Wander Console 0.4.0 Brings Wildcard Patterns and Console Picker Improvements

The Wander Console project has released version 0.4.0, bringing several improvements to this decentralised web exploration tool that lets visitors discover interesting websites recommended by independent site owners.

![Wander Console 0.4.0]()

Wildcard Patterns in Ignore Lists

The most significant addition in this release is support for wildcard patterns in ignore lists. Console owners can now use asterisks (*) anywhere in their ignore patterns to match zero or more characters in URLs. For example, https://*.midreadpopup.example/ will ignore both https://alice.midreadpopup.example/ and https://bob.jones.midreadpopup.example/.

These ignore patterns are specified in a console's wander.js file and are crucial for maintaining a quality wandering experience. Console owners typically use them to filter out commercial websites that don't fit the "small web" spirit, as well as defunct or incompatible sites that don't load properly in the console. A well-maintained ignore list significantly reduces the chances of visitors encountering broken or unwanted content.

For complete details on configuring ignore patterns, see Customise Ignore List.

The 'via' Query Parameter

By popular demand, Wander now adds a via= query parameter when loading recommended web pages in the console. The parameter's value is the console that loaded the recommended page. For instance, if you encounter midnight.pub/ while using the console at susam.net/wander/, the page loads with https://midnight.pub/?via=https://susam.net/wander/.

This feature allows website owners to see in their access logs that visits originated from a Wander Console. While this is now the default behavior, it's customizable in two ways: the value can be changed from the full console URL to a small identifier (like via=wander-0.4.0), or the parameter can be disabled entirely. See Customise 'via' Parameter for more details.

Improved Console Picker Algorithm

Version 0.4.0 addresses a fairness issue in how the console selects recommendations. In earlier versions, when visitors came to explore the Wander network, the console would pick the first recommendation from its own list but then only consider recommendations from neighboring consoles recursively. This meant the starting console wasn't considered again unless another console in the network linked back to it.

The common workaround was to add a self-link in each console's wander.js file, creating intentional self-loops. While this wasn't problematic, it was an unnecessary complexity.

Now, each console always considers itself part of the pool from which it picks consoles for recommendations. This ensures that web pages recommended by the starting console have a fair chance of being picked for subsequent recommendations, eliminating the need for self-links.

Relaxed Sandbox Restrictions

The Wander Console loads recommended pages in an <iframe> element with sandbox restrictions enabled to prevent unwanted side effects on the parent window. Previously, these restrictions were so aggressive that they blocked legitimate websites from opening links in new tabs.

The team has relaxed the sandbox restrictions slightly to allow this harmless behavior. When you click a link that opens in a new tab within the Wander console, it will open in a new tab of your web browser rather than within the console itself, as the console doesn't have its own tab system.

Growing Community

What began as a spontaneous project during a break from algebraic graph theory has evolved into a thriving community. After a warm reception on Hacker News, Wander Console now has an active community of owners.

The community gathers in two main places: new consoles are announced in the Share Your Wander Console thread on Codeberg, and there's an IRC channel #wander on the Libera IRC network for discussions about building personal websites and sharing non-commercial links.

If you own a personal website but haven't set up a Wander Console yet, the installation process is remarkably simple—just copy two files to your web server. You can see it in action by visiting susam.net/wander/ and follow the installation instructions to set up your own.

The project represents an interesting approach to decentralized web exploration, creating a network of independent site owners who collectively recommend interesting corners of the internet while maintaining control over their own content curation through ignore lists and customization options.