What's new in Loomio

This page lists user-visible changes to Loomio, from newest to oldest.

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Require vote reasons when disagreeing

Proposal authors can now require a vote reason when someone selects an option marked Disagree or Block, while leaving reasons optional for Agree and Abstain.

Choose Required when disagreeing under Vote reason when starting or editing a poll. The setting follows the option's voting icon, so it continues to work when an option is renamed, such as changing Disagree to Objection.

Loomio's built-in templates that include disagreement options now use this setting by default. Coordinators can change it to Required, Optional, or Disabled for an individual poll or template.

Gradient theme backgrounds

Loomio sites can now use an optional gradient for the application background in light mode, dark mode, or both. When a gradient is not configured, the application continues to use the existing solid theme background.

Sites can also override the text colors used on theme backgrounds and surfaces, independently for light and dark modes.

Anchor text uses the primary color for its mode unless a separate anchor color is configured.

Application and thread navigation drawers can be colored independently. Without explicit drawer colors, the application drawer uses the surface color and the thread drawer uses the background color.

When a background gradient is configured, the application bar uses the same fixed gradient after the page is scrolled. Without a gradient, it can use a separate scrolled color and falls back to the regular application bar color.

Dark mode for email

Loomio emails now support the recipient's light or dark color preference in compatible email clients. Email clients without color-scheme support continue to display the existing light presentation.

Email styling has been reduced to the typography, spacing, branded buttons, and semantic poll colors needed to communicate the message consistently across major email providers.

Prevent duplicate threads from retried email

When a mail server retries delivery of the same message, Loomio now recognises its Message-ID and processes it only once. A retry no longer creates another thread or forwards another copy to a configured staff mailbox.

Subscribe a group to an email mailing list

You can now subscribe a group's Loomio email address to an external mailing list. When the list delivers a message to Loomio, it can start a new thread even when the visible To field shows the mailing-list address rather than the group's address. Find the group's email address in Group settings under Start a discussion by email.

The thread author is matched from the message's visible From address. A group member's address works immediately. For an unrecognised address, group administrators receive an in-app notification where they can associate the address with a member or block it. Mailing lists that preserve each sender's address may therefore require an alias for each sender; lists that use one stable From address need only one alias.

Email forwarding also works when another address forwards messages to a Loomio group address. Existing email-to-group permissions are unchanged.

Convert a group thread to a direct thread

Thread administrators can now choose Direct thread in the Move thread form.

People who have participated in the thread retain access, including the thread creator, commenters, identified poll voters, and people who reacted. The administrator making the change also retains access. The thread creator and the administrator making the change become thread administrators.

Group members who only viewed the thread do not retain access. Threads containing anonymous polls cannot be converted because selecting participants could reveal who voted.

Server API requires Bearer authentication

The server API (/api/b3) now accepts its B3_API_KEY only in the Authorization: Bearer header. API keys supplied in query strings or request bodies are rejected.

Server operators should update all server API integrations to use the Bearer header before upgrading.

Mention suggestions open after typing @

Typing @ in the rich-text or Markdown editor now opens the mention suggestions without requiring another character.

The list is loaded when the editor opens so suggestions can appear immediately. In a thread, the group mention appears first when you have permission to notify the group, followed by other people ordered by their recent activity in the thread. Your own account appears only when you type part of your name or username.

As you add individual or group mentions, Loomio shows the server-calculated number of people who will be notified in the lower-right corner of the editor. Overlapping audiences are counted once. Group mentions exclude your own account, while directly mentioning yourself includes it.

Share templates with JSON

Discussion and poll templates can now be shared between groups, organizations, and Loomio instances as JSON files. The files can also be stored in Git to keep a versioned history of template changes.

Use Export json in a template's action menu to download it. The filename includes the source group's full name so exported templates are easier to identify.

To use a shared template, select New template, then Import json. Importing populates the new-template form so the content and settings can be reviewed and edited before the template is saved.

Anyone who can access a group's templates can export them. Group admins can import templates, as can group members when Members can create templates is enabled.

Template files contain template content and settings, but not record IDs, authorship, timestamps, attachments, or other ownership metadata. Links from discussion templates to custom poll templates are not included because those links use instance-specific record IDs; export and import the poll templates separately.

Frequently used emoji

The emoji picker now adapts to the emoji you choose most often. Its frequently used row starts with eight common emoji, then reorders and expands as you use the picker. Up to 16 of your most frequently chosen emoji are kept one click away.

Usage is saved to your account and applies anywhere the emoji picker appears, including reactions and the text editor. Each displayed emoji is counted separately, so skin tone variants can appear as distinct frequently used choices.

Detached anonymous voting

New anonymous polls store the named electorate separately from submitted votes. Submitted votes do not contain a participant, invitation details, a submission time, a written reason, or an identifier shared with the electorate record.

Results stay hidden until voting closes and are then shown as aggregates. Individual voting patterns are not included in application exports. Voters can submit once and cannot review, change, or withdraw their vote after submission. After submission, Loomio shows an acknowledgement without displaying their choices.

Poll coordinators can view the named participation ledger, including who was eligible. The ledger shows whether each person submitted a vote only after at least three people have voted; if a poll closes below that threshold, participation status remains hidden. Other poll participants cannot view this ledger. For explicitly invited electorates, coordinators can add voters until the first vote is submitted.

For anonymous polls lasting at least 24 hours, Loomio automatically reminds eligible people who have not voted during the final 24 hours. Polls lasting less than 24 hours do not send an automatic closing reminder.

This provides application-level separation between names and submitted votes. It does not protect against operators with access to the database, backups, server logs, process memory, or network traffic.

Closed polls created with the previous anonymous voting format can be migrated to detached votes. Vote choices and aggregate results are preserved. Historical reasons are converted to plain text and shown in a read-only legacy reasons section, and files from those reasons are moved to the poll. These polls retain a legacy-format notice because activity created under the previous format does not receive the stronger detached-voting guarantee.

Legacy links using /discussions/:id, /groups/:id, and /c/:id no longer redirect to discussions, groups, or comments.

Use Loomio's canonical links instead: /d/:key for threads, /g/:key or /:handle for groups, and the thread or poll links generated by Loomio for comments. Canonical poll links remain available at /p/:key.

Agent API and Copy Markdown

Loomio now has the first read endpoints for a user-owned AI agent. An agent using your API key can list the threads you can access and read their ordered items. It receives the same visibility restrictions as you do.

The thread actions menu now includes Copy Markdown. Thread members can copy the complete thread as structured Markdown for use with an AI agent or for creating a simple document from the thread content.

The copied document includes the thread context, timestamps, replies, polls, visible results, vote reasons, and outcomes. Results and vote reasons that are not yet visible to the member are not included, and voters remain unidentified in anonymous polls.

The initial Loomio facilitator skill explains how an agent can identify agreement, concerns, objections, low participation, and a suitable next facilitation step. It always asks for confirmation before posting, creating a poll, or recording an outcome.

