Write.as Development @writeas_dev@abunchtell.com

Now that WriteFreely is out there, it's officially the name of the fediverse software underneath the Write.as blogging service / instance. That'll get updated on sites like the https://the-federation.info soon.

Imagining some interesting uses for the https://writefreely.org site, especially around helping people start up new instances.

Good morning!

Let's see if I can finish up the #writefreely v0.1 release today.

Figured out the UI for single-user instances last night, and I think it'll work pretty well.

Now the setup process for a single-user blog includes admin user creation.

The backend UI is gonna take some work, though. A lot of things need to move around and get streamlined to work for instances hosting only one blog. Might save that for a future release.

Now to fill in all the cracks that open up when you run it in production, and make sure single-user mode is solid.

Just tested federation and it's working 👍

Morning!

Stayed up too late trying to get #writefreely running on a test instance, couldn't figure out why basic routes weren't working.

Today immediately found what was causing the problem. (That's why you don't stay up when you're stuck on something)

Phew. Intense day of getting the basic #writefreely app to a runnable state and pushed up to GitHub. Right now everything looks good in multi-user, federated mode. All the uncertain areas are around different configuration combinations -- and single-user mode.

Once single-user mode is solid, I'll call it v0.1 and make the big announcement

https://github.com/writeas/writefreely

I also updated the landing page a bit for new users, and put the Write.as logo back in the corner of the editor when you're logged in.

The "view blogs" icon that was up there before was fine, but too generic. The official logo there is just sexy.

Moving around some sites tonight.

Decided I'll host a demo instance of #writefreely on my writefree.ly domain -- currently occupied by a little marketing site I put up a while ago. It doesn't get a ton of traffic, so that'll just move to an unaffiliated subdomain (https://howto.writefree.ly)

I want to keep our GitHub issues low and, really, not use GH for project management. So we'll probably just accept pull requests and bug reports there, and then continue using our Phabricator instance for all planning and working with long-term contributors.

You can see some of what's planned already: https://phabricator.write.as/tag/write_freely/

#writefreely

@jzacsh @write_as In this first release it'll behave exactly the same, so the "draft" will still be a post on an unlisted URL. The thinking is that this will be useful for sharing a post you want someone to proofread before publishing.

But in the future / based on everyone's feedback, maybe that'll be something that's configured with the server, so drafts can optionally be truly private (accessible only to you)

@KrisO It's our open source version, for anyone who wants to host their own blog or start a blogging community in the fediverse.

Write.as will keep running as it is, for everyone who doesn't need or want to self-host -- and to keep sustaining our work financially

One minor difference you'll see in #writefreely: "Anonymous" posts are called "Drafts".

This is a great use for them already on @write_as, so they'll retain their function, but now the name will match.

Finished the basic #WriteFreely project site yesterday: https://writefreely.org

Added more restrictive spam filters on posts, which keep flooding in even as sign ups have slowed down significantly.

Deviating from new feature plans to fix some user issues today. Right now: pagination on tagged post pages.

@nate Thanks for sharing! It's good to know you'd use this. I've heard from people who want a common footer on their posts (https://discuss.write.as/t/post-signatures/56), so it could make sense to have the option at the blog level too.

I've made a note of this, and I'll post to the forum to see what others think as well

I think once I've forgotten all the keyboard shortcuts in Android Studio that's a good sign I've been away long enough.