A free and open future

The original idea for Pagecord was to offer a platform for people to publish their writing online with the lowest barrier to entry possible: email. 

A low barrier to entry also means there should be some form of free access, alongside an upgrade path that brings in a bit of money to keep the lights on (I’m unconvinced donations alone would cut it). Originally there was a free plan, but it was quickly abused by spammers and I got cold feet, so I turned it off. Numbers subsequently dropped, and I started to question the point of it all. 

Since then I’ve had time to reflect. I’ve decided my original freemium hunch was correct, so I’ve reinstated it. I also think the future of Pagecord is fully open. Not just open source, but open development. It should be developed and operated by a passionate community of readers and writers. Not for profit, but for the benefit of anyone who wants a place to host their writing that will survive over the long term.

How this would work specifically is a little unclear right now, but I'm very interested to chat to likeminded people about what's possible. It's also rather dependent on getting people to try the product and spread the word about it – something I'm not brilliant at myself. There are features that would undoubtably make the product more attractive, such as email subscriptions, analytics and themes which I'll look at adding, but building a message and a community around the product is the first priority.

If this sounds intriguing please go ahead and create a site for free, kick the tyres and reach out if you'd like to chat about any of these ideas.