📋 Changelog

Track all updates, improvements, and fixes to the States I'd Live In Map application.

v2.10.02025-11-09

New Europe Cities Map - 74 Major European Cities

🗺️ Major New Map

  • •Brand new Europe Cities map featuring 74 major cities across 35+ European countries
  • •Complete geographic diversity from Nordic capitals to Mediterranean cities
  • •Every European country now has at least one major city represented
  • •Free map accessible to all users - explore Europe's most iconic urban destinations
  • •Beautiful map projection optimized for European geography

🏛️ Featured Cities

  • •Western Europe: Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Zurich, and more
  • •Southern Europe: Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens, Lisbon, Milan, Valencia, Seville
  • •Eastern Europe: Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Zagreb, Belgrade
  • •Nordic Region: Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Reykjavik
  • •Enhanced coverage: Multiple cities for Spain, France, Italy, and Germany

🎯 User Experience Improvements

  • •Fixed clustering issues - cities are properly spaced for easy clicking
  • •Optimized city selection to prevent overlapping markers
  • •Added to statistics page for viewing Europe Cities voting data
  • •Integrated into regional overview system with related map suggestions
  • •Full SEO optimization with dedicated landing page at /europe-cities/living-preferences

🔧 Technical Implementation

  • •Comprehensive GeoJSON data with accurate coordinates for all 74 cities
  • •Background country boundaries for geographic context
  • •Integrated into all core systems: map selector, stats, regional overview
  • •URL short code 'ec' for easy sharing: whereidlive.com/?m=ec
  • •Sitemap entries added for search engine discovery
v2.9.02025-11-06

World Cities Map Now Free & Bug Fixes

🎁 World Cities Now Free

  • •World Cities map is now completely FREE for all users!
  • •Previously a premium map ($0.99), now accessible to everyone without payment
  • •All 15 users who purchased World Cities received Lord of the Rings map for FREE as compensation
  • •Migration completed automatically - previous purchasers now have both maps
  • •No action needed - compensation was applied to all eligible accounts

🐛 Bug Fixes

  • •Fixed Portland city name collision - Portland, OR and Portland, ME are now properly distinguished
  • •Clicking Portland, ME no longer also selects Portland, OR
  • •Added state suffixes to disambiguate cities with identical names
  • •Improved city identification across all USA Cities map interactions

🔧 Technical

  • •Created migration scripts to compensate World Cities purchasers with LOTR access
  • •Updated map pricing configuration to remove World Cities from premium tier
  • •Enhanced GeoJSON data with unique identifiers for duplicate city names
  • •Added verification scripts to ensure all migrations completed successfully
v2.8.02025-11-03

Smart Recommendations Engine with Collaborative Filtering

🎯 Major New Feature - Personalized Recommendations

  • •Smart recommendation system powered by collaborative filtering algorithm
  • •Finds users with similar voting patterns and suggests states they love
  • •Dedicated /recommendations page with beautiful, engaging UI
  • •Shows personalized recommendations across all regions (USA, Europe, World, etc.)
  • •Separate recommendations for 'Places to Live' and 'Places to Visit' modes
  • •Real-time recommendation generation based on user preferences and community data

🧠 Algorithm V2 - Intelligent Matching

  • •Focus on strong preferences: Only matches on 4-5 star (love) or 1-2 star (hate) votes
  • •Ignores neutral 3-star votes for better signal quality and more accurate matches
  • •Alignment scoring system: +3 points for shared loves, +2 for shared hates
  • •Recency weighting: Recent votes get +20% weight (30 days) or +10% (90 days)
  • •Requires 3+ states in common with similar users for meaningful recommendations
  • •Sophisticated similarity algorithm considers both agreement and preference intensity

⚡ Performance Optimization

  • •Database query time reduced from 40-80 seconds to 2-5 seconds (15-30x faster!)
  • •3 new composite database indexes for optimal query performance
  • •idx_votes_similarity_lookup: Optimizes finding similar users
  • •idx_votes_user_region_mode_state: Optimizes user vote lookups
  • •idx_votes_preference_lookup: Optimizes recommendation queries
  • •FORCE INDEX hints ensure MySQL uses optimal query plans

🎨 Beautiful User Experience

  • •5 distinct UI states: Hero page, need votes, no similar users, great picks, new recommendations
  • •Sticky header with prominent 'Vote on More States' button for easy navigation
  • •Color-coded cards: Yellow for needs votes, Amber for no matches, Green for validated picks, Purple for new recommendations
  • •Animated gradients and smooth transitions throughout the page
  • •Mobile-responsive design with optimized layouts for all screen sizes
  • •Clear messaging and helpful guidance at every stage of the journey

