1.10 Logging Update

7 min readJul 1, 2022

If there was ever going to be a Backloggd 2, this would be it.

Only 11 months in the making after the 1.9 update released last July, we’re here with a new batch of changes ready to be examined. Since it’s a large one, I’m going to primarily focus on the biggest changes and let the changelog explain the rest.

The Log Editor — and all the name changes

Right now you’re probably used to the way things are named (or not because it’s honestly kind of confusing): Journal is where I log stuff, Log is the section with my primary game data, Playthroughs is for logging daily play sessions and for keeping track of multiple reviews.

But this was not working. It becomes inconsistent when the user’s journal page shows playthrough sessions, when there’s playthrough data mixed into the Log section that sometimes syncs with the first playthrough but not always, and the UI to hold it all together was… messy. So right off the bat I took to the task of reorganizing all these concepts and tried to make it more coherent. This is what I landed on.

First, the editor is no longer called the journal, it is now simply the Log Editor. This is because Journal now only refers to the actual calendar section where Play Sessions are created to keep in line with logging dates. So now whenever you see Journal on the site, you should only think of the play sessions.

When you first open the Log Editor you are now presented with a single log and all of its data. No mixing data and no separate page for advanced options, it’s all here just with some hidden behind a collapsible dropdown. The Journal is now also a sub-section of a log as it was more fitting that each log has its own journal versus forcing a separate section. You can easily swap and create a new log via the ‘Switch Log’ button on the left so everything log-specific is now strictly under the Log tab.

Played on Platform

One addition to the advanced section is the new ‘Played on’ secondary platform field. This platform field is specifically for the physical platform you played on, which means you can choose any platform available. While the release platform at the top is limited to the platforms the game released on. By default this field will match whatever you put in the release platform field above, but you have the choice of manually specifying where you played the game. Like in this example I played Banjo-Tooie on Xbox One via Rare Replay but it’s the N64 version of the game.

I think this will be a great field in helping specifying the more nitty-gritty of what versions of a game you played.

Game Status

Now we still needed a place for game-specific data (data that is tied to the game itself vs. a single log). Previously it was mixed in under the Log tab as you had the ratings, the Game statuses, platforms, etc.. This was very confusing. So now all game-specific data lives under the second tab named ‘Game Status’.

Here lives the game statuses, total time played, and the new library entries feature. One big difference is that togglable Played status can now be swapped out to represent the other Played statuses instead of them being their own field.

This feels a lot more natural in how these statuses should work, as you aren’t going to mark a game as any of these statuses if you haven’t played it yet.

You might’ve noticed Mastered has been omitted! Worry not, it has simply been moved to a log-specific checkbox so that you can specific exactly which log you mastered instead of labeling it game-wide.

Library Entries

The inclusion of library entries came from wanting a better way to utilize the platforms and ownerships fields we had before. Before you would just check each platform / ownership but there was no way to tell how each of these correlated with each other.

So now you can specify exactly which release platform you own, along with how you own it out of 3 options: Physical, Digital, and Sold / Lost. You’ll then be able to see that represented on your logs page:

Overall I think this will help a lot collectors out there keep track of their libraries better than before. I’m also exploring ways to display your library in a unique view so stay tuned on that!

Unfortunately since this platform and ownership need to be tied together to work, the previous platforms and ownerships fields weren’t transferrable. You can still view this data by clicking on the ‘Legacy Log Data’ at the bottom of the any logs page.

Other New Changes

Now the log editor wasn’t the only focus of this update, as you’ve probably already noticed a lot of the UI / colors have been tweaked as well! The aim was to dial down the saturation a bit from all the blues on the current site to something a bit more smooth. I still think there are areas of improvement but I hope this delivers a much more consistent experience across the site!

QoL Galore

Lots of quality-of-life improvements also made their way into this update. Including but not limited to:

Multi-list selection when adding a game to a list
Start / Finish dates can be any date in a play session range, not just the start or end
Users reviews and all reviews can be sorted in either direction
Easily access your logs page for a game from the quick access bar
Change the played status of any game but selecting the played button in the quick access bar or on a game’s page when it’s already toggled
View when someone started following someone else via the friends page
A warning is displayed in the log editor when a release platform you previously selected isn’t considered a release platform anymore
See who you blocked and when from your settings page along with any reviews you might have had removed
Mobile UI optimized in various places
Ability to wipe all logs from your account if you want a fresh start

For Backers

Backers also get a couple of new toys to play this update. One being a permeant Backer feature and the other being a limited beta that will eventually be made public.

On the stats page the ‘Favorite Studios’ section has been improved to only consider developers to greatly improve accuracy of who might be making your favorites. But now you can also sort by how many games you played from studios for a different view.

The beta feature is the new home page quick access section that will appear at the top! Here I’m playing around with the idea of having different widgets that can display quick information about your collection. So Backers please let me know how you like / don’t like this feature so we can make it great for launch! Also you can disable this beta view by going into your profile settings.

If you’re not a Backer yet, there’s no time like the present! Join hundreds of other fellow gamers to experience personalized stats, an ad-free experience, longer activity ranges, an exclusive badge, and more.

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Then of course thank you to everyone who has supported the site to get it where it is today!

Final Notes

Phew.. after the launch settles I’m ready for a long slumber. I won’t lie the work on this release has been tough, especially the last few months as I struggled to decide on how to organize the log editor. Same thing happened back during 1.3 the last time the journal / log system updated as it’s such an essential part of the site, I really want to get it right. But that’s okay because in the end I get the opportunity to work on a dream project that thousands of you enjoy to login into everyday to build your collections! An experience I would never give up. So thank you for all your support❤️