Tags improvements

Tags have been updated to work more consistently across an organization, including parent groups and subgroups. The changes make tags easier to apply, easier to filter by, and clearer to manage.

Organization-wide tags

Tags now belong to the organization rather than being managed separately inside each subgroup. A tag such as Planning is treated as the same tag across the parent group and its subgroups, so it can be used to group related threads and polls across the organization.

Subgroups still matter when choosing which tags to show. Loomio keeps track of which groups are currently using each tag, so tag selectors can show tags that are local to the current group by default, with an option to see all tags in the organization.

Tags are also stored and displayed in alphabetical order. When tags are added to a thread or poll, they are sorted so the order is predictable everywhere they appear.

Permissions

People who can edit a thread or poll can apply and remove tags on it.

Groups now have a Members can create tags permission. It is enabled by default. When enabled, members who can tag a thread or poll can also create a new tag while tagging it. When disabled, members can still apply existing tags, but cannot introduce new tag names.

Subgroup admins can apply existing tags and create new tags while tagging content in their subgroup.

Only parent group admins can curate the organization tag list. Curating includes renaming tags, deleting tags, and changing tag colours. When a parent group admin renames or deletes a tag, the change applies across the whole organization, including topics the admin may not individually see.

Selecting tags

The tag selector now saves immediately. There is no separate Save button: selecting or clearing a tag updates the thread or poll straight away.

The selector shows tags used in the current group first. Use Show more to see all tags in the organization, then Show fewer to return to tags used in the current group.

New tag creation is available inside the selector for people who are allowed to create tags. The new tag control now has a tag-plus icon, and submitting an empty new-tag field closes the field without creating anything.

Filtering by tags

The Discussions and Polls panels now use the same tag filter menu. The menu includes a filter textbox at the top, so large tag lists can be searched quickly.

When a tag filter is active, the panel shows the selected tag in the filter button instead of opening a separate tag panel. Parent group admins also get an Edit tags option from this menu, which opens the organization tag editor.

If a group has threads but the current filters find none, the Discussions panel now says:

No threads found that match your filters

This replaces the old new-group welcome message in filtered empty states.

Visual changes

Tag colours are now shown as small colour dots next to tag names, rather than filling the whole tag chip or list item. This keeps the interface calmer and avoids contrast problems with dark or intense tag colours.

A new emoji picker

The emoji picker used for reactions and in the text editor has been rebuilt. You now get the full standard emoji set, a search box, localized results, and a skin tone selector — all rendered as your device's own native emoji.

Every emoji, and a search box to find them

The picker previously offered a small fixed list. It now includes the complete set of standard emoji, with a frequently-used row pinned at the top so common picks stay one click away. Type in the search box to filter by name or keyword — "party", "rocket", "thumbs" — instead of scrolling.

Search in your language

Search matches emoji names and keywords in your account language, not just English. If Loomio is set to French, German, Japanese, Portuguese and so on, searching in that language finds the right emoji. English names and common aliases keep working too.

Skin tone selector

A skin tone selector sits next to the search box: click the colored swatch to choose from the default tone plus five skin tones. Your choice is saved to your account and applies everywhere the picker appears — reactions and the text editor alike, on every device you sign in from. Every emoji that supports skin tones updates to match; the yellow smiley faces stay as they are, since the emoji standard doesn't give them tones.

Native emoji everywhere

Reactions and the emoji you add through the picker are now stored and displayed as native unicode characters, so they render using your own device's emoji style and match the look you see in the rest of your apps. Existing reactions carry over automatically, and emoji shortcodes already written in your posts — a :tada: in a comment, thread, poll or outcome — are converted to the emoji itself.

API and private thread updates

Several changes improved API coverage and private thread behavior.

B2 API additions

The B2 API now includes more complete discussion and poll operations.

API clients can work with:

  • discussions
  • polls
  • comments
  • group records

Comment support includes editing and soft deletion.

User API behavior was also clarified by separating redaction and deletion paths.

Group endpoint

A groups endpoint was added to the B2 API, making it easier for integrations to discover or work with group records.

User admin flag in the B3 API

The B3 API now exposes whether a user is an admin where that information is needed by clients.

Private thread invitees

Invitees on private threads are no longer automatically granted admin access.

This keeps private-thread permissions narrower: being invited into a private thread does not imply permission to administer it.

Group members, exports, and reports

Several group administration and reporting workflows were improved.

Search member titles

The group members panel can now search member titles as well as names and other member fields.

This helps admins find people by role, position, or responsibility when titles are stored on memberships.

Poll CSV exports include member details

Poll CSV exports now include member details.

This gives admins and coordinators more useful context when reviewing poll participation outside Loomio.

Participation report performance

The participation report was optimized so larger reports can load more reliably.

This is most noticeable for larger organizations, active groups, or reports spanning many threads and polls.

Bookmark visibility on hidden poll results

The Save bookmark action is hidden on votes when poll results are not yet visible.

This avoids exposing controls around vote details before the poll settings allow results to be seen.

Templates and participation reports

Templates and reporting both received substantial updates.

User-created templates in browse

User-generated discussion and poll templates can now appear in template browsing.

This makes it easier to discover useful templates created inside your organization, not only built-in examples.

Making copies of templates

Templates now have a Make a copy action.

Making a copy lets you use a template as a starting point for your own group or process. This is useful when an example is close to what you need, but you want to adapt the wording, settings, or poll structure.

Template draft cleanup

When a discussion or poll template is saved, Loomio clears the collaborative editor draft for that form. This prevents old draft content from reappearing after the template has already been saved.

Participation report improvements

The participation report now includes more ways to understand activity across groups and tags.

New reporting views include:

  • group scope controls
  • tag-based thread reporting
  • tags per interval
  • tagged threads by user
  • chart improvements
  • a user filter

Group scope controls were redesigned around:

  • All groups
  • My groups
  • Custom

This makes it easier to run reports for the whole organization, only groups you belong to, or a chosen subset of groups.

Tags in reports

Reports can now show how tags are being used over time and which users are tagging threads.

This is useful for tracking themes, work streams, campaigns, or recurring topics across an organization.

Thread reading and navigation

Thread reading behavior and navigation were adjusted to better match what people expect after they participate.

New to you

The thread navigation now includes New to you.

This gives people a clearer place to find activity they have not yet seen, without mixing it up with every recent update.

Your own activity is marked read

When you add content to a thread, Loomio now marks your own new thread items as read for you.

This avoids the confusing pattern where your own comment, poll, vote, or outcome immediately appears as something you still need to read.

Latest visibility fix

The Latest thread navigation was adjusted so it more accurately reflects visible thread activity.

Participant and notification history

Participant history and notification history actions were restricted to the people who should be able to see them.

This keeps thread administration information from being exposed too broadly.

Moderation and comment limits

Admins now have more control over comment length and vote-reason visibility.

Comment length limits

Threads and templates can now define a comment length limit.

