Gearing up for a multi vtuber future

Hey guys! I'm preparing to release a major update to the website which is setting the stage for a multi-lewdtuber future. This update is a complete redesign of the existing frontend, migrating to a more robust web framework. I'm planning on releasing the update on Monday, September 18th. Here is a sneak peek of that update.

New Features

The update introduces some new pages which will serve as the URL for each VTuber featured. Here are some examples.

/vt/

https://futureporn.net/vt

`/vt` is an index of every VTuber featured on Futureporn. This shows the amount of VODs on Futureporn. As more lewdtubers are added, more stats could also be displayed, such as the completed percentage of vod archival.

format:    https://futureporn.net/vt/[name]

example: https://futureporn.net/vt/projektmelody

This page is focused on introducing the vtuber. A similar page has existed, but wasn't prominently displayed. There a few new buttons throughout the site which link to this page.

There is a new URL format for watching vods now. 

format:    https://futureporn.net/vt/[name]/vod/[timestamp]

example: https://futureporn.net/vt/projektmelody/vod/20221217T221420Z

The classic URL format remains as `/vods/[timestamp]` ex: https://futureporn.net/vods/20221217T221420Z for backwards compatibility.

Content Delivery Network (CDN) Upgrades

Bunny CDN has been added as an optional video source for every vod. This means that there are no longer vods without a copy on a CDN. This is a patron-only option due to the cost of using this CDN.

Improved pages

`/tags` filtering and sorting has been implemented to help you find the content you're looking for.

`/faq` has been updated to answer some questions I often see.

`/about` has been updated with Futureporn's mission.

"The Story of Futureporn" has been moved to `/blog`

Things I Learned

I had an assumption that IPFS was slow for everyone. Since last month, I've learned that this is not always the case. Networks are complex, Earth is large, and visitors from all over the globe have different experiences with latency and bandwidth as they connect to various geographically spaced datacenters.

The reality is that some visitors are better served by IPFS than they are by Futureporn's Content Delivery Networks (CDN.) This was really surprising to me as I was shown a screencast of IPFS videos loading and seeking incredibly fast, something I rarely see in my own home network.

This enlighting experience led me to reconsider how I go about loading VODs into the video player. More on that below in the bugfixes section.

Bugfixes

Previously, there was an issue where the video player would choose whichever video source loaded fastest. This sounds good in theory, but the result was that the player sometimes chose a video source that was unreliable over time. This could mean more buffering, or complete stalling, even when a better video source was available. Worse, the choice of video source was not displayed to the viewer, which led to confusion in identifying the cause of the problem.

The video player's auto source selection has been disabled. Instead, the video player will default to Mux CDN for patrons, or IPFS for public visitors. This setting is shown in the UI and can be overridden with the visitor's preference. The preference is saved in the browser for subsequent visits.

Thumbnail display has been a long standing issue. My original image processing design was clunky and prone to failure. Along with today's frontend update, thumbnail processing and display have been redesigned and are now handled by a reliable open source module. Hopefully this implementation proves itself to be a good one. Fingers crossed!

Reversions

The video player was reverted from vidstack to Plyr.js.

Streaming via IPFS once again has a quality selector for switching between source and 240p.

Temporarily disabled features

The Tags & Timestamps editor has been temporarily disabled. I missed the deadline on porting this over to the new redesign. I'm pushing the update regardless, in order to fix some showstopping bugs with the video player. Re-enabling the tags & timestamps editor is my highest priority in the coming weeks.

Upcoming upcoming features (>=October)

Stream History is a calendar feature for showing the time and date of every past Chaturbate stream, along with a link to a vod of said stream. In the case of ProjektMelody, this Stream History will show 100% complete, because Futureporn has every known CB vod of hers. As new lewdtubers are added to the site, their Stream History will be programatically created, serving as a visual indication of archival progress.

Upload is similar to what you'd see on Xvideos or Iwara. Visitors will be able to upload their copies of their oshi's past VODs and populate empty slots in the Stream History calendar.

Conclusion

It's been a long month of rebuilding and refactoring the website. It has not been easy, but it's been worth it. Every day brings new challenges and learning opportunities, and I'll continue to do my best to make Futureporn become The Galaxy's Best VTuber Hentai Site. Thank you so much for supporting me in this vision, and giving me the means to make it a reality.

Want to keep the conversation going? Feel free to join our Discord https://discord.gg/wrZQnK3M8z. Alternatively, we've got an issue tracker set up at https://gitea.futureporn.net/futureporn/pm/issues