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Changes on the website

July 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • When the NSPanel won't boot after an update - a new article for advanced users: a detailed breakdown of one 42-hour outage from black display to working panel, including three dead ends and what killed each - reading rst: codes, Guru Meditation and EXCVADDR, mapping log line numbers to ESPHome source, measuring memory (BLE takes 56 kB out of the DRAM pool) and the latched safe mode trap that factory.bin doesn't clear
  • Sonoff NSPanel - installation procedure rewritten after reader feedback from someone who couldn't get to a working panel by following the guide. They were right: a whole step was missing - creating the YAML configuration with the Blueprint package, without which the panel has none of the TFT controls or entities the guide went on to reference. The step order is now correct (configuration → compile → serial flash), the verified ESPHome and Blueprint versions are stated with a date, the configuration pins the Blueprint version instead of main, and I added a step to verify the right firmware is running the bootloader entry procedure was wrong - holding the left button does not work (the buttons are on GPIO14 and GPIO27), you connect IO0 to GND instead. Also updated: what's inside the panel - the complete GPIO pinout, the real relay rating (2 A, not 10 A) and why the humidity reading is fabricated; plus a new troubleshooting section (latched safe mode, hidden SSID, insufficient power from the 3V3 pin), PSRAM size verified from a real build, and a warning about why I don't recommend bluetooth_proxy on the panel
  • Sonoff NSPanel - the TFT display upload now has its own section organised by cause, prompted by another reader question. The key insight: if the transfer fails even from a local folder, the problem isn't the download but the display's Active Reparse Mode - uploading the small nspanel_blank.tft turns it off. Plus nine other causes, including the fact that /config/www/ isn't served at /local/ until Home Assistant restarts
  • Bluetooth Proxy - recommendation revised - the Bluetooth Proxy, Bluetooth intro and Hardware articles recommended the Sonoff NSPanel as a combined control panel and Bluetooth Proxy. After learning the hard way I'm withdrawing that - it doesn't have the memory for a proxy, and I recommend a dedicated ESP32 instead
  • SSL Certificate (Let's Encrypt) - a new article on obtaining a valid HTTPS certificate for Home Assistant with Let's Encrypt: a comparison of methods, the verified Let's Encrypt add-on configuration with the DNS-01 challenge (Cloudflare), the NGINX Proxy Manager variant, and troubleshooting
  • Home Assistant 2026.7 - The seventh release of 2026 brings purpose-specific triggers and conditions as the new default way to build automations for everyone, a rebuilt Activity logbook as a timeline, an Update all button, dedicated panels for IR and RF devices, and Raspberry Pi firmware updates
  • Bose SoundTouch - update: added a section about the end of SoundTouch cloud services (May 6, 2026) - what stopped working and what still works, Music Assistant recommended as a replacement, the AfterTouch and ÜberBöse alternatives, and a tip about the SoundTouchPlus community integration
  • HA 2026.7 news added to related articles - Introduction to Automations (purpose-specific triggers and conditions are now the default), ZHA (redesigned full-page device management), and Raspberry Pi (firmware updates directly from Home Assistant)

Music Assistant​

  • Music Assistant - update: added steps for connecting music from a NAS over SMB (Filesystem provider) including file organization and tagging recommendations, a new part about audiobooks and podcasts (Audiobookshelf, Audible, local files, RSS feeds), and a new section on voice control of music via Assist with the official blueprints (local custom sentences and the LLM-based variant)

June 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • Matter and Thread in Home Assistant - a new introductory article about the Matter standard and Thread technology: how they differ from Zigbee, how they work in Home Assistant, sharing devices between ecosystems (multi-fabric), and the new Matter Server built on matter.js
  • Home Assistant 2026.6 - The sixth release of 2026 brings a friendlier entity-based card picker, bidirectional infrared, PIN code management for Z-Wave locks, weather forecasts right on tile cards, and live condition testing in the automation editor

Music Assistant​

  • Music Assistant 2.9 - the "Discover Your Sound" release brings a redesigned Discover page with personal recommendations, audio analysis for smart fades and sonic search, Sendspin visualizers for smart lighting, and smart playlists
  • Troubleshooting: Internet Radio Dropouts over Chromecast - why internet radio from Music Assistant over Chromecast on a Samsung soundbar always dropped out after about 90 seconds, and how to fix it (HTTP profile)

May 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • Home Assistant 2026.5 - The fifth release of 2026 brings radio frequency as a first-class platform, serial ports over ESPHome, a new battery maintenance dashboard, a shortcut card, and a smart template editor with autocomplete

