Organization | 1.18 Update (Patreon)

I personally log my games so that I can look back and admire my entire collection all unified together. With more and more logging fields being added, it only becomes more difficult to find what I'm looking for. That's especially difficult when there is no concrete way to see some data like library entries.

The 1.18 update is all about organizing these aspects of Backloggd and give you a more streamlined view into the activities you see everyday.

Your Games

First let's visit one of the most used pages on the site, your games tab. The UI has been revisited with some modern takes to navigation and usability.

Scrolling your collection will by default infinite-load instead of using page navigation as a way to seamlessly view your entire set of games at once. This can be toggled via the 'Display' dropdown or your 'Profile settings'. Another big enhancement is the new search bar that can be used to live filter games by name.

The filtering UI has also been given a facelift with a new inline sidebar to show you the results and filters at the same time. This pairs especially well with the infinite-scrolling method as you can tweak and browse side-by-side.

The Library

Library entries were first introduced for the 1.10 update back in Jul 2022 as a way to log the games you "own" whether digital, physical, or lost. These can be different than the games you mark as played, as duplicates aren't uncommon when you own multiple copies of a game. But since their arrival, there really hasn't been a consistent way to view all your entries in one place. That's where the new 'Library' tab comes in.

When you have at least 1 library entry logged, the new "Library" tab appears as a way to get to the new page that showcases all your entries. Grouping is a new feature here that lets you see the same games at difference angles in addition to the expected filters and sorting methods.

The library view will also come with a toggle to switch between "list" and "grid" view modes so that you can browse at your preference. Stats also come standard to help show a summarized version of your breakdown when you have the filters open.

Between grouping, display modes, and the new stats I'm hoping this will leverage some good insights into your personal collection. Post 1.18, I'm planning on making some default settings so that group loads in how you want by default. I'm also hoping to expand on the list view a bit more with more metadata. Excited to hear your feedback at launch!

Grouped Activities

Organization isn't just about the games you log but also the information you get by following others. Activities have always been a bit of an overload whenever someone does something repetitive like catch up on a bunch of their backlog or like lots of reviews from the same person.

To help with the noise, activities will group by activity type per day. Selecting any of the grouped activities will bring you to a new page with each individual activity listed separately.

The UI has also been revisited by enriching various types with more metadata and going for more of a timeline look. I'm hoping this all gives a more personal look into what's been happening between friends.

Grouped Notifications

Notifications faced a similar problem with repetitious actions causing your queue to fill-up. In response notifications will also start grouping together to be delivered in a single notification that can be later expanded.

Historical and Alternative Covers

Finally, at long last historical and alternative covers join the options of available custom covers! Free to use by all users.

These come from the IGDB API and have criteria to qualify, so please review those before uploading just any cover as they still have to be from an official source: https://github.com/twitchtv/igdb-contribution-guidelines/wiki/Additional-Covers

That just about wraps it up for the major features coming in 1.18, be sure to check out the full changelog for a complete list of changes when the update releases later today. I'll be on the lookout for any bugs or performance issues after launch, so please report anything you see that doesn't look right!

I wanted to give some behind the scenes on how the work for these updates get picked up. The gap between 1.17 and 1.18 was about 5 months, but most of that time was not spent exclusively on 1.18. The way my short attention brain works is I'll start work on a standalone feature, spend 3-5 days getting it 90% of the way there then park it on the codebase before moving onto something new. Mainly because the last 10% takes the most legwork to get it properly integrated, tested, and optimized for real use. Sometimes they don't work at all and need to be redone during this 10%.

Well for these past 5 months, 4 of those were spent working on one particular feature that really has been taking all of my R&D time. 1.18 was actually an off-shoot inspired by that work along with a combination of some of those standalone features to fit the "organization" theme. 1.18 itself took about 30 calendar days to get to completion, which isn't terrible for a UI heavy update like it was.

All of this is to say that while most of the time has been going to an unannounced feature, which still needs a bit longer to cook, I hope it will be worth the wait when it's eventually ready. At the same time I also hope 1.18 will be a worthy detour for library enjoyers!

Until next time,

MrProg

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