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discord

Discord Update: June 30, 2025 Changelog (opens in new tab)

Discord’s latest updates focus on enhancing user expression and streamlining platform navigation through a series of identity-driven features and technical refinements. By introducing Server Tags and expanding profile customization options, the platform aims to deepen community connections while simultaneously optimizing back-end processes like image compression and search algorithms. These changes reflect an ongoing effort to balance aesthetic personalization with functional performance for both individual users and server administrators. ### Server Tags and Community Visibility * Users can now display Server Tags next to their names to represent specific communities or favorite games. * These tags are interactive, allowing others to click them to learn about the server or apply for membership directly from the tag. * Server administrators can unlock this feature for their community once the server reaches three Boosts. ### Profile Customization and Asset Management * The desktop client now saves the last six used avatars in Profile Settings, enabling users to swap back to previous images without re-uploading files. * Nitro members gain extended access to Quest-earned Avatar Decorations, allowing them to keep these rewards beyond the standard two-month expiration period. * New Nameplate designs have been added to the Shop on the desktop app to further customize user presence in chat lists. ### Integrated Activities and Syntax Enhancements * The New York Times Games’ Wordle is now available as a Discord Activity, accessible by typing the `/wordle` command in any text channel. * Players can use the `/share` command to distribute their results across different channels or direct messages. * New Markdown support for email addresses allows users to wrap an address in brackets (e.g., `<email@address.com>`) to create a clickable link that opens a mail client automatically. ### Performance and Infrastructure Optimizations * The Quick Switcher tool received an algorithmic upgrade to improve the accuracy of channel and DM suggestions based on user behavior. * Mobile image embeds have been improved through a change in how the mobile application handles image compression, resulting in higher-quality renders. * The updated mobile image pipeline also reduces the time required for uploading and rendering images on handheld devices. ### Advanced Server Boosting Features * Beyond Server Tags, communities with sufficient boosts can now access Enhanced Role Styles, which add glowing gradients to specific server roles. * These aesthetic upgrades are designed to provide more visual hierarchy and flair to server member lists. To make the most of these updates, server owners should coordinate community boosts to unlock the new Role Styles and Server Tags, while power users should adopt the Quick Switcher and new Markdown syntax to increase their communication efficiency.

datadog

How we use Vale to improve our documentation editing process | Datadog (opens in new tab)

To manage a high volume of technical content across dozens of products, Datadog’s documentation team has automated its editorial process using the open-source linting tool Vale. By integrating these checks directly into their CI/CD pipeline via GitHub Actions, the team ensures prose consistency and clarity while significantly reducing the manual burden on technical writers. This "shift-left" approach empowers both internal and external contributors to identify and fix style issues independently before a formal human review begins. ### Scaling Documentation Workflows * The Datadog documentation team operates at a 200:1 developer-to-writer ratio, managing over 1,400 contributors and 35 distinct products. * In 2023 alone, the team merged over 20,000 pull requests covering 650 integrations, 400 security rules, and 65 API endpoints. * On-call writers review an average of 40 pull requests per day, necessitating automation to handle triaging and style enforcement efficiently. ### Automated Prose Review with Vale * Vale is implemented as a command-line tool and a GitHub Action that scans Markdown and HTML files for style violations. * When a contributor opens a pull request, the linter provides automated comments in the "Files Changed" tab, flagging long sentences, wordy phrasing, or legacy formatting habits. * This automation reduces the "mental toll" on writers by filtering out repetitive errors before they reach the human review stage. ### Codifying Style Guides into Rules * The team transitioned from static editorial guidelines stored in Confluence and wikis to a codified repository called `datadog-vale`. * Style rules are defined using Vale’s YAML specification, allowing the team to update global standards in a single location that is immediately active in the CI pipeline. * Custom regular expressions are used to exclude specific content from validation, such as Hugo shortcodes or technical snippets that do not follow standard prose rules. ### Implementation of Specific Linting Rules * **Jargon and Filler Words:** A `words.yml` file flags "cruft" such as "easily" or "simply" to maintain a professional, objective tone. * **Oxford Comma Enforcement:** The `oxfordcomma.yml` rule uses regex to identify lists missing a serial comma and provides a suggestion to the author. * **Latin Abbreviations:** The `abbreviations.yml` rule identifies terms like "e.g." or "i.e." and suggests plain English alternatives like "for example" or "that is." * **Timelessness:** Rules flag words like "currently" or "now" to ensure documentation remains relevant without frequent updates. By open-sourcing their Vale configurations, Datadog provides a framework for other organizations to automate their style guides and foster a more efficient, collaborative documentation culture. Teams looking to improve prose quality should consider adopting a similar "docs-as-code" approach to shift editorial effort toward the beginning of the contribution lifecycle.