Hornet Watch Malta

Release log

What changed, from the first reporting tool to the latest improvements.

Compiled on · Newest updates first

Earlier changes are grouped in development order; exact release dates were not recorded. This log records development updates, not deployment dates.

Transparency

A public release log

  • Added this page to bring the site’s update history together, with a permanent link in the footer.

Quality assurance

Checks for safer reporting

  • Added end-to-end tests that submit real reports and verify that sea locations are rejected.
  • Checked that optional reporter emails appear only in passcode-protected moderation, not on the public map, CSV exports or public API.
  • Tests cover reports with and without an email and remove their temporary reports afterwards. Location lookups are simulated for repeatable coastline checks.

Reporting

Sea-pin checks and optional reporter contact

  • Added a location check to the report form to reject pins identified as being in the sea. If the location service is unavailable, reporting remains possible.
  • Added an optional email field so moderators can ask a reporter for clarification. Emails are kept separate from public report data.
  • Added an ‘Ask reporter’ email link in moderation and updated the Privacy Policy. Contact details are deleted with their report.

Map & moderation

Report totals, photo checks and moderator editing

  • Added total report counts and counts by report type on the impact page, excluding hidden reports and those awaiting review.
  • Added a report count to the map’s bottom summary, following the selected filters.
  • Verified photo submission, storage and viewing from a map pin using a real test report, then removed it.
  • Added moderator editing for pin location, locality, hornet count and notes, allowing misplaced reports to be corrected.

Site maintenance

Main-site search links and a data check

  • Updated canonical page addresses, social sharing addresses, the sitemap and search-crawler instructions to hornetwatchmalta.live.
  • Investigated reports of missing map data and confirmed that submitted reports had not been lost at the time of the check.

Report protection

Posting limits and suspicious-report review

  • Limited submissions to five reports an hour per shared internet connection, using a hashed address rather than storing the address itself. Hash records are removed after two days.
  • Added an invisible form trap and a minimum filling-time check to discourage automated submissions.
  • Added automatic review holds for unusually large counts, inconsistent hive totals and clusters of rapid reports near the same location.
  • Added review reasons and an Approve action for moderators. Held reports stay off the public map, impact figures and data feed until approved.

News

Local hornet news

  • Added a News page and recent headlines on the map homepage.
  • Added English and Maltese hornet searches across local sources, including Fil-Qosor, Times of Malta, The Malta Independent, Newsbook and TVM.
  • Backfilled hornet stories from 2026 and scheduled a daily check at 06:00 UTC. News matching uses headlines, so an unrelated story may occasionally appear.

Discovery & open data

A hornet icon, search improvements and a public API

  • Added a custom hornet favicon and home-screen icon.
  • Added page-specific search and social sharing information, a sitemap and crawler instructions; kept moderation out of search results.
  • Added documented, read-only public feeds for reports and trap catches, with date filters and result limits. The reports feed excludes hidden reports and does not expose photo files.

Guide & community

Species photos, sources and donations

  • Added real oriental hornet and nest photos to the Guide, with photographer and licence credits. The photos were not taken in Malta.
  • Added species information citing Wild Plants of Malta and Gozo, the Environment and Resources Authority and University of Malta research.
  • Added a Credits & Sources page for images, information and map attribution.
  • Added a donation page linking to Stefan Buttigieg’s Buy Me a Coffee account, explaining that contributions are voluntary and go to Stefan personally.

Your rights

Privacy, terms and accessibility

  • Added a Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy, Terms & Conditions and Accessibility Statement, linked from the footer.
  • Added an email-based process to request a copy, correction or deletion of submitted report data, linked from the Privacy Policy.
  • Documented browser storage used for report confirmations and known accessibility limitations. Policy wording remains subject to legal review.

Community reporting

All local councils and community confirmations

  • Expanded the locality selector to all 68 local councils in Malta and Gozo, including Tarxien, without changing existing report locations or locality text.
  • Added ‘I saw this too’ confirmations and confirmation counts on map reports, with a browser-based repeat-confirmation safeguard.
  • Added guidance for confirmations and instructions for reporting issues by GitHub or email in the Guide and README.

Project identity

Hornet Watch Malta: a clean start

  • Renamed the tool to Hornet Watch Malta throughout the site.
  • Removed the existing reports and trap-catch data at the owner’s request so public reporting could start from scratch.
  • Wrote a public README covering the project’s purpose, features, privacy, safety, effectiveness rules and contributing.

Initial release

The first Hornet Watch tool

  • Introduced public reporting for hornet sightings, nests, hive damage and interventions, without requiring an account.
  • Added an interactive OpenStreetMap map, filters and report photos.
  • Added an impact page comparing nearby reporting before and after interventions, alongside trap-catch charts and CSV exports.
  • Added passcode-protected moderation for managing public reports.