October Updates

We've been quiet, but we've been cooking! As always, it's Tom here from Doras, and I want to outline some important changes coming on November 16th! Important things first The update on November 16th is no usual update. Majority of us on the team will clock in at 11pm on November 15th GMT to prepare for a major change... Swapping hosting providers & moving over to our own servers. A few months ago, we brought in a new team member and the first thing we started discussing was getting off of for hosting. While it was helpful at the start, as we grow, so do our costs, and Vercel is being one of the latest dents in this. Even though we've limited the amount we rely on them, they lock some pretty helpful and needed features behind paywalls we just can't fathom, especially with a lot of us on the team work with hosted infrastructure in our "real world jobs". We can't see metrics we'd want, troubleshoot as we'd want, or even dump our logs to an external service without paying a premium. We've spent about 4 months working on this, and now we're ready. We've built up our own infrastructure, fail-overs, backups, logging, and even APIs and internal tools to build and publish Doras the best we can. And although right now it's "technically" more expensive than what we had with Vercel, we have enough headroom to grow tenfold without needing to worry about costs increasing. Why are we telling you this? We build in public! We figure there's some of you out there interested in our progression, our processes, and how we do things. Being open about these things is really important to be honest, I love reading things like that. BUT , there's more than just that. If you have a custom domain, listen up! You were sent an email a few weeks ago, but I'll reiterate it here: If you have a custom domain and it's pointing to the "A" record 76.76.21.21 you'll need to update this! There's a very important post that you can find out more from . Here's how we'll be notifying you all about the changes: Inlcuded with the DNS update, we're also adding a "domain verification" TXT record that users will need to add, but we'll be making sure that it isn't required initially for the migration. Some more awesome updates The migration isn't just an update to the hosting, we've also got some awesome UI improvements and features heavily requested being added! Sidebar improvements The sidebar has had a major overhaul, with better layout of options, being more dynamic and updating in real time, and it can now even be shrunk down to the icons should you want to work that way. The sidebar is an integral and very important part of Doras and how you utilize all the tools, and I'm so happy to have something to reflect it. Command Center We had a lot of feedback with people not knowing where their QR Codes are, the Twitch Panel image, or our integration with StreamerBot is located. Basically, anything inside the "Share" button at the bottom of your sidebar. Well come November 16th, we're introducing the "Command Center". It can be opened by some icons on the sidebar that would have previously gone to specific pages or opened single use popups, but now we're integrating a lot more into this. The "Command Center" will house some basic profile settings, a quick place to see all your brand accounts, sharing options, and even a native search option to find anything on Doras! This is just the beginning, and we plan on bringing more and more power into here as a single place to find and control all the things. QR Codes for Shortlinks Shortlinks will finally have QR codes assigned to them, allowing you to create a QR code for any link you'd like, not just your profile! This has been a crazy few months We're so excited to bring this forward, and have so much more to do. Being busy is always good, and getting to show you all the work we've done is always fantastic. With this update, the process of incorporating Doras as a legitimate company, and all the opportunities we've had so far, we can't wait to bring more to the table. I've said it before and I'll keep on saying it, we're nothing without you guys, and to all of those who support us, seriously, thank you. ❤️ If you don't have Doras Pro yet, try it out for free using the code K1ODEWNA . That's Doras Pro, free for one month! This has been a long one, signing off! , Co-founder of

Updates to DNS

Today we sent out an email to all domain holders about changes to our systems. From November 15th, we're moving hosting providers from Vercel over to our own self hosted solution. This affects users who have custom domains set up with A records pointing to 76.76.21.21 . What do I need to do? Once this is completed, your custom domain should comeback within a few minutes. FAQ What happens if I don't update my domain? There's an option for A and CNAME records, do I do both? My DNS provider won't allow me to use the CNAME method on the root domain Is there any documentation regarding this? Why are we migrating hosts? We will be keeping the FAQ up to date as questions and concerns come in! If you have any questions, please feel free to jump into the and we'll be more than happy to help. If Discord isn't your thing, we also have a built in where a member of staff will be able to help.

Livestream Announcements In Your Discord Server

Livestream Announcements To Your Discord Introducing the Doras Discord App, bringing content creators more power and control and enhancing how you interact with your users. The Doras Discord App/Bot can be added to your Discord with a single click, or it can even be hosted on your own systems! It's fully open source, and fully built with community in mind, like everything we do around here. What can it do? Twitch The Doras Discord App makes it super simple to add it to your server and manage as many livestream notifications as you wish! VOD support When you add a stream, you can choose if you want it to disappear when the stream is over, or have it remain as a VOD link. Most bots don't dynamically update, so it's quite hard to tell if the stream is still live hours later. With the Doras App, it's super simple. Role pings As you add a streamer, you have the choice to have the bot mention any role, or even @everyone should you desire. Custom messages You can additionally customize each live notification message, adding some additional flare to each notification you send out!

