Debato - update blog 1 - structuring online debates.

Repository

https://github.com/samvanemelen/debato

Introduction

Almost two weeks ago the idea of 'debato' together with a first version became public. In the last few weeks the project moved from a 'proof of concept' to a usable platform with all basic functionalities. This post serves as a first update on the changed features and made progress.

What is debato?

You can find debato at https://debato.org
Debato is an online platform that accommodates online debates on topics big an small. Regular online discussions can quickly turn into a bottomless pit of mindless shouting and other noise. This results in many people not even getting involved or finding it a waste of time to formulate proper arguments. By filtering out the qualitative arguments and by structuring arguments and sub-discussions, debato allows anyone to share their thoughts and points of view. And why stop there? Because debato is built on Steem and writing these thoughtful and interesting arguments or discussions can get rewarded as well.

Main changes

• Thanks to great initial feedback, the code was made more readable for other users. Files were grouped in specific folders (html, js, css) and ESLint was included for a consistent and readable syntax.
• The index page shows discussions in a more flexible and appealing manner by using discussion 'cards' and flexbox rather than the original list of discussions.
• When publishing a new discussion, the user can verify whether the thumbnail url is a valid image. Also, when a sub-discussion is directly loaded from the url (rather than from the parent discussion) no cover image was displayed. Now the upper parent will be searched to fetch an image.
• If present, html tags are removed from comments or discussion arguments. This to limit people from dominating a discussion segment with custom html code.
• Custom error/success/warning boxes will inform the user instead of alert messages.
• The readme on github is expanded to provide more information on the repository and to inform about future ideas for debato.

Planned changes

• Introduction page to inform new users
• Offering an option to register for a Steem account
• Improving user interface in matters such as upvote animations, error box animations, page layout etc.

Previous updates

• Debato introduction

 
 
Feedback or comments on made changes, planned changes or way of working are more than welcome in the comments or on the discord server https://discord.gg/VRpwMD9. You can find the repository here https://github.com/samvanemelen/debato and the live website at https://debato.org

written by @samve