April 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • Home Assistant 2026.4 - The April release brings native infrared support through ESPHome proxies, cross-domain purpose-specific triggers, PIN code management for Matter locks, and 14 new integrations

March 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • Home Assistant 2026.3 - The third release of 2026 brings Home Assistant area-based cleaning for robot vacuums, major Energy dashboard improvements, easier error handling in automations, and experimental on-device wake word detection in the Companion app for Android

Music Assistant​

  • Music Assistant 2.8 - the "Let's get this party started!" release merges multi-protocol players into one, adds Sendspin Bridges to link Chromecast and AirPlay, party mode with QR code, karaoke, and genre-based browsing

February 2026​

Home Assistant​

  • Home Assistant 2026.2 - The February release makes the new home dashboard the default for new installs, introduces the community Open Home Foundation device database, renames add-ons to "Apps", adds a brand new Distribution card, and ships a redesigned Quick search

January 2026​

  • 🥳 2nd year of website operation

Home Assistant​

  • Smart Home Gadgets - new section with reviews of useful accessories for smart home
  • Noyafa NF-488 - Network Cable Tester - review of multifunctional network cable tester with PoE support, ideal for testing home cabling, verifying proper patch panel connections, and diagnosing PoE devices
  • MarkLife P15 - Mini Label Printer - review of mini portable thermal printer for adhesive labels with Bluetooth connection, ideal for smart home organization and device labeling
  • Home Assistant 2026.1 - The first release of 2026 brings an improved home dashboard on mobile devices, new purpose-specific triggers for automations, and easier access to communication protocols like Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Thread
  • Hardware guide - major update and simplification - completely reworked hardware selection section for Home Assistant: rewritten intro page with clear recommendation for beginners (Home Assistant Green), added comparison tables to articles about Green, Mini PC and Raspberry Pi with parameters and recommendations, reorganized menu for more logical structure (Green → Mini PC → Pi → NAS → Proxmox), fully translated English versions of all articles, added 6 screenshots to Proxmox article, removed complex technical section about installation types and outdated tips
  • NAS Synology - update: added latest DS225+ model with 2.5GbE port, expanded with 4-bay DS423 model, updated comparison table for all 5 models
  • Template Sensor Migration - update: added information about the importance of default_entity_id parameter for preserving entity IDs during migration, added 7 examples with default_entity_id, updated migration step and conclusion with clarification of backward compatibility conditions

December 2025​

Home Assistant​

  • Xiaomi Miio - update: added important information about the need to use Xiaomi Cloud Tokens Extractor instead of direct login, guide on obtaining tokens using QR code
  • Zigbee in Home Assistant (HA) - update: added section explaining advantages of own Zigbee coordinator (offline operation, wider device support, privacy, faster response, advanced features)
  • Music Assistant - Comprehensive Guide - update: added features from version 2.7 (user accounts, remote streaming, Sendspin protocol, smart fading, song lyrics)
  • Music Assistant 2.7 - biggest Music Assistant update with visual redesign, user accounts, remote streaming, and new Sendspin protocol
  • Christmas Tree Automation - practical automation example for smart Christmas light control with Apple TV watching support
  • Template Sensor Migration - how to migrate legacy template sensor syntax to modern syntax before version 2026.6
  • Home Assistant 2025.12 - The final update of 2025 brings Home Assistant Labs for testing new features, purpose-specific triggers and conditions for more intuitive automations, and significant Energy dashboard expansions

Website Code​

  • 💝 Support button - added one-time support button via Stripe at the end of each article with automatic switching between CZK and EUR based on language
  • 💬 Recent Comments - new page displaying last 50 comments from Remark42 with language filtering, relative timestamps, and links to original articles. Accessible from navigation menu and footer.
  • 📊 Product Price History - interactive chart displaying product price history for the last year directly in product detail. The chart uses step visualization for clear price change display and supports multiple stores simultaneously.
  • 🌍 Geographic affiliate link filtering - products now display only relevant e-shops based on visitor's country.

