# v8: Public testing phase 2
Today is the day! v8 is going into the second phase of public testing, which will last until end of the month. As this is the last phase of testing, we are looking for feedback and bug reports. If you find any bugs, please report them on our [Discord Community](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

# How to get your hands on v8 early
Phase 2 of public testing will happen on our [Discord Community](https://discord.xp-bot.net), where we will replace the current v7 bot with v8 for the entire month. All of XPs core features have already been implemented into v8, so for active community members, there shouldn't be any difference between using v7 and v8. If you are not a member of our Discord Community yet, you can join by clicking [here](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

# TODO & Known Issues
You can find a frequently updated list of known issues and planned features for v8 [here](https://github.com/orgs/xp-bot/projects/8). If you want to report a bug, please use #bug-reports for that. We will add your report to our list of known issues if it's not already on there.

v8 is going into the second & final phase of public testing before release. Learn how to get your hands on early in this post!

v8: Public testing phase 2

# dev-blog[1]
Welcome to the second developer blog from the XP team at namespace.media! Over the past week, we've continued working on [v8](https://xp-bot.net/blog/b1691511933482p), addressing numerous bug fixes and patches. If you're interested in our progress, you can also take a look at our [v8 todo list](https://github.com/orgs/xp-bot/projects/8), which we update regularly.

With the latest patch to the rewrite, version 8.1.1, we've also decided to open-source the bot's code. You can find it on [GitHub](https://github.com/xp-bot/v8). Whether you want to explore the code or contribute, feel free to do so! We're always thrilled to welcome new contributors.

Today, we'd like to discuss our roadmap for v8 and elaborate on why we chose to open-source one of our main repositories, along with the benefits this decision brings to the project.

## Benefits of Open Source
Open-sourcing the bot's code provides numerous advantages for both our team and the project itself. Firstly, it enables us to receive more feedback from the community. We can now gather insights on our code and the bot's features from a broader audience, leading to further improvements in the bot's functionality.

Another significant advantage is that we can now accept contributions from the community. If you're interested in contributing to the bot, you can do so by creating a pull request on GitHub. We'll review your changes, and if they meet our standards, we'll merge them into the main branch.

Lastly, this move also allows us to engage more individuals in the bot's development. If you're eager to assist with the bot's growth, you can participate by joining our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/8z2VUxZ) and inquiring about potential contributions. We're actively seeking new developers to collaborate with us on enhancing the bot's capabilities. Additionally, by making our code publicly available, we empower our users to scrutinize the code to ensure that the bot strictly adheres to its intended functionality. This aspect is particularly crucial for a bot like XP, which has access to sensitive data.

### Security Enhancements through Open Source
With the bot's code now accessible to the public, we can also receive more feedback regarding our security measures. If you identify any security issues with the bot, you can report them to us, and we'll promptly address and resolve them.

## Roadmap for v8
While we discussed our v8 roadmap in our [previous blog post](https://xp-bot.net/blog/b1691511933482p), we want to revisit it as we've made some adjustments.

Currently, our development progress aligns precisely with our plans, and we're on track to launch v8 within the upcoming months. Our initial development cycle has been exceptionally successful, yielding numerous bug reports and valuable improvement suggestions, all of which we're implementing this week. Our goal is to maintain a bi-weekly cycle of introducing new features and resolving bugs until we're prepared for the release. During Week 1, we concentrated on implementing XP's commands, while the current Week 2 focuses on bug resolution and enhancing the bot's performance.

Week 3 will witness the implementation of features related to XP's reward system, including event listeners and the voice time monitor (VTM). For the first time in two years, VTM will be integrated directly into the bot, eliminating the need for a separate background bot instance. This change is especially significant as it effectively halves our connections to Discord's gateway, leading to improved bot stability.

## Special Thanks
We extend our gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the bot's development thus far. We're delighted to have fostered such an incredible community, and we eagerly anticipate XP's future.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to those who tested v8 on our official Community Server and diligently reported bugs and issues. Your invaluable assistance has greatly contributed to the bot's evolution, and we're actively addressing all the issues you've brought to our attention. In recognition of your contributions, we'll ensure that individuals who aided us in the bot's development receive badges like the Bug Hunter badge.

## Conclusion
We're incredibly pleased with the progress we've achieved thus far, and we're eagerly anticipating the future of XP. We're excited to witness the upcoming developments and the release of v8.

If you're interested in participating in the bot's development, we encourage you to join our [Discord server](https://discord.gg/8z2VUxZ) and connect with us. We're continuously seeking new developers to collaborate with us on advancing the bot's capabilities.

Additionally, consider [acquiring XP Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net) as it helps us covering the costs of hosting and developing the bot.

Thank you for being a part of our journey!


Read about the most recent news and updates regarding the development of version 8 of XP!

Developer-Blog[1]: v8, Open-source & more!

  # v8 dev blog[0]
Dev blog? Dev blog! Welcome to our very first blog directly from the devs, where we talk about technical challenges we're solving in XP, XPs code and other fun, technical things. Today, we'd like to talk about 2023 rewrite of the XP bot.

