18 comments

  • Bruno CamposBruno Campos, 9 years ago

    I remember when I first saw Svbtle a couple of years ago, I loved it, its design felt one step ahead from what others were doing, simple and efficient. Today it seems confusing and outdated.

    8 points
  • Jeff SmithJeff Smith, 9 years ago

    The design looks fine, but I can't identify the value add svbtle provides over a comparable tool like Medium; Medium has a wider readership, comparable writing tools, and a more diverse ecosystem (mobile app), all for free compared to Svbtle's $6/month.

    2 points
    • Levi FigueiraLevi Figueira, 9 years ago

      About a year ago, I had had a Svbtle invite sitting on my inbox for a few months. I was considering a switch from my custom Jekyll blog to a platform with good "web" access (for editing). I was left deciding between Medium and Svbtle. I ended up picking Svbtle for a simple reason: identity. Medium presents the reader with a collection of loose papers, while Svbtle feels more like your own "book" (of sorts). I also really dislike Medium's URLs (nerd stuff I know) and I don't like how, with Medium, it feels like you're content is being clipped into someone else's "magazine".

      I'm not sure I'll stick around Svbtle much longer. It lost its original exclusivity, which was obviously a factor in terms of "validation". I might actually end up going back to my own Jekyll and either find or write my own workflow for writing/editing my posts remotely… :)

      Also, Svbtle's $6/month are completely optional (and just now introduced) and there are still no features that require the paid plan.

      1 point
      • Jeff SmithJeff Smith, 9 years ago

        I like the analogy between book magazine vs. book, and agreed – their exclusivity was a big drive for using Svbtle in the first place.

        Didn't know the $6 was optional. They're sign up form (https://svbtle.com/signup) reads differently – maybe forcing it on new customers?

        1 point
      • Jeff SmithJeff Smith, 9 years ago

        Also, interesting side-by-side comparison of the writing tools:

        https://twitter.com/jeffpersonified/status/501396375913758720

        comparison

        0 points
        • Casey BrittCasey Britt, 9 years ago

          To be fair, Svbtle launched early 2012 I think while Medium launched late 2012. Svbtle had this writing view first I guess? Though I think it may have been inspired by some earlier wordpress plugin.

          Mar 2012 http://dcurt.is/codename-svbtle

          3 points
          • Jeff SmithJeff Smith, 9 years ago

            Interesting. Thanks for sharing Curtis' blog post – thought it was the other way around.

            0 points
      • Mattan IngramMattan Ingram, 9 years ago

        Check out siteleaf.com it uses Jekyll logic but publishes through a nice web accessible CMS dashboard (with Markdown support and whatnot).

        I'm currently working on moving my old Squarespace site over to it, but since your old site was built with Jekyll it should be a simple conversion.

        1 point
  • Matt SistoMatt Sisto, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

    Looks good. Pretty confusing though. Zero affordance on basically anything. Also, did I always have to sign up to browse content? I don't think so.

    Also, this link? Gray on black...

    Gray on black

    1 point
    • Floyd WilliamsonFloyd Williamson, 9 years ago

      I also can't stand this new sign up to view content trend. Why would I sign up if I don't get a preview of the content? There is nothing that makes me want to stay. Medium was doing it for a while as well, but it looks like they stopped.

      0 points
      • Matt SistoMatt Sisto, 9 years ago

        I mean, there is something intriguing about it. At least for me, it's got the Rue La La/curated content mystique. I guess.

        It's absolutely annoying to have to sign in, but I can't help but feel that whatever is behind that wall is going to be good.

        Maybe that's their angle?

        0 points
  • Jonathan CutrellJonathan Cutrell, 9 years ago

    Really frustrated that I have zero access to my subscribers or my data.

    I'll be leaving Svbtle soon unless this changes.

    0 points
  • Brian ZelipBrian Zelip, 9 years ago

    Not sure about that top right menu icon behavior.

    If hovering over the hamburger expands the menu, I'd like hovering over the x to close it (which it doesn't).

    0 points
    • Mattan IngramMattan Ingram, 9 years ago

      And very unexpectedly the menu hides itself if you mouse off of it for a few seconds.

      1 point
  • Casey BrittCasey Britt, 9 years ago

    Looks good as per usual. The changes are pretty subtle.

    0 points