Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE ยป

Admin Announcements

Hello all SW Members! ๐Ÿ˜€

Below is a list of our recent improvements to this site since the last announcement:

โ€ข [b]Edit Profile[/b]
Age, Gender & Username [i](you cannot change this limitlessly, use wisely)[/i]
Location
About Me

โ€ข [b]Edit & Delete Posts[/b]
Giving you more control over your Posts/Stories & Comments.

โ€ข [b]Improvements to Stop Spamming[/b]
"Report Abuse" implemented.
Auto-suspend users who receive too many reports in a short period of time.
Posting speed limitations, to prevent spammers from flooding the site.
"Activate Account" to reduce your limitations.

โ€ข [b]Improved Website Layout[/b]
Specifically improvements to the Header Navigation.
Now the Header floats/sticks to the top of your screen, making it much easier for you to get from page to page.

โ€ข [b]Registration Steps / Account Setup[/b]
To help customize and improve your experience on this site.
This will be used for the upcoming content filtering features.


[b]Other improvements:[/b]
- Allow topic owners to see replies from blocked users.
- Hearts notifications.
- Badges for Admins, Moderators & Helpers.
- Allow blocking of users by username.
- Increased Block limit.
- Loads of other improvements in functionality, performance and security.

-----

[b]Some of the next features to be released will be: [/b]
- Questions & Answers
- Filter homepage feed
- Block all Adults or Minors from accessing your profile and posts
- Restrict access between Minors and profiles with Adult Content
- Text Formatting Tools

-----

A Common Question on SW: [b]Why is Private Messaging not available yet?[/b]

We have been progressing well with many of the unfinished features, including private messaging; we do expect this feature to become available for use in a soon to come update.

Private messaging is more complex than many other features, such as Hearts, for example.
Many users ask questions like: [i]"Why did we complete Hearts before Messages?"[/i],
yet seem to not realize that these features are completely opposite on the scale of difficulty.

In the same way you wouldn't expect Facebook, Google, Yahoo or Hotmail to build and entire messaging service (or even a single new feature) in just 2-3 days,
it takes us days or weeks of work to build complex features as well [i](also we have businesses/jobs apart from SW)[/i].

We do not simply drag-and-drop features into existence on this site.
Everything is being hand-coded, and rigorous security and performance tests must be done for each feature.

[i](You may have noticed the rarity of Bugs/Errors on this site)[/i]


However, probably [b]the main reason for cautious progression with the Messaging feature, is SAFETY[/b].

We want to be sure that by the time we make private messaging available on our site, minors are protected to the best of our ability from predators;
And ALL members in fact, are well protected from seeing inappropriate content in private messages which they never asked to receive.

We are very much aware of the complaints and instances of inappropriate behavior from certain members on this site.

Although you may not see us always take most swift action on some of these issues, they are definitely factors of concern to us, and we will be working toward making our community on Similar Worlds a safer and better place for all members, one step at a time.

Thank you for your attention and your patience.
Kind regards. ๐Ÿ™‚
Andrew ยท Admin
Hello all,
Thanks for the many kind compliments! We appreciate you being here. :)

I realize that there may be some unanswered questions posted in this topic, I will try to get around to answering hopefully soon.


As mentioned recently, Private Messages and Photo Uploads are at our top priority to release next. We are aiming to have these completed before this weekend is over.

However, many security features and algorithms need to be put in place before PM and Photo sharing are available.

We've spent most of yesterday and will continue into today, working on algorithms and formulas for improved safety of our members, especially the minors.
These improvements will be released soon in the coming days.

It may sometimes appear as though we are slowing down our working rate, but that's not really the case.
Now we at a point where we have to deal with very complex portions of this site.

At the moment, all content on this site is public; but in the transition into private conversation, many risks begin to open up.

For security alone, there are hundreds of factors that need to be taken into consideration, and many different scenarios that could take place here, which we must be aware of and make preparations for in advance.

