On Micro.blog, Scribbles, And Multi-homing "It’s easier for me to do this using Scribbles editor. I don’t know why. Might be a combination of how the compose screen is styled and laid out, plus the use of a WYSIWYG editor. But whatever it is, it all combines into an experience where the words flow a little easier for me. That’s probably the only way I can describe it. There’s nothing really empirical about it all, but maybe that’s the point. It’s involves the emotional side of writing: the “look and feel”." I prefer Scribbles editor to Micro.blog’s, too. There is something about Scribbles that make... blog.numericcitizen.me

@numericcitizen Good news! The editor is apparently Manton’s next big project.

@numericcitizen 100% agree. The editor on micro.blog is dire. On the mobile web and (I think) the mobile it doesn’t even auto correct etc. it’s so bad and not pleasant to use at all.

@jarrod Yeah, I read that a few weeks ago and I hope to see big improvements in there.

@andyn agree.

@numericcitizen I just commented on the other conversation. I agree about the "more love" aspect, I've been asking for an auto save feature for a while now. But I use Emacs to write, so it doesn't matter. Or shouldn't. But it does anyway?

@jtr it does because 90% I use the web interface to write and edit posts!

@numericcitizen Interesting how many folks use the web editor. I almost always use the Mac app (like right now!) or the iOS app.

@manton logically it makes sense, but it just... doesn't click. It's hard to explain why. The web interface is more familiar and what I got used to (with all the icons and the nav bar at the left), which the app is lacking. This is why I like the macOS web app version more; it feels more "at home."

@numericcitizen Somehow, I cannot write longer posts on a web app, especially one that doesn't auto-save. I use Drafts, but I could use MarsEdit with the rich text editor. Now the muscle memory sends me to Drafts, even for shorter posts.

Of course, that doesn't detract from the fact that Micro.blog's web editor is shite. The lack of love is possibly coz Manton doesn't use it to write posts, as he confirmed earlier in this thread.

@pratik @numericcitizen I'm a bit torn on this.... Because I think the most important question is "Are there great ways to write Micro.blog posts?", and not "Is the default Web solution great?"

At the same time, I get that the defaults also needs to be, at least, decent - and that good experiences shouldn't require digging through (often not free) third-party options!

But to me(!), every second @manton spends improving the editor, is wasted dev time, as it will never be as good as Ulysses anyway. 😅

Most services insists that you also use their clients - and then it's much worse when they aren't good. But with Micro.blog, we have lots of great options, like Drafts, iA Writer, MarsEdit and Ulysses. It's the same with Mastodon, where the quality of the default options become much, much less important when the third-party options are amazing.

I just really like the model of splitting up services and clients, so that people can choose the client they prefer, and client devs can do what they do best, while the service devs focuses on what only they can do.

@Havn Thanks, that's my philosophy too. The official clients can always be better, but a diverse ecosystem of apps is really important. Just WYSIWYG vs. Markdown alone means there can never be a single best app for all people.

@Havn Agree and this goes back to Micro.blog's hosting-timeline schism. I didn't mean that as a criticism for @manton but as an acceptance of the reality that goes with a one-person dev team. Only on the things he directly uses, will he notice UI/UX shortcomings. it also lets him impose an opinion on the UI design (markdown v. rich-text) so that others may know not to expect things to change.

For me, I use the official (and other third-party) web app to view the timeline and to respond to mentions and Drafts to write posts. I occasionally dip into the Micro.blog backend for design and editing changes.

@manton this conversation has made me realise I could use Ulysses on my phone to publish to MB - ha that will help me when the iOS app does weird things with longer posts.

@manton I must admit that I could use the Mac app more often. I forget about it. (Replied with the Mac app).

@manton I must be frank, but I feel compelled to weigh in on this. Outsourcing the writing experience to third parties doesn't seem like a wise idea. While third-party apps may provide a better experience, how many users would bother with seeking them out and customizing them?

If the platform doesn't prioritize the customer experience, why would customers care enough to invest in using it? Let's face it—from a user experience standpoint, your writing editor is bad. It resembles coding more than actual writing. This issue extends to every aspect of the blogging experience on micro.blog. If I can't establish a connection with my own blog, then what's the point of utilizing this platform for blogging in the first place?

Your app is better, but it appears to focus more on social media elements rather than blogging, which requires a different mindset going into it.

So please prioritize the user experience, over anything else, at least for now. People blog because of their passions, not platform's features.

@manton My desire for timeline syncing has gotten me back into using @sod's experimental RSS feeds for reading the timeline and it's quicker to reply with the web view than jumping in/out of the app. On the Mac, I usually read with MB as a Sonoma web app. So I use the web reply box very often. Notifications and replies to them are usually done with Gluon. Original posts usually come from Drafts -- not even a client! But the iOS app stays on my home screen for editing posts and replies, and in case I don't trust my home-spun character counting methods I can check it in the app's editor. There's a lot going on over here. 😅

@jarrod Damn it. I feel seen. Need to still have everything around even if it’s just for one purpose. Seems like an ecosystem

@pratik It's a testament to what @manton and team have created that there are so many ways to create and consume here. But... it's also somewhat maddening to jump around so many to tackle different problems. It makes me want to learn how to write an app so I can take a stab at making the right tool for me.

@ningkantida Yeah, I agree with everything you’re saying - which is why I’m torn on this… A better way to say what I’m thinking, is the following:

Micro.blog’s resources are limited, so they have to prioritise hard regarding what they spend dev time on - and then also choose to not spend time on. I think they should prioritise making the writing tools good (and I agree that they aren’t that at the moment) - but I don’t think it’s a good priority making them great. Like, both Ulysses and iA Writer have much larger teams than the entire Micro.blog team - and they’re only focused on the writing experience. How can/why should we expect MB to compete with that? If they were to try, what would then not get worked on? Then I’d rather see them prioritising things that there aren’t great alternatives to, and that others can’t contribute to. (For instance the user experience surrounding the concrete writing of posts.)

Another thing your comment made me think about: Maybe MB could be better at pointing towards apps that make their service better?

@adamprocter Yeah, it’s awesome! And it’s also great for micro posts. I use Ulysses’ inbox for this. (You can long press on the home screen icon to quick add an inbox item as well.)

@Havn I’d prefer to use Ivory/Ice Cubes for day-to-day posting, and Mb web interface for settings. The good writing apps have the writing for longer posts covered well. But I understand there is a mismatch in implementation/culture (likes, boosts, etc.).