The Big Migration

Before we launched Doras, we were faced with a problem. We knew we wanted users to have custom domains, but we weren't quite sure how to actually allow it. As a vital selling point of Doras Pro, it was a problem, and we were leading up to release. We attempted multiple frameworks, hosting providers, and configurations. We realised that the easiest solution was the one we were purposely avoiding... Hosting on . Why is this a problem We're big self hosting advocates. Nearly everyone on the Doras team has home servers and self host their own infrastructure, and using a Platform as a Service (PaaS) like Vercel just felt wrong. I personally always stated "we're not going with Vercel", however I eventually had to cave. It's not the Vercel is "bad" or anything, it just limits our control. It goes against our values of paywalling basic information they have access to. It additionally offers very little transparency behind mertrics, which costs to be able to view. Additionally, the costs themselves are wild. The "pay per seat" model is something I personally hate. A seat in a Vercel organization (or team, or whatever they call it) is $20. So basically by adding Trent as a member of the Vercel org, our bill doubled from $20 to $40 dollars, to which it doesn't even provide any additional bandwidth or limits on the account. We pay double for the privilege for Trent to be able to deploy the site. This literally doesn't make any sense. What's the plan? It's simple. Docker. I'll keep this simple, but not too simple for those who are interested and understand to get an idea of our infrastructure. We have set up some servers that will handle everything and have the power to scale as needed. Here's what that looks like: This is a really simplified view, and doesn't include some important things like the API and such, but hope it gives you some understanding. Important info for custom domain users You might be asking why we haven't migrated to this yet. It's because there's people right now with custom domains who are pointing to Vercel's IPs right now via A records. These users need to update their DNS records in order to still be available. The planned migration date is November 15th, and we'll be sending out specific notifications to users affected with the changes they must do in order to continue using their custom domain after the migration.

Blogging Comes To Doras

Blogging has finally come! It's been long in the makings and discussion, and it brings me great pleasure to say that blogging has arrived! Why build in blogging? It's always been a goal, as before we ever built Doras, we were actually building a blogging platform first. Who has access to the feature? EVERYONE! For clarity, free user and brand accounts can create a max of 5 posts, where Pro, Brands Plus and Brands Pro have unlimited blog posts. The reason for the restriction is the same as always, to help combat spam. It's hard to see behind the scenes, but we do check every single account from time to time for content moderation. We remove a lot of phishing accounts and report the content to the right places (free website builders like Wix/Weebly/etc) and work hard moderating the platform to protect everyone on the internet who may stumble onto a Doras profile. Limiting the number of posts a free account can have helps us fight this. Important! Blogging is in a closed beta state as of right now! If you wish to test it during this stage, please join us on our and let us know! What can I do with a blog? Absolutely anything. Write tutorials, share your thoughts, write fan fiction. Create some categories, improve your search-ability with tags, and truly make it yours.

Understanding Brand Accounts

What's a brand account? A brand account on Doras is a special type of account that allows you and other Doras users to create a shared profile with its own unique features, such as a customizable link in bio, a dedicated blog, and various other tools. It's designed to help you establish and manage your brand's online presence more effectively. For you gamers, think of it like this: Why choose a brand account? Delegation and Collaboration Imagine you have a brand, and you wish to delegate certain responsibilities to your team members. With a Doras brand account, you can assign roles and permissions to other Doras users, allowing them to contribute to your brand's profile, create blog posts, and manage various aspects of your online presence. This collaborative approach streamlines your workflow and ensures that your brand remains active and engaging. Comprehensive Branding Tools Doras brand accounts come equipped with a range of powerful tools designed to help you grow and promote your brand. From a customizable link in bio to a full-fledged blogging platform, you have everything you need to create a strong online presence. You can showcase your products, services, or content in a professional manner, and engage with your audience through various interactive features. Insights and Analytics With a Doras brand account, you gain access to valuable insights and analytics that help you understand your audience better. You can track your brand's performance, monitor engagement rates, and identify areas for improvement. These data-driven insights allow you to refine your branding strategy and make informed decisions to grow your brand effectively. In conclusion, a Doras brand account is a powerful tool for anyone looking to establish and manage their brand's online presence. By allowing collaboration, separating personal and professional identities, providing comprehensive branding tools, and offering insights and analytics, Doras brand accounts empower you to take your brand to the next level.