We also want to give members the ability to better control who can contact them directly, visit their profile or even see their posts.

So, the bulk of the delay isn't solely due to the complexity of the private messaging system, but probably more to the need for advanced Security, Privacy and Control for members.

Thanks again for your patience.
Shade70 ยท 51-55, M
Keep up the good work -- you folks have done a lot in a very short window of time to even get this off the ground. I, for one, can be patient. BTW...is it done yet? ;)
SimplyTracie ยท 26-30, F
I for one appreciate all the extraordinary effort SW has given thus far. Thank you :)
moonthesolitary ยท F
thank you mr andrew for notifications
Maggimay ยท 46-50, F
Thank you for the update. I love this site. You guys are doing a fantastic job. ๐Ÿ‘ thank you once again. ๐Ÿ‘
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
xTutu7x ยท F
Thank you Andrew and Nuno! I appreciate your hard work. This website is coming along really well and I'm happy to be apart of it. Thanks for considering your members in all that you do and most of all thanks for protecting the minors here. :)
RealMustangGuy ยท 61-69, MVIP
I've said it before, but it bears repeating. You guys really deserve to be complimented for how you keep all of us informed of your progress, what you're working on, and even the "why" behind things. Very much appreciated.
Sienna ยท 26-30, F
Thank you! Appreciate it! :-)
JennaBug ยท 31-35, F
Andrew, you and thw team are doing a great job. Thanks for opening the site to us when you did. I think most of us are happy with your progress and are happy to wait, because we know you want to get it right. Thanks for the updates and well done to all of you... Yay!
md09john316 ยท 31-35, M
Thank you for getting this site up and running so fast; I know there is a lot yet to complete, but your efforts so far have not gone unnoticed. It would be nice to be able to use some basic HTML the posts and comments area.
adhane05 ยท 31-35, M
I sincerely appreciate how much the SW Team has worked on this site and making sure they follow a certain procedure so that everything is being done the way it is MEANT to be done. Good Work!
justthat1girl99 ยท 22-25, F
Wow, thank you for this. I haven't been on this site in a few days, and I can say that I've visibly seen some good changes. We all appreciate the hard work you're putting into this.
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
SW-User
I love you guys!

The not allowing access to minors option...Brilliant!! Can't wait for that one. :)

Thank you.

P.S. I like kids, but I think it is best for them not to have access to adult material.
Magenta ยท F
Fabulous! Much appreciation from me for all your continued efforts and superior communication to us.
Darci ยท
Thanks for the great work you're doing. You and the SW Team. I found out it's nice to be able to write a small introductory note about myself and who I am :P

I for one know you're all doing your best to improve the sites functionality and I agree, safety comes before the actual thing to avoid repercussions. In the meantime I can say I really like it here and hope to enjoy the upcoming features in the near future.

Keep it up guys!
Jay04Sch ยท 46-50, F
Everytime I sign on I can see the progress. Rome wasn't build in one day. So far we have managed just fine with what is available. So it's cool. I didn't understand some off the English terminology in this post, language can become a barrier if English is not your first language. We will learn as we go.
MarkCaesar ยท 51-55, M
Hi Andrew, firstly you and the team doing a wonderful job and I am incredibly happy with SW.
I have a slight issue with the auto suspend of users that get too many reports in a short period of time: I was on another site after EP and it became apparent that people were grouping together to target those they knew were atheists, I would suggest they were believers of some kind. To cut a long story short, most atheists got the majority of their posts deleted automatically regardless of content. It became incredibly frustrating.
Could I suggest 2 things? To somehow monitor the amount of reports submitted by an individual to see whether they are just being a nuisance and to take appropriate action, and secondly to have an appeal system.
Thanks Andrew.
Darci ยท
[c=#BF0080]Wow yay! I can start playing with new text features and such this is great! I love that I get up in the morn with new stuff to try great job guys as always[/c]
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
JennaBug ยท 31-35, F
Well Andrew, I think you and the SW people are doing an amazing job. Thank you and well done for making a great site xx
Thank you for your dedicated effort, and your report. I like the idea that y'all are do'n the job right... not just fast. ๐ŸŒทโ˜บ๐ŸŒท
kim1girl ยท 61-69, T
Great summary! Thank you. Simply communicating as you are makes a world of difference. And being honest, without any spin.
Thanks for your hard work and also your updates on the recent improvements in sw!
MellyMel22 ยท F
I think you guys are doing a great job. It's worth the wait.
Carissimi ยท 70-79, F
Thank you, Andrew and Nuno, for your efforts to bring us a safe and well formatted site.