When a limit is set, comments must stay within the configured character count. If a comment is too long, Loomio shows a clear validation message before it is posted.

This is useful for groups that want concise input, structured check-ins, or lightweight decision-making formats.

Templates can include limits

Discussion and poll templates can include a comment length limit, so repeated processes can carry the same expectation each time they are used.

For example, a template can encourage short updates or tightly scoped feedback without admins having to set the limit manually on every new thread.

Vote reason redaction

Admins can now redact vote reasons.

When a vote reason is redacted:

  • the vote remains in the poll results
  • the reason text is hidden
  • attachments on the reason are hidden
  • the redaction can be restored if needed

This gives admins a way to moderate sensitive or inappropriate vote explanations without changing the actual vote.

File upload size configuration

Installations can now configure the maximum upload size. This may affect the largest files people can attach, depending on how the Loomio site is configured.

Language and translation updates

Several translation and tone updates were made across Loomio.

More consistent informal language

The app language was reviewed for consistency in several locales, including:

  • German
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Italian
  • Brazilian Portuguese

The goal was to keep Loomio’s tone consistent and natural, especially in languages where formal and informal address can easily drift.

Translation fixes for reports and tags

New reporting and tag-related strings were translated across supported client locales.

Several interpolation issues were corrected so translated strings keep the right variable names and render properly.

Better translated notices

Server flash notices are now translated before being sent to the client.

This gives people clearer localized feedback in more situations.

Why this matters

For multilingual groups, these updates make the interface feel more consistent and reduce confusing wording caused by automatic translation choices.

Sign-in and account updates

Several sign-in and account flows were improved.

Login-code rate limits

When a login-code request is rate limited, Loomio now shows a clearer error message instead of a generic failure.

This helps people understand that they may need to wait before requesting another login link or code.

Password prompt after login-code sign-in

People who sign in with a login code may now be prompted to set a password.

This is useful for people who want a faster sign-in option next time, or who prefer not to rely on email codes for every session.

The prompt is optional. It offers a direct Set password action from the signed-in session.

OAuth profile photos

When signing in through an OAuth provider, Loomio can now apply the profile picture supplied by that provider.

This makes new and returning accounts feel more complete after social or organization-based sign-in.

Website sign-in awareness

Loomio now sets a signed-in browser cookie that can be used by the Loomio website to detect whether someone is already signed in.

This helps public website and app flows stay in sync.

Interface refresh

Loomio’s interface has been refreshed as part of the move to a newer version of the design framework.

What changed

The update touches many parts of the app, including:

  • forms
  • menus
  • buttons
  • dialogs
  • poll voting screens
  • thread event rows
  • group settings
  • member lists
  • email settings
  • report controls

The goal is a cleaner and more consistent interface across the app.

Tags and thread controls

Tag controls were also adjusted during this work. Tag colours display more reliably, and newly added tags are checked immediately after they are saved.

Thread and poll action controls were tightened so actions are easier to scan and use consistently.

Account merge screens

The account merge confirmation screens were updated along with the interface refresh, so the flow is clearer when combining duplicate accounts.

What stayed the same

This was mostly an interface and consistency update. The underlying concepts of groups, threads, polls, votes, and memberships remain the same.

Group handle redirects

Group links are now more resilient when a group changes its handle.

What changed

When a group handle changes, Loomio remembers the old handle and redirects people to the current group address.

For example, if a group changes from:

/g/old-handle

to:

/g/new-handle

people who use the old link are sent to the new one.

Why this matters

This helps preserve links shared in emails, documents, chat tools, bookmarks, and older Loomio notifications.

It also reduces disruption when an organization renames a group or updates handles to match a new naming convention.

Limits

Old handles are protected so they cannot be reused in ways that would send people to the wrong group.

Email replies and inbound messages also understand redirected group handles, so older notification emails keep working after a handle change.

Bookmarks

Bookmarks give you a personal way to save important Loomio content so you can return to it later.

What can be bookmarked

You can now bookmark several kinds of content:

  • threads
  • comments
  • polls
  • votes
  • outcomes

Bookmarked content appears in a dedicated Bookmarks page, available from the sidebar.

How bookmarks behave

Bookmarks are personal. Saving or removing a bookmark affects only your own account.

Removing a bookmark updates the bookmark count immediately and treats the item as no longer bookmarked. If you later save it again, it behaves like a fresh bookmark.

Logged-out visitors cannot create bookmarks, and logged-out paths now handle bookmark controls without raising errors.

Why this matters

Bookmarks are useful for:

  • keeping track of threads you need to return to
  • saving a specific comment or vote for later reference
  • collecting outcomes that matter to your work
  • building a personal follow-up list without changing the thread for everyone else

Performance and scale improvements

Several parts of Loomio were optimized for larger groups and busy organizations.

Faster inbox and thread lists

Inbox topic queries were rewritten and indexed to load much faster, especially for accounts with many groups or a large history of threads.

Sidebar unread counts were also adjusted to focus on topics active within the last 6 weeks. This keeps counts faster and more relevant for day-to-day work.

Faster thread views

Thread view queries were improved with additional indexes for event depth and pinned events.

This helps large or deeply nested threads load more predictably.

Faster notifications and activity loading

Several notification and event-list paths were optimized to avoid repeated database lookups.

Areas improved include:

  • notification lists
  • event lists
  • topic visibility checks
  • comment loading
  • reaction loading
  • voter lists

Mention search was changed to look up topic members and admins more efficiently.

This is most noticeable in large groups or threads with many participants.

Large report reliability

Participation report queries were optimized so larger reports can be generated more reliably.

For power users and admins, this means reporting across many groups, tags, or time periods should feel more practical.

Terminology updates and unread count cap

The sidebar and inbox page now say "threads" instead of "discussions" for unread and direct items, aligning terminology across the app. The search modal's content-type dropdown now offers "Polls" instead of the older "Decisions" label.

The inbox page and sidebar unread counter now only consider activity from the last 6 weeks, with an explanatory notice added to the bottom of the inbox page. This keeps long-idle threads from cluttering unread counts indefinitely.

Poll export opened up to all viewers

Exporting poll results was previously restricted to poll coordinators. It's now available to anyone who has permission to see the poll at all, since the export contains no information beyond what's already visible in the poll itself. Access is still denied to people who can't see the poll, for example in a private thread.

Discussion invitations include the active poll

When someone is invited to a discussion that has an open poll attached, the invitation email now renders the poll itself, including its title and options, not just the discussion text.

Thread locking

"Close thread" and "Reopen thread" are now called "Lock thread" and "Unlock thread," with new padlock icons throughout.

Threads can no longer be locked while they contain an active poll. The group threads panel now defaults to showing unlocked threads only, with an "All" option to include locked ones, and pinned threads always appear at top regardless of lock state. The thread preview action menu also gained direct pin/unpin and lock/unlock shortcuts.