# Tech choices
Before we could choose the technologies for the new bot, we had to decide what we wanted to achieve with the rewrite.
Probably the most important issue, we had to solve was the stability of the current bot, which was...not optimal. We also needed a bot, that wouldn't consume as many resources as the current version (XP7).
Both of these points led us to Rust. No, not the game, the programming language! Rust has great features to help us achieve our goal:
- No GC (Garbage Collector)
- A system called Borrowchecker, that makes sure, that memory is managed efficiently
- is very strict

If you're coming from something like JavaScript or Python, absurdly strict even. Rust requires your code to be 100% type-safe at any point, which also means that any error that could potentially occur must be handled. If you're new to programming, you might find this a bit weird, because it'd would technically slow the development down immensly, right? Well, not actually. Rust's strictness helps us to maintain a clear vision of what our codebase looks like, where we always know, why a certain error occurs and how we could fix it. In the long run, this difference will speed up bugfixes by a ton.
Rust has also been my (Hi, this is me, luna. Currently main backend dev at XP.) favorite language for a while now, so it'd be only natural to choose this tool for the job. 

> dev note: Ferris ftw

## serenity
Rust's largest Discord API crate (is what you call libraries in Rust) is serenity. A pretty actively maintained wrapper library for everything we needed to do for the XP rewrite. It's a bit niche, which makes bugfixes a bit harder, when you're getting started with serenity, but it's pretty solid from there, as soon as you get the hang of the crate's ways to get things done. Serenity has great features even beyond basic bot functions and so far, seems like a great fit for our project and stack.

### Issues with serenity
While my overall dev experience was pretty smooth, getting started with serenity for the first time, is a bit confusing. For some reason `cargo add serenity` didn't provide me with the newest version at first, which i didn't notice, so I spent a good 40 minutes wondering, why the tutorials were all wrong. Well, as soon as I discovered the latest version and figured out, which feature flags to use (another minor annoyance, but not as bad), I was good to go.
They provide really great examples in their Github repository, which I can recommend checking out, even if you want to do more complicated stuff. They usually got you covered, which is lovely! Thanks, serenity :)

### Serenity is actually so great
..for larger bots, especially! What I didn't notice in other libraries yet, but is absolutely missing from most of them, is the ability to create clusters of shards by default. Clustering could help us to keep XP really cost efficient even with a larger audience.
Serenity is also built with the same mindset, that other Rust crates have. This is more of an advantage of the Rust ecosystem, but having a variety of libraries, that all work and think the same, makes learning a new framework or library intuitive. Having that said, serenity just works. And I love that. Having few to no articles on stackoverflow to go to, when you're getting a strange error isn't that bad, when you can usually help yourself. As long as you're thinking "The Rust Way", serenity will be very nice to you. Individual processes for sharding also take up very few resources, but I don't want to go into detail there now. I will follow up with some numbers as soon as v8 is running on production, though! Stay tuned.

# Rewriting the /rank command
As you probably used XP before, you've most likely used the `/rank` command. Yea,...shows your level and xp and stuff? Exactly. And it's pretty slow rn. Basically, every time someone uses the command, a new image gets rendered from scratch, all the information is fetched from a service called "Connector" interally, and finally, your ranking card is uploaded to Discord and you can see it. Sounds long? Is long. On average, a ranking card takes up to **5 seconds** to respond. Pretty bad, huh? Yea. We did something about it. With our new system, a bot response, on average, takes 150 ms, with the ranking card rendering at around 300 ms.

## Our strategy
Most important question when optimising things: What can we get rid of? Easy question actually: uploading images to Discord every time someone wants to see their level is a lot of bandwidth, that gets used. So instead, we just have a link, that gets sent to the user, which then prompts the "Connector" directly, to render your image. Therefore, requests are very quick, as they're running completely on localhost and the bot doesn't need to wait for the card to be rendered.
We also rewrote the rendering function from scratch, which led to another great performance improvement.

# The Discord API is f*ing great
As the last part of this blog post: Discord engineers, if you're reading this: Thank you, the Discord API is so much more than it seems to be and I love it.
No, but seriously, the Discord API isn't just another api, it actively helps you build and especially maintain your bot project as it grows. When I talked about clustering, it's actually really easy to do, because of the Discord API. They basically do the complete load balancing step for you with their shard system. Shards are seperate gateway connections, that can handle up to 2500 communities at once as per the Discord API. As your bot grows, you will need to implement sharding, so you can maintain many shard connections simultaneously. Clustering your shard is as simple as starting your shard manager with only a partial amount of the shards. For example, that could be:

|Cluster|Shard Id Range|
|-------|--------------|
|1|1..20|
|2|21..40|
with a total of 40 shards.

The system of shards is therefore really helpful, as you don't just get traffic twice, it's always routed to a specific point automatically, so you can keep building your bot.

### Outro
I would really like talking about specific code snippets some time, because Rust is designed in a very interesting and smart way, and I will also continue the v8 dev blog series, as the development goes on. I am looking forward to your comments and opinions on this type of blog. If you have specific topics, you'd like to have our opinion on, please feel free to ask. :)

Read about the most recent thoughts from the developer team as we're building a new version of XP.

