Changelog

• Reading when out of view: If someone scrolls the TownSquare widget out of view while still browsing your page, their character switches to reading a book instead of just standing there — a small cue to everyone else that they've stepped away from the square, not the page. Scroll it back into view and they pick right back up.

• Widget layout: The widget now scales and sizes more reliably across desktop, tablet, and mobile.
• Action zone: Widget actions now sit in their own zone so controls are easier to find and use.
• Ground styling: Ground elements line up and space more consistently in the scene.

Site Owners

• Appearance colors: TownSquare can now serve your appearance colors directly from our servers. If you already have a TownSquare on your site, re-paste the updated embed snippet from your admin panel and remove any custom CSS color override you previously added to your site. After that, every change you make in the Appearance tab shows up on your site automatically — no redeploy needed when you adjust sky, ground, buttons, or other colors.
• Custom CSS override: If you prefer to manage colors in your own stylesheet, you can still copy overrides from the Custom CSS override section in Appearance. Re-copy and redeploy whenever you change colors.
• Layout CSS variables: Layout system variables have been renamed and reorganized for clarity. If you use custom CSS for your widgets, review and update your styles when you can.

• Ground and sky: On a customized TownSquare, the ground color could creep above the ground line in expanded (fullscreen) view. Sky and ground now meet exactly at the ground line, in both the normal and expanded views.
• Props and figures: Characters and objects on the scene now sit on the ground line instead of floating slightly above or below it.

Site Owners

• Custom colors: Renamed CSS color variables for clarity: --page is now --ground-fill, and --ground is now --ground-line. The old names still work, but we recommend updating your site's custom CSS when you can.

Plus sites

• Livestream overlay: Plus sites can copy a browser-source URL from the admin Add-ons page for use in streaming overlays. The overlay is watch-only, so it shows the live square without adding another active visitor. Choose a transparent background for normal overlays or a solid color when transparency is unreliable or chroma keying works better. The hosted overlay and admin controls are part of the private Plus add-on bundle; non-Plus sites do not get the admin module, and hosted overlay access is rejected server-side. See the setup guide for a walkthrough; it uses OBS as an example, but any streaming tool that supports browser sources should work the same way.

• Presence counter: A small "N people here" badge you can add to any page. It loads no scene and opens no connection, so showing it never adds a visitor or changes the count. It only reports who is in your square. Click it to scroll to a square on the same page, or to open your square's page from anywhere else. Pick a style (pill, minimal, solid, or outline) and an accent color, check the live preview, and copy the snippet from your admin page under Appearance, in the Presence counter section.
• Your nameplate sticks around: Pick a name and color once and we'll remember them the next time you come back to the same site, so you don't have to set them up again. It's just a nameplate for recognition, not an account, and nothing to sign up for or log into.
• Mobile UI: Name tags and the chat input no longer overlap on smaller screens. Labels stay clear of the message field and action buttons so the scene is easier to read and use on phones and tablets. There is still a lot to improve, especially on mobile, and we are working on it a bit at a time.

Site Owners

• Message board: Add a message board to your scene with a title and message, choose where it sits on the map, and pick its accent color. Visitors tap the board to read the full message.

Site Owners

• Admin layout: The site admin page is reorganized into topic-based sections so settings are easier to find and understand.
• Embed styling: The widget stylesheet no longer sets color variables on your page root, so it should not overwrite your site's theme. Hosted embeds with theme: "host" also recognize common dark-mode class toggles.

• Clouds: Clouds now drift gently across the sky when you open a TownSquare in expanded (fullscreen) view.

Site Owners

• People limit: Set the maximum number of visitors who can be connected to your TownSquare from the admin page. New sites default to 100 visitors.

• Mobile UI: Improved mobile UI by moving the input field and action buttons to a separate toolbar at the bottom
• Swipe to walk: Swipe left or right across the scene to walk on touch screens; tap-to-walk and vertical page scrolling still work as before.

Site Owners

• Filtered words: Block specific words from appearing in chat messages. Define your list in site admin.
• Slow mode: Require a minimum wait between messages from the same visitor. Configure the delay in site admin.

note: This post gets updated as new changes are released today

• TownSquare map: Site owners and visitors can explore verified TownSquares, follow the paths between connected sites, and see them within a shared scenic world.
• Map management: Service admins can shape that world with forests, mountains, custom lakes, and curved rivers from a visual editor.
• Site owner profiles: Customize a verified owner's display name, character colour, and crown badge colour from the admin page. The saved profile returns with that browser on future visits.

• Connected towns: Link neighbouring TownSquares to the left or right edge. A directional signpost appears, and visitors can walk over and travel there. Set links in your site admin.
• Typing indicators: Animated dots now show when someone is writing a message.
• Town Square Customization: You can now customize your own Town Square. Add more props (benches, trees, etc.) and change the color scheme.
• Tree colors: Trunk and leaves are now customizable in style overrides.
• Chat bubbles: Fixed long messages overflowing the edge in narrow or embedded TownSquares; bubbles now size to the widget instead of the browser window.
• Chat history: Recent-message trays now stay inside the TownSquare at narrow widths.
• Chat shortcut: Press T to jump straight into the chat input.
• Remember me: Admin and service admin logins can now stay signed in on your device for 30 days.
• Admin Chat Panel: Added a chat panel to the admin page for easy moderation.
• Message stats: The admin and service admin pages now show the total message count and when the last message was sent.

• High five: Press H to invite someone to high five.
• Site owner badge: Identifies the site owner in the room.
• Chat input: Your own chat history no longer appears while typing a new message, improving overall readability.
• Mobile Action Buttons: Added action buttons to the mobile version of the widget.