Last week we launched the new Prototypr 3, with an open space to publish articles without the boundaries of sign up walls and popups. We finished 3rd on Product Hunt, and are already at nearly 3,000 members!
And today, Iām excited to share our new editor ā now you can directly contribute to our Open Stories section from a new editing dashboard. The publishing tools include:
- š An Editor: Write and edit your posts.
- š¼ Media Library: Easily upload images for your articles.
- š Preview: See how your drafts will look when published.
Open design, open content
Traditionally, blogs and educational content in the design/development industry have been openly accessible for anyone on the web to learn from, no matter their background. Recently though, weāve seen a rise in gated content, which has also been known as āthe great paywall maniaā (well, I made that term up): It must be noted here that paid publications such as the Washington Post and LA Times are written by professional news journalists. This makes them tricky to compare with premium blogging platforms like Medium, where anyone can write. Running a paid Medium publication with Prototypr, I love that authors can earn money directly from their writing, but thereās another side to it too. Some content just doesnāt fit the paywall model:- š° Articles with little research donāt fit ā paying members expect high quality.
- š Content that doesnāt fit the publicationās calendar will get rejected.
- š¢ Subscribers are unlikely to want to read design case studies, that showcase work rather than teach them something new.
āThe knowledge behind our craft should not be kept behind gates but rather freely accessible to the world.ā ā Pablo StanleyMost of what I learned, including the skills to make this site came from free resources I found on the web, so I agree. And like Pablo, I was guilty of pirating some Adobe software as a student š. This is my favourite bit of the Open Doodles article:
When I was starting as a designer, there was no one around me to teach me the craft, and I was broke as hell. I wanted to learn how to do digital art, but I had no money to get the programs. So, I had to pirate software (sorry Adobe) and even steal the CDs that used to come inside tech magazines.So apart from your own website, where is good to publish something that you want to share with an audience? What about just writing for fun, or even sharing information that is in the public interest?
Disappointed to see an article like this behind a paywall!š¤¦āāļøIām all for getting paid for your work but work rights and industry problems concerns all of us. Everyone being able to read this free of charge is what will pay off the most for all of us in the end @jamalnichols. pic.twitter.com/7AZKAUR8WN
ā Signe Roswall (@signeroswall) May 16, 2020
How to try it
Thatās why weāve made this new space. Of course you can still publish with us in the Medium partner program, itās up to you! This new space provides another option:- Anyone can read it, without restrictions.
- Write about anything: we love side projects, case studies, and career learnings.
- You control when your post is published (no approval needed).
Tech stuff
If youāre curious about the tech involved, the editor weāre using is the magical WordPress Gutenberg editor. It can handle contributor content, and is something stable for the short term. In the future, weāll be putting together a faster, custom editor! For now though, Gutenberg lets us get started right away. I may not be a Steve Jobs-level guru (yet), but our tiny team has made an open blogging platform that reaches thousands of people every day. Our heart is at the core of everything we do here, and our actions show it. Hop on board and see what weāre creating!So excited for this! The 1st contributor post published with the new @Prototypr Editoršš½ https://t.co/cNBL73r1xW
Huge thanks to @charlieyllobre! Weāre now an open design platform: š New editor š« Publish straight away, without approval š Open for anyone to read, for free pic.twitter.com/VtBHREgE8M ā gram (@graeme_fulton) May 19, 2020