Poll condition indicators and comment restore permissions

When a poll has quorum or threshold conditions, each one now shows a clear pass (green checkmark) or fail (grey, turning red once the poll closes) indicator, both in the app and in emails and chatbot summaries.

Previously, if an admin discarded a member's comment, that same member could undo it themselves. Now, only the person who discarded a comment, or a group admin, can restore it. An author can still restore their own self-discarded comment, but not one an admin removed.

Thread layout settings and Files panel scope

The thread settings modal now offers two straightforward layout choices, Timeline or Threaded, replacing the previous combination of oldest/newest sorting with three separate nesting-depth options. A new "Mark as read" action has also been added to the thread's action menu.

A group's Files panel previously could surface attachments from certain visible subgroups as well. It now only shows files that belong to the group you're actually viewing.

Trial account limits and seen-by avatars

Trial and group-creation limits

New accounts (less than 7 days old) can now only create one trial-plan top-level group, unless they already belong to a paying group. Separately, cancelled or inactive memberships now count toward a trial group's membership limit, so the limit can't be bypassed by leaving and rejoining. These changes target spam and abuse account creation and don't affect established or paying groups.

Seen-by and notification history

The "Seen by" and "Notification history" views, opened from a thread's action menu, now display member avatars, and notification history shows read/unread status per recipient.

Thread sidebar redesign

The in-thread sidebar now shows pinned proposals with participant avatars inline at the top of the navigation list, rather than requiring a separate lookup. The unread count is shown next to the "unread" jump-to label, and navigating to an item now gives a brief highlight animation so it's easy to spot where you landed.

Smaller improvements (April)

  • Sidebar updates immediately on new access. When a member joined a group themselves, or was added by an admin while already logged in, the group/subgroup list in the sidebar previously stayed stale until a full page reload. It now refreshes automatically the moment access is granted.
  • No self-notification on group @mentions. Mentioning your own group's handle in a comment or thread no longer sends you a notification or email about your own mention, matching how individual @mentions already work.

Sign-in hardening and upload limits

Bot protection on sign-in and signup

Password sign-in, magic-link ("login token") requests, and new signup/trial creation now pass through a Cloudflare Turnstile challenge to deter bots and credential-stuffing. It's skipped automatically for people completing a login by clicking an emailed magic link, and for sessions where a valid login code has already been supplied, so returning users aren't challenged twice.

Upload size limits

Direct file uploads are now capped by account tier: 25 MB for trial accounts and 1 GB for paid accounts. Uploads over the limit are rejected up front with a clear "file too large" message instead of failing partway through.

Report CSV export and a dedicated poll votes page

Each table in the group or organization Reports page now has a "Download CSV" button, letting admins export report data for use in spreadsheets without extra tooling.

Polls also gained their own "votes" page listing every participant's response, with filtering by option and searching by voter name. It's linked from the participation count on the poll's results chart, making it much easier to review who voted for what on polls with many participants.

New poll type: Single Transferable Vote (STV)

Loomio added STV as a poll type for multi-winner, proportional elections, supporting Scottish (WIGM) and Meek counting methods with Droop or Hare quotas.

Voters rank candidates via drag-and-drop. Results show round-by-round counting, with ties flagged rather than silently broken. STV polls are always anonymous, and results stay hidden until the poll closes. Results can be exported in BLT format.

This is a beta feature: because the counting logic is new, the poll form displays a warning inviting people to report bugs on GitHub. Expect ongoing refinement.

Smaller improvements (March)

  • Thread settings: allow comments, allow reactions. Threads gained two new toggles in Thread settings. Turning either off stops participants from posting comments or adding emoji reactions on that thread, giving thread owners finer control over how a conversation can be used, for example an announcement-only thread.
  • Cohousing signup category. When creating a new group, "Cohousing" is now available as a category option alongside Community, Government, and others.

Parent groups show subgroup activity

Viewing a parent group's Discussions or Polls panel now shows threads from its subgroups as well as the parent group itself, giving admins and members a fuller picture of organization-wide activity without switching between subgroups.

Separately, people with permission to add guests to a group can now find and invite users who belong to a different organization — previously the invite search silently excluded anyone outside the inviter's own organization.

One active poll per thread by default

Threads now default to allowing only one active poll at a time. A new thread setting, "Allow concurrent polls," can be switched on to permit multiple simultaneous polls in the same thread, matching the previous behavior.

Template galleries and poll type renames

New "browse" pages let you explore the full library of poll and discussion templates, including a subgroup's parent-group templates, with a one-click "fork" action to copy an example into your own group.

Poll type renames

Poll types were renamed for clarity: Choose, Allocate, Score, Rank, Time. A new Majority proposal template was added, and process introductions and subtitles were rewritten across templates.

Simplified chooser

The "Show all templates in one list" option and the separate Meeting tab were removed in favor of a simpler template chooser.

Friendlier practice and onboarding templates

The practice proposal shown to new groups got a lighter tone and a shorter default duration, and is now hidden from the general template list — it's recommended only inside the practice thread itself.

A new "Let's try Loomio" proposal template was added to help groups commit to giving Loomio a proper trial run.

Smaller improvements (February)

  • Form errors show the specific problem. Discussion, poll, group, vote and comment forms now surface the actual validation error from the server (e.g. which field is invalid and why) instead of a generic "check for errors and try again" message.
  • Admin-only participant verification. New instance-level setting restricts the "verify participants" / voting-receipts feature to group admins only, rather than anyone who can see the poll.
  • Remove group logo or cover photo. Group admins can now remove an uploaded logo or cover photo from group settings, not just replace it.

Member-created templates

Groups can now enable a "Members can create templates" setting so regular members, not just admins, can create discussion and poll templates.

Member-created templates are hidden from the general template list by default, pending admin review. Members can edit or delete their own templates. Thread templates are now called discussion templates throughout the interface.

Scheduled poll opening times

Polls can now be scheduled to open for voting at a future date and time rather than immediately.

How it works

Until the scheduled time, the poll is visible to the group but not votable, and shows an "Opening in..." countdown. Voting-open notifications are sent when the poll actually opens, not when it's created, so people aren't notified before there's anything to do.

Poll form changes

The poll creation form was reworked with a clearer voting-duration section that shows opening and closing dates together, a "More settings" accordion to reduce clutter for the common case, and a redesigned date picker.

Smaller improvements (January)

A collection of smaller fixes and polish items:

  • Tags on closed groups are now private. Non-members can no longer see a closed group's tag list; previously tag names leaked to signed-out or non-member visitors viewing a closed group's page.
  • Group data exports exclude revoked memberships. HTML and CSV group exports now only include currently active memberships.
  • Onboarding checklist relabeled. The sidebar "Try Loomio with your group" prompt is now called "Getting started checklist."
  • Search modal wording. Cleaned up terminology in the search modal for consistency with the rest of the app.
  • Comment editing reliability. Fixed a bug where editing an existing comment could intermittently fail to load its content, or fail to clear a draft correctly.
  • Sign-up profile picture options. The option to use your SSO or social provider's photo was removed from the change-picture flow; Gravatar and manual upload remain.