Developer-Blog[0]: v8

# Transparency is key
We want to take a moment to talk about a core value that we hold dear to our hearts: transparency. As a team, we believe that transparency is key to building trust and fostering a positive relationship with our users.

Over the years, we have added paid features to our bot. We carefully selected these features to ensure they were not essential for day-to-day use but rather nice-to-haves. We understand that once money is involved, it's natural to have some level of distrust. You want to know where your money is going and expect the best value and service for your hard-earned cash.

We are committed to providing the best possible service to our users, but we are not always able to deliver. As a team, we work on this project as a hobby alongside our day-to-day jobs. Sometimes it's hard for us to spend the few extra hours fixing issues on XP, but we're doing our best to make sure you have the best experience possible.

We understand that this might not mean a lot to you, and you might have to wait a couple of months for features to get fixed. That's why we want to be completely transparent with you about our earnings, expenses, and liquidity buffer.

So, without further ado, here's a rundown of every service we need to pay and every dollar we earn by offering premium features.

## Open cards
The following data has been last updated on **11. March 2023**.

### Earnings

- **Patreon income:** 268,- € /month
- **Patreon Count:** 49 Patreons
- **Discord Boosts:** 10

### Expenses:

- **Server Infrastructure:** 127,- € /month
- **Developers on payroll:** 0,- € /month

This gives us a liquidity buffer of about 141,- € /month for unexpected shortcomings.

As you can see, we do not pay ourselves a penny. We purely want this to stay a fun hobby project. We hope that by being open about our earnings and expenses, you can see that we are committed to providing the best possible service to our users while maintaining transparency and trust.

In addition to being transparent about our earnings and expenses, we also believe in the power of open source. We're committed to taking transparency to the next level by open sourcing our stack part by part.

## One last thing

This has been a long-time discussion, and we're finally beginning to make it happen. We're excited to share that our production repository for this very Dashboard is now available for anyone to clone, run, experiment with, and contribute to.

We understand that not everyone is familiar with open source development, so we've provided clear instructions on how to get started in the repository's readme file. We hope that by open sourcing our code, we can collaborate with you to improve and innovate our services together.

<div style="border-radius: 10px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0px 4px 5px -2px rgba(0,0,0,0.5);"><a target="_blank" href="https://github.com/xp-bot/dashboard">![xp-bot/dashboard](https://opengraph.githubassets.com/a99694b784f86a20b630f73453377e231be6f11183e84defd20207c8b0b60a86/xp-bot/dashboard)</a></div>

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to working with you all to make our bot the best it can be.

Best regards,  
your XP Development Team ❤️

We emphasize transparency and open-source development to build trust with you by sharing our earnings and expenses and open-sourcing our code.

Transparency is key

# Dashboard v2 is Here!

We are thrilled to announce the release of Dashboard v2, the latest update to XP's Dashboard. After months of hard work and dedication, we are proud to bring you this improved version of our dashboard that is packed with new features and enhancements.

One of the biggest updates in this release is the enhanced user interface. The new design is not only visually appealing but also highly intuitive and easy to navigate. The layout has been optimized to provide you with a more streamlined experience, allowing you to access important information and settings more efficiently.

We understand the importance of having access to important information and tools while on the go, which is why we decided to go "mobile first" in the redesign of our platform. Our goal was to provide users with an even better experience while using our platform on their mobile devices. That's why we went back to the drawing board and completely redesigned the mobile experience from the ground up. We made sure to pay close attention to every detail, from the user interface to the overall performance, to ensure that our users have a seamless and enjoyable experience while accessing XP from their mobile devices. With this new design, you can now finally enjoy managing your community, even when you're on the go.

In addition to these major updates, we have also added a number of smaller improvements to enhance your overall experience. From faster load times to better performance, every aspect of the dashboard has been optimized for your benefit.

We are confident that you will love the new and improved Dashboard v2. Whether you are a new or existing user, we encourage you to give it a try and experience the difference for yourself.

If you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are always here to support you in any way that we can.

So go ahead and log in to your Dashboard now to start exploring all the exciting new features and enhancements that Dashboard v2 has to offer!

---

### Feedback
We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the new Dashboard v2. If you have any ideas, concerns, or anything else you would like to share, please feel free to post your comments below this blog post. Your feedback is invaluable to us and helps us improve the platform for you and all our users.

### Thank you

As always, we are grateful for your continued support of XP. Your loyalty and trust in us is what drives us to continually improve and enhance the experience for you.

Thank you for being a part of our journey and we look forward to continuing to serve you in the years to come.

Warm regards,  
The XP Development Team. ❤️

Dashboard v²

# Dashboard V2 Public Beta
The new XP Dashboard is finally here, and we couldn't be more excited to share all the new features and improvements with you! We've spent the last few months working tirelessly to make the best XP Dashboard yet, and we think you're going to love what we've come up with.

### Major goals
One of the major goals we had with the new XP Dashboard was to make it more accessible and user-friendly for mobile users. With the rise of mobile devices, it's more important than ever to ensure that our users can easily configure XP on the go. We've completely redesigned the interface with mobile users in mind, making it much easier to navigate and use on a small screen.

### Highly requested features
We've also made some specific changes to make editing ranking card on mobile devices more easier. Now you can better edit your ranking card directly from your mobile device, this was a requested feature and we've made sure that it's now a reality in the new version.