Just one thing though, why would I want to see replies from those I block? I usually block because I find some people offensive and vulgar. It does not nourish my soul to see these horrible postings and comments, so I block. I don't want to see them.
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
charlie62 ยท 70-79, M
Thanks for all your hard work.
KaysHealingPath ยท 36-40, F
Wonderful!! Great progress!!!
Shayama ยท FVIP
Yes they will put in the app
Codrin ยท M
Congrts, A good job.
MissGaga ยท 31-35, F
I think you guys are doing a wonderful job and we understand things take time, as a matter of fact, I think you are progressing really fast, it is not easy to build a website like that from scratch. Keep it up, i think SW is going to be awesome!
winston ยท 80-89, M
Agree with other comments you are doing a great job here starting from scratch. I for one did not realise how many issues of real difficulty you face.
Most of us I am sure thought this was you main job, and that you are making a profit somehow from it. Did not realise you have other jobs.
Would it help speed everything if you had advertising on the edges?
Also, I have been suspended once. Is there some way instead of suspension, we can appeal? Also can be reinstated after a specified time? Can we have a strict Adult only section where those who do not like it read at their own risk instead of punishing the rest of us as criminals?
SW-User
Yay! Really likin this. Thank you.
One thing on the pm's tho - people can always choose to not open and delete upwanted/unknown pm's too ya know. They don't HAVE to open them
Barefooter25 ยท 46-50, M
YAAAAY!!!! We can now send out messages and e-mails!!! ๐Ÿ˜€ WE can even send out texts with smiley faces. ๐Ÿ˜› Thanks again Andrew and great job!!!
novembermoon ยท 51-55
We understand certain features take time to build. Your hard work is very much appreciated. Thank you for this wonderful space that you have created. ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ
SW-User
Thank you Andrew, you are doing a fab job of setting up this site it's sure to be a huge success, I am very impressed. :-D
Shydoe ยท 51-55, F
I believe you are doing a wonderful job & look forward to all the things you will bring without putting our safety at risk. Thank you!
This comment is hidden. Show Comment
SW-User
Thanks. But the answers on the page needs to be more organized. We can't comment on the comment directly.
eunlee ยท F
Thanks a lot for the efforts and time you've given for SW and making it better and better after every update. :)
winston ยท 80-89, M
Thanks so much to tyhe whole team for toda's improvements. You ARE getting there!
MissGaga ยท 31-35, F
Love your work, seriously! The site is turning into an awesome one.[c=#800055][/c]

diablesse ยท 56-60, F
You've done a great job so far and it's much appreciated.
Stefanv ยท 56-60, M
Great post... Thanks for all your work so far... Keep it up please!๐Ÿ‘
SW-User
can you make some changes to adult groups...because it seems like this is they do...all day long...i mean they're old, so?!maybe they have so much time on their hands to express their fkd up fantasies 24/7....i suggest that you can limit adult stuff....like you can post only two adult stories a day..because it's getting very weird, thanks admin person
Abbenthewarwolf ยท 18-21, M
Ok Drew.make it happen.good work so far๐Ÿ‘
Barefooter25 ยท 46-50, M
Thank You so much for the updates!!!! :-)
Glitter22 ยท 31-35, F
Thankyou SM! You are doing a great work ;)

 
Post Comment