Roadmap

Tutoria is a long-term project. This page says what exists today, what comes next and why, and how versions are numbered. It is shown on the site at /about/roadmap.

How versions work

• 0.x releases are the build-up to a public launch. Each minor version (0.2, 0.3 …) is a themed milestone; patch versions (0.2.1) are fixes.
• 1.0 is the public launch: legal texts reviewed, payments live, accessibility and security audited.
• The version lives in package.json, is shown in the site footer, and every release gets a git tag (v0.1.0) and an entry in the changelog in PROJECT.md.
• Database changes ship as numbered, forward-only migrations (src/lib/schema.js); a release never edits an applied migration.
• The three layouts share all data and logic, so new features reach every layout at once; only page "skins" are layout-specific.

v0.1 — Foundation (October 2026, this release)

• Accounts on the fly. Every visitor gets a guest account with a friendly handle, shown in the top bar. It can be saved with email + password, upgraded to tutor, and verified by an admin. Logging in from a guest session merges the guest's content.
• The board. Tutor offers and student requests for any language or subject, combinable with the language of instruction (Electronics in English, Gaming in Spanish). Levels (CEFR A1–C2 or beginner→expert), age groups (Preschool, Primary A/B, Teenager A/B, Adult, Senior), platforms, payment methods, a rate or budget in any currency.
• Needs and services rated 1–3, not ticked: conversation, grammar, pronunciation, exam prep, job interviews, business, homework… These ratings drive a match score between requests and offers.
• The timetable. 1-hour slots (50 minutes of class) in weekly and monthly views, showing per hour how many tutors are free, how many students want a lesson, and the price range — in the visitor's own time zone and currency.
• Slot marketplace. Tutors publish availability; students request it or join the waitlist. Students publish the times they want; tutors claim them or offer to be the backup tutor. The owner accepts one claim; the rest become ranked backups, and backup #1 takes over automatically if the accepted person drops out.
• Bookings with a payment ledger. Each accepted claim becomes a booking with platform, payment method and payment status (due → sent → confirmed). No money moves through Tutoria yet.
• Backends: My Tutoria (everyone), Tutor Studio (tutors: offers, availability, leads, claims, verification), Admin (layout, settings, users and verification, moderation, articles, subjects, currencies, market data, outbox, demo data, audit log).
• Community (Ask, Ideas & feedback, verified-only Tutors' Lounge), articles (news, blog, guides), messages and notifications, reports for moderation.
• Statistics (rates vs budgets, supply and demand, popular hours, platforms, payment methods, age groups, focus areas) and a table for curated external figures such as Preply rates — with source and date.
• Tools: time-zone planner and rate converter.
• Three layouts — Agora (default, recommended), Noticeboard and Studio — switchable in Admin with a private preview; light/dark theme per visitor.
• Operations: one container, Node 24 with built-in SQLite, no npm dependencies, nightly database snapshots, daily ECB exchange rates.

v0.2 — Trust and email (next)

• Email delivery through an email API or SMTP (with SPF, DKIM and DMARC for tutoria.top): verification, password reset, and a daily digest of claims, messages and bookings.
• Tutor verification 2.0: private document upload (diplomas, certificates), checklist for admins, verification levels (identity · qualification · background check) shown as separate badges.
• Guardian accounts: one parent account managing several children; stricter messaging rules for learners under 16; no public photos of children.
• Favourites and saved searches with alerts (“tell me when a tutor posts IELTS writing under €30”).
• Spam protection for guest posting (privacy-friendly challenge such as Cloudflare Turnstile), better rate limits, a moderation queue for first posts.
• Privacy tools: export my data, delete my data, visibility settings per profile field.

