Changes and updates on the site

[Sami]

Sitewide SSL

Due to future changes implemented by Google in their Chrome browser, followed later by others, we've implemented a sitewide encrypted transfer policy. All pages are now loaded using the SSL protocol, as indicated by the green lock icon at the address bar.

Some things to note:

• You may see "not fully secure" errors (yellow lock icon) if the page contains images or content linked from external servers not using SSL (non-https links). This should only happen on game's Dashboard and on some forum pages where users can hotlink images from other sites.
  
  
• In reference to above we request to upload images to our servers, or hotlinked images using https instead of http (if available).
  
  
• It is still possible, and expected even, that some redirects or other configurations may not work properly, so please do let us know if you encounter continuous slow page loads or security errors, or anything else that doesn't look normal.

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Server software updates

We have been doing some housekeeping and updating the essential server softwares and other settings over the last few days.

At the same time the core system of the website has received some updates in order to better log errors and to track the memory usage for example.

Since the changes have affected several sections and systems please again report actively if you see abnormal error messages or slow pages.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Server software updates

We are planning for a larger server computer upgrade (more calculation capacity, ohyea!) during the spring/summer, and some updates have been performed already to background systems:

• Newsletter system updated.
  
  
• Support ticket system updated.
  
  
• Twitter announcements module updated.
  
  
• User geolocation tool updated.
  
  
• Some housekeeping and cleanup of some old / unused modules/systems.

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Privacy policy updated

Due to new legislation coming into force shortly we, like many other businesses, have updated our Privacy Policy. The updated policy is written to include more information compared to the previous version, as required by the new rules, but in practice our data and privacy policies remain mostly similar than before since we have already previously operated very respectfully towards user privacy and protecting the data.

If you have already opted in to receive our newsletter you do not separately need to opt in again due to these legal changes.

https://www.airwaysim.com/Information/Privacy

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Network updates

As part of our planned server upgrades, we've already changed some of our network settings and preferences today and switched the service provider in one network system. Since they have a better (worldwide) coverage than the previous system this might result in just a bit faster page loading times for some of our users.

Please let us know if some part of our site has become unreachable or slow after this change (28th May, 11 UTC).


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

New server hardware

Like already announced we have moved to new server system. At the same time other updates have been done. All this has taken a lot of time but here are some highlights:

• New server environment and hardware. Total update of all system software.
  
  
• New support ticket system taken into use.
  
  
• Most email sending systems updated (most vital emails are routed through Amazon's email service for better deliverability).
  
  
• Forum software updated.
  
  
• Various new service status monitoring systems (for admin purposes) taken into use and/or improved.

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Server software updates

Again some housekeeping and background system updates (not directly visible to users, but just informing if something goes wonky):

• Newsletter system updated.
  
  
• Support ticket system updated.
  
  
• Updated payment system libraries.
  
  
• Updated some security certificates.
  
  
• Twitter announcements module updated.
  
  
• Various server core softwares upgraded (better performance and reliability).

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Improved e-mail services

The delivery method for all system-generated e-mails has been replaced. These include for example notifications of low credit balance, password reminders and other such automated messages.

Like our newsletter already does, now also all these other e-mails are sent out via Amazon's delivery network to improve the reliability of the e-mail deliveries.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

E-mail migration

All of the e-mail services at AirwaySim (and all others, including my personal email and mails of all other projects) are being migrated to a new server and system.

This might cause some temporary delays in e-mail delivery when sending to us (for example when opening a support ticket). If you have issues during the next few days please use forum private messages or our Discord instead.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Better content delivery

The static resources (images, scripts, styling, maps) of AirwaySim are now being served from Amazon's content delivery network (CDN). This potentially increases the response times of the site and system in general.

As usual please let me know if there's something unexpected after this change.

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Site & Forum updates

Some technical changes have been made to the AWS website core and the forum systems.

The forum storage system has been changed a bit (for better structuring etc.) and at the same time the encoding of the system has been changed to UTF-8 (the standard encoding which vast majority of sites use these days).

This affects also parts of the game (such as alliance functions and press releases). Please let me know if something doesn't work as expected.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Site & Forum updates

Some technical changes have been made to the AWS website core and the forum systems.

You will need to login to the system again because of this update. ( = a possible 'permanent' login session you had was invalidated since the storage of the login information changed with the forum version update)


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Server Status monitoring

We've changed into a new third-party uptime/response time monitoring service and we have a new service status page available for public use. The old uptime.airwaysim.com service (by Pingdom) is phased out from our use.

New status monitor is accessible at https://status.airwaysim.com/

This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Updates to e-mail services

All in-game notification and reminder emails are again routed through Amazon's email services for better deliverablity. Due to some technical issues they were routed through our own email server during the summer, but we're back to the more reliable service now, and all technical details like SPF and DKIM should work fully.

Make sure you mark AirwaySim as trusted sender in your email client, especially in Gmail, to make sure you do not miss any notifications (like low credits balance or strike warning).


Also, the support ticket system and the newsletter delivery systems have been upgraded to the latest versions from these software vendors.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

E-mail newsletter delivery changes

The latest AirwaySim email newsletter is being sent out tonight and tomorrow morning.

The delivery of these emails has been changed a bit by adding geographical segmentation to the subscriber lists. This means that all the emails to all subscribers are not sent in a one huge bunch anymore, in order to a) avoid emailing you in the middle of the night, and b) helping in the email deliverability.

But still, Gmail especially wants to stubbornly put the emails into the Promotions semi-spammy inbox, making many people miss our nice emails. You can do your part by teaching the Gmail that it is proper content by moving the mail into the real inbox. Thanks for help


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Server software update

A set of backend software at the servers have been upgraded into new versions, to enable us to keep up with the latest features and security patches.

Since this was a major version change, some minor issues may be observed in the site / game - please report if anything is working abnormally.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Referral feature removed

The "refer a friend" feature has been disabled due to the planned move to a new backend / website system.

All previously earned referral bonuses will still be earned normally.

We'll check in the future if the referral discount will be brought back after the move to the new system.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Terms of Service updated

Minor clarifications and updates have been made to our Terms of Service: https://www.airwaysim.com/Terms

- Detailed system requirements removed, replaced with "Any regular modern browser software is sufficient for usage".

- References to the Referral feature have been removed for now from the terms (see previous post).


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Database server software update

Our database server softwares have been upgraded to the latest versions.

We're now using MariaDB 10.11 as the database engine, offering us long-term support and security updates until 2028.


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html

[Sami]

Bitcoin payment method retired

Due to very low usage, only 1-2 completed transactions for every 12 months, we have decided to retire the Bitcoin payment method from our online Credits store.

After the transition to the new website and backend systems is completed, the availability of different payment methods will be revisited (for example, we'll investigate if Apple Pay would be possible to be included).


This thread is locked and is reserved for announcements only. Please make all comments to the General forums: https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,60273.0.html