### Blazingly fast
In addition to being more mobile-friendly, we've also made the new XP Dashboard incredibly fast and optimized. The page will adapt to your device theme (dark/light), and we've optimized the code to make the whole page load more quickly. This means you can get your server set up in a matter of seconds, without any delays or waiting.  
Oh, and have we mentioned? It's now a fully optimized PWA, making the experience even more seamless.

### Try it out
All in all, the new XP Dashboard is a major improvement over the previous version, and we're confident that you'll love all the new features and improvements. We've put a lot of time and effort into making this the best XP Dashboard yet, and we hope you find it as useful as we do.

You can join the closed beta by subscribing to [XP Premium](https://qwq.sh/ljt41f) right now ...or take a look at some screenshots below!  
- Go to [beta.xp-bot.net](https://qwq.sh/ek6655) to get started.

---

### Report Bugs
If you encounter any unexpected behaviour on the new dashboard, you can use the 🔐**Dashboard Beta** Tag in #bug-reports to let us know.

## Themes
# Dashboard V2 Public Beta
The new XP Dashboard is finally here, and we couldn't be more excited to share all the new features and improvements with you! We've spent the last few months working tirelessly to make the best XP Dashboard yet, and we think you're going to love what we've come up with.

### Major goals
One of the major goals we had with the new XP Dashboard was to make it more accessible and user-friendly for mobile users. With the rise of mobile devices, it's more important than ever to ensure that our users can easily configure XP on the go. We've completely redesigned the interface with mobile users in mind, making it much easier to navigate and use on a small screen.

### Highly requested features
We've also made some specific changes to make editing ranking card on mobile devices more easier. Now you can better edit your ranking card directly from your mobile device, this was a requested feature and we've made sure that it's now a reality in the new version.

### Blazingly fast
In addition to being more mobile-friendly, we've also made the new XP Dashboard incredibly fast and optimized. The page will adapt to your device theme (dark/light), and we've optimized the code to make the whole page load more quickly. This means you can get your server set up in a matter of seconds, without any delays or waiting.  
Oh, and have we mentioned? It's now a fully optimized PWA, making the experience even more seamless.

### Try it out
All in all, the new XP Dashboard is a major improvement over the previous version, and we're confident that you'll love all the new features and improvements. We've put a lot of time and effort into making this the best XP Dashboard yet, and we hope you find it as useful as we do.

You can join the closed beta by subscribing to [XP Premium](https://qwq.sh/ljt41f) right now ...or take a look at some screenshots below!  
- Go to [beta.xp-bot.net](https://qwq.sh/ek6655) to get started.

---

### Report Bugs
If you encounter any unexpected behaviour on the new dashboard, you can use the 🔐**Dashboard Beta** Tag in #bug-reports to let us know.

## Themes
<div class="md:hidden flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Light Theme</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Dark Theme</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/GwKFoBGAcCKZaB6/download/chrome_yFrAemrAfL.png" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/YoQx9K2K7t2GXMF/download/chrome_5xOUYWVSMO.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>
<div class="flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Light Theme</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Dark Theme</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/4c4iLdCdLdQFQij/download/chrome_jkL2DpV6CZ.png" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/4nBjDRTXMrCQoXm/download/chrome_NhURcHgYeD.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>

## Better server selection
<div class="flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Mobile</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Desktop</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/pwd5ZXyzYJzgAzq/download/chrome_HUB3kNneC6.png" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/Hx75QeJSXWM6iR3/download/chrome_MeZFxRWJ8W.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>

## Improved logs
<div class="flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Mobile</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Desktop</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/GQcWkqzrmKPGA9i/download/chrome_HqxUBY6ZiA.gif" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/C55ZzSPqAPWinaX/download/chrome_xzAYdrCxHS.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>

## Status page rework
<div class="flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Mobile</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Desktop</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/7QDRAg45m9dKqMr/download/chrome_sI38pa8zxz.png" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/WLoPqApQdfXpqgE/download/chrome_A1XpcNkJdA.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>

## Home
<div class="flex justify-center">
<center><table style="margin-bottom: 20px;">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align:center">Mobile</th>
<th style="text-align:center">Desktop</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/QJ26SnjzCXfPdtE/download/chrome_5BREYwkq5q.png" alt="Light Theme"></td>
<td style="text-align:center"><img src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/5GGAmba6o4QDFQa/download/chrome_4r8s74Qpcx.png" alt="Dark Theme"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<center>
</div>

Learn about the public beta for the new XP Dashboard and how to join the program.

Dashboard v2 Beta

# XP Spooktober Event 2022
Hey there! We're holding an **Art Contest** on the official XP Discord Server, but instead of creating professional artworks, we want you to **only use Paint** (or something similar, if you don't have Paint).

**Please send your submission into the [#👻submissions](https://discord.gg/wud48G6ev7) channel before October 31st 2022.**

Feel free to design anything entertaining/XP related/pretty or even a meme! Anything works, as long as it complies to the ruleset[^2], which you can find further below.

