@Denny nice summary. i agree MB is a bit ugly in terms of text input. if you havent already, check out the “Drafts” app to use as a text editor. its feature rich and has an export to MB functionality.
@heyjonathan Ah, yeah, I've used Drafts in the past for writng/posting. Agreed, it's also much better than the MB app. I really like Drafts but ended up preferring the other apps because I'm kinda hung up on having discrete txt files in the Files app.
@Denny good useful opinion and example with experience here. I’m considering moving both my main instance starrwulfe.xyz and my “pro” blog jason.gatewood.xyz here so I value your input.
@Ddanielson Yeah, I bounce back and forth a lot between micro.blog and mastodon. I've found more of "my people" there than anywhere else on the internet so it's been good for me but I can see how it might not fit everyone! As for Drafts, yeah, if I didn't already use Obsidian and iA Writer Drafts would be my app of choice!
@starrwulfe It might be a better experience in the Mac app though I expect the web interface is about the same. I used it for a couple of months before making the move so I knew what I was getting into as far as the app experience. I knew right from the start that iA Writer was an option for writing/posting so that aspect of it was pretty well covered but it might be a factor for you and others.
@Denny This is really good. I’m wrestling with all the things you’re talking about, but I’m just a few months into Micro.blog. I started on Pika last week and love it and am trying to sort out what service is best for the various blogging ideas I have, including a photo blog. It feels like there are a lot of options, but not a lot of great options.
@MitchW Yeah, I get his building it out as he has. It's excellent to have all those features for premium subscribers. But I think on a certain level we're all aware how small the micro.blog team is and along with that is an awarenss that there's only so much time in a day to fix/update the more basic features.
@rex I love the way micro.blog handles photos. I suppose my needs are fairly basic in that area but I do post a lot of photos and it's always worked well for me. I'm not sure about Pika. But I did take a look at it and set-up an account to try it out mainly to try out the writing environment - the aesthetic design of the post editor is what really impressed me!
@Denny That’s my issue! If I want to post photos, I have my theme set up perfectly for it. But, if I want to write, it’s not great. I’m also wrestling with each concept. I write about health and fitness, I riff on leadership and life, I post photos from photo walks. Do they all go in one space or are they supposed to go to different blogs? These are the thoughts I’ve been wrestling with.
@rex Yeah, it can be a bit tricky getting things set-up the way you like. Looking at your current set-up, I like it and can see the merit of having two as you do.
I previously had two blogs. One that was personal, the other on my freelance "business" website. I decided to combine both when I moved them to micro.blog. My freelance website links to a specific category here on microblog. It would be trivially easy for any of those visitors to cross over into the main blog which has content of all kinds. I care a lot less than I used to about keeping it all separate. 🤷🏽♂️
@Denny I'm pretty new here, and I think I agree with almost everything you commented on!
It's a bit funny, because I'm super happy with my move to Micro.blog - but I almost don't touch any of the first-party stuff.
I do all my posting (micro and not) from Ulysses, and it's terrific. And I read the timeline and write replies like this with Gluon, which I think is significantly better than the default app. (Though not quite on the lever of the best Mastodon clients.)
I read the default timeline a bit on desktop - but mostly I use the Micro.blog site for uploads and admin.
So while I agree that the first-party apps needs work, I also kinda just want them to keep focusing on backend stuff. Because it will "never" become as good as Ulysses (or iA Writer, I bet), so in a way time spent there would be "wasted" for me, personally. So I'd rather see improvements to the newsletter or something, if you know what I mean. 🙂
@Havn I like this perspective and it fits with our goal of open APIs. Without ads, we can encourage third-party apps and it’s great for everyone. Of course, we want to keep making the official apps better too.
@manton Yeah, that’s what I love! Like, the most important question to me is: «Can I use software I love when blogging on Micro.blog?» («Yes!»)
So even though I don’t love the official apps (sorry!), I’m very happy giving you $10/month. 😊
@Denny Agree about the polish on the web app. It definitely can be better. Even Scribbles is better. I think that's what always rankled @amit. Dunno what he's using now since he no longer syndicates his posts outside of RSS.
@Havn I want to believe that if Micro.blog builds the backend, the developers will come. But I've been here for nearly seven years now and it hasn't happened yet. At least nothing better than the official ones (across devices). I have now accepted that I'm fine with Micro.blog hosting my blog at the price they provide. I do most of my writing via Drafts now anyway.
For viewing and interaction, the web can be the best version for everyone irrespective of the platform. There has been some movement there like Lillihub but maybe the official one needs some love as well. It could do with some professional UX help.
@Denny I use Ulysess for my longer posts in both M.B and Wordpress currently. I think external offline systems are a good way to keep track of ideas and crossposting if needed, so appreciate the support for it. I also use micropub too-- consider giving Quill, micropublish and Sparkles a try as well as the alternative frontend Lilihub as well if you haven't already.
@starrwulfe @Denny I use Byword markdown text editor to get a distraction-free writing environment and then copy/paste to WordPress.
I am a tool minimalist. What’s the minimal set of things I need to do to get a post out?
@khurtwilliams I'm sure with the way @manton has things set up around here, there's probably a very simple HTTP standards-based API you could tie into using webhooks, indieauth, and JSON. That's kinda why I use Micropub half the time because it's the bare minimum and supports seeing the syndication targets and post types.
I'm in the nascent stage of trying to tool a helper bot that would run on Telegram, Signal, Matrix and Discord to hook into this functionality to create/edit posts and perhaps even microsub/RSS to read them, see comments and browse the timelines too.
Reduce friction. Reduce complexity. Don’t aim for perfection.
I don’t think looking for solutions in APIs, etc. will make it easier to get your ideas and thoughts out there.
That’s why I write in Byword and copy/paste to the editor.
Perhaps it’s the enterprise architect inside me that keeps repeating, KISS or Principle 20: Control Technical Diversity.
These are just my opinions.
Anyway, I’m leaving micro.blog so I don’t have to worry about any of that anymore.
@khurtwilliams are you consolidating everything into Wordpress?
Ideally, I’d code my own bespoke CMS but I think there’s enough puzzle pieces that I can use my limited skills to cobble something together lego-style if I try hard enough.
My requirements for a “bloghub” are:
Only Wordpress seems to tick all the boxes thanks to plugins, unless I try coding something myself.
@starrwulfe I’ve entertained the idea of a custom CMS for years, especially back a few decades when I was a web developer and had the skills to do it. Alas, my CSS/PHP/JavaScript skills have atrophied over the years as I focused more on application security and less so on coding.
But I think it is doable.
1. Write Markdown on a plain text simple interface editor like Byword. Embed localised images where I need them.
2. Move the text file to a folder on my Mac.
3. Leverage Ansible for build.
> are you consolidating everything into Wordpress?
I truly want my website to be the "Island in the Net".
😆
The more I think about it, the more I feel like somebody needs to figure out how to make a Disqus-like drop in comment platform that takes care of all those things (and does ATProto for good measure because why not.)
Then it wouldn't matter what the actual blog architecture is. Use MicroPub/Sub as an intermedary and admin from places like Telegram, Matrix and Signal using bot APIs. Maybe even comment/reply there too since they have those abilities.
Webmention could be the base just like Bridgy because html/RSS as the API is easy and low bandwidth and dead simple for setting up things like media storage and scaling.
I really need to write a proposal or something...
@khurtwilliams Right on brother! 🤜🤛 Been trying to get there for about 12 years now. I actually had a blog that could ingest Facebook, Myspace, and PHP-bb site comments via RSS/scraper I cobbled together back when Disqus had a very easy and fun API. Been trying to get back there ever since.