💬 Engaging, Varied Content

  • •15+ different message variations to avoid repetitive text
  • •Personality-driven language: 'users like you', 'your tribe', 'kindred spirits'
  • •Context-aware messages based on rating levels (4.7+, 4.5-4.7, 4.0-4.5)
  • •Strategic emoji use for visual interest and emotional connection
  • •Validation messages celebrate user choices with affirming language
  • •Messages automatically cycle to ensure variety in every list

🎁 User Benefits

  • •Discover states you might love based on people with similar taste
  • •Validation when similar users also love your picks ('Great Picks' feature)
  • •Clear explanations when recommendations aren't available yet
  • •Social proof: See how many similar users recommend each state
  • •Star ratings show consensus strength (4.71/5, 4.68/5, etc.)
  • •Easy navigation between recommendations and voting with prominent CTAs
v2.7.02025-10-31

Where I've Visited Mode & Travel Tracking

✈️ Major New Feature

  • •Added 'Where I've Visited' mode alongside existing 'Where I'd Live' mode
  • •Independent tracking for travel history vs. living preferences
  • •Three-level visit status: Never Visited, Visited, Lived There
  • •Mode switcher allows instant toggling between living and visited preferences
  • •Separate vote storage for each mode - mark places you've visited AND where you'd live

🎨 Visual Improvements

  • •Gray-to-blue color gradient for visited mode (vs. red-to-green for living mode)
  • •Dynamic legend that updates based on current mode
  • •Contextual labels: 'Never Visited' to 'Lived There' for visited mode
  • •Stats page map colors now match selected mode
  • •Mode-specific color schemes throughout the entire application

📊 Data & Analytics

  • •Statistics page now supports both living and visited modes
  • •Separate rankings and vote counts for each mode
  • •Real-time mode switching on stats page with instant data updates
  • •Database optimized to store and retrieve mode-specific preferences
  • •API endpoints enhanced to handle dual-mode vote tracking

🔧 Technical Enhancements

  • •Mode-aware preference filtering across all map types
  • •Database schema supports vote_mode field ('living' or 'visited')
  • •Optimized preference distribution mapping for 3-level visited system
  • •Backward compatible with existing living preference data
  • •Enhanced color system supports both gradient types across all visualizations

🌍 Use Cases Unlocked

  • •Travel planning: Track where you've been and where you want to go
  • •Bucket list management: Mark dream destinations separately from visited places
  • •Digital travel journal: Keep a visual record of your travel history
  • •Dual purpose tool: Living preferences AND travel tracking in one app
  • •Share both your travel experience and relocation preferences
v2.6.02025-10-11

Lord of the Rings Middle-earth Map & Premium Features

🧙 New Fantasy Map

  • •Added complete Middle-earth map with all 24 iconic regions from J.R.R. Tolkien's world
  • •Includes regions from the Shire to Mordor, Gondor to Rohan, and everything in between
  • •Custom fantasy coordinate system with proper scaling and projection handling
  • •Interactive voting system for Middle-earth regions with real-time statistics
  • •Dedicated regional overview page with SEO optimization and social sharing

💰 Premium Features

  • •Introduced premium map system with Stripe payment integration
  • •Lord of the Rings map available as premium content for $1.99
  • •Dynamic pricing system that automatically updates across all UI components
  • •Secure payment processing with user authentication and purchase tracking
  • •Premium badge indicators in map selector with real-time pricing

🎨 Technical Enhancements

  • •Added CSS transform support for map flipping and orientation control
  • •Implemented custom GeoJSON handling for fantasy coordinate systems
  • •Enhanced map projection system with geoIdentity support for non-geographic data
  • •Improved paywall modal with dynamic pricing and better error handling
  • •Added comprehensive documentation for adding new maps to the platform

🔧 Infrastructure

  • •Extended database schema to support map purchases and user access control
  • •Added API endpoints for payment processing and access verification
  • •Implemented purchase service with map pricing and access management
  • •Enhanced sitemap with new fantasy map routes for better SEO
  • •Added regional overview template support for fantasy worlds
v2.5.02025-10-07

Accessibility & Social Media Improvements

♿ Accessibility

  • •Added color blind friendly mode toggle for statistics maps
  • •Implemented blue-to-yellow gradient as accessible alternative to red-green
  • •Toggle allows users to switch between standard and accessible color schemes
  • •Color blind mode works for all types of color blindness (deuteranopia, protanopia, tritanopia)
  • •Enhanced map legends to dynamically update based on selected color mode

🎨 Design

  • •Redesigned OpenGraph social share image with modern gradient background
  • •Added visual map preview showing interactive functionality
  • •Included social proof badge (10M+ votes) for credibility
  • •Enhanced social media presence with professional, eye-catching design
  • •Created automated image generation tools for future updates

🔧 Technical

  • •Dual color gradient system: standard (red-green) and accessible (blue-yellow)
  • •Modular color functions for easy maintenance and updates
  • •Created HTML templates and Node.js scripts for OG image generation
  • •Added comprehensive documentation for image generation workflow
v2.4.02025-10-04