### 🤑Prizes[^3]
#### 1st Place[^4]
- **1 year Discord Nitro** (includes 2 Server Boosts, Profile customisation and more)
- **1 year of 1x Server Premium** (including User Premium)

#### 2nd Place[^4]
- **1 month of Discord Nitro** (includes 2 Server Boosts, Profile customisation and more)
- **1 month of 1x Server Premium** (including User Premium)

#### 3rd Place[^4]
- **1 month of Discord Nitro Classic** (includes Chat features, Better screen share and more)
- **1 month of 1x Server Premium** (including User Premium)

#### All[^1] participants also get:
- Their artwork featured on the XP Community Hub on our website
- The all new **Community Badge** (rare!)
- A chance to win 1 out of 5x Server Premium (1 month)

### The Rules
- Your artwork must not contain copyrighted content
- You will need to create the artwork yourself
- Your artwork must not contain any racist, xenophobic, sexist, defamatory, illegal or offensive content
- Your artwork needs to be an image (You may submit additional text content on submission)
- Your artwork needs to be compliant with our [Service & Community Guidelines](https://xp-bot.net/blog/contributing_to_user_safety_and_service_guidelines_1657056506533)

[^1]: We reserve the right to not feature images without justification or notice.
[^2]: By participating in this event, you agree to the (re)usage of your submitted image on the [XP Website](https://xp-bot.net) as well as to our [Privacy Policy](https://xp-bot.net/privacy).
[^3]: We reserve to not provide the listed prizes if one or more of the following conditions apply: 1. If less than 15 people participate in the event, 2. If [namespace.media](https://namespace.media) isn't able to afford or manage the distribution of above listed prizes.
[^4]: XP Staff is not eligible to claim this prize.

Join the community and participate in our latest halloween event and win cool stuff!

XP Spooktober Event 2022

# XP Premium Subscription Changes
> Before we start: If you're already subscribed to XP Premium, these changes won't affect you. You can just continue to use XP Premium as usual.

## So what did change?
In the past, XP Premium had to be paid at the first day of each month. Additionally to that, you had to pay at the first day of your subscription. This meant, that you basically paid for a full month even though you didn't actually get features for a full month. 
Another problem with this was, that you could subscribe to XP Premium at the 30th of a month and then pay again one day later at the 1st of the next month. And nobody likes paying twice for one thing. So we changed it!

Instead of paying every 1st of each month, you'll now be charged in a 1 month cycle. So if you subscribe on the 15th, you will only be charged at the 15th of the month after that.

## Why was it different before?
We actually knew about this issue, but we couldn't really do anything about it as we use [Patreon](https://patreon.com) as our payment provider. The new subscription model just launched a few days ago, so we made sure to enable it as soon as possible.

A few details about the new XP Premium subscriptions.

Premium Subscription Changes

# Quality Of Life Changes: September 2022

Hello there!  
Today, we want to announce a few small improvements for XP that are available from now on.

These include changes to voting, free premium and more.

Let's get started!

## Less Voting

We heard you. Voting is annoying when it comes to changing server settings for XP. Therefore, with the latest update, you are no longer required to vote in order to save settings on your dashboard.

Voting still applies to Games commands though. If you want to remove voting for your Account entirely, consider supporting XP by subscribing to [XP Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

## Getting Premium is even easier now

Just recently, we added a way to get XP Premium for free. Our initial requirements were Level 400 for User Premium and Level 500 for Server Premium. We think that these levels are quite high and hard to achieve. From now on, you'll only need to reach Level 100 for User Premium and Level 150 for 1x Server Premium on our [official Discord Community](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

## Statuspage improvements

To make announcing outages, incidents and more even more simple and to have everything in one place, you can now also view status reports on the [XP Status Site](https://xp-bot.net/status). Status reports will also be shown in #status-reports on Discord as usual.

# Thank you for using XP

Seriously, we mean it. The past month has been the most successful month for XP ever and the bot continues to power more Communities every day because of your support!

Thank you for using XP in your Community.

* The XP Team

Learn more about recent changes to voting, free premium and more.

Quality Of Life Changes: September 2022

# Guide: Levelroles and Boosts

In this guide, we will cover how levelroles and boosted roles work in your community!

But first of all, what even is a levelrole?  
A levelrole is a role on your Discord community, which is set to be assigned to someone when they reach a specific level. You can set if a user should collect or just get the highest available role and boosts allow you to set special features for (level)roles. This can be utilised to enhance your server in a variety of ways and will most likely increase your servers activity by a lot.

# How to set up levelroles

To configure levelroles, head over to your [Dashboard](https://xp-bot.net/me/servers) and select your server. From there you can go to the Roles tab.

![Roles Tab](https://qwq.sh/nxyt96)

On the right side, you can now view a small interface to set up roles. As soon as you've set roles, you can save your changes. After that you are good to go and everything should work as expected!

![Set a role](https://qwq.sh/y1lv1m)

### Troubleshooting

> You cannot set two roles for one level. Doing so will overwrite the previously set role.
>
> If your levelroles don't work, make sure XPs bot role is above all other roles and has the **Manage Roles** permission.
>
> Your roles might take up to 30 minutes to show up on your dashboard.

# Boosts

Boosts enable you to reward a user with more xp each time automatically. These work by adding a specific percentage to the gained xp amount.

