Restarters․net is a work in progress. We’ve already come a long way but are constantly working to add new features and improve the platform.
At the moment, we release improvements and new features once or twice a month and update this topic every three months or so. Keep an eye on this topic to stay up to date with all the latest changes.
Pro-tip: if you’d like to be notified every time we announce an update here, simply click the bell icon under the timeline on the right (if you’re on a laptop or desktop) or below the final post to choose your notification settings for this topic.
So, what are we working on?
Here’s a quick overview of some of the bigger changes we’re currently working on:
Support for recording non-electronic/electrical items
We know lots of you don’t just fix toasters, kettles and other electronic or electrical devices. We recently expanded the kinds of items you can record in the Fixometer to include textiles, bicycles, furniture and more! Learn more about recording unpowered items.
Features for repair networks
Not all groups work alone, and for those of you who belong to or manage a repair network, we’re expanding our suite of network management features that turns this site into a network-wide event management tool and can help you communicate with your members. We’ve also added the ability to sync your network’s groups and events to your own website.
Making it easier to record repair data & see your impact
Recording repair data is incredibly important to measure the impact of your events and strengthen the global Right to Repair movement. We’re working to make it even easier to add data about the items you see at events as well as new ways to learn about your impact.
Better localisation
Restarters.net is already available in a number of different languages. But we’re working to expand this number and are making the Wiki multilingual for the first time. We’re also working on adding better support for different time zones.
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We’ve added new fields for recording more detail about the devices we see at events:
spare parts information
barriers to repair
sources of repair information
Teach the Fixometer your language
Added support for localisation of the Fixometer
Restarters.net is going multilingual! We’ve added a translation function, which will allow us to collectively work on versions in any language.
Better notifications
Improved Fixometer notifications
We’ve made some improvements to how in-site notifications work. Previously, notifications only showed past events without devices added. But now:
we also show any notification that was previously an email notification (e.g. received invitation to event, new event created, etc.)
notifications can be marked as read
if opted in to receive emails, will also receive an email notification as well
hosts will get a notification for events that have no data entered after 3 days
Understand your data better
Improved data visualisation on Fixometer
Did you know you can embed your group’s stats from the Fixometer into your external website? Well now, you get a bit more control over how this works. Here’s what’s new:
CO2 equivalance visualisation split into two separate visualisations (manufacturing equivalence, and consumption equivalence)
manufacturing equivalence visualisation shows progress towards ‘next level’ of equivalence
If you’re already using these data embeds, they will continue to work as normal
Bug Fixes
Click/tap for full list
broken event links on Dashboard
users with host role and member of a group but not host of the group, see ‘Update group’ link on dashboard
error message when requesting contributions to an event
spare parts field not dynamically updated when editing devices on event screen
editing a device gets stuck on ‘Saving…’ for a host of the group that didn’t attend the event
host who is host of multiple groups gets error when creating an event
when a device has been saved as Misc, can’t amend the weight when returning to edit it
devices saved as None of the above displayed as ‘None of the above’ in the list until page refresh
group tags filter lost when paging
filtering by group country
can’t remove group tags from a group
error when updating a device via the devices page
users can create new skills in their profile and this subsequently causes error on group page
improved subject line and copy on new event notification
improved subject line and copy on new group notification
Added the ability to search & filter the Fixometer repair database
We’re really excited to announce the launch of a new feature on the Fixometer: the Repair Data Navigator. The Repair Data Navigator allows searching and filtering of all previous repair attempts recorded in the Fixometer.
You can filter by device details (product category, brand, model), repair details (repair status, problem/solution), and event details (group, event dates):
So for example, if you’re doing a fix on an iPhone with a cracked screen, you could search iPhone in the model filter, ‘screen’ in the problem/solution filter, and see all past attempts on these fixes, find out what worked, what didn’t, and what were useful sources of information, etc. If you’re just interested in the successful (or potentially successful) repairs, you could filter repair status by both ‘Fixed’ and ‘Repairable’.
As another example: as a host if you’re interested in seeing how many mobiles have been fixed across all of your events, you can could filter by the device category ‘Mobile’ and the repair status ‘Fixed’.
You can access the Repair Data Navigator in the main menu - either at the top on desktop:
Added notifications and latest discussions from Talk on the Fixometer
This forum (Restarters Talk) is one of the three core modules of Restarters.net - it’s where the latest conversations around community repair and our right to repair are happening. We’ve added in direct integration to the Restarters dashboard to keep you posted on hot topics and new notifications from Restarters Talk.
Ability to vote on discussions on Talk
Added a plugin to Talk to allow voting on discussions in selected categories
Invite people to your event/group with a just a link
Added ability to generate individual invitation links for groups and events
You could already invite anyone to your event or to follow your group by sending them an email from the group or event page. Now, we’ve added the ability to do this with a special link that you can use anywhere you want.
