Nosta

The website should be a bit snappier now and manage relays slightly more intelligently (which still is not very intelligent, but progress is progress).

2023-11-17 14:24:57

Nosta profiles now show Pinstr boards (http://pinstr.app).
https://i.nostr.build/69GW.jpg
Example profile:
https://nosta.me/npub1vjl6n2llukcc6pe3am2hkwqh8twzh2ymlp7pdrdfq5tlqg08y26sd7ygzx?t=gold
Boards are only rendered from the nos.lol relay, because that's the only one Pinstr currently checks, and Nosta links out to the site for board details. No dead links this way. That will be updated when Pinstr updates relay handling (already discussed it).
Nosta now renders about 20 different kinds. People can be active in so many different ways, so hopefully everyone can have a unique and personal profile that reflects their interests.

2023-11-06 09:17:54

Nosta now renders calendars and events.
https://i.nostr.build/Zvll.jpg
Not many profiles use this feature yet. Here's an example:
https://nosta.me/17717ad4d20e2a425cda0a2195624a0a4a73c4f6975f16b1593fc87fa46f2d58
As with other content, Nosta is just showing the info. Interacting with calendar and events, scheduling your own, etc, is left up to dedicated third-party clients (micro apps). These events link out to Flockstr at the moment, but hopefully there will be more adoption of recommended handlers, and then users are linked out to the service of their choice.

2023-11-04 16:13:05

- reply

Makes sense. Nosta is currently designed as a general entry point into the Nostr ecosystem, not as a replacement flow for other clients. This is something I'd like to explore further and have a to-do here: https://github.com/GBKS/nosta-me/issues/64
There were some discussions months ago around building an onboarding kit that would allow devs to easily set up customized profile creation based on their unique client needs. I don't think much happened with that though.
To your point 3, that definitely needs to improve. Users need to be much better set up to log in to other clients after profile creation. Need to prioritize that.
For point 4, do you imagine following hashtags? Or having categories of people and then pick who to follow? I looked around recently and there just didn't seem enough content out there to make that work. But things change quickly...
Appreciate the input. Which clients are you working on mostly?

2023-11-03 11:44:20

- reply

Curious to hear how Nosta is not working out for you and how that could be improved.

2023-11-03 08:24:44

#note13md…kpcd Congrats to all the semi-finalists, as well as all the other teams in the hackathon.

2023-10-30 17:56:20

Profiles now show your latest 2 posts (short-form notes), and your latest article (long-form note). Lots of people don't do anything else on Nostr, so they look pretty empty without these notes. So this addition should make it easier to learn about people and what they care about.
https://i.nostr.build/Wa5V.jpg
An example:
https://nosta.me/nprofile1qqsph3c2q9yt8uckmgelu0yf7glruudvfluesqn7cuftjpwdynm2gygpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfducms3fc?t=black

2023-10-23 09:15:27

https://i.nostr.build/PQdn.jpg
Did you see the "Who is bitcoin" video?
http://herecomesbitcoin.org
If you enjoy this grumpy puppet who just wants to make money better, there's now a new Nosta theme for you. Check it out.
https://nosta.me/nprofile1qqspwh6k34mlkr9hgq8smhv2a5tn3ntew5etx980q5apv6w5mwn5xwspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdu5a03m0?t=bitcoin

2023-10-13 15:43:17

Not sure what to do on Nostr? When you're logged in, your Nosta profile now shows a small box at the bottom that looks like this:
https://i.nostr.build/KaOk.jpg
Click it, and you see something like this:
https://i.nostr.build/9XeA.jpg
The tips are of course based on what events the site found for your profile (or more accurately, what it didn't find). You can click each tip to get redirected to nostrapp.link to a list of apps that support this specific activity.
This should help especially new users to find stuff to do. It's not perfect though. Apart from some usual testing and tweaking that is always needed on a new feature, not enough apps are listed on nostrapp.link.
If you are an app developer, please post the required NIP-89 events to make your service discoverable. And make sure the description is really clear for newcomers.
kthxbye

2023-10-06 09:54:58

A small update to the follow recommendations during profile creation. They are now dynamic (via the nostr.band trending profiles API).
https://image.nostr.build/94a042ffbae2120b1f5b469773308ffd1be9b7c077e7a08b4f554ac3d95f635c.jpg
This is part of the @npub1nst…rg5l hackathon work. Shout-out to @npub1xdt…ntxy for the API.
While testing, it became clear that the transition from creating a profile to then viewing it is not smooth, so that will be the next thing to improve.

