Updates to Bitcoin.org Last Month; Looking Ahead to 2017
Last month was a very active month on Bitcoin.org which saw the resolution of approximately 75 issues and pull requests. These came from the many great contributors who help support and improve the site via the Bitcoin community. Bitcoin.org is one of the world’s top 10,000 websites (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/bitcoin.org), surpassing over 1,200 top ranked websites in traffic in the last three months alone.
The updates last month included several improvements of note.
Updated Instructions for Running a Full Node
Instructions on how to run a full bitcoin node (https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node) have been revamped and updated as of 0.13.1. These instructions allow people who want to help support the network get quickly up and running on Linux, Mac and Windows operating systems. For users with limited disk space availability to store a full copy of the block chain, instructions for how to run a full bitcoin node in pruning mode are available as well.
New Bitcoin Events in 2017
Last month, 17 events were added to the Events page (https://bitcoin.org/en/events). This upcoming year offers many conferences, local events and opportunities to connect with other members of the Bitcoin community. Events can be easily submitted for review and incorporation into the site by opening an issue in the GitHub repository (https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/issues/new).
HSTS Preloading Option Now Available for Wallets
HSTS is a web security policy mechanism which helps to protect websites against protocol downgrade attacks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol_downgrade_attack) and cookie hijacking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_hijacking). It allows web servers to declare that web browsers (or other complying user agents) should only interact with it using secure HTTPS connections. This update distinguishes bitcoin wallets which utilize HSTS preloading so that users can exercise additional discretion when choosing a wallet (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet).
Removed Circle Pay
Circle Pay was removed from the Wallets Page (https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet) after the company announced that it would no longer be allowing customers to buy and sell bitcoin via their platform. Mentions of bitcoin were also noticeably absent from their web and mobile applications, which were additional factors contributing to the removal because it would be confusing to new users who are looking for a bitcoin wallet who go to a platform with no mention of it.
BitGive added as a Nonprofit Organization
BitGive was added as a nonprofit organization people can go to if they would like to donate some bitcoin, under the Donation section on the Support Bitcoin page (https://bitcoin.org/en/support-bitcoin). BitGive works with well-known nonprofits like Save the Children and The Water Project. BitGive has developed GiveTrack which uses the block chain to allow people to trace transactions to see how funds are spent, ensuring they reach their intended destination.
More Improvements Coming Soon in 2017
A number of features and enhancements are on the horizon and are coming soon to Bitcoin.org.
Bitcoin Exchanges Directory
In the near future, a directory of Bitcoin Exchanges (https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/pull/1469) will be available to help many of the new people entering the Bitcoin ecosystem via Bitcoin.org who are looking to adopt the technology, get bitcoin. This will also improve SEO for Bitcoin.org, because the site can now potentially rank very well for “Bitcoin Exchange” as well as longer key phrases that include country names that are contained on the page (i.e. Bitcoin Exchange China, Bitcoin Exchange India, etc.). This will also resolve an issue (https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/issues/1109) on the site for how “bitcoin banks” are categorized.
Updated Translations
Bitcoin.org is now available in over 25 languages. This includes the native display of the site in languages for the world’s 20 largest economies. Coming soon are updates to these languages to make sure that they are completely in sync with the latest content. Also, more languages will be available to users by default as well, under the goal of making the site available to anyone, anywhere in the world, so that they can easily learn about and get started using Bitcoin. Anyone who is interested in being a part of this can help us translate (https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org#how-to-translate).
Documentation Improvements
The Developer Documentation (https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-documentation) is an integral resource in helping new and existing developers entering the Bitcoin ecosystem learn how to get started using Bitcoin. As such, an important goal in 2017 is ensuring that this documentation remains up to date and continues to expand into areas where it is needed most.
Interested in getting involved?
Learn how you can participate:
https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org#how-to-participate
Topic: Updates to Bitcoin.org Last Month & Looking Ahead to 2017 (Read 309 times)
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