Here's what you and I get to do on this site

I started writing this post to explain what this site does and what it doesn't do. It quickly turned into a list of technical specs and features. Then I thought: there's another way of describing it all.

Let's talk about what we get to do on this site - you as a reader, and I, the author.

• You get to read all these posts on a simple and secure site which loads fast and works on most devices.
• You get to choose how you want to receive the posts. The "subscribe" link takes you to an email subscription and it also gives you an RSS feed. RSS is awesome and we should all use it more.
• You get the chance to contact me at any time. If you're a subscriber, you can reply to any of my posts right from your inbox. If you're not, you still get to use the email address on the home page. If you do, I get to write back!
• You get to share anything on this page with anyone you wish, for whatever reason.
• I get to write my posts in Standard Notes - the same place I use for all my research, learning, and writing.
• I get to publish and update them on the blog in one click, without having to visit a browser or a separate app.
• I get to use a custom domain (which makes the page title nice and snappy) and a custom CSS sheet (which lets me tweak the look and feel of the site a bit)
• I get to play around with Markdown to format my text.

And, since the original post was also going to be about limitations, here's what we don't get to do on here.

• You don't get to play any videos, or audio, or any other media (and I don't get to use any of these in my posts).
• I don't get to track you (and you don't get any tracking cookies).
• We don't get any social media trackers, or share buttons.
• I don't get any plugins to extend the site's functionality. It's focused on text.
• I don't get to host a MOOC here, or a podcast, or anything else. I get to blog. You get to read my blog.

I remember feeling frustrated by such limitations, long ago. We all wanted our online creations to be more things to more people.

But sometimes, when you're building stuff - for your readers, learners, authors - getting to focus on these few key "get-tos" is just what you need.

I get to write here. You get to read what I wrote. Then we get to talk about it, if we want. I say that's plenty for a start.