The Story of a Manga Reader Site that After Many Trials and Tribulations Reached its 6th Year of Existence!

[Kafka]

Hey y'all!

First of all, I want to wish a slightly belated happy birthday to us!
You better believe it we are still here and kicking, 6 years from the inception of the site. We've survived the tumultuous transition from the closing of another english speaking front-facing scanlation scene site (not unlike a certain manga-reading app), the spaghetti code our former overlord @Holo left for us on MD v1~v3 and the -not so recent now- attempted attack to our site by malicious parties which did make us go dark on hiatus and kill MD v4 (which tbh was already on life support by then), before pulling through thanks to the great effort of our volunteer devs, mods and admins as the current re-imagined MangaDex v5; which couldn't ever happened without the support of both scanlators and readers - a warm thanks to y'all.

It's time now to recap what's changed since last year. While most has been focused on internal infrastructure to support the millions of you out there, there are a couple of milestones that we can proudly share this year:

• MangaDex daily unique users have grown almost ~30% (both readers and new scanlation teams of english and foreign language) thanks to our updated and easy to use platform and the continuous polish on our (currently on beta) language interface picker.
• The biggest and most popular chapter release of a certain title with more than a quarter million views on the first 24hrs following it's release.
• The impressive count of most overall chapters read, a whopping 20.5+ million on just one day.
• And most of all, more than 3 million of you have registered to our site this past year only to use the full perks of MD (custom lists, chapter read tracking, rating, comments and more!).

Here are some features added since last year too:

• Spanish as a site-wide interface language option.
• Persistent settings, your user settings now synch across all your devices when logged in.
• We added a Custom Theme creator, so you can create and share your favorite colours wrong original dark theme is the best to browse the site and read your mango.
• Advanced Title Search update helping both our readers to find their favorite title to read and the site to survive the extensive use this feature requires from our infra.
• Neat quality of life features for scanlators like individual image editor, auto slicer for long strip series, duplicate image warnings, scanlation group comments, and more...

And some things to be excited for the future:

• Custom List v2.
• The re-implementation of view chapter count.
• Re-integration of the comment system on site (no more forum re-direct).
• User profile customization.

Remember that you can always take a sneak-peek of these features by joining our Discord's #frontend-early-access channel.

As always, we appreciate y'alls patience and support year over year. Thank you for reading!

Now to our traditional Staff (and friend) quotes for the year:

ixlone - Admin

lolis > *

Lymus - Admin

Another year went by. Not much major has happened but things are steadily progressing.
Staff shrinks and grows. While some stars have fallen, new ones are on the horizon.

2023 we got a wonderfull adaptation of Frieren and probably a bunch of good new manga and webtoon titles but i had little time to read

And like last time: Final Fantasy 16 may be my GOTY 2023, but do checkout Sea of Stars truly a gem!

Teasday - Developer

This was the year I rejected my humanity and embraced scanlation

panda__________ - Developer

One day, CustomList v2 will get out, I promise.

AlexEliot - Developer

It's getting close to 3 years since I'd sent a message asking for help on how to start on web development in MangaDex's discord. 4 people helped me with starter tips, and after about 5 months I started getting comfortable with more advanced technologies, while developing some more complex projects. About 4 or 5 months later I joined MangaDex as a developer and a whopping 7 months after that I got my first job offer. Effort can take you pretty high; keep trying.

Asyncantiunredoify - Developer

Its been 3 years since ive been locked in the yacht's freezer
someome help
alex was let out a couple years back but I think they threw him overboard
im getting realy cold and dont know how much longer i can hold out
luckily there's also food down here but i dont know how much longer i can keep eating frozen fish
im starting to think getting thrown overboard might be the only way out...

carbryvietia - Developer

When I was but a young lad, the universe was but a speck of dust floating in reality. As I grow older, I realize that every night, darkness plunges upon humanity, and we are powerless in the face of the rivers of time.

And yet the birth of time, reality, and the universe were not concurrent events. None alive today can say for certain, but there was a time where the Immernachtreich, the aether, the Immaterium were one single place.

That was a time long since past. A time when the kingdom the Prinzessin would come to inherit flowed with bounty and harvest. There was a time when the Immernachtreich was filled with life, a time in which it was unmarred by darkness, not yet torn asunder by Chaos.

The Prinzessin der Verurteilung did not wish to rule over a broken realm. And humanity did not wish to be plunged into darkness. It is my hope that one day, the world will never again be plunged into darkness, and the Immernachtreich will be reborn.

