Looking Ahead
For tech bloggers who use Github, we've just launched beta testing of a feature that will allow you to develop work on Github, write it up in Markdown editor from Github, and push the article to a Silvrback repository, which will then upload it to your Silvrback account. At this time, it is intended to upload to your unpublished article page. We're excited about this feature. We think tech bloggers will be, as well.
Here's a short list of some things on the plate for next year.
A set of features that will allow you to recommend articles to your readers. This will post on-topic linked articles to the end of your article that you think readers might want to read.
Add WYSIWYG editor option. That's the acronym for the long form term what-you-see-is-what-you-get word processor-like editor that most of us are familiar with. Think Microsoft Word.
We hope to expand the Community page, which is currently the FAQ/Support page, to include a number of great features. The page will be accessible from the Silvrback landing page and we anticipate it will draw a fair amount of traffic from visitors and users alike. This will be a work in progress, but we've outlined below some of the items you can expect to find on the Community page, ...as soon as we create them.
Silvrback site-wide search function. This will help you find other kindred spirits out there on Silvrback, and help people find you.
Blog category index. Like the general search function, this will help people find you, and you to find other bloggers of the same genre. This means that we'll be asking you to select a category or two for your blog, which you will be able to change through your console.
New published article feed. This will post Silvrback articles as they are published. The thinking now is that the feed will provide the reader the linked title of the article, site name, and blog category/genre.
Featured blogs. We envision as many as four linked blog screenshots, perhaps more, that will highlight Silvrback bloggers. Eventually, we imagine this as a place where you can promote your site for a fee.
Continue to grow social media activity. Silvrback continues to have a strong Twitter presence, and added Facebook to the mix right after we acquired Silvrback in August. We expect to initiate a concerted effort to develop Google+ in 2016.
Not all social media is created equal and we'll continue to sort out priorities in this regard. As noted in another article on New Features, we upgraded accessibility to social media for your readers on article pages, at your discretion. We recognize that not all are wishing to clutter their pages with icons and such - I'm with you on that.
As you can see, the last five items are geared toward pulling more traffic to your blogs by making you locatable and more accessible. And thus, making your work more widely read.
- New UI theme. This is touchy business. We'll approach this with considerable deliberation and care. If you have some thoughts, or are a designer and would like to sketch out some novel ideas, then we'd certainly welcome the input. Read this article on the Silvrback way before you do. It's critical that we remain clear as to what Silvrback is about - we're not Wordpress or Blogger, ever. Great platforms, just not us!
If you have ideas or suggestions for this, please email them to Kermit at kermit@silvrback.com.
- And finally, we'll be ending the $29.99 a year subscription promotion that has been going on for close to two years now. Has to be one of the longest sales in internet history. After the first of the year, we'll be bumping subscription rates up a modest five bucks a year to $34.99 for an annual subscription.
This sums up some of the things we have in the hopper for next year. They certainly are not the only things. Stick around and see what else we make happen.
Thanks for Silvrbacking with us.