So if a user gains 100xp and their boost is 20%, they will gain 120%. If two or more boosts apply at the same time, they can stack, allowing for very detailed xp rewards.

To get started, head over to the Boosts tab.

![Boosts Tab](https://qwq.sh/80tyj1)

Similar to levelroles, you can then select roles, textchannels and even voicechannels. Simply configure a percentage, select a role or channel and save your changes. Now you're good to go! Boosts work almost instantly after saving.

# Finishing words

Great! You're now able to set up levelroles and boosted textchannels, roles and voicechannels.  
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask on our [Official Discord Server](https://discord.xp-bot.net). 

**To support XP, you can also subscribe to** [**XP Premium**](https://premium.xp-bot.net) **and get exclusive features for your Account and Server!**

Learn how to use levelroles and xp boosts with XP.

Guide: Roles and Boosts

# Guide: Announcements
This guide will teach you everything you need to know to master XPs Announcement feature.  

## First of all: What are Announcements?
Announcements allow you to automatically inform your users about reaching a new level in XP.  
By default, announcements are already set up and ready to use. Whenever a user reaches a new level via text chat, the following message is issued in the corresponding channel: 

![](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/791841931486298152/1122797041815396423/image.png)


If that's all you wanted to know - have a nice day!

If you want to customize the design and behavior of this message, keep scrolling!

## Customization
Once you've opened the tab on your servers dashboard, you'll see two panels in front of you.
### Announcement Settings
- **Specific Channel**  
    This option allows you to decide whether the Announcement should be sent into the Text Channel where the user has gained the XP that made them reach a new level.  
    <br/>
    Enabling this option will give you the option to select a specific channel, where Announcements should be printed.  

> _You can also select "Channel Not Set" to disable announcements._

- **Ping Users**  
  By enabling this option, your users will be pinged once they reach a new level.  
  _Essentially making sure, they are not missing out on that very important information!_

### Announcement Message Designer
This Panel allows you to give your Announcement a personal touch.  
By using the provided parameters below the "Message Editor", you can display:
- `{TAG}` The Users Tag 
- `{MNT}` The Users Mention 
- `{OLDLVL}` The Users old level 
- `{LVL}` The Users new level 
- `{CMB}` How many levels the user climbed 

You can also include custom emotes into the message by providing its name and ID.  
For example: ``<:xp_info:818532849598201886>``  

_You can get this by sending your emoji with a `\` in front of it._  

## Wrapping things up
That's it! You should now be able to make your announcements look and feel amazing in your community!  
Tho - as always, please do not hesitate to ask us on our official [Support Server](https://discord.xp-bot.net/) if there are still some unanswered questions.

A quick guide on how to master XPs announcement feature.

Guide: Announcements

## Are you an avid Discord user looking for ways to enhance your experience with XP?
If you are, then you'll be happy to know that there is a way to get lifetime Premium access for free! In this blog post, we'll discuss how you can obtain this exclusive reward and make the most out of your Discord experience.

Now, let's move on to the exciting part – how to get lifetime Premium access for free! On our official [Discord Server](https://discord.xp-bot.net/), we use level roles to reward active users. Recently, we introduced two new rewards – User Premium and 1x Server Premium. Here's how you can obtain these rewards:
<br/><br/>
### User Premium:
To get User Premium, you need to reach Level 100[^1] on the Official XP Server. This means you'll need to be an active member of the server for a while and earn XP by participating in various activities.[^2]  
These activities can range from chatting with other members, joining voice calls, playing games, and more. Once you reach Level 100, you'll automatically receive User Premium as a reward, giving you lifetime access to Discord Premium.  

![](https://qwq.sh/0jor7s)
<br/><br/>
### 1x Server Premium:
To obtain 1x Server Premium, you need to reach Level 150[^1] on the Official XP Server. This reward is similar to User Premium, but it gives you access to Server Premium for one of your server. This means that if you're a server owner, you can use this reward to upgrade your server to Premium and enjoy all the perks that come with it.  

![](https://qwq.sh/hfc2d5)

So, what are you waiting for? Start leveling up on the Official XP Server to get your hands on these exciting rewards!

---

[^1]: We reserve the right to always change this offer in the future
[^2]: Levels **must not** be reached by abusing bugs

We're launching new ways to obtain XP Premium!

Get XP Premium for FREE!

# Contributing to User Safety and Service Guidelines

In this Blog Post, we want to share our efforts to provide User Safety over our Services as well as Guidelines for user-uploaded content.

## User-Uploaded Content Guidelines

To provide a safe experience for everyone, we restrict the type of content, you can upload to our Services. If you are violating any of the below mentioned guidelines, you or your server might be restricted from using certain XP features and the content in question will be removed.

### Laws & Restrictions

XP is being developed and hosted in Germany, so we are always referring to German media law, when it comes to user-uploaded content.

### Discord ToS & Guidelines

As we are mostly acting over Discord ([discord.com](http://discord.com)), we make sure to follow their Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines.

### NSFW & Explicit Content

We do not tolerate NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content on our services. This includes, but is not limited to pornographic media, gambling related media and gore.