Xnot - Developer

These yearly quotes are the only communication channel left which is not heavily monitored by the higher-ups. I know many of you must think this is just a running joke by now, but the situation is truly very dire. This year, we had several new hires, despite the overcrowding and equipment scarcity problems from previous years not being addressed at all. One of the new hires has been sitting on a plastic chair, which I suspect might've been "borrowed" from the pub next door. There's been a worrying trend of hiring users with high report volume to fix their own reports, compromising the integrity of the reporting system. This trend only seems to be accelerating, and soon the validity of all data in the website will be at great risk. Out of the two guys we sent to check up on the yacht's refrigeration system, only one has returned, but he hasn't quite been the same since. He keeps talking about how great this company is and how all of his effort has paid off and it's starting to creep me out. I cannot imagine what they must've done to him while he was there. We were also able to finalize significant contributions towards the development of python GUI applications. It's all been part of corporate's plan to justify a mass layoff of our entire js-based frontend team. Public flirting incidents between staff members have skyrocketed. I believe this to be a new coping mechanism in response to the ever-deteriorating working conditions. As usual, all the money raised by the April fundraiser event has been directed towards yacht upgrades. The Miku Central room, the only place left where staff are allowed to occasionally engage in recreational activites, has been denied a budget for another year. The recreational events have been plagued by discriminatory acts, forcing them to be segregated into several smaller rooms of inferior quality, shattering the office's community, as well as its morale.

rdn - Developer

In harbor's rest, where waves did crest,
The MangaDex did lay at rest.
With timeworn planks and sails so old,
A tale to tell, or so I'm told.

No storms would rage, no battles sing,
Just duty's call and quiet fling.
On MangaDex, the crew would sway,
A monotone of mundane play.

As ye olden ship sways tranquil seas,
All the staffers sigh with ease.
Let sails be still, no tempest near,
In quiet waters, joy's sincere.

tristan9 - Developer

Read a great many yuri novels this past year, which was good. May that trend continue.
I recommend The Sting of Victory, by S.D. Simper.

eralfl - Developer

Meow

Bottersnike - Developer

She sound on my voltex until I extremely loud incorrect buzzer

Zephyrus - Moderator

My new year's MD resolution: don't run contests when you barely have time to sleep. Also, figure out how to create a Dex-chan avatar and break into the v-tuber scene.

kouyo - Moderator

Hola everyone, it's been +300 días since I became moderador de MangaDex, I still miss my humanity, but alas.

Electromaster - Moderator

Another fun year of mangos passes us all by. Looking forward to how things change in the next.

Spoiler: P.S.

Daviot - Moderator

Drink water, hug your loved ones, try to be nice to people, and please read trashy Isekai in moderation.

AntsyLich - Moderator

Finally I can fix my reports

Woulez - Moderator

What a year huh...

glad-barfs - Moderator

🤢 🤮

Spoiler: P.S.

Richman - Moderator

Record scratch Yup, that's us, a pair of fishes turned moderator, and you might be wondering how we got into this position... Well, let us tell you...

Alright, joke's over. I never imagined to become part of the staff, I was just some guy swimming around the forums, reading mangos and having fun. After the fall of the First Mangadexian Empire I spent my time with the other refugees waiting for the new land to be claimed and populated. I eventually got picked by my Elder God and got the opportunity to be more than a reader, and I'm happy with that. Hopefully I can write another quote next year as well!

Now go and read yuri.

BraveDude8 - Moderator

Region-locked manga services are the single greatest service problem in the manga scene. Please stop global publishers from launching services that are only available in two countries.

Kafka - Moderator & PR

A blushing girl♂️'s face is the cure to all that's wrong in the world.
Also, anyone who wants to collabo on cute manga DM me! I wanna keep breaking MD with 6+ groups working on a single chapter

Henny - PR (Public Relations)

I am constantly tired. Also I might be moving again!

I gotta read more stuff. Mainly been on the Monster Hunter and TV Show grind lately

Holo - Former Overlord

Has it been 6 years already?! Time flies when you live on a yacht...

Plykiya - PR (Pet Reindeer & Honorary Ex-Staff)

BOYS KISSING BOYS, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TURNED LOVERS AFTER A CROSSDRESSING INCIDENT, EROTIC MASCULINITY GAP FOREVER AND EVER, A MILLION YEARS OF HOMOSEXUALITY.

Bocchi - Ex-Dev & VIP

I'm Pomu!

P.S. Custom theme contest participants, do not despair, winners will be announced very soon™️

 

[tristan9]

First for a belated Happy Birthday to MangaDex

 

[Kafka]

smh, resorting to "first" just because you can...

Spoiler

I wanted to be first orz

 

[Thepandas12]

6 years of Mangadex? Damn, that's a long time.
Happy belated birthday to MD tho.

