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Roadmap
David Foster edited this page Oct 20, 2025
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For smaller items, please see the open issue list.
Symbol Key:
- {β β: μ} = Pause until non-trivial number of users, to merit the extra level of polish done by these features
Entice to install:
- README: Provide more info about how Crystal's downloaded sites are in a "file format suitable for archival". Suggest expand on the existing bullet with that text in the current README. (NEEDS ISSUE)
- Document .crystalproj package format, and anything else that a digital archivist would care about (NEEDS ISSUE)
Fix read-only project bugs:
High-value features (Choose 1 or 2):
- Ability to search for URLs that did not download at all or did not download successfully (with an error) (#84) π(DF recommends)
- Sequential groups (#110)
- Already have initial UI for this, behind the
NewGroupDialog._SHOW_SEQUENTIAL_OPTIONfeature flag.
- Already have initial UI for this, behind the
{β β: μ} Easy to install for early adopters, on Linux:
{β β: μ} Easy to install for end users (Part 1):
- Binary install steps work on all platforms:
- β
- Easy to install/run on Mac, from disk image:
- Mac Installation: Streamline process to install Crystal to Applications folder (#156)
- Easy to install/run on Windows, from installer:
- Windows Installer: Offer to open Crystal after install. Offer to add desktop shortcut. (#155)
{β β: μ} Easy to install for end users (Part 2):
- Easy to run on Mac, from Mac App Store:
- Build/submit .app for Mac App Store (with M1 support too) (#42)
- π° Requires an Apple Developer ID certificate ($99/year)
- Build/submit .app for Mac App Store (with M1 support too) (#42)
- Easy to run on Windows, from Windows Store:
- [#] Investigate localization steps to make Crystal feel more like a native Windows app, if any...
- Submit .exe to Windows App Store (#181)
- π° Probably requires some kind of paid certificate from Microsoft
- Easy to run on Linux, from local package managers:
Branding during first run:
- Better start dialog/window (#113)
- Show Crystal logo and icon in first dialog
- Maybe the first window is just an untitled project?
- β Already has branding.
- π May want to add an easy "Open" call-to-action button
- Maybe the first window is just an untitled project?
- Show Crystal logo and icon in first dialog
- Main Window: Improve Crystal branding in lower-left corner (#99)
{β β: μ} Easy to understand interface and concepts at a glance:
- Consider remove/minimize jargon "root" and "URL" from various places, like "New Root URL".
- Change "New Root URL" β "New Root Page" or "New Page"
- Change icon from (a bare β) β (a π with an β superimposed).
- Pro: Aligns with icon for a regular "page" (π)
- Pro: Looks like an "anchored page"
- Con: Cannot use Unicode icon to represent on macOS/Linux inside the [New Group > Source] dropdown.
- βοΈ Change shortcut βR (for "New Root URL") β Β«something elseΒ»
- Maybe not. Not a lot of alternatives that are easy to type, especially with the left hand. βD, βE
Easy to create first URL:
- Better error messages for common download error types (#180)
{β β: μ} Easy to create first group:
- Add Group: Warn when trying to create group using pattern with no wildcards (#77)
{β β: μ} Easy to serve first URL:
- View: Long delay opening web browser (#149)
- Log Drawer: Animate open/close (#134)
- Strengthen mental association between pressing View and the Log Drawer that appears
{β β: μ} Easy/possible to export:
- Support export of project to filesystem (NEEDS ISSUE)
- A user asked about this in #119
- Support export of project to static file server (like GitHub Pages) (#41)
Easy to quit:
- Respond to Quit event from OS correctly (#150)
Quality:
- Automated test coverage of core workflows:
- Download Site Requiring Login:
- test_can_download_and_serve_a_site_requiring_cookie_authentication (related to #68)
- ... (probably more core workflows missing test coverage)
- Download Site Requiring Login:
Any of the following items individually are major enough to warrant a release on their own (releaseworthy):
- Support dynamic download of site entirely through browser (#69)
- Support rewriting URLs on the frontend in JavaScript, which is necessary to archive more-modern sites that load many resources using JavaScript that cannot be fully statically analyzed to extract URLs in advance. π§ (#8)
...as an advanced contribution-required feature
- Support export of downloaded site to plain files that can be deployed to a static file server, either to a custom domain (best) or to a subdirectory within an existing domain (worse, because some URLs may not be as straightforward to rewrite). (#41)
- Does round out final piece of end-to-end preservation lifecycle: capture, retain, & share
- Does enable removing real xkcd from quickstart instructions.
Separate from the release of Crystal itself:
- Do use the export feature to export & host various notable sites I've archived that have fallen off the internet:
- TMFFA -> tmffa.daarchive.net (#60)
- PRFI -> rakhal.daarchive.net (#61)
- (??) Apple Support Area -> ???.daarchive.net
- βοΈ Has special legal considerations: Would Apple disapprove of distributing the old files from this area?
- βββ
- xkcd -> xkcd.daarchive.net
- π Needs special robots.txt to prevent indexing, because original site still online
- (??) OtakuWorld + The Big KiSS Page + Jenniverse -> (multiple!)
- π Needs special robots.txt to prevent indexing, because original site still online
- βββ
- -> *.otakuworld.daarchive.net
- -> jenniverse.daarchive.net
- -> *.unicornjelly.daarchive.net
- -> pasteldefender.daarchive.net
- -> transsexual.daarchive.net
- -> kamishibai.daarchive.net
...as an advanced contribution-required feature
- Distributed web crawling: Separate out crawling logic such that a centralized "orchestrator" can direct a remote fleet of "crawlers" to quickly capture a large domain that is scheduled to fall off the public internet soon (ex: Geocities, DeviantArt Portfolios, etc).