thebaer

As long as they're hosted somewhere on the internet, you can add images with regular Markdown. Built-in support for photo management is in the pipeline though!

Yep, that's exactly it! (Creator here.)

Would also note it works pretty well for microblogging -- here's an example (with some custom styling)[0]. Small posts with a single paragraph also get federated out as `Note`s instead of `Article`s, which makes them show up on Mastodon pretty nicely.

[0] https://write.as/updates/

Yes, the project is still alive and well! It also powers our very alive commercial service, Write.as, which has most of my attention. The open source project is just moving at a one-maintainer pace because it only has one maintainer :)

There will definitely be future releases, especially once we get through a roadblock with the tool we use to cross-compile WriteFreely [0]. Otherwise, anyone who wants to see the project move faster is more than welcome to contribute, especially with tasks like code review, to help clear out those PRs [1].

[0] https://github.com/techknowlogick/xgo/issues/155

[1] https://github.com/writefreely/writefreely/discussions/550

You might like what we've built with Write.as [0]. It's Markdown-based, but without all the publishing overhead of a static site generator.

There are a lot of other great small platforms that are made especially for blogging, rather than being general-purpose like some of the options you mentioned. E.g. Bear Blog [1] and Svbtle [2]

[0] https://write.as

[1] https://bearblog.dev

[2] https://svbtle.com

Allowing alternative payment systems. This would be absolutely huge for small devs, as you no longer have to pay the ridiculous 15%-30% rent to Apple.

I appreciate the feedback. Our setup does require some basic sysadmin knowledge... But did you try installing from source or one of our binaries [0]? What kind of federation issues did you run into? We're always happy to help with installation and configuration issues on our forum, by the way [1].

And out of curiosity, what didn't you like about our thought process on micropayments?

[0] https://github.com/writefreely/writefreely/releases

[1] https://discuss.write.as/c/writefreely/15

Hey, really sorry this happened to you, we obviously dropped the ball there. If this still needs to be resolved, can you email me again: matt [at] write.as with your username, or a receipt number, etc. so we can get that squared away? Happy to issue refunds for those months when you weren't able to access your account.

Sounds awesome! Would love to be a part of it. I'll reach out soon!

Just curious, which features did you want that were proprietary at the time?

The primary reasons for including certain features in Write.as but not in WriteFreely are when they're very early (it's easier to deploy and fix on a single hosted service), or when they involve a ton of external dependencies. My thinking on the latter is that I'd rather leave a feature out than leave admins with a poor experience, vendor lock-in, lacking documentation, etc. But maybe that's the wrong way to think about it.

Either way, "locking features off" isn't a business strategy here, but just a matter of practicality as a very small open source project. As I mentioned elsewhere, we plan to bring things into parity for v1.0. And we very much welcome contributors -- even if it's just reviewing pull requests!

Besides everything else mentioned, you can create an account on our official demo instance here: https://pencil.writefree.ly/invite/NB8Ycb

Hi! I'm the lead developer of WriteFreely -- happy to answer any questions you have!

For a little update on where the project is today: we just put out our last update [0] before v1.0, which we're aiming to release later this year. In 1.0, among other things, you'll find many features we've been piloting on our hosted service (Write.as), including newsletters, social media cross-posting, eBook export, etc.

We're also experimenting with new, non-core features, like photo hosting [1] and comments [2]. Our core focus has always been on just writing, which is why many features (including ones afforded by ActivityPub) have been left out. So we're trying to see what's possible when we keep a clean, simple core with optional "rooms" of functionality around it. If you want to keep up with us, you should see more developments around this before the end of the year, too.

[0] https://blog.writefreely.org/version-0-13

[1] https://snap.as

[2] https://remark.as

There isn't a direct way to import from WordPress so far, but there is an open API [0] you could use to move your blog. That's the tack we took for our Hugo import tool [1]: just taking posts from a previous blog, parsing out the metadata, and publishing via the API. For WordPress, you'd also just want to get the posts converted to Markdown for the best experience in WF.

As for exporting your content, yes you can do that at any time. Everything is downloadable as JSON, CSV, or a zipped archive of plain text files.

[0] https://developers.write.as/docs/api/

[1] https://github.com/writefreely/hugo-importer

Write.as - Remote (I'm based in Florida) - Seeking marketer / business developer

Write.as is a simple, privacy-friendly blogging platform made for writers. It's focused on doing just one thing well: helping you get your words published on the open web. It's powered by open source software called WriteFreely, and is part of a suite of interconnected publishing tools that I'm building: Snap.as for photos, Submit.as for submission management, Draft.as for collaboration, and so on.

As a company, we're entirely bootstrapped and founder-owned, and after 6 years, very modestly profitable. But in many ways, we're still very early. Our customers are writers, bloggers, teachers, and authors, plus some companies, publications, and public libraries. There's no "exit" or fundraising potential in sight; just a small, sustainable company I hope to continue running for many decades.

I put most of my focus on building product and supporting current customers, to the detriment of us growing quicker. But there is plenty of room to grow, and I'm looking for someone who can join in a cofounder-like capacity to help move the needle in a way that matches our calm pace and principles [0]. If you're interested, I'd love to hear from you: matt {at} write.as

[0] https://write.as/principles

Yep, there's no way they'll be widespread, and for the limited places they are used, they'll have a human ready to grab the wheel. Largest users might be trucking companies. I think the hype will fade this decade without any fanfare as the reality becomes clearer.

This is how Mastodon works, unfortunately -- it doesn't pull in old posts. But now that you're following the blogs, you'll start seeing any new posts that come in.

Indeed, this is running on our new Teams [0] infrastructure, so HN is giving us some good real-world testing :) Performance issues should be fixed now.

[0] https://write.as/for/teams

This is not intended to be a (de)valuation of the software behind the platform and the effort to maintain the platform.

