Note Block World - October 2024 Update

by Bentroen

7 Oct 2024

Hi, fellow note block enthusiasts!

We're still working hard on improving your experience with Note Block World. For this update, we've focused on improving the website's usability and adding more content to help you get started with making note block songs.

Here's what we've been up to since the last update:

New features

  • You can now filter the recent songs by category on the home page! The buttons also show how many songs have been uploaded in each category.

  • Added a Help Center! It contains five articles on using the basic features of Note Block Studio and Note Block World.

  • Added a blog! It will host everything about the website, from change logs on major updates, and technical writing on some of the development aspects of the website, to tips on how to make your note block songs better!

    • The idea is to host guest writers from the community once in a while, so stay tuned!

  • Added the About page! We're proud of our history and want to share it with you. We also want to acknowledge all the great people that have made this website possible, and everyone who's helped us along the way. Make sure to drop by and read about how Note Block World came to be!

  • The navigation bar at the top has been redesigned:

    • Now features Songs, Help, Blog, and About tabs.
    • The Upload icon is no longer shown on mobile devices.
    • The external links (GitHub, Changelog, and Donate) have been moved from inside your user menu into a 'Settings' menu, so they're now accessible even if you aren't logged in.
    • There's now a Contact page accessible from within the new Settings menu.

  • Added the Community Guidelines, a document with rules and recommendations we put in place to make sure Note Block World is a safe and welcoming place for everyone. Please read them carefully, and follow them as closely as you can when contributing content to the website!

Bugfixes and improvements

  • Added more mob sounds to the available custom instruments:

    • Polar Bear
    • Phantom
    • Evoker
    • Warden
    • All previously missing Ghast sounds such as affectionate_scream
    • Chain breaking sounds (uh, that's not a mob sound, but it's there now!)

  • The buttons for the thumbnail background color will now be highlighted according to the selected color.

  • A random background color for the thumbnail will be selected when you open the upload page.

  • Fixed a rounding error in the BPM field of songs that could display it with maaaaaany trailing zeroes.

  • Added a custom 404 (Not Found) page. (Why is that listed here?! You'll see... 😏)

  • Fixed songs uploaded between 28-29 days ago being shown as uploaded '0 months ago'. (Who knew, it's over four weeks but less than a month!)

What's next?

For our next update, we'll focus on ironing out the last few critical bugs and improving the website's usability, so we'll be closer than ever to our official launch! Our goal is to make Note Block World available to the general public by the end of the year - but it may be available even sooner if everything goes smoothly!

As always, we're open to feedback and suggestions. If you find any bug, or have any ideas on how to improve the website, please let us know on our Discord server or by using the shiny new Contact page!