### Symbols and Political Statements

While we do tolerate most symbols and political statements on our services (given they do not violate German law), we always reserve the right to remove them from our services without notifying the Uploader or any other participating party.

### Copyright

By uploading content to our services, you always claim to have full rights for the content in question. You also agree to us reusing your content for non-commercial and commercial purposes.

If you do not own full rights on uploaded content, you will be fully responsible in case of a copyright claim against our service.

### Reserved Rights

We always reserve the right to remove any user-uploaded content from our services. This includes user- & server-data as well as Ranking Card backgrounds. We are not obligated to inform the user or any other participating party when doing so.

# Moderative Actions

The XP Staff (or permitted representatives) will look through all user-uploaded content in a frequent manner and will delete content violating our guidelines. Affected users will not be notified and might experience restrictions on our services in the future.  
If you disagree with certain restrictions of your account regarding XP, please contact [legal@namespace.media](mailto:legal@namespace.media).

# Outro

We hope, this cleared up some questions around our content Management and our corresponding guidelines. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask on our [Official Discord Server](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

Guidelines for user-uploaded content and what we are doing to protect your experience and to keep XP safe.

Contributing to User Safety and Service Guidelines

# Guide: Values
In this comprehensive Guide, you will learn everything around values in XP.


> **Want to support XP?**
In order to cover the costs for hosting and developing the Bot, we're providing additional Premium Features for donators.
[Read more](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

# Values in XP
Values can be used to control different XP Modules. XP uses Values for calculations, cooldowns and other useful things. 
We also have Guides for [Moderation Modules](https://xp-bot.net/blog/guide_moderation_modules_1656074394928) and [XP & Game Modules](https://xp-bot.net/blog/guide_xp__game_modules_1655300944128).

# Essential Values
Most important are the **Essential Values** - hence the name.
Available Values are Message XP,  Message Cooldown, Voice XP, Voice Join Cooldown and Reaction XP. Here's what they do:

> **Message XP** <br/>
> This value controls the amount of xp a user will get, when they write a message in your Server. In order for this to work, you will need to enable the Message XP Module.

> **Message Cooldown** <br/>
> With this value, you can control how often xp is given. This value is measured in seconds. Using 60 means, that your Server Members will be able to receive xp once every minute.

> **Voice XP** <br/>
> Similar to Message XP, this value controls how much XP is given per Minute spent in Voicechats. Requires the Voice XP Module.

> **Voice Join Cooldown** <br/>
> This value means the amount of time in seconds a user will need to spent in a Voicechat before receiving xp. This is especially useful to prevent Join/Leave spamming.

> **Reaction XP** <br/>
> With the Reaction XP Module enabled, this value will control the amount of xp given per Reaction. This value cannot be controlled with cooldowns.

# Game Values
XP features a couple of simple Games to earn XP. The following Values depend on the Game Module, so be sure to enable it first.

> **Loot XP** <br/>
> Controls the amount given per `/loot`.

> **Fish XP** <br/>
> Controls the amount given per `/fish`.

> **Roll XP** <br/>
> Controls the amount given per `/roll`.

> **Game Cooldown** <br/>
> Controls the seconds to wait after using one of the Game Commands. Available with [XP Premium](https://xp-bot.net).

> **Trivia XP** <br/>
> This value means the amount of xp given per trivia game.

> **Trivia Cooldown** <br/>
> Similar to all other Cooldowns, this controls the minimum waiting time between two trivia commands.

# Additional Values
> **Maximum Daily XP** <br/>
> With this value, you can set a maximum xp reward for `/daily`. Usually, a user gets `250 * streak in days` xp. If you set a maximum daily xp. They will only get the limit of xp once they reach it.

> **Maximum Level** <br/>
> By default, XP does not limit your levels. If you don't want infinite levels, you can set a maximum level here.

## Outro
And that's it for this guide! If you're looking out for more blog posts like this, stay tuned! Guides like these will be published at least once a week.

If you need help or support around the XP Discord Bot, you can also join our [Discord Community](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

Thank you for using XP ❤️

Guide: Values

# Guide: XP, Moderation & Game Modules
In this quick guide, you learn how to successfully utilise all of XP's Modules in your Discord Community.

> **Want to support XP?**
In order to cover the costs for hosting and developing the Bot, we're providing additional Premium Features for donators.
[Read more](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

# Modules explained
XP is split into a variety of different modules. By enabling one, you're activating a specific part of the Bot. And if you don't want specific features, you can simply turn that module off.

All Modules can be found in your Servers' Settings in the **Modules** Tab.

# The XP Modules

![The four XP Modules](https://qwq.sh/h9jvcd)

### Message XP
The Message XP Module enables your Community to gain xp by writing messages in your Server. The overall behaviour of this Module can be controlled over the **Values** Tab, where you can set the xp amount per message, cooldowns and more.
We will cover this section of the Dashboard in another guide soon.

### Voice XP
If you want to reward time spent in your Servers' Voicechats, this is the module you're searching for. Just as in the Message XP module, you can configure more options in the **Values** Tab.

### Reaction XP
With this module enabled, your Community can also gain rewards through reactions on messages. If your Community reacts to messages a lot, we recommend keeping this modules' rewards relatively low.

