Description
Functioning similarly to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, the ENS Wayback Machine equips users to access historical iterations of IPFS content linked with ENS domains. This feature can be useful to researchers, historians, and those intrigued by the nuances of ENS, exploring the progression of Web3, or in efforts to retrieve former content.
By harnessing the unique feature of blockchain where IPFS links remain immutable, our service offers a window to past editions of ENS domains connected to IPFS content.
To illustrate, if one wishes to track the transformation of Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin's personal webpage, it's as simple as accessing vitalik.eth on our dApp. Utilize the header to toggle between different site versions, allowing a chronological visualization of its evolution.
As you can see, our dApp provides a comprehensive timeline that includes:
- Modifications made to content over time
- Detailed logs of domain registrations and renewals
- Dates indicating domain expiry
- Historical data on domain transfers
Additionally, users can effortlessly zoom in and out on the timeline, enhancing the ease of navigation through historical data.
What's new?
Thanks to the ENS funding we received, we've also launched our very own IPFS node. This addition improves how our service works, making it faster and more reliable, and enhancing the overall experience for our users.
You can access our IPFS node through the ens.site domain. This IPFS gateway follows a modern specification designed to work seamlessly with the security models of web browsers. You can easily access IPFS data by simply adding the IPFS hash right before the domain name, like so: https://ba...ky .ipfs.ens.site.
Additionally, we've created software to resolve ENS content hashes in a way similar to eth.limo. You can see this in action at:
- https://vitalik.ens.site
- https://wayback-machine.ens.site
- https://<your-ens-name>.ens.site
However, for daily use, we still suggest using eth.limo as it's more optimized. Use ens.site mainly for accessing older IPFS content or if eth.limo is unavailable.
What's next?
Looking ahead, we aim to cultivate a participatory preservation environment by developing a leaderboard for ENS tokenholders. This initiative will enable them to highlight the websites they believe are most crucial for preservation. In response to their collective input, we are committed to securing the top 100 websites as voted by our community, ensuring their permanent availability in the decentralized web's history.
As we continue to refine the ENS Wayback Machine, the insights and collaborations from our community are invaluable. We encourage everyone to engage with our development process by contributing to our GitHub repository and participating in our project. By working together, we can preserve and enrich the intricate fabric of the decentralized web.