Direct discussions

"Invite-only" threads are now called direct discussions throughout the interface, with clearer empty-state messaging explaining what a direct discussion is: a conversation with someone that doesn't belong to a group.

On instances configured to disable open account creation, a user with no group memberships can still start a direct discussion with another person, rather than being blocked for lack of a group.

"Polls to vote on" dashboard page

The dashboard sidebar now shows a live count of polls waiting for your vote. Selecting it opens a dedicated page listing just those polls, so you don't have to hunt across groups to find what still needs your response.

Single sign-on improvements

Two fixes make organization single sign-on (SSO) more reliable.

Locked profile fields

When an instance is configured to force SSO-managed attributes, a member's name, email, and username fields become read-only on their profile. These values are managed by the identity provider and can no longer be edited from within Loomio.

Login reliability

Fixed crashes where OAuth/SAML sign-in would fail with a server error, or show an "email already taken" error for someone who already had a Loomio account under the same email but no linked SSO identity. Signing in now correctly finds and links the existing account instead of erroring.

Explore page improvements

The public groups directory (Explore) is easier to browse and easier for admins to control.

Sorting and listing

Explore now offers four sort orders for the groups directory: most members, fewest members, newest, and oldest. Group admins get a clearer "List in the groups directory?" choice in group settings, with better-worded descriptions of what listing means for privacy. "Anyone can join" is available as a group option even when public account creation is closed at the instance level.

Restricting Explore to signed-in users

Instance admins can now require sign-in to view the Explore page. When enabled, visitors who aren't signed in are sent to the login page instead of seeing the public groups directory.

Smaller improvements (December)

  • Typography and readability. Headings in user-generated content are now bold, making threads easier to scan. General typography on thread pages has been tightened for better readability.
  • Dashboard performance. The dashboard loads more quickly, especially for users belonging to many groups.
  • Poll option reliability. Fixed a bug where deleting a poll option during poll creation could leave behind invalid data that caused voting errors.
  • Thread warning rewritten. The warning shown when you try to start a discussion in a group that already has an active one has been reworded to be clearer.
  • Export includes author names. CSV exports of group data now include the author name for each comment alongside the comment body.

Terminology improvements

Several terms have been renamed throughout the interface to be clearer and easier to translate.

  • Superseded replaces "outdated." When a poll is closed and a newer poll on the same topic replaces it, the old poll is now marked "superseded" rather than "outdated." The new term is more precise: "superseded" means "replaced by a newer version," while "outdated" incorrectly implied the decision was no longer valid.
  • Position change theshold. If you change your vote more than 15 minutes after your last save, the system records it as a new stance rather than an edit. This makes it clear when someone has had a significant change of mind, visible in the vote history.

Smaller improvements (November)

  • Thread-start button disabled at limit. When a group has reached its maximum number of open threads, the "Start thread" button is now disabled rather than letting you write a post that can't be saved.
  • Dashboard loads fewer items initially. The dashboard now shows a smaller set of recent threads and polls by default for faster load times, especially on instances with many groups.
  • Email replies to notifications. Replying directly to a notification email (rather than a thread email) now bounces back with a clear message rather than being silently discarded.
  • Group data exports include comment titles. CSV and HTML exports of group data now include comment titles alongside body text.

Per-group email settings

Each group's email notification preferences are now visible and editable from a single page.

Go to your email settings and you'll see every group you belong to listed with its current notification setting. You can change all of them at once, or adjust individual groups. Previously you had to visit each group's page separately to change its email setting.

Automatic translation of user content

User-generated content — discussions, comments, and poll details — can now be translated inline with one click.

How it works

When a comment or thread body appears in a language different from your interface language, a "Translate" button appears. Clicking it replaces the text with a machine translation. A "Show original" link lets you switch back.

Translations are generated on demand and cached, so re-opening a thread doesn't re-trigger a translation request.

Email translation

The same translation feature is available in notification emails. When an email contains content in a language different from your account language setting, it's automatically translated.

Group-level control

Group admins can enable or disable automatic translation for their group's content. When enabled, translations are offered to all group members, regardless of their individual settings.

Instance admins can turn automatic translation on or off for the entire instance.

Smaller improvements (October)

  • Dashboard "no polls" message. When you have no polls waiting for your vote, the dashboard now shows a clear message instead of a blank panel.
  • Ranked choice poll clarification. The "number of choices" field on ranked choice polls now has clearer helper text explaining what it does.
  • Error display when voting fails. If your vote fails to save (for example due to a connection issue), the interface now shows a visible error rather than silently failing. An option to reload is offered when a page asset fails to load after a deploy.

Unsubscribe from a poll via email

Email notifications for polls now include an "Unsubscribe from this poll" link in the footer.

Clicking it stops notifications for that specific poll without affecting your notification settings for other polls or the group. This is the poll-level equivalent of the thread-level "Don't send me email" option.

Show your vote after the poll closes

After a poll closes, your own vote is now displayed prominently so you can see how you voted at a glance.

Previously, once a poll closed, your vote was only visible in the full vote breakdown. Now it appears at the top of the poll panel alongside the outcome, making it easy to remember your position when reviewing past decisions.

Admin group privacy settings

Instance admins can now edit a group's visibility setting from the admin panel.

Go to Admin > Groups, select a group, and change its privacy level (open, closed, or secret). Previously, only group coordinators could change this, making it difficult for instance admins to manage groups that had lost their coordinators.

Smaller improvements (September)

  • @mentions on new discussions work reliably. Fixed a bug where @mentioning someone in the first comment of a new thread would sometimes fail to send them a notification.
  • Email replies from unknown senders. Replying to a notification email from an unrecognized address is now handled gracefully rather than silently dropped.
  • Dutch translations corrected. Fixed an erroneous Dutch translation that swapped the meaning of two labels.

Participant verification in anonymous polls

Coordinators can now verify who has and hasn't voted in an anonymous poll.

Previously, anonymous polls hid all voter identities — including from coordinators who needed to know who still hadn't voted. Now coordinators can see a list of who has participated without revealing how each person voted. Individual votes remain anonymous to everyone, including the coordinator.

The verification list is available from the poll menu under "Verify participants."

Poll quorum

Polls can now require a minimum number of voters before a result is considered valid.

How it works

When creating a poll, coordinators can set a quorum — the minimum number of people who must vote. Until the quorum is reached, the poll banner shows how many more votes are needed and the results panel notes that quorum hasn't been met. Once enough people have voted, the quorum message disappears and results are shown normally.

This is useful for boards and committees where a decision isn't binding unless a minimum number of members participate.

The quorum setting is available on all poll types and can be set in the poll creation form under "More settings."

View all votes

Every poll now has a "View all votes" option in its menu, separate from the poll title link.

