🌑 QhtLink Firewall 0.4.2 “Dark Horizon”

Post by **daniel** » Thu Dec 11, 2025 2:34 am

QhtLink Firewall v0.4.2 "Dark Horizon" — The Dashboard Awakens

Release Date: December 11, 2025
Codename: Dark Horizon
Theme Song: "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones (optional but recommended)

Dear Fellow Server Guardians,

After countless cups of coffee, several heated debates with CSS specificity rules, and one particularly memorable 2 AM session where we discovered WHM's header was consuming 47% of our viewport (yes, we measured), we're thrilled to announce QhtLink Firewall v0.4.2 "Dark Horizon".

: new dashboard.png (71.85 KiB) Viewed 38 times

This release represents our most significant UI/UX overhaul since the project's inception. We've listened to your feedback, squinted at your screenshots, and finally addressed the elephant in the room: why does a firewall dashboard need to share screen real estate with WHM's search bar that nobody uses anyway?

Spoiler: It doesn't. Not anymore.

The Great Theming Revolution

The Problem We Inherited
Picture this: You're a system administrator. It's 3 AM. Something's attacking your server. You open the firewall dashboard and... you can't read anything because someone thought white text on a white background was "minimalist design."

We've all been there. Some of us wrote the code that put us there. We're not proud, but we are reformed.

: Quick Action.png (90.4 KiB) Viewed 38 times

The Solution: Dark Horizon
Version 0.4.2 introduces what we're calling the "Dark Horizon" theme — not because it sounds cool (though it does), but because we've pushed every UI element to the horizon of readability and usability.

What Changed:

Background: Rich gradients from #0f1419 through #1a1f2e to #141824
Text: Calibrated #c4ccd8 that's easy on the eyes during late-night sessions
Headers: Crisp white #fff for the important stuff
Accents: Strategic use of blues (#60a5fa), ambers (#f59e0b), and status colors that actually mean something

Tables That Don't Look Like Excel 97

Headers: Subtle rgba backgrounds with uppercase text
Alternating rows: Zebra striping never goes out of style
Hover states: Gentle highlight for clarity
Proper borders: Using rgba so they blend rather than clash

Buttons That Actually Look Clickable

Default: #374151 → #1f2937 (General actions)
Primary: #3b82f6 → #2563eb (Main CTAs)
Success: #10b981 → #059669 (Confirmations)
Danger: #ef4444 → #dc2626 (Destructive actions)
Warning: #f59e0b → #d97706 (Proceed with caution)

Each button features subtle hover transforms (translateY(-1px)) because even server administrators deserve a little micro‑interaction joy.

: nft tables - native support added.png (122.08 KiB) Viewed 38 times

The Viewport Liberation Act

WHM's Header: A Love Letter to Wasted Space
Before v0.4.2: Your firewall dashboard started halfway down the page, like a shy guest at a party.
After v0.4.2: Full viewport domination. The firewall UI now claims its rightful territory from the very top.

How We Did It: Styles injected via modern_theme.css, loaded only on firewall pages. Navigate away, and WHM returns to normal. It’s like we were never there — except for the improved security posture. That stays.

The Dashboard Status Saga

A Bug's Life (And Death)
We had two status indicators:

Top-right badge: Showing "Enabled"
Dashboard card: Showing "DISABLED"

Same firewall. Same moment. Different opinions.

The Root Cause:
qhtlfirewall.cgi was checking for a service called qhtlfirewall that never existed. The actual daemon is qhtlwaterfall. Asking systemd about a ghost service returned nothing, so the dashboard assumed "disabled."

The Fix:
We now check everything:

systemctl status for qhtlwaterfall
PID files
nftables rules
iptables rules
Fallback: active_rules > 0 = enabled

The Version Chooser: Now Actually Choosable

Manifest.json was being fetched from the wrong path. We fixed detection, added fallbacks, and ensured at least the installed version is shown. No more staring into the abyss.

Technical Deep Dive

Files Modified

modern_theme.css — +280 lines of dark theme CSS, WHM header hiding
ui/css/modern_buttons.css — Hex button flex fixes
versions_panel.css — NEW version panel styling
ui/js/versions_panel.js — Script base URL detection
DisplayUI.pm — Colspan fixes, data attributes
qhtlfirewall.cgi — Dashboard status detection rewrite

CSS Specificity Wars
We fought the specificity war so you don’t have to. Yes, there are !important flags. No, we’re not proud. But it works.

Inline Fragment Architecture
Our AJAX‑loaded content uses a wrapper class

Code: Select all

.qhtl-inline-fragment

that enforces dark theme styling. Future features inherit it automatically. Future‑proofing through CSS inheritance.

Upgrade Instructions

Clear your browser cache — cached CSS is the enemy.
Hard refresh the WHM page — Ctrl+Shift+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac).
Check the dashboard — STATUS card should now correctly show RUNNING.
Admire the dark theme — you’ve earned it.

Verification:

Version 0.4.2 in the header
Dashboard STATUS showing RUNNING
Full viewport usage
Readable text everywhere

Known Considerations

Browser Compatibility
Tested on Firefox 115+, Chrome 120+, Safari 17+, Edge 120+.
If you’re using Internet Explorer… your browser choice is a bigger security concern than anything our firewall can help with.

Reverting Theme Changes
Remove WHM header hiding in modern_theme.css or strip .qhtl-inline-fragment rules. But give Dark Horizon a week — it grows on you.

Acknowledgments

Coffee — The real MVP
CSS‑Tricks — Flexbox is our friend
Stack Overflow — Definitely not copied code (wink)
Our users — Bug reports with screenshots and steps to reproduce = heroes
WHM CSS team — Worthy adversaries in the specificity wars

What’s Next

Real‑time traffic visualization
Enhanced geographic blocking UI
Custom theme support
More dashboard widgets
Performance optimizations

But for now, enjoy Dark Horizon. May your servers stay secure, your dashboards stay readable, and your status cards stay accurate.

Happy Firewalling!
The QhtLink Team

P.S. — If you encounter issues, please report with:

Browser and version
WHM/cPanel version
Screenshot of the issue
Output of
Code: Select all
```
cat /etc/qhtlfirewall/version.txt
```

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." — Albert Camus

Version: 0.4.2 "Dark Horizon"
SHA256: e253db92d56e53f93d67190c541fd8f5fd4313003e92a7ebad6009f65ff3a5fa
Released: December 11, 2025