Version 0.10.0 "Don't Worry—We Have a Return Policy"
Well, almost 400 commits, 38+ closed issues, and about a year later, I'm really proud to announce the release of version 0.10.0 the next stable release of BZiON. This release features a lot of improvements, new features, and a completely redesigned user interface. Here are some of the highlights of the new release.
Player Elos
Conceived by llrr, with feedback by the community, the biggest feature in this release is the support for new match types and Elo ratings tied directly to players. With this, there is the introduction of new official match types:
- Team vs Team (TvT)
- Team vs Mixed (MvT)
- Mixed vs Mixed (MvM)
That's right! Official matches no longer need two teams to happen. Official matches can now occur with 4 different players from 4 different teams. What's in it for you if you win? Bragging rights and an Elo boost. For each official match you participate in, you risk lowering your Elo but you also could get an increase. If you don't want to gamble, that's fine too! Fun matches aren't going away and haven't changed.
New UI
Don't worry, I heard you about wanting a dark theme for the website. Sorry that it took so long, but the dark theme you've all been asking for is here and it's the default! Liked the light theme? Don't worry, go to your preferences and change it.
I'll be introducing more color themes, especially for those players with a form of colorblindness. If you'd like to create your own theme, documentation for how to do so will be coming soon!
Accessibility
Web accessibility has been drastically updated and has become a top priority for website navigation. What does this mean? Website elements have been updated to use semantically correct tags and keyboard navigation has been improved. You can now browse the entire website with just your keyboard. Additionally, screen readers should have an easier time with navigating the website.
Accessibility support isn't where I'd like it to be, but it will continue to receive more updates in the coming releases.
OpenGraph Support
Sharing website pages on social media just got cleaner. If you share a page from this website on social media, the preview and name will actually be understandable.
Less JS Requirements
With the new design of the website, JavaScript has become less of a dependency. This means that most pages will work even better without JavaScript being enabled and won't look as broken. Heck, even our mobile menu works without JavaScript now!
There are still some legacy JS that could not be rewritten in time but will be phased out or updated to not be vital.
Players Page
Tired of scrolling through a wall of inactive players? Tired of clicking each player to see if they were teamless? The players page has been updated to only show active players and allow for grouping by teams and geographic locations; their match/day activity is also listed. Don't worry, you can still see all the players with an extra click.
The load time for this page has gotten significantly faster and has far less queries being made. Your database will love you!
Map + Server Pages
New information can be added to league maps, such as jumping, max shots, and ricochet. Another cool thing? The total amount of matches that have occurred on each match and each server can now be viewed on the website. With this information, we'll be able to see which servers and maps are getting the most activity.
Development
The minimum PHP version needed to host this website has been bumped to 5.6. Webpack Encore has been implemented to make use of Webpack to intelligently compile and bundle up our JS assets into a single file for less parallel downloads at page load.
Thanks
This release could not have happened without the help of the following players. Thank you for your artwork, suggestions, thorough help with testing. I would not have been able to get to this release without your help.
Listed in alphabetical order