### Ignore AFK
This module is an addition to the Voice XP module: If you have set an AFK Channel on your Discord Server, inactive users will be moved into this voicechat, if they're not interacting with their current voice channel. This comes in handy when you want to prevent AFK farming for xp in your Community as it prevents users from gaining xp in your Servers' AFK Channel.

> **Pro Tip**:
If you set one of the modules' xp rewards to a higher value, your Community will start interacting through this way more.
With this in mind, you can set up voicechat-/message-focused Discord Servers with ease.

# The Moderation Modules

![Moderation Modules](https://cdn.namespace.media/s/Spd4JHNmpHG5t8F/download/%5D.png)

### Autonick
Autonick is one of the most used Modules of XP. With its features, you can show a Users' Level in their Nickname on your Server. This makes it especially easy to view someone's level as well as having a linear design over your Community.
The Autonick Module can be further extended by "Autonick Use Prefix" and "Autonick Show String", which are available with [Server Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

### Leaderboard
Enable or disable the Servers leaderboard.

### Single Rank Role
If you're using Level Roles in your Discord Community, you might also want to enable this Module, where a User will only get the highest available Level Role instead of collecting all available Roles including lower ones.
You can further extend this Module by enabling "Remove Reached Levelroles", which makes it so already reached Level Roles wil also be removed, if someone's xp have been reduced. This extension is available over [Server Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

### User Ranking Override
This Module comes in handy, if someone in your Server disabled their Ranking, which normally would prevent them from earning xp in your Discord Server. By enabling this Module, XP will reward them with xp again, but will still not show them in leaderboards.

### Maximum Level
By default, XP has no maximum Level. If you still want to have one, you can enable this Module. You can set your Servers' Maximum Level over the **Values Tab**.

### Reset User On Leave
Because doing this manually can be a lot of work, we're offering an automation for this for Premium Servers.
The Module automatically resets someone's xp and Level, when they leave your Community.
This Module is only available over [Server Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net).

### Enable Commands In Threads
XP will always reward xp in Threads, but you might also want to use XPs Commands in these. With this Module, you can view & use XPs Slash Commands in all types of Channels.
This Module is only available over [Server Premium](https://premium.xp-bot.net).


# Game Modules
![Game Modules](https://qwq.sh/phahkt)

### Games
The Games module features commands like `/roll`, `/loot` and `/fish`. By enabling this module, you allow your Community to gain xp by playing these luck based games. You can further configure this module in the **Values** Tab.

### Trivia
Similar to the Games module, this module features the `/trivia` command. By playing this game, you gain xp by correctly answering a variety of questions. As always, you can further configure this module in the **Values** Tab.

## Outro
And that's it for this guide! If you're looking out for more blog posts like this, stay tuned!

If you need help or support around the XP Discord Bot, you can also join our [Discord Community](https://discord.xp-bot.net).

Thank you for using XP ❤️


A quick guide on how to use the XP, Moderation & Game Modules.

Guide: XP, Moderation & Game Modules

# Getting to know RankingCard Badges
Hey, you may have seen a RankingCard with some of these symbols in the past.

![Ranking Card in Discord](https://qwq.sh/h15ajm)

And then wondered, "What are those things? And how come I don't have these images on my RankingCard?? 😡😭"

### Well, let me explain!
In XP v6.1.0 we have introduced the new Ranking Cards and with it the Badge System.
It offers us a way to reward users and colleagues for contributing to, or supporting XP.

> Each Badge has its own meaning and its own way to get it.

<br/>
At the moment there are 7 badges.
These Badges to be specific:

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851942228435402804.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>XP Developer</b></div><br/>
> Every XP developer has this Badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851213499492335638.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>XP Support Team</b></div><br/>
> Each member of the XP Support Team has this Badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851213381611946025.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>XP Premium</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who is supporting XP on <a href="https://premium.xp-bot.net/">Patreon</a> has this Badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/aAZ4XzZC8m8dtwP/download/xp-core-community.png"/></div><b>XP Core Community</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who participates in public XP Community Events obtains this badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851213538440904755.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>XP Feature Smith</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who suggested an idea on our <a href="https://discord.xp-bot.net/">Discord Server</a>, which we finally built into XP because has this Badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851213449358868480.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>XP Bug Hunter</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who points out valid bugs in XP via bug-reports channel on our <a href="https://discord.xp-bot.net/">Discord Server</a> has this Badge. _How many bugs is not specified._

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/851213365879242793.webp?size=80&quality=lossless"/></div><b>Server Booster</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who boosts our <a href="https://discord.xp-bot.net/">Discord Server</a> has this badge.

> <div style="display: inline-flex; gap: 5px;"><div style="width: 20px; transform: translateY(-2px);"><img style="height:1em; box-shadow:none;" src="https://cdn.namespace.media/s/2pDcXnCdKjHN9bk/download/xptranslator.png"/></div><b>XP Translator</b></div><br/>
> Everyone who helped translate XP gets this badge.

<br/>
I hope this article helped you understand when and why you can expect a Badge on your RankingCard!

Have a nice day. 👋

A short introduction to the RankingCard Badges.

Recent Blogposts