That's the rub. If you were running the service, just speaking practically, how many customers would you need at $10 / €10 per year to pay for the servers? How about to pay your salary? What if you wanted to hire one additional employee?

(Also, WordPress.com shows you ads unless you pay at least $36 / year -- and they're large enough that they could reduce the price to whatever they want, unlike a bootstrapped service starting from $0.)

But there's also the valid point you mention, which is that many people have no more than a passing interest in blogging, and thus might not value a blogging platform at more than the price you suggested. We see this happen with Write.as. But then it might actually make more sense for platforms to charge more -- think about if you were just starting out a workout routine. Would you be more willing to go to the gym regularly if you were paying just $1 per month for a membership, or $40 per month? An investment in the tool helps you invest in the habit.

Customers find these services valuable enough to pay their prices, and services optimize for that audience. But what would be your ideal price for a personal blog?

Yes, it's especially important when these games are used to educate students. Recently came across this [0] very informative talk that discusses some of the same things.

On another note, I'm really excited to see that A Pattern Language was an inspiration for this sim. That seems like a great start!

[0] http://molleindustria.org/GamesForCities/

I don't think it's too much to ask of the general public.

Think of WordPress -- free software you can either run yourself or pay a company to run for you. If you don't like a particular hosting company, you can click a button to export your data, and upload it with a new host -- or with other software that understands the WordPress export format. All of this data handling is manageable by most non-technical people. The process is hardly any different than downloading an email attachment and sending it to someone else, or uploading it somewhere.

It seems to me the biggest problem is either data not being exportable from these services, or the exported data not being machine-readable. If the format is machine-readable, developers can create alternative software that works with it; managed services can then develop around that software; everyday consumers can eventually end up with more choice, freedom, and power.

I'm about to take the train from Florida to Oregon and I can't wait. I ride Amtrak up and down the east coast all the time, and will take it over flying any day.

Yes, the trains are often late. Yes, it's slower than flying and maybe even driving. But it's a journey. You can show up 15 minutes before the train leaves and still make it on board. You can bring snacks and some beer, meet people you never would've talked to otherwise, see parts of the country you'd never see otherwise.

You get to travel for the sake of traveling -- a rare pleasure indeed.

That's pretty much how things are developing in the fediverse: each platform meant for its own content type, with the microblogging platforms generally being used for a "main" identity. So platforms like Pixelfed and Peertube can focus on photos and videos, respectively, while still interacting with the larger network.

By not supporting following in the other direction, these specialized platforms can stay focused on the content shared there, instead of also supporting microblogging, video, photos, events, and whatever other types come up in the future. But of course you're not limited to just following in one direction -- comments go both ways. So someone can comment on your Pixelfed photo with a Mastodon account, and you can respond to that comment with your Pixelfed account, and they'll see your comment back on Mastodon.

Yep, we're already maintaining a quarterly warrant canary for this reason [0]. Still, this report will cover all the other cases that don't involve an NSL -- the vast majority of requests, I'd imagine.

[0] https://write.as/canary.txt

I guess my point was that parent shouldn't assume defeat based on some HN comments and the fact that "everybody just does ads." My statement is a simplification of what it takes to sell a product, yes, but IMHO this still isn't a big enough obstacle to justify the idea that "ads are the only way."

What are some of the bigger problems you see?

People love to complain about giving up money when they don't understand the value they'll get from something. Make it clear what you're selling and why it's worth $10 / month, and people will pay you. It's not as big of a problem as you think.

We can still create a world of free products that enable what your forum has -- it just needs a simple business model like, Hey, do you enjoy writing here? Send me $5! Then subsidize your free users with paid ones. If you have a day job, you can consider it a success when the servers are paid for every month.

There is nothing inherent about the internet that says it must be run on ads. That's just what ad-powered platforms want you to think, to justify their own terrible existence. Get creative, put on the tiniest of marketing hats, and just ask people. There is no quick and easy lunch, but I think you'll be surprised by what you find.

That's great feedback. I've always felt the way it's presented was sub-optimal, so it's good to at least confirm that :)

Consumers are our focus, but we do need those few business customers to help get us to profitability quicker. That, and the fact that we solve some niche business needs, is why I still want to target them in some way. I have a few ideas in mind to do this (particularly around marketing) that I want to implement soon. Would you mind if I picked your brain on some of the changes I've been thinking of?

That's definitely good to know -- I appreciate the insight! We were indeed headed down this route in the early days with these integrations. In another life, I might do this. Particularly, having a simple format (like plain text / Markdown) that could then be interpreted in its own ways by all these platforms was the original dream.

But the consumer space is our sweet spot. I can genuinely talk about why I care about building a $6 / month blogging platform for consumers -- I wouldn't have that same passion building something I don't have much personal interest in (even if there was more money involved).

From a business perspective, this space is very under-served, as far as platforms that writers can rely on still being here in 10 years. And we have plenty of avenues to business customers, from support [0], to more API access, to larger community hosting [1]. Mostly, I personally want everyday people to have a service they can depend on, where they aren't being mined for data, they get their digital freedom back, etc. That's not something many others can say or even have interest in.

[0] https://write.as/pricing

[1] https://writefreely.host

I never said either of those things.

They didn't explain why the "interruption" has existed at least a week, or why they didn't notify anyone in that time. Our application doesn't seem to exist in their system anymore, even after their most recent email response. Before this, it was working steadily for two years. That's what we're waiting for an explanation on.

Author here -- just got a response from Medium, though it's still confusing:

We recently experienced an interruption with API, and the ability to generate new oAuth-based applications has been restricted. I have reenabled that feature.

This doesn't really explain why our 2-year-old integration suddenly stopped working (we didn't need to generate a new application). So I'm asking for more clarification.