Product
Release notes
ISO (In Search Of) — High-level ship log for neighbors on ISO App — we aim to add a short week summary most Sundays (posted by Monday) so you can see what changed without reading every deploy. Not every tiny fix is listed. For legal and policy changes, see Terms and Privacy.
June 5, 2026
Faster app, easier free feeds, delete posts, and marketplace comps
- Performance — Browse and ISO pages load faster: cached public feed, listing expiry moved to daily cron (not every page view), deduped inbox unread checks, and seller-match panels load only when you open Edit on Yours.
- Buy Nothing / free — Free tab in the mobile bottom bar; feed switcher on Browse (All ISOs · Free items · ISOs open to free · Trade); desktop Offer something free button. Less hunting for giveaways and gift-friendly asks.
- Your posts — permanently delete a listing (not just unlist from public). Existing message threads stay in Inbox; we keep a private staff audit record for safety.
- Marketplace comps (beta) — after you post an ISO, we can scan eBay for similar sold listings to help price and spot leads (when API is configured).
- Events & ops — more Bay Area event hubs (Giants, Warriors, Shoreline, theatre, and more); weekly Slack ops digest; staff cross-post seeding with Bay Area blog hero art.
- Mobile marketplace — Yours feed, compose nav (ISO / Trade / Buy Nothing), first-ISO walkthrough, FOUND survey, and reopen-from-archives polish from earlier in the week.
May 31, 2026
Blog heroes, signup trust links
- Blog heroes — watercolor illustrations on every article (Griztronics, parents, trade, Buy Nothing, and more); index cards and share previews use the same art.
- Sign up / log in — Terms, Privacy, FAQ, and safety links visible before you create an account.
- Art direction: neighbor-focused watercolor (less children’s-book / animal mascot on new blog art).
May 26 – June 1, 2026
Festival merch guide, trust copy, and calmer UX
- Blog — [After Griztronics: ISO & trade fest merch](/blog/after-griztronics-iso-trade-festival-merch) for Gorge crews trading tees, pins, and ISOs; Bay shows (Bill Graham, Midway) and prep for future fests (Beyond Wonderland, Bass Canyon, Seven Stars, EDC/Ultra season).
- Trust docs — FAQ, Terms, and Privacy clarify that email confirmed (confirmation link or Google/Facebook sign-in) is the same badge signal, not a background check.
- Copy — removed vendor-heavy auth and error text from login, signup, unavailable, and posting flows; friendlier photo-upload messages.
- Griztronics pilot — event signup + trade feed links unchanged (`GRIZTRONICS26`); internal festival calendar doc for ops.
- Focus unchanged: simple signup → first ISO; deeper reputation features wait until abuse volume warrants it.
May 19–25, 2026
Blog, trade, offers, and discovery polish
- Blog at /blog — neighbor guides on trade swaps, layoffs & the secondary market, ISO vs Facebook Marketplace, and community free / Buy Nothing; readable bold in articles.
- Trade — landing at /trade and a dedicated trade feed (/browse/trade) for swap ISOs (#trade, Trade budget).
- Seller offers (beta) — save what responders offer from a thread, a matching panel on your ISO, and My offers to track them.
- Greater Bay — more ZIPs can sign up; South Bay density banner and travel radius on Browse so greater-Bay neighbors know how to hunt.
- Sign-in — Facebook OAuth wired (Meta app still in Development until Live); auth email routes for signup, resend confirmation, and password reset.
- Ops — team alerts for signups, new listings, feedback, and reports.
- SEO — “ISO (In Search Of)” spelled out in page titles, meta descriptions, and first mentions on key marketing pages.
- Media — YouTube Short on About and home; footer social links (Instagram, Facebook, Slack, YouTube).
- Stability: several production deploy fixes so blog, footer, and shared modules ship together cleanly.
May 12–17, 2026
Buy Nothing, sign-in, and staff seeding
- Buy Nothing feed at /browse/free — neighbors can post items they’re clearing out (garage, moving, spring cleaning) with a dedicated offer flow on the dashboard; main Browse still focuses on ISO asks.
- Community-first story: give what you can, take what you need — updated /giving, FAQ, and feed copy so it’s about dignity and neighbor handoffs, not “donations” or charity framing.
- Sign-in polish: Google OAuth on production, email confirmation and password reset via Resend, and clearer auth callback handling so fewer neighbors get stuck after clicking a link.
- Trust in the nav: compact Founding Member (and related) badges beside your name when signed in.
- Posting UX: paste a photo from the clipboard again when creating ISOs or Buy Nothing listings.
- Staff cross-post seeding: paste a Facebook/Nextdoor link, import title and notes when the page allows it, pick an emoji when there’s no photo, then publish a shareable ISO page.
- Polish: custom 404 pages, loading skeletons on key routes, staff metrics snapshot, and acquisition-prep docs for later conversations.
May 6–11, 2026
Trust, discovery, and guardrails
- Trust and care: reporting, light posting and message limits, and moderation tools so spam and sketchy patterns have a harder time — real neighbors keep the conversation.
- Profiles and Browse: marketplace-style distance chips for “how far you’ll go,” plus poster badges on cards so trust signals show up right in the feed.
- Students and the Bay: campus .edu badges, travel radius, and broader Bay ZIP support for supported schools — same dignity-first feed, bigger welcome mat.
- Getting found: sitemap, robots.txt, and SEO on key pages; audience landings at /for; refreshed learn-page hero art so newcomers get the story fast.
- Polish you’ll notice: post templates, inbox badges, email-verified sync, calmer staff treatment in the nav after sign-out, and clearer Terms, Privacy, and FAQ language for neighbor-to-neighbor deals.
- Stability fixes behind the scenes so production stays steady as the product grows.
May 2026
Giving, trust, and guardrails
- Neighbor gifts filter now treats #nonprofit like other giving tags (#buynothing #donation #gift #free) — same public feed, easier for mission-driven asks.
- Signed-in neighbors can tap interest in future shipping helpers from a slim banner; we record it as launch interest (no obligation).
- Founding Member, campus, and Verified email badges on listings, inbox, and thread headers.
- Light posting and message burst limits; 72-hour guard on high-risk wording for brand-new accounts.
- Optional description outlines when posting (vehicle, housing, tickets).
May 2026
Profile & discovery
- Travel radius as simple distance chips (ZIP-to-ZIP estimate for Browse filter).
- Audience landing pages at /for (students, families, collectors, and more).
- ISO / LF / WTB learn page and expanded Terms for user-to-user transactions.
Earlier beta
Core experience
- Demand-led ISO feed, public ISO pages, in-app messaging, saves, and status (open / pending / found).
- South Bay ZIP gate with campus email expansion for supported schools.
Why release notes?
For a community app, a short weekly summary builds trust: you can see what we changed and why the product might feel different after an update. It complements in-app banners and the FAQ. When we post on social, we'll often link here so neighbors get the full picture, not just a headline.