Version 1.9.0

Betula 1.9.0 is the twelth release of Betula. It was released on 2026-..., ... after v1.8.1.

Broken links for now (until the release is out):

• Git ref + Executable files for all OS
• bouncepaw/betula:v1.9.0 (Docker Hub)
• Mastodon announcement

See the installation guide.

Changes

• Remarks. The previous repost system was extended, improved and renamed. It is no longer considered experimental.

  A remark is a special bookmark, consisting of another bookmark (usually made by a different person), and your commentary (a remark, so to say) on that bookmark. The original bookmark is linked, its text is preserved as is and cannot be modified by the remarker.

  Remarks have their own tags, distinct from tags on the remarked bookmarks. The remark texts is formatted in Mycomarkup, just like regular bookmarks.

  Remarks themselves cannot be remarked.

  If your bookmark gets remarked, you will get a notification. All remarks (along with likes) are listed on the corresponding bookmark's page.

  On the ActivityPub layer, remarks are federated as what is often called “quote posts”.

  There are two ways to make a remark:

  1. Open the Remark form from the top/right sidebar.

  2. Click the Remark button in Timeline under a bookmark; that would open the same form, but pre-filled.

  

  

  The remark text may be empty. Older Betula versions do not accepts remarks made in Betula v1.9.0 or newer. Old reposts made in Betula v1.8.1 or older are still accepted in new versions. Non-Betula quote posts and “boosts” are also accepted.

• New logo and website design. You can see both on this website.

  The website now looks similar to a Betula instance, rather than just a generic website. We used to use Simple.css before, we thank them for a reasonable CSS framework.

  • Read Bouncepaw's devlog of the new logo

• Further redesign. Continuing the work from the previous release.

  The bookmarks were completely redesign to fit the new remarks better, and generally be more rhythmic. This is what the Timeline looks like now:

  

  • Custom CSS notice. If you had a custom stylesheet that modified bookmarks, you may find it not working anymore. We changed almost all bookmark-related CSS classes. Please revise your custom CSS stylesheets if you wish to continue using them. On an unrelated note, we noticed that some Betula servers have been providing custom dark themes since the days Betula did not have them; this is not the case anymore, there is an in-house dark theme, we invite you to try it.

• Easier following. In the past, to follow a betulist you had not interacted with yet, you had to paste their nickname (@user@server) to the search bar to access their profile, and follow from there. This is an interface idiom copied from other Fediverse software.

  This release introduces a simpler way. In the top/right sidebar, the new Follow link redirects you to the Following page. This page now has a form for following people.

  

  These formats can be typed in:

  • @user@server, the Mastodon-style WebFinger nickname.

  • https://server/@user, the ActivityPub ID. Non-Betula software may have different URL patterns.

  • https://server, the Betula root URL. Only works for servers running Betula v1.9.0 or newer (older versions do not expose required metadata).

• Missing documentation for logging, federated search and PWA was written.

• Internally, a lot of code, mostly ActivityPub-related, was refactored. Some bugs were also fixed.

Funding

This release was funded through Open Social Fund, a fund established by NLnet. Learn more at the NLnet project page.

Developers

• bouncepaw worked on the FEP, contributed to other projects, worked on the redesigns, on remote profile descriptions, on database communication refactoring. Follow @bouncepaw@links.bouncepaw.com.

• danilax86 worked on the internal refactoring and fixed links to your profile. Follow @danila@links.danilax86.space.

• hugmouse improved link rendering. Follow @mysh@bookmarks.mysh.dev.

Thank you. Join us for the next release!