2023-09-22 09:00:08

Profiles now show statuses (if set), so you can share what you're doing or listening to right now. It's pretty basic at the moment.
Use a service like https://nostatus.vercel.app to actually set your status. The NIP (38) is still new, do you already use this? If so, how?
https://image.nostr.build/eaaae85d7f1b63d430c546743eeabf999361a4db4dee3eecbcc01d205ee3814c.jpg

2023-07-26 22:36:07

You can now pull up a nice QR code for each profile.
https://cdn.nostr.build/p/aKDB.jpg
Also, petnames are show in follow lists, and nostr: links (npub, nprofile) are properly rendered in about text.

2023-07-17 09:38:00

Nosta profiles now also show classifieds you posted.
https://cdn.nostr.build/p/ArDG.jpg
An example:
https://nosta.me/npub1jknfxfjynyc6mk3juls0vf6mas8rs747ae9m26e7jn6x56kyqt3quttcvj
Via @npub1jkn…tcvj and pinging @npub1zuu…c2uc
Clicking one takes you to https://ostrich.work/ . The NIP is not merged yet, so things might change and break.

2023-07-14 15:46:41

Nosta now shows external identities (NIP-39). You can see an example here, where someone has linked their Twitter account.
https://nosta.me/npub1nm9mpe60ve0zd2qjcs2j2ruhrq44sqdjvz9zat80wucgyp4t0sys0dmsfn
Have you linked GitHub, Mastodon, or Telegram accounts or know someone who did? Would love to know for testing.

2023-07-12 23:11:25

You can now zap profiles on Nosta (only via browser extension right now and of course only profiles that have lightning addresses).
https://cdn.nostr.build/p/Bmdn.jpg

2023-07-06 09:06:25

Nosta profiles now show live activities (via the work-in-progress NIP-53).
https://nostr.build/p/nb12285.jpg
Example:
https://nosta.me/npub12hcytyr8fumy3axde8wgeced523gyp6v6zczqktwuqeaztfc2xzsz3rdp4
One click and you're off to view the stream on http://zap.stream.
Some more tweaks to come, like highlighting when the user is currently live. If you have more ideas to improve this, add them here: https://github.com/GBKS/nosta-me/issues/39

2023-07-03 13:07:31

Nice discussion around Nostr onboarding with a shout-out to Nosta at around 1 hour 6 minutes:
#note1qf6…tw89
And here's a new issue to act on the recommendation of offering topical follow recommendations at the end of the profile setup flow: https://github.com/GBKS/nosta-me/issues/36
Would be great to find a solution for this that goes far beyond recommending the same "influencers" over and over as many other social networks do. What would you personally find helpful and interesting?
This list could then also be used to recommend relays and clients. Important to consider that this should be just an initial list for users to start with, and that clients help them personalize who they follow over time.
@npub1kuy…kdj8, @npub1zuu…c2uc

2023-06-26 09:05:16

The data overlay just got a revision.
https://nostr.build/p/nb11607.jpg
Now it shows all the data loaded for your profile, with a convenient nav. Before it was just a long dump of parts of the profile info.
What's missing is a health check. For example, it can point out when you have outdated profile info floating around. Or when your relay list could be optimized. It should be dead simple to keep your profile in good shape. However, this data overlay is a bit more for devs than for users and the health check may live elsewhere. Still, it's nice to have this transparent view behind the scenes.

