose is to counteract the asymmetry of social media as exploited by mob harassers and boring Internet trolls (see also: sealioning).

FAQ Off is developed on Soatok's Twitch.tv channel. If you're interested in this project, feel free to stop by and chat with him when he does a FAQ Off development stream.

(In case you didn't know: FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions; Q&A = Questions and Answers.)

Public Demo: https://faq.dhol.es

Invite codes have been distributed to Patreon supporters. If you're interested in early beta access to the public instance ran by Soatok, please support this project (and others) on Patreon.

Note that you must be at the Brilliant ($10/mo.) tier to receive this benefit, unless grandfathered in.

Main Design Features in This Release

• Authentication
  • With Twitter
  • With Username/Password + TOTP Two-Factor Authentication
    • Passwords are hashed with Argon2id then encrypted with XChaCha20-Poly1305 as per the Dhole Cryptography Library
  • Optionally require invite codes from existing members in order to register
    • A tree of invitations is maintained to find bad branches in the wake of abusive users
• Authors are separated from users
  • Allows easy persona management; your pen name doesn't leak one of your authentication credentials unless you will it to be so.
  • Coming soon: Collaboration
• Built-in Content-Security-Policy builder (as part of AnthroKit)
• Entries can be written in HTML or Markdown (default: only Markdown)
• Entries can optionally be indexed on the main Collection page

Future Release Roadmap

• FAQ Off and other open source project developed live on Twitch
• Open Issues