itch.io changelog: Library & Recommendations enhancements, improved jam

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itch.io changelog: Library & Recommendations enhancements, improved jam browsing, & moreFollow itch.ioFollowing itch.ioUnfollow itch.ioFollow itch.ioFollowing itch.ioUnfollow itch.ioHello everyone, welcome back to the itch.io changelog.We’ve got an assortment of updates for you today. No big feature launches as we were quite busy with the Halloween Sale, but there are some things in the works. Enjoy the updates. Also, did you know that itch.io recently passed over 200,000 games?Halloween SaleThank you to everyone who participated. We had a significant increase in purchases-per-day across the whole site, over 1600 games were on sale, and another successful itch.io Selects bundle.

A lot of time was spent on promoting the sales, but we had a few updates make their way in as well.Added dark theme default mode for the duration of the Halloween sale Added a temporary spooky itch.io pumpkin logoVarious performance optimizations and internal changes for pages that show games on sale (converted many complex queries into views, internal index changes)Updated the script that generates “games you follow that are on sale” email to run significantly faster We were able to send it out a few more times compared to previous sales, hopefully netting more buyersMany updates to your library to help you find things on sale.

See below ↓Your LibraryImplemented a new recommendation algorithm based on comparing project tags to your account activityAdded new recommendations page dedicated to things that are currently on sale Options for filtering by content type and a way to exclude things you’ve already added to your libraryUpdated On sale from your follows & collections with filter for content type and sorting by rating, price, and popularity (demo)Project rating is shown by defaultAdded “Fresh games” recommendation module Highlight a wider range of games that is constantly updatingThe goal is to expose more games while preventing stale recommendationsHopefully encourages more people to check their recommendations more oftenSome library pages are now responsive and will fit on mobile screensEmailsEmails in this case refers to the ability for creators to write and send emails for projects and jams.Bounces, delivers, and clicks are now tracked for emails you send Summary of these stats are shown on the respective dashboard pagesFor jam hostsAdded new options for jam hosts Hide results toggle Control when results are shown manually, instead of automatically after the jam finishesHide submissions before end toggle Prevent early submissions from getting an advantage in viewsAdded documentation for new options https://itch.io/docs/creators/game-jams#jam-customization/hiding-resultsConsolidate jam options UIFixed bug where empty jam would cause entries page to crashFor developersAdded module to developer dashboard with links to a few select jams add dismiss button if you don’t want to see the jamsFor people looking for jamsUpdated the Jams overview & calendar page Added new “Featured Jams” section to the top of the page The calendar is very hard to parse since it’s so packed, so we wanted an easier way for people to see what’s interesting if they don’t have time to exploreAttempts to show interesting & popular jams first, but randomly shuffles in less popular ones to give them some visibility as wellJam calendar A few people have asked about the colors on the jam calendar: Colors are shown when you jam has either been featured or you have over a threshold of participantsRemoved custom scrollbars from jam calendar, always use browser onesMinor fixes to improve loading performance (much more work has to be done, as it can be quite slow on phones and slower PCs)Added a reduced header with links to jams you’ve joined and submitted to, instead of showing the jams directly on the pageJam browsing Added new “Jams Joined” filter to show all the jams you’ve joined: https://itch.io/jams/joined (must be logged in to view)Added new “Jams Submitted” filter to show all the jams you’ve submitted: https://itch.io/jams/submitted (must be logged in to view)Added new “Hosted by…” filter to see jams hosted by a particular account.