Sentry Error Monitoring Integration

🚀 New

  • •Integrated Sentry for comprehensive error monitoring and performance tracking
  • •Added error capturing to all API routes with contextual information

🔧 Improved

  • •Enhanced error handling in vote submission API with detailed context
  • •Added user agent and request context to all error reports
  • •Implemented automatic error capturing in React ErrorBoundary
  • •Added source map generation for better error stack traces
  • •Configured environment-specific error tracking

📊 Monitoring

  • •Error tracking across authentication, voting, and stats APIs
  • •Performance monitoring for database operations and API responses
  • •Real-time error alerts and performance degradation notifications

🔧 Technical

  • •Sentry Vite plugin integration for automated release tracking
  • •Error context includes section tags, user agents, and request parameters
  • •Distributed tracing configured for localhost and production domains
  • •Environment-aware configuration for development vs production
v2.3.02025-09-30

Stats Page Performance Optimization

⚡ Performance

  • •Implemented materialized stats table - 50-100x faster stats queries
  • •Reduced stats page load time from 3-6+ seconds to <500ms
  • •Optimized database queries from scanning 1.2M+ rows to 737 pre-calculated rows
  • •Added incremental stats updates on each vote for real-time accuracy

🚀 New

  • •Added vote_stats table for pre-calculated statistics
  • •Created rebuild-stats-table.js script for maintenance and recovery
  • •Implemented atomic incremental updates using ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE

🔧 Improved

  • •Increased stats cache TTL from 5 minutes to 30 minutes
  • •Enhanced HTTP cache headers (5 min client, 10 min CDN)
  • •Optimized database connection pooling for better concurrency
  • •Stats now update automatically with each vote submission

📊 Technical

  • •Database query time reduced from 2-5+ seconds to 50-100ms
  • •Stats table indexed by region and state_id for instant lookups
  • •Preference distribution pre-calculated and stored (pref_1-5_count)
  • •Background rebuild capability maintains data integrity
v2.2.02025-09-29

USA Cities Map & Analytics

🚀 New

  • •Added Major USA Cities map with 70 cities covering all 50 states
  • •Implemented point geometry rendering for city markers
  • •Added background map layer support (non-interactive state boundaries)
  • •Integrated Google Analytics for traffic source tracking

🔧 Improved

  • •Enhanced map component to support both polygon and point geometries
  • •Added USA state map as contextual background for city visualization
  • •Improved visual hierarchy with cities as interactive markers over non-interactive states
  • •Updated stats page to include USA Cities as a selectable region
  • •Implemented 5-minute in-memory caching for stats API - dramatically faster page loads
  • •Reduced database queries by ~95% with TTL-based cache strategy

📊 Features

  • •70 major cities including NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Anchorage, Honolulu, and more
  • •Complete coverage of all 50 states with at least one major city per state
  • •City preference tracking with same 5-level system (Never to Absolutely)
  • •Dedicated city statistics and rankings on stats page
  • •Geographic context provided by background state boundaries
v2.1.02025-01-29

Database Migration & Performance Improvements

🚀 New

  • •Migrated from Google Sheets to MySQL database for better performance
  • •Added DigitalOcean managed database integration
  • •Implemented proper database connection pooling

🔧 Improved

  • •Standardized all TopoJSON map naming formats
  • •Fixed cryptic ID codes (like 'CA.QC', 'CH', '124') to use proper region names
  • •Increased rate limits: 2000 votes/hour, 500 votes/minute
  • •Optimized vote submission with better error handling

🐛 Fixed

  • •Resolved Poland voivodeship names from ALL CAPS to proper case
  • •Fixed Europe map showing country codes instead of full country names
  • •Eliminated all numeric and cryptic region IDs across all maps
  • •Fixed USA map to use local TopoJSON instead of CDN

🗑️ Removed

  • •Removed Google Sheets API dependencies
  • •Cleaned up old data mapping files (brazilData.ts, mexicoData.ts, etc.)
  • •Removed redundant geography ID mapping logic
v2.0.02025-01-15

Map Standardization & UI Improvements

🚀 New

  • •Added support for 13 different regional maps
  • •Implemented comprehensive stats visualization
  • •Added preference distribution charts

🔧 Improved

  • •Standardized all maps to use consistent 'name' property
  • •Enhanced map projections for better visual accuracy
  • •Improved mobile responsiveness across all components
v1.5.02024-12-20

Multi-Region Support

🚀 New

  • •Added World, Europe, Americas, Asia regional maps
  • •Implemented country-specific preference tracking
  • •Added Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and other country maps
v1.0.02024-11-01

Initial Release

🚀 New

  • •Interactive US states preference mapping
  • •Google Sheets integration for data storage
  • •Basic preference selection (Never, Reluctantly, Maybe, Willing, Absolutely)
  • •Real-time statistics and visualization
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