Clicking the option opens the full vote breakdown, showing how each person voted, their stance, and any comments they left. This is the same view you'd get by clicking the poll title, now available as an explicit menu item for people who didn't realise the title was clickable.

Thread page navigation and unread handling

The thread page now loads more intelligently and helps you keep track of what you haven't read yet.

Unread-first loading

When you open a thread, the page loads the newest unread content first, rather than loading everything from the start. A "Load earlier" button lets you pull in older content on demand. This makes long-running threads open much faster.

When new activity arrives while you're reading, a banner appears offering to load the updates without losing your scroll position.

A navigation bar at the top of the thread page now includes links to jump to the first unread item, the latest activity, and the poll (if there is one). This saves scrolling in long threads.

New activity highlighting

New comments and activity are marked with a "New" indicator the first time you see them. Once read, the indicator disappears. Previously, the indicator could appear on content you'd already seen.

Smaller improvements (August)

  • Mobile sidebar improved. The sidebar on small screens now opens as an overlay rather than pushing content to the side, making thread reading on phones much smoother.
  • Reaction display on busy threads. When dozens of people react, the reaction row now wraps cleanly and shows counts that are easier to read.
  • Group page thread list no longer overflows on mobile. Panels with many pages of threads fit the screen width correctly on phones.
  • Invite button icon. The "invite people" button now uses a bullhorn icon, making it faster to spot.
  • Print layout. Page layout when printing a thread has been improved.

Smaller improvements (July)

  • Poll preview shows group name. When viewing a poll preview or shared poll link, the group the poll belongs to is now displayed, making it clearer where the poll lives.
  • Long poll titles handled better. Very long poll titles no longer break the poll page layout.
  • "Closing on same day" allowed. Polls with short voting periods can now close on the same day they open.

Revision history modal

You can now view the edit history of a comment or thread from a redesigned revision history panel.

The history modal shows each version with timestamps, and buttons to navigate between versions are more clearly laid out. This makes it easier to review how a proposal or comment text has evolved over time.

Move invite-only threads to a group

Invite-only threads can now be moved into a group.

If a conversation that started outside of any group grows beyond the initial invitees, the thread creator can move it into a group they belong to. The thread becomes visible to all group members, and the group's notification and privacy settings apply from that point forward.

Smaller improvements (June)

  • Template galleries and poll type renames. Poll templates are now organized into a gallery, making it easier to find the right poll type. Several poll types have clearer names.
  • Sidebar remembers your preference. The sidebar now stays open or closed based on your last choice, persisted across page loads.
  • Dark mode fixes. Dark mode is now consistently applied in all areas of the app, including the thread page and editor.
  • Upload progress bars restored. File uploads now show progress again.

Practice templates and getting started tips

New groups now get a set of guided steps to help them start using Loomio effectively.

Practice thread

Each new group starts with a practice thread and a practice proposal. These appear in the group with example content, giving members a safe place to experiment with discussions, polls, and voting before doing it for real.

Getting started checklist

The sidebar now has a "Getting started checklist" that walks group admins through setup: inviting members, starting a first thread, running a poll, and sharing an outcome. Each step shows a brief tip on hover. Tips are shown for the first 28 days of a group's life and hide automatically when all steps are complete.

Interface refresh

A ground-up rebuild brings a faster, more responsive experience throughout the app.

What changed

Page transitions between the dashboard, group pages, and threads are now instant. Thread pages with hundreds of comments load and scroll smoothly. The entire interface re-renders from a shared state, so navigating between threads in a group no longer reloads common data.

Visual changes

Buttons, form fields, modals, and layout spacing are more consistent across the app. The sidebar defaults to open on large screens and remembers your open or closed preference across visits. Unread thread previews now have a prominent highlight that makes them easy to pick out in a long list.

Editor

The rich text editor supports more formatting options and handles file attachments more reliably. Formatting buttons light up to show which styles are active on the current selection.

Group categories

Groups can now be assigned a category when they're created or from the group settings page.

Categories like "Board," "Working group," "Project," or "Committee" help organize groups within your instance. Group admins can set or change the category at any time. Categories are visible on the group page and help members understand the group's purpose at a glance.

Smaller improvements (April)

A collection of smaller fixes and polish items:

  • Error pages redesigned. Error messages for common problems like access-denied and not-found are now clearer and styled to match the current interface.
  • German locale fixes. Corrected several German translations where formal register had been used instead of informal.

Improved poll invitations

When a group is set to "Anyone in the group can add members," polls in that group can now invite guests without requiring coordinator approval.

Previously, inviting non-members to vote in a poll required coordinator rights even when the group's membership settings were open. Now the poll invitation permission follows the group's guest-invitation policy.

Auto-accept organization members

Members who join a group or subgroup via an organization domain are now automatically accepted rather than queued as membership requests.

How it works

When an instance admin configures organization domains, anyone signing up with a matching email address is treated as belonging to the organization. These members are now accepted immediately into any group that allows organization members to join, skipping the approval step. They can participate right away.

RSS feeds restored

Group threads are again available as RSS feeds.

Add .rss to any group URL to get a feed of the group's latest threads. Feeds respect the group's privacy settings, so RSS readers can only access threads the requesting user has permission to see.

This re-establishes a feature that had been unavailable since the Vue upgrade.

Smaller improvements (March)

  • Move comments now moves all replies. When you move a comment to a different thread, all nested replies to that comment are moved along with it. Previously only the first level of replies was moved.
  • Thread loading improved. Scrolling to load more comments now preserves your scroll position, so you don't lose your place when older comments load in.

Custom site description

Instance admins can now set a custom description that appears in search engine results and social media previews for the front page.

Configure it under Admin > Site settings. The description also appears as the meta description tag, helping your Loomio instance show up more clearly in search results. Previously this used a fixed default string.

@group mentions

You can now mention an entire group in a thread or comment by typing @group-name.

Members of the mentioned group receive a notification, making it easy to loop in a whole team or committee without listing every member individually.

Group mentions work everywhere existing @name mentions work: thread context, comments, and poll details. Private groups can only be mentioned by people who are already members of that group.

Conceal threads from email notifications

Group members who receive email notifications can now choose to conceal individual threads from their email digest.

How it works

Each thread page has a "Don't send me email for this thread" option. When selected, you'll stop receiving email notifications about that thread without changing your notification settings for other threads in the group. You still see the thread on your dashboard and can participate normally.

Invite-only threads

Threads that exist outside of a group are now called "invite-only threads" throughout the interface.

How it works

You can start a thread and invite specific people without attaching it to a group. These threads are visible only to the people you invite, and they show up on the invited members' dashboard under "Invite-only."

Terminology

All references to "direct threads" in the interface have been replaced with "invite-only thread" to better describe how they work.

