I've implemented some updated for LightningNetwork+. Thanks to everyone who helped with ideas, and consultations on various features.

The most requested feature was lightning login. I had two options to consider: LNURL login and signature based login.

LNURL is an awesome and easy to use technology but it by design hides your node's pubkey, which is a good feature in most situations. In our case however, the pubkey is essential and required for LN+'s operation, so I had to decide against it.

Signature based login requires you to sign a uniquely generated string in order to prove you own a certain node. The provided signature not only verifies you successfully signed a certain message, but it also provides the encoded pubkey in a safe way. Thus, you can be immediately logged in and have your node profile populated into your account.

Note that with Lightning login LN+ doesn't have your email, so it can't send you notifications on actions you need to take. To account for this, you either have to be diligent and visit often while participating in Swaps, or edit your profile, add your email and enable Email notifications.

If you're not logged in, you can test Lightning sign in by clicking Login in the top navigation and then hitting the Lighting sign in button.

Going forward LN+ will include a simple and fast to use Lightning Network node explorerer that updates practically in real time.

This allows node operators to quickly look up any node and get basic information about it, like alias, capacity, number of channels, the list of channels, and of course pubkey and address.

This feature is not meant to compete with the very detailed information 1ML, and the cool visualizations Amboss provide. Instead LN+'s node explorer focuses on speed, ease of use, and discovery especially for new node operators. If you're logged in, it will also tell you if you're already connected to a given node. Click Nodes in the nav to test it out.

User profiles have been upgraded to rich node profiles.

These new node profiles focus on providing essential node information about your node quickly, and also give you the opportunity to build a branded, memorable and informative profile. 

The profile can contain the following information:

Nodes are a living thing. They represent your passion to play an important role in building the future of sovereign decentralized finance and payment infrastructure, and for some your business. We have the need to share information, communicate our plans, ask for advice, etc.

We did our best to follow each other on Twitter, but not everyone is on Twitter and there is considerable noise. We now have an alternative way to get the word out: Node profile posts. You can write short updates, or long format stories, like this one you're reading.

Each post can include:

Each post appears on your node profile and also under the Posts navigation so it's easy to follow everyone's posts in one place.

Note: I have to reserve the right to remove illegal or spam content, as I don't want to be shut down by the hosting provider.

In order to prove you actually own a node, you can claim it using a similar signature scheme used in the Lightning signin feature. Sign the string provided and you will earn a verified badge and get rid of the yellow warning.

If you used Lighting sign in to login, the verification is done automatically, so you won't have to take this step separately.

In the background, node and channel information is now updated in real time as soon as the LN gossip protocol provides the information about an update. This will help you be informed about the latest state of nodes, and join restricted swaps as soon your node has sufficient capacity or number of channels.

Based on your ideas and requests, I have a fairly substantial list of ideas and improvements that I will work on in the coming weeks. Most of these are covering for various edge cases in Swaps or minor feature or UX improvements.

One notable feature I'm working on is Private Swaps. This is a type of Swap that allows you to organize a triangle or other shape among friends or collegues without including uninvited parties.

If you have any requests or ideas, please share in email, chat or in a reply here.