Add events to your personal calendar
Added ability to download a calendar file readable by common calendar applications
You can now add any event to your personal calendar (Google, Outlook, iCal or Yahoo). This is particularly useful for group members who don’t log in to the platform very often but want to remember when events are happening.
Custom branding for different repair networks
Added basic whitelabelling option for repair network partners
We’ve been working with the two main repair networks in Belgium on a slightly re-branded version of Restarters․net for groups in their respective regions. This includes setting the language and using a custom logo. Have a look at Repair Together’s version to see what this looks like.
Using Restarters․net data on other websites
Added a Restarters․net API
We’ve built a Restarters․net API! It’s now possible to include groups and/or events from Restarters․net on external websites (in a similar way to what we do on our own site). This will allow repair networks to display their groups and events from Restarters․net on their own websites.
Send Talk notifications to 3rd party chat apps
Added chatbot plugin to Talk that allows integration with common IM applications
Made the groups page more useful by adding events and 'follow' buttons
added a link to each group’s next event
added a ‘follow’ button for each group listed
no. of hosts/restarters removed from the main groups page to reduce clutter
Better welcome emails
New series of welcome emails
after signing up, new members will now be able to choose to receive guidance on how to use Restarters․net for a variety of purposes.
Minor changes
A few small 'quality of life' improvements to make things more intuitive
improved the way hosts ask repair volunteers to review repair data (‘request contributions’ changed to ‘request review’ & added a confirmation dialog when sending a request
name of event changed to ‘Venue name’
dismissable new feature notification to help explain new features
Bug fixes
We applied our repair philosophy to our own software.
Sometimes an event’s location didn’t geocode properly, which caused all kinds of havoc. We now trap these errors.
The email invite to volunteers didn’t allow line breaks, which made emails a bit too ‘stream of consciousness’. You can now unleash your inner Austen and send perfectly formatted, letter-style email invites with paragraphs and everything.
The column for brand was too narrow when changing brand on existing device. To avoid having to invent a whole system for abbreviations, we’ve just made the column wider.
Previously, you couldn’t add two new brands in a row. It turns out there are a lot of brands out there, so now you can add as many new brands as you find. #GottaCatchEmAll
Note: Updates to Restarters․net have been ongoing since the last post above, but this topic hasn’t been maintained. We’re now reviving this topic and will be resuming regular updates.
May 2020
click/tap on the triangles ︎ to display more info on each update
Networks have arrived
Life is now easier for people who look after lots of groups and list their events on their own site
Not all groups work alone, and for those of you who belong to or manage a repair network, we have exciting news: we’ve added networks to Restarters․net!
For network coordinators, this means being able to have an overview of all your groups on Restarters․net. For now, this includes features like seeing when events are created or creating events for any of your groups yourself. We’ve also created an API, which lets you pull through information about your groups and events to display on your own website.
For group organisers, this means you’ll be dealing directly with your own network leads instead of having to go through the team here at Restart.
This is very much a work in progress and we’re working on adding lots more features in the near future! We’re also excited to have teamed up with our friends at Repair Together, the Belgian Repair Café network that covers Brussels and Wallonia. Repair Together will be helping us test these features for networks before we make them more widely available.
Create & find online events
Events can now be labelled as 'online', making them easier to manage and find
With all in-person events currently cancelled or postponed, we’re working to make it easier to list online events on Restarters․net. We’ve now added a checkbox labelled ‘Online event?’ to the event creation page. Ticking this box will mark your event as being online and do two things:
online events don’t require a physical venue address. You can leave this blank.
online events will be listed together on a new page we’ve created to make them easier to find
Be sure to add a detailed event description including the aims of the session, who it’s for, how it works and any links to registration forms and/or videoconference links (such as a Zoom link).
We’ve also added new filters to the upcoming events page. There, you can now search for events by whether they’re online or offline and by date. Find online events here
Bug fixes
We’ve been walking through our code with a glass and a piece of paper to catch and remove numerous bugs
we created a network for London with @Vanessa_Ternes as the network coordinator
following a group belonging to a network will now automatically you to that network’s discussion group here on Talk (such as the London group)
Redesign
We’ll be starting to roll out the long-promised redesign over the next few weeks! Look out for a new navigation menu and fresh look.
Notifications
We’ve added a new page to view all your group and event notifications and mark them all as read (see it here).
Bug fixes
We said goodbye to a couple of particularly annoying bugs (click/tap for details)
Some Belgian events were geocoded as being in Kazakhstan. To save visitors a trip (and wild geese from being chased), we’ve returned these to Belgium.
Network coordinators found they were able to demote themselves by adding new skills to their profile. We think new skills are a good thing, so we’ve patched this loophole.
We improved layout of the automatic event email invites you can send from the event’s page. It now begins with your personal message to give the recipient some more context.
We’ve redesigned the Fixometer page to highlight the impact we all have as global community and to make it easier to add new data and browse the database of repair attempts.
Localisation
You can now set your preferred language in your main profile, which will also set your language on this forum, Talk.