Smaller improvements (2024)

  • Blank threads now notify by default. When you start a new thread, the default notification setting is now "Notify group members" rather than leaving the thread unannounced, reducing the chance of silent threads nobody knows about.
  • Simplified poll announce permissions. The permission to announce a poll to the group has been streamlined. If the group allows it, any member can notify the group about a new poll. Previously this required separate checks that were easy to misconfigure.
  • Email-to-group for public groups. Groups set to "Anyone can join" or "Anyone can see" can now receive discussion-starting emails from non-members, not just from existing group members. The email address is shown on the public group page.
  • Removed contact request. The legacy "contact request" feature has been removed. Use the request-to-join flow for closed groups or the email-to-group feature to reach group coordinators instead.
  • WebEx support added. Meeting polls now support WebEx alongside the existing video conferencing options.
  • Custom login logos. Instance admins can set custom logos for Google and SAML login buttons, and apply a grayscale filter to the sidebar logo in dark mode for a cleaner look.
  • Redirect users to a group. Instance admins can set an environment variable to redirect signed-in users to a specific group page instead of the dashboard on login.

Public polls visible to logged-out users

Polls in public groups are now visible to visitors who aren't signed in. Previously, logged-out visitors could see the thread but not the poll it contained, which was confusing when someone shared a poll link. Now anyone who can view the thread can also see the poll and its results (if results are public).

Email complaint tracking

The group members panel now shows which members' email addresses have been rejected or marked as spam by their email provider.

Members whose emails are bouncing or have generated spam complaints get an "Email rejected" chip next to their name. The system automatically stops sending notifications to these addresses, preventing your instance's email reputation from being degraded. Instance admins can view complaint counts from the admin panel.

Request to join prompt

When someone requests to join a closed group, they now see a prompt explaining what to write and why. This helps prospective members write a useful request (e.g., "I'm a member of the board and need access to meeting materials") rather than leaving the message field blank or unclear.

Group coordinators can also set a custom invitation message template that's sent to new invitees alongside the invitation.

Simplified score and dot vote forms

Score and dot vote polls no longer include separate text fields for each option by default. The voting form now focuses on the score or dot allocation, reducing clutter. Voters can still add a comment on their overall stance if they want to explain their reasoning.

Newsletter service

Groups can now send newsletter-style updates to their members via email.

From the group page, coordinators can compose and send a one-off email to all group members. The email includes rich text formatting, images, and links. Unlike discussion notifications, newsletters are a single broadcast — replies don't create a thread. This is intended for announcements, updates, and other communications that don't need a discussion.

Instance admins can enable or disable the newsletter feature at the instance level.

Admin remove users

Instance admins can now remove users from the admin panel. Go to Admin > Users, select a user, and choose "Remove." This is useful for cleaning up spam accounts or handling data removal requests without needing to use the console.

Track notifications read via email

When you read a thread by clicking a link in a notification email, the corresponding in-app notification is now marked as read automatically. Previously, reading the thread from an email link would leave the notification unread in the app, requiring you to clear it separately.

Renamed: direct threads

What were called "invite-only threads" are now called "direct threads" throughout the interface. The behavior is the same — start a discussion with specific people without attaching it to a group — but the new name better describes what they are: a direct conversation.

Smaller improvements (2023)

  • Thread templates. Coordinators can now create reusable thread templates with default text and settings. Start a discussion from a template to standardize recurring processes like meeting agendas or project updates.
  • Canonical URLs. Thread and group pages now include a canonical URL tag, helping search engines understand which URL is the primary one and improving search result quality.
  • Link previews. Pasting a URL into the editor now generates a preview card showing the page title, description, and image. This works for most websites and makes shared links more readable in threads.
  • Bot accounts. Instance admins can mark user accounts as bots. Bot accounts are excluded from member counts and don't appear in member lists, but can still post and interact via the API.
  • Custom login provider names. Instance admins can now set custom display names for OAuth and SAML login buttons (e.g., "Sign in with Organization Account" instead of the provider's default name).
  • Notification email sender. Notification emails now show the site name rather than "Anonymous User" in the from field.
  • Editor upgrade. The rich text editor was upgraded with better task list support and more reliable formatting.

Email to group

Groups can now have a dedicated email address for starting discussions by email.

How it works

Each group gets a unique email address (displayed in group settings). Any group member can email that address to start a new discussion. The email subject becomes the thread title and the email body becomes the first comment. Attachments are included automatically.

Managing incoming email

Group coordinators can create email aliases for members who want to post from a different address than the one on their Loomio account. Addresses can be allowlisted or blocked from the group settings page.

Instance admins must enable incoming email for the instance before groups can use this feature.

Revoke memberships

When you remove someone from a group, their access to the group's threads, polls, and discussions is now revoked immediately. Previously, removed members sometimes retained access to threads they had previously participated in. Revoked members no longer appear in thread participant lists or receive notifications.

Poll templates

Coordinators can now create and use poll templates — reusable poll configurations that include all settings and options pre-filled.

From the poll creation form, select a saved template instead of building a poll from scratch. Templates save time when your group regularly runs the same type of poll, such as a monthly proposal or a recurring dot vote. Create and manage templates from the group settings page.

Mark all notifications as read

The notifications panel now has a "Mark all as read" button at the top. One click clears all unread notifications. Previously you had to mark each notification individually or wait for them to be marked as read by email.

Reply placement

When you reply to a specific comment, your reply now appears directly beneath the comment you're responding to, indented to show the relationship. Previously all comments appeared in a flat chronological list regardless of which comment they replied to. This makes following threaded conversations much easier.

Discard polls alongside discussions

When you discard a discussion thread, any polls that belong to it are now discarded at the same time. Previously discarding a thread left orphaned polls visible in the group's poll list. Discarded threads and polls can both be restored from the trash.

Smaller improvements (2022)

  • Poll common form. The poll creation form was rebuilt with a shared design across all poll types, making the interface more consistent when switching between simple polls, proposals, dot votes, and ranked choices.
  • Show winner in outcome. When sharing a poll outcome, the winning option is now highlighted and listed first in the outcome statement.
  • "This is Loomio" banner. Visitors viewing content without an account now see a banner explaining what Loomio is and offering a trial, helping new people understand the platform.
  • Paginated poll votes. The poll results page now loads votes in pages rather than all at once, making it much faster on polls with hundreds of voters.
  • Brand update. The Loomio logo and brand colors were updated across the app.
  • Remove self from poll. You can now remove yourself from a poll's voter list if you were added but don't want to participate.

Polls linked in threads

When a poll that started on its own poll page is later added to a thread, visiting the poll URL now redirects to the poll's position within the thread rather than showing a standalone poll page. This keeps the conversation and the vote in one place.

Add meaning to dot vote and score poll

Dot vote and score polls now support an optional "meaning" field for each option.

When creating a dot vote or score poll, you can add a short label to each option to explain what a vote for that option represents. For example, a score poll asking members to rate proposals could label each score level: 1 = "Strongly disagree," 3 = "Neutral," 5 = "Strongly agree." The meaning labels appear on the voting form and in results.

Remove your vote

You can now change your mind and remove your vote entirely, rather than only being able to change it to a different option.