 

[Angry_Panda]

 

[Zblurth]

again... 2018 was not 6 years ago... it is not possible... time does not flow that fast...
I... I am old

 

[Zephyrus]

Aggs come and go, while MD remains. Here's to another 6 years!

 

[GigaFyde]

🎉

 

[crispy-whiskers]

Hey y'all!

First of all, I want to wish a slightly belated happy birthday to us!
You better believe it we are still here and kicking, 6 years from the inception of the site. We've survived the tumultuous transition from the closing of another english speaking front-facing scanlation scene site (not unlike a certain manga-reading app), the spaghetti code our former overlord @Holo left for us on MD v1~v3 and the -not so recent now- attempted attack to our site by malicious parties which did make us go dark on hiatus and kill MD v4 (which tbh was already on life support by then), before pulling through thanks to the great effort of our volunteer devs, mods and admins as the current re-imagined MangaDex v5; which couldn't ever happened without the support of both scanlators and readers - a warm thanks to y'all.

It's time now to recap what's changed since last year. While most has been focused on internal infrastructure to support the millions of you out there, there are a couple of milestones that we can proudly share this year:

• MangaDex daily unique users have grown almost ~30% (both readers and new scanlation teams of english and foreign language) thanks to our updated and easy to use platform and the continuous polish on our (currently on beta) language interface picker.
• The biggest and most popular chapter release of a certain title with more than a quarter million views on the first 24hrs following it's release.
• The impressive count of most overall chapters read, a whopping 20.5+ million on just one day.
• And most of all, more than 3 million of you have registered to our site this past year only to use the full perks of MD (custom lists, chapter read tracking, rating, comments and more!).

Here are some features added since last year too:

• Spanish as a site-wide interface language option.
• Persistent settings, your user settings now synch across all your devices when logged in.
• We added a Custom Theme creator, so you can create and share your favorite colours wrong original dark theme is the best to browse the site and read your mango.
• Advanced Title Search update helping both our readers to find their favorite title to read and the site to survive the extensive use this feature requires from our infra.
• Neat quality of life features for scanlators like individual image editor, auto slicer for long strip series, duplicate image warnings, scanlation group comments, and more...

And some things to be excited for the future:

• Custom List v2.
• The re-implementation of view chapter count.
• Re-integration of the comment system on site (no more forum re-direct).
• User profile customization.

Remember that you can always take a sneak-peek of these features by joining our Discord's #frontend-early-access channel.

As always, we appreciate y'alls patience and support year over year. Thank you for reading!

Now to our traditional Staff (and friend) quotes for the year:

ixlone - Admin

Lymus - Admin

Teasday - Developer

panda__________ - Developer

AlexEliot - Developer

Asyncantiunredoify - Developer

carbryvietia - Developer

Xnot - Developer

rdn - Developer

tristan9 - Developer

eralfl - Developer

Bottersnike - Developer

Zephyrus - Moderator

kouyo - Moderator

Electromaster - Moderator

Daviot - Moderator

AntsyLich - Moderator

Woulez - Moderator

glad-barfs - Moderator

Richman - Moderator

BraveDude8 - Moderator

Kafka - Moderator & PR

Henny - PR (Public Relations)

Holo - Former Overlord

Plykiya - PR (Pet Reindeer & Honorary Ex-Staff)

Bocchi - Ex-Dev & VIP


P.S. Custom theme contest participants, do not despair, winners will be announced very soon™️

She sound on my voltex until I *extremely loud incorrect buzzer

LETS GOOOO BEMANI ENJOYER

 

[Guralub]

Ixlone, based.

 

[brainman]

I migrated here from not just one, but two dead reader sites. Please stay alive, there's no way in hell I'll ever be able to restore all my bookmarked series anywhere else again (or at least provide us with a DB dump in case of death, thanks).

 

[eralfl]

Meow.

 

[Arghit]

 

[abf3427]

Just here to congratulate. 😁

 

[Elandriel]

happy birfday md~ thanks for absolutely tanking my work productivity

 

[ZaaQ]

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

 

[Bartolumiu]

Happy Birthday MD! (おめでとうございます！)

 

[EdWinMastere]

Congratulations on 6 years! You could raise a child to something like 6 years old in that time. Really been enjoying the new features, keep it up! 🎉 Also, was pinging everyone on discord necessary -_-

 

[BakedBanana]

Nice. Here's to the future of this website staying alive, it's a fun one!

 

[BabyFaceaz]

i just wanted to say how much i appreciate all the work you all here at mangadex do. i understand that maintaining and running this site is more difficult then i can imagine and all of you have put real elbow grease into doing just that for us. happy birthday guys you really truly deserve it and many more birthdays to come. may the best of the past be the worst of the future.