1 - Development of functionalities (Releases 1.32 and 1.33) 

New features:

• [Anti-spam measures] Sanity check for all the organisations which are not eTwinning validated
• [Report] Report system for the user-generated content in the platform
• [Groups] Search & filter groups based on text, (vocational) subjects & language 

• [Insights] New layout for the Platform articles and resources 

• [Insights] New area: School success for all 

Enhancements:

• [General] Improved search functionality for the whole platform 
• [General] When creating a new organisation, automatically select it to add it more easily to the profile
• [General] Improved list of organisations when adding an organisation to the profile 
• [Groups] Featured Groups are now visible 
• [TwinSpaces] Improved the design of the Pupils’ password cards 
• [Groups & TwinSpaces] Support pages accessible for everyone 
• [Professional Development] New label showing courses organised by external providers 
• [Professional Development] Improved simple and advanced search for courses 

Issues fixed:

• [Groups & TwinSpaces] Correct members’ roles 
• [Groups & TwinSpaces] The issue when accessing the online meeting page has been solved
• [Mailbox] Communications between eTwinners through the internal mailbox instead of facilitated email system 
• [eTwinning] Solved the issue with contact invitation if the visibility of the user is set to ‘Everyone on the internet’ 

2 - Future releases

Coming up in September (release 1.33.2):

• Advanced search for the Insights area.
   

3 - Anti-spam measures

Several measures have been taken to fight against the cyber-attacks that were targeting the Platform.
 

• User profiles: e.g. only validated users can make their profile page visible to other users, limiting PDF upload capacity and applying a stricter enrolment process for student teachers.
• Organisation profiles: e.g. applying a stricter organisation validation process, limiting the number of organisations per user, and reducing profile visibility in search engines. 
• Postings and Courses: they can be created only by validated users (eTwinners) or after the organisation has been ‘sanity checked’. If the organisation has not been checked yet, the user will receive a message with the link to request the ‘sanity check’.  
• User-generated content: e.g. limiting formatting options and applying daily limits.
• General and specific measures taken at the level of the europa.eu infrastructure.

The anti-spam measures have been further developed and will be applied on ongoing basis.

4 - Performance issue

The platform experienced slower performance during February and March 2023, meaning page response time was much slower than normal. After thorough investigation, specific measures (also related to countering spam attacks) have been taken.
 
The overall Platform speed is currently at a normal level (with some isolated issues for certain pages with heavy queries). Further actions are being taken to optimise performance (database and indexing optimisation, improved scalability of the infrastructure, optimisation of queries, etc.).

5 - Support

More information about the platform development is provided in questions and answers.

If you need further support:

• eTwinner: please contact your National Support Organisation
• Not an eTwinner: please visit our support portal