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Added Central Changelog Feature

If It's Not Written Down, It Doesn't Exist

Changelog index page screenshot

Building in public is the best form of "marketing", but it is harder than it sounds.

Those who talk and those who do are generally different breeds of people, but there are workarounds.

If It's Not Written Down, It Doesn't Exist

The idea is to have a central changelog where one can document and expand on changes across the entire portfolio of projects. It will allow changes to outlive the project if it were to fail and be shut down. So even if they fail, at least they leave a trail. It will also take obscure commits that make an invisible change underneath the hood and shine a light on it and bring it to existence.

Expanding the definition of "Done"

Expand your definition of "done" to include writing about what you did. - Simon Willison

Simon Willison makes a really good case in his presentation about why and how you should write about everything you do and not consider it done untill you have written about it. He shares his entire process in the video, and althought he doesn't have a changelog section on his blog, I believe he does share them as a blog post.

Write Once, Syndicate Everywhere

The changelog includes some text, descriptions, and some media that has been created for it (screenshot/gif/video/etc.). Now posting on different social medias is as easy as copy pasting some text, medias and adding a link to the changelog on the second post to avoid algorithmic punishments.

Increasing Your Luck Surface Area

This is a term coined by Aaron Francis. The idea is that doing is good, but doing in public is better. If you build a thing in your corner and don't tell anyone, well... nobody will know. But if you talk about what you do, then you have an "unfair advantage", even if it seems trivial and plenty of people already know it.

This central changelog will allow me to:

  • Add detailed explanations.
  • Shine a light on changes that would otherwise be invisible.
  • Include screenshots, GIFs, and videos to showcase new features.
  • Gather feedback directly from users.
  • Create a permanent, linkable record of progress that feels real and tangible.
  • Becomes the source material for all social media announcements.

The final inspiration came from browsing buttondown that does it very well, and seeing that page, just clicked, it's exactly the kind of thing I need.

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