Don’t see your preferred language in the list? We’re looking for people to help us add new languages - if you’re happy to help, send me a message
We’ve improved our process for adding new languages on Restarters.net and extended translation to the main menu here on Talk.
If you’d like to help us add your language, get in touch! And if you already use the site in a language other than English, you can report any untranslated text you find.
Bug Fixes
Our system didn’t quite understand how big the globe is, so couldn’t believe how far away some people are based. We’ve now taught it how to read a globe properly and fixed the location for those of your previously identified as living in the ocean.
Group hosts who want to add themselves to their group’s past events can now do so (they couldn’t previously)
We fixed the language switcher and sent a few other small bugs to live on a farm upstate.
Coming soon…
Record unpowered items at events
We’re working hard on adding support for recording non-electrical/electronic (‘unpowered’) items at events. The first phase of this work will let you record any item you see at an event on the Fixometer.
This will go live in September !
Future updates will extend this across other parts of the site, for example, by displaying basic stats for unpowered items along with your powered devices.
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We made some bits of text translatable that weren’t previously. If you use the site in French, you should now see less English!
Bug fixes
We fixed some illegible text on the forgotten password page; forgetting your password is frustrating enough without dealing with invisible instructions!
We’ve started updating group pages. They now look more consistent with event pages and we’ve improved the readability of impact stats (we’ll be reworking the bottom half of group pages next).
Bug fixes
Some translations were coming through as code. None of us are robots, so we’ve reintroduced human languages for people not using the site in English.
This month’s bug-hunter award goes to @Estelle_Vercez1 for finding some bugs in the event-creation process. We’ve fixed some of these and will get to the rest soon.
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We continued to update group pages, this time focusing on the events section. Your group’s upcoming and past events are now easier to browse and look more consistent with the rest of the new design.
Impact stats
We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes to improve how certain interactive parts of the site work. The result of this means that adding new repairs to an event will now automatically update that event’s environmental stats instantly without having to refresh the page.
Bug fixes
Good news for you repair detectives: when adding items to events, you can now record as many sources of repair information as you like for each item. Happy sleuthing!
We cleaned out a few bugs clogging up some parts the site with errors. Things should flow more smoothly now.
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We’ve updated the way your group’s device stats appear on your group page. This should make your stats clearer and more screenshot-friendly if you like to share them elsewhere (check it out)
Localisation
Product categories are now translatable and we’ve already added French translations (thanks again to @Florine_Paquay for your help here). If you’d like to see product categories in your language too, get in touch!
Bug fixes
The navigation menu on Talk hid the Wiki icon when viewed on mobile. Knowledge should be accessible to everyone no matter the device being used, so we’ve brought it back!
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We’ve redesigned page that shows the groups you follow, the groups nearest to you and a list of all the groups on the site. It should now be easier to use and it’s much quicker to search for groups in the ‘All groups’ tab thanks to @Edward_Hibbert’s tech wizardry Take a look for yourself
New Features
You can now unfollow groups (for example, if you move away and no longer want to receive notifications about events in the area)
If you’re a network coordinators, you can now make people hosts of their groups (thanks for the feature request @Manu_RepairTogether )
Bug fixes
We fixed a link on the dashboard that promised guidance on running repair events, but only led to a disappointment and a 404 error page. The new link is the real deal.
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
We’ve added a new section to the site: the Data Workbench. The Data Workbench is home to microtask activities—quests—that let anyone analyse the repair data we all record. Each quest helps us learn more about why products break and how they could be made easier to fix.
While some experience with repair is often helpful, you don’t need to be an expert to get involved. Head to the Data Workbench to discover the latest activity!
Wiki
We’ve changed the navigation tabs on the repair wiki to make getting around more intuitive.
Bug fixes
We fixed an issue that broke some calendar feeds (thanks again for reporting this @panda)
We removed a bug with a sense of irony that hid certain data when searching the Fixometer
We removed a more humourless bug that prevented events being created if they lacked a postal address
Suggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
under the timeline on the right (if you’re on a laptop or desktop) or below the final post to choose your notification settings for this topic.
Support for recording non-electronic/electrical items
Features for repair networks
Making it easier to record repair data & see your impact
Better localisationSuggest new features and vote for other people’s ideas in Feature requests
Report any bugs or errors you find in Bug reports
Record more repair information
Better notifications
Understand your data better
Repair Data Navigator
Better integrated Talk into the Fixometer
Ability to vote on discussions on Talk
Invite people to your event/group with a just a link
Add events to your personal calendar
Custom branding for different repair networks
Using Restarters․net data on other websites
Send Talk notifications to 3rd party chat apps
︎ to display more info on each update
New, super-customisable event feeds
Improved 
Better welcome emails
Minor changes
Create & find online events
Redesign
MobiFix: a new microtask
Events
for finding some bugs in the event-creation process. We’ve fixed some of these and will get to the rest soon.
New Features
Introducing the Workbench
)