Comment by jarofgreen
14 hours ago
So, reading between the lines, it's a desktop app that makes a static website and it then checks the build output (not the source with a build command) into a GitHub repository for hosting?
Is it your own static website builder or did you consider using an existing one?
What type of model are you going for here? I can't see anything about pricing, but I see text encouraging users to "reach out to support".
You got it right! It's a Static Site Generator with Github Pages integration.
I was previously using WordPress and thought something that runs on my desktop with a pleasant UI could be better. I had some thoughts on how the interface should be and the features that would be cool to have.
Regarding the model, there are addons for purchase within the app (for example, different editors, scheduled AI-assisted blogging, etc). But all are fully optional and will remain that way. There's also a new "book-style" theme that folks can purchase, but the free ones are very professional also. I encourage users to reach out to Support because it's the early feedback phase and the key is to understand what are folks impressions with the product and any features they would really like to have.
So overall, the goal is UX and Developer Experience first, and further on there will be improvements and new offerings based on people's needs. Thank you for your feedback!
Ah ok. So kinda in competition with something like https://cloudcannon.com/
I'll be honest if you want feedback - as a developer I'd prefer a solution that builds on top of an existing open source static site builder. That way us devs can carry on using the tools and deploy options we know but our less technical colleagues who just want to put up a new blog post can use the nice CMS experience.
A tool that requires we switch the entire site building process over to it is a harder sell. Sorry to be negative!
These are interesting options! Thanks for sharing your feedback. Dealing with an existing stack is an interesting problem. But frankly, to think of setting up an SSG and then plug it into a Cloud CMS frontend in my view sounds complicated. But I see the appeal for existing projects.
I think the question to figure out is: What would be a way to keep PRSS simple for the average person, but powerful enough for Devs? Currently the approach is to have the preset build system (to reduce third party dependencies and bugs), but provide the ability for devs to fork themes locally and use them in PRSS (this is supported).
Ideally folks should only need to download PRSS, and have the Wizard to automatically setup Git and the GitHub CLI, and then PRSS would take care of the rest. But as I hear of folks use cases, it brings some good perspective. I will definitely think about these further! Thanks!