Select "Remove vote" from the poll menu to clear your stance. The poll tallies update immediately, and any reactions on your previous vote are preserved in the vote history. You can vote again later if the poll is still open.

Chatbot notifications

Groups can now set up a chatbot integration that posts thread and poll updates to external chat platforms.

What gets posted

When configured, the chatbot posts notifications to a chat channel when: - A new thread is started - A new poll is created - A poll outcome is shared - Voting is about to close (with a list of who hasn't voted yet)

The poll outcome post includes the winning option, making it easy to share decisions with people who use chat but not Loomio.

Setup

Instance admins configure chatbot webhooks under Admin > Integrations. Group coordinators then enable the feature and set the destination channel from group settings.

Public demo groups

Anyone can now try Loomio instantly without signing up.

The homepage offers a "Try a demo" button that opens a pre-filled demo group. You can explore threads, polls, and group features with example data. No account is needed to view the demo, though creating and voting requires signing up.

This replaced the old group survey flow, which has been removed.

Hide poll results

Polls now have more granular control over when results are visible.

Settings

When creating or editing a poll, choose from these result visibility options:

  • Show results immediately. Results are visible to everyone who can see the poll while voting is open.
  • Hide results until the poll closes. No one sees the result breakdown until voting ends.
  • Show results after you vote. You can see results only after casting your own vote.

The setting can be changed after the poll is created from the poll menu.

Smaller improvements (2021)

  • Thread templates. Coordinators can create reusable thread templates with default text, tags, and poll settings. Start a new thread from a template to save time on recurring processes.
  • Client reload on deploy. When a new version of the app is deployed, the page now prompts you to reload instead of silently breaking, preventing confusion when features change.
  • Broadcast to guests. When you add guests to a poll, they now receive a notification email. Previously only group members received poll notifications.
  • Links and tags in emails. Notification emails now include thread tags and properly styled links, making it easier to scan emails and jump to the right thread.
  • Pinned threads. Threads can now be pinned to the top of a group's discussion list. Pinned threads show a pin icon and stay at the top regardless of recent activity.

Clone a group

You can now create a copy of an existing group, including its tags, settings, and thread templates.

From the group settings menu, select "Clone group." The new group starts with the same privacy settings, tags, and permission configuration as the original, but without any threads, members, or polls. This is useful for organizations that run the same process across multiple teams or committees.

Translate group content

Group coordinators can now translate all group content — including threads, polls, and outcomes — into a different language with one click.

From the group page, select "Translate group" and choose a target language. All user-generated content in the group is machine-translated and displayed inline. Individual members can switch between the translation and the original text.

This is especially useful for organizations with multilingual memberships.

Reactions on votes

You can now react to other people's votes with emoji.

When viewing the vote breakdown on a poll, each person's stance has a reaction button. Use it to acknowledge someone's vote, show support, or add a light reaction to their reasoning. This works the same way as reactions on comments.

Hide archived groups

Archived groups no longer appear in the sidebar, on the dashboard, or in group listings.

When a group is no longer active, archive it from the group settings. The group and its content remain accessible via direct link, but it stops cluttering members' dashboards and sidebars. Coordinators can unarchive a group at any time.

Catch-up emails

You can now choose to receive digest emails at a slower pace. Select "Every second day" in your email settings to get fewer notification emails while still staying in the loop. Previously the options were immediate or daily only.

Member permissions expanded

Groups can now give members more responsibility without granting full coordinator access.

  • Members can manage threads. A new group permission lets members close, pin, or move threads without needing to be a coordinator. Enable it in group settings.
  • Members can delete their own comments. Members can now discard and restore their own comments. Coordinators and admins can still permanently delete any comment.

New group onboarding

New groups now get a guided setup flow to help them get started.

After creating a group, coordinators see a checklist of recommended steps: invite members, start a discussion, run a poll, and share an outcome. Each step links directly to the relevant action, reducing the time it takes for a new group to become productive.

Tags

Groups can now organize threads with tags.

Managing tags

Group coordinators manage the group's tag list from the group settings page. Add, rename, reorder, or delete tags at any time. Tags can be assigned colors to make them easy to spot.

Using tags

When creating or editing a thread, select one or more tags from the group's tag list. Tags appear on the thread card on the dashboard and on the group's discussions page, making it easy to filter and scan threads by topic.

Smaller improvements (2020)

The second half of 2020 brought a collection of smaller fixes and refinements:

  • Email notifications improved. The daily summary email now includes discussion and poll edits, not just new content. Notification emails were reorganized for consistency.
  • oEmbed replaces iframes. Links to YouTube, Vimeo, and other supported services now embed inline as responsive previews rather than raw iframes.
  • Polish language added. The interface is now available in Polish.
  • Load more counters. The "Load more" button on threads, group discussions, and member lists now shows how many items remain (e.g., "Load 12 more").
  • Audience tweaks. Controls over who can see and participate in threads and polls were refined based on user feedback.

Poll reminders

Poll creators can now send a reminder to people who haven't voted yet.

From the poll menu, select "Remind" to notify everyone who hasn't cast a vote. A "Remind" button also appears on the poll card when viewing a thread, making it easy to nudge people as the closing date approaches.

Hide poll results until the poll closes

Poll creators can now choose to conceal results while voting is in progress.

When enabled, the results panel and vote breakdown are hidden from everyone — including the poll creator — until the poll closes. Each participant still sees their own vote. Once the poll closes, results become visible to everyone with permission to see them.

Set this in the poll creation form under "More settings." Available on all poll types.

Spam and abuse protection

Several improvements help keep your instance free of spam accounts.

  • Spam user denial. Accounts flagged as spam are automatically prevented from creating content or sending invitations.
  • reCAPTCHA support. Instance admins can enable reCAPTCHA on the sign-up form to block automated account creation.
  • Content locale detection. The system now detects the language of user-generated content, helping moderators identify accounts that may not be legitimate.

System notice banner

Instance admins can now set a notice that appears at the top of every page for all users.

Configure it under Admin > Settings. The notice supports rich text and can include links. Use it for announcements, maintenance notices, or to point users to important threads. Users can dismiss the notice and it won't reappear until a new one is set.

Reply to polls via email

You can now vote in a poll by replying to the poll notification email.

The poll email lists the available options. Reply with the number of the option you want to choose and your vote is recorded. This works for simple polls and proposals. You can also add a comment — anything after the vote number in your reply becomes your comment on the vote.

Private threads

You can now start a discussion that isn't attached to any group — invite specific people directly.

Use this for conversations that don't need a full group, or to talk with people across different groups. The thread creator can invite anyone by email or username. The thread appears on each participant's dashboard. The creator can add or remove participants at any time. Discussions outside of groups are visible only to invited participants.

Thread export

Threads can now be exported as a downloadable file from the thread menu.

Go to any thread and select "Export" from the menu to download the thread as HTML or CSV. The export includes all comments, polls, poll results, and attachments in the thread. This is available to anyone who can view the thread.