v0.3 — Better matching and scheduling

• Recurring bookings: accept a weekly series in one step; pause and resume a series.
• Calendar sync: personal ICS feed for bookings; later Google/Outlook two-way sync.
• Availability templates (“my usual week”), copy-forward, time off, buffers between lessons; optional 30- or 90-minute lessons on the same hourly grid.
• Claim windows and auto-accept rules for student requests (e.g. accept the best-matching verified tutor within budget after 24 h).
• Group lessons (2–6 students splitting the price) and lesson packages (5/10 lessons at a discount); trial-lesson flow.
• Language exchange (tandem) matching between learners — free, community-driven.
• Search improvements: full-text search (SQLite FTS5), native-speaker filter, sorting by match score, landing pages per subject, language and city for SEO.

v0.4 — Reviews and reputation

• Two-sided reviews after completed bookings; ratings per focus area (“great for pronunciation”).
• Reliability signals: response time, acceptance rate, cancellations and no-shows.
• Tutor public statistics and badges (certified teacher, examiner, native speaker, background-checked).
• Community reputation: helpful answers, accepted answers in Ask.

v0.5 — Payments through Tutoria

• Marketplace payments (Stripe Connect or a European alternative such as Mollie or Adyen): pay when booking, funds held until the lesson is done, automatic payouts to tutors, a transparent platform fee.
• Wallet / prepaid credits, packages paid upfront, refunds and disputes, invoices and receipts in the tutor's name.
• Multi-currency settlement; PayPal and local methods (BLIK, iDEAL, SEPA) through the payment provider.
• Legal groundwork: updated terms, seller (tutor) identification as required by EU platform rules, VAT handling.

v0.6 — Classroom

• One-click meeting links: create a Zoom/Teams/Google Meet link for a booking, or a built-in room through a hosted video service.
• Lesson notes, homework and shared files per student; simple whiteboard.
• Reminders before lessons (email and push).

v0.7 — Tools

• Translator with example sentences (self-hosted LibreTranslate or a commercial API).
• CV / résumé builder for tutors and students, multilingual, PDF export.
• Level self-check (CEFR-style) that pre-fills the student's level.
• Lesson planner and flashcards.
• AI helpers (optional, cost-controlled): write a clearer request, draft a lesson plan from a request, feedback on a writing sample.

v0.8 — Many languages

• Site interface in several languages (starting with English, Spanish, Polish, German, French, Ukrainian), right-to-left support, localised URLs for search engines.
• Automatic currency and time-zone suggestions on first visit.

v0.9 — Ready for scale

• Moderator role separate from admin; moderation tools for bulk actions; spam detection.
• Offsite backups and restore drills; uptime and error monitoring; privacy-friendly analytics.
• Progressive web app with push notifications.
• Performance budget and image optimisation.

v1.0 — Public launch

• Lawyer-reviewed privacy policy, terms and child-safety policy; EU Digital Services Act duties (notice and action, statements of reasons, transparency report).
• Accessibility audit (WCAG 2.2 AA) and a security review.
• Support and contact channels, status page, help centre.

After 1.0 — ideas worth exploring

• Accounts for language schools and agencies (several tutors, shared calendar); corporate language training.
• A marketplace for teaching materials (worksheets, courses) with revenue sharing.
• Live group classes and webinars; meet-ups and language cafés in cities.
• Public open-data statistics about tutoring prices; data partnerships with other platforms instead of scraping.
• Native mobile apps once the web app is proven.

Notes on the original brief

• Who registers which slots. Tutors publish their weekly availability with a rate; students publish the times they want with a budget. Both appear in the same weekly and monthly spreads, side by side.
• Age groups. Grade 7 (age 12) fell between Primary B and Teenager A, so Primary B covers ages 9–12; a Senior group (65+) was added because it is a real tutoring segment.
• Prices are per lesson (one 50-minute class in a 1-hour slot), shown in the visitor's currency, with the original currency on hover.
• Preply and other platforms. Listing Preply as a place to meet is fine, but tutors should respect each platform's own rules about moving students off-platform. Statistics from Preply are entered by hand with their source — never scraped.
• Children's data. Under EU rules a parent must consent for young children; that is why requests for learners under 16 must be posted by a parent or guardian.