2023-06-20 09:15:54

Hear, hear, announcement of a groundbreaking update to Nosta - there's now a loader on profile pages. 🥁
https://nostr.build/p/nb11316.jpg
Sometimes it just takes a moment or two. The longer you have to wait, the more intense the emoji gets.
But what should happen if a profile cannot be found at all? Offer to search more relays? Link out to some other service (if there is one) that indexes profiles and might have something? What do you think?

2023-06-14 14:20:26

- reply

Yes, that sounds right. And these touch points may vary based on what the use case is. If you set up an online shop, there's a good chance you want people to know how to view it. And apps need to track if the user has already recommended them so they don't bother them unnecessarily.

2023-06-14 10:59:31

- reply

Yes, this should not become a self-promotion tool, but a way for users to express their preferences and let others know where they can be found for different activities. Worst case scenario is that apps show a pop-up right when you log in and try to trick you into recommending them. Your app manager is a great place to offer these best practices to developers. For example, when a developer creates their first app, they could be presented with options on integrating recommendation features in just the right places.

2023-06-14 08:15:40

Nosta now shows app recommendations on profiles (NIP-89). They look like this:
https://nostr.build/p/nb10960.jpg
Click one and you see details, like this:
https://nostr.build/p/nb10959.jpg
This new feature should be great for discovering new clients and more easily connecting with others in the places they are active in.
You can create recommendations via @npub1xdt…ntxy's fantastic App Manager here: https://nostrapp.link/
Check his profile to see which apps he recommends: https://nosta.me/nprofile1qqsrx4k7vxeev3unrn5ty9qt9w4cxlsgzrqw752mh6fduqjgqs9chhgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhs8e2cla
This feature will be integrated in a few smaller ways into Nosta in the future. For example, when recommending apps during profile setup. Or linking out directly to the apps a user recommends from their profile.

2023-06-12 09:57:20

Nosta is now listed in the Nostr App Manager. This is a new system for recommending apps. Adding apps to your profile helps others find out in which parts of the ecosystem you are active - great for discovery. Nosta profiles will also soon show your app recommendations.
See the Nosta app listing here:
https://nostrapp.link/a/naddr1qqxnzd3cxc6n2d33xymrvwpeqgsp9z7qt2n06ssaqrpuxwyn98eeelr4pvp4mdkd45htp7vrhl6k98crqsqqql8kc4575h

2023-06-01 10:09:00

Profile editing on Nosta works now. Some refinements are still to come, like addressing both "name" and "display name", better validation, and tips for potentially confusing fields. Another important feature is indicating when there multiple profile versions were found on relays, letting you pick which one you want to use moving forward, and then updating all relays accordingly. There's always more to do, but the basics should be there now. If you try it, please share your feedback.
https://nostr.build/p/nb9991.jpg

2023-05-22 22:10:43

The icon for handles (NIP-05) was changed. It was a check, indicating that some type of account verification had happened. That's not accurate though. Handles are just human-readable shortcuts, often provided by third-party providers, without any sort of identification process. The new icon is more general and avoids that association. Based on this conversation on Stacker News: https://stacker.news/items/173439
https://nostr.build/p/nb9168.jpg

2023-05-18 00:01:41

Nosta profiles now show stalls and products (NIP-15). For example: https://nosta.me/27c3d086c54a1862d38bf4f0ffb7c4f1be21a037b8ce3a964b8ed34bb340914f

2023-05-10 08:28:39

You can now see files (NIP-94) on Nosta profiles. Just basic support for now, showing images. We'll keep iterating on this. Here's an example: https://nosta.me/[email protected]

2023-05-08 08:45:24

We have a simple app directory to encourage users to explore all Nostr has to offer. How can this be improved? What apps should be added? https://nosta.me/directory

2023-05-04 09:23:00

The site received an update today. You now get a nice summary of all profile activity right away, instead of having to click through many (potentially empty) tabs. Also added are received zaps. Heads up, lots of details are still a work-in-progress. Here's an example: https://nosta.me/nprofile1qqsph3c2q9yt8uckmgelu0yf7glruudvfluesqn7cuftjpwdynm2gygpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfducms3fc?t=black