November 2025​

Home Assistant​

  • ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) - update: split EZSP coordinators by chip (EFR32MG24 vs MG21), added SONOFF Dongle Plus MG24, removed outdated products
  • Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 - second generation official USB Zigbee/Thread adapter with improved antenna, 4× faster communication speed (460,800 bps), ESP32-S3 chip, and open-source design
  • Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi - revolutionary features in Zigbee protocol - Bluetooth pairing without hub (Zigbee Direct), batch device commissioning, and most importantly Sub-GHz band (800/900 MHz) for significantly extended range and obstacle penetration
  • Home Assistant Yellow - update: end of production in October 2025, continuing software support, recommendation to transition to Home Assistant Green for new users
  • Hardware and Home Assistant - update: mention of growing popularity of Mini PCs, moved Yellow to historical section
  • Music Assistant - comprehensive music server for smart home - centralized library from all sources (Spotify, Apple Music, local files), wide player support (AirPlay, Chromecast, Sonos), advanced features (gapless, crossfade, multi-room), and perfect Home Assistant integration
  • Remote Access - comprehensive guide to all remote access methods (Home Assistant Cloud, Cloudflare Tunnel, Public IP) including comparison, detailed tutorials, and troubleshooting
  • HA 2025.11 - list of new features in the latest version of Home Assistant

Website Code​

  • 📙 Products catalogue - added new page Products with option to search and filter products by catagories and/or technology.
  • 🇨🇿🇬🇧 Products could have czech and english name + description
  • 🔍 404 page - redesigned page for not found URLs with clear layout, suggestions what to try, and links to most popular guides.
  • 🔄 Migration to GitHub - moved website source code from GitLab to GitHub for better accessibility and open-source collaboration.

October 2025​

Home Assistant​

  • ESPHome - comprehensive guide to ESPHome framework including installation, creating first device, adding components, advanced features, and practical tips
  • Tasmota - comprehensive guide to Tasmota firmware for ESP devices including web installation, MQTT configuration, Home Assistant integration, and comparison with ESPHome
  • Bluetooth Proxy - article updated with advanced configuration (connection slots, ESP-IDF framework, reception optimization), mention of NSPanel as Bluetooth Proxy, and added Bluetooth network visualization in Home Assistant
  • Sonoff NSPanel - comprehensive guide to installing ESPHome firmware on NSPanel including Blueprint configuration and automatic TFT display upload
  • Terminal & SSH - comprehensive guide to the Terminal & SSH addon including installation, configuration, working with web terminal, and SSH connection from local computer
  • Zigbee2MQTT - major update: new Windfront frontend, EFR32MG24 coordinator support, improved coordinator backup and restore, EZSP firmware 8.2.0, scheduled OTA updates, network health monitoring, advanced availability settings, and practical tips for Zigbee channel selection
  • Home Assistant Release Notes - added articles with new features for versions:

Februrary 2025​

Home Assistant​

  • HA 2025.2 - list of new features in the latest version of Home Assistant

January 2025​

  • 🥳 1st year of website operation

Home Assistant​

  • Hardware - NAS Synology - description of using NAS Synology for HomeAssistant including installation instructions
  • Zigbee2MQTT - added sections:
    • for firmware updates for adapters using EZSP
    • how to enable network availability polling for devices
    • how to temporarily disable devices in the Zigbee network
  • HA 2025.1 - list of new features in the latest version of Home Assistant

Website Code​

  • 🇬🇧 Translations - added English versions of articles + the entire website is now also available in English
  • 🇨🇿 Translations - fixed translations for the search component into Czech
  • 🔗 MyHomeAssistantLink - new web component for faster generation of MyHomeAssistant links including click differentiation in Plausible.
  • 🆕 Docusaurus 3.7 + React 19 - update of the website system to the latest version + React framework also to the latest version
  • 🎨 Dark Theme - adjustment of H2 and H3 heading colors for the dark theme.

December 2024​

Home Assistant​

  • HACS - update of recommended HACS integrations and UI elements
  • Automation - addition of condition types in automations, modification of automations through UI and YAML code
  • HA 2024.12 - new section with a list of new features in the latest version of Home Assistant
  • Basic Concepts - new section with descriptions of basic concepts in Home Assistant especially for beginners: Integrations, Devices, Entities

Website Code​

  • 🚚 Support for multiple e-shops for products
  • 🎥 Inclusion of YouTube videos in articles

November 2024​

Website Code​

  • 🌗 Switching between light and dark themes

  • 📈 Web Analytics

    • removal of very basic analytics through Cloudflare
    • self-hosted implementation of the open-source system Plausible

  • 🧵 Comments

    • removal of the comment system Disqus due to an excessive amount of ads in the free version
    • finding an alternative open-source system Remark42 and its self-hosted implementation

January 2024​

  • 🥳 Website launch

Comments​

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