Right now, LawndingPage technically works.

That might sound like faint praise, but I'm pretty happy with it. It's not a hot mess from the end-user side, which I think is the best part of this. There's tons of important features to be built and polished, but the core idea is already there, and what started as a lightweight flat-file CMS is now becoming a full SaaS as well, and someone can come to me today and get started with their own site. In my opinion, that's a huge win!

However it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

Pardon the rambling, I'm writing this while fighting off what seems to be the fifth day of the flu, or something else with a fever. It sucks. Tested negative for COVID at least, so hopefully that was accurate. Besides, I've got more than a SaaS and CMS to build. I have other obligations and time keeps ticking.

So what isn't done? Back up a bit, and keep in mind I said "someone can come to me today". No serious SaaS requires people to reach out to the developers. Startups do, maybe. Invite-only tools? Sure, that makes sense. But I dare you to go to Linktree. Or Carrd. Neither one of those services require you to send an email or a message via discord or some other instant messenger. A user signs up, is presented with their account dashboard, and then after creating a site, is placed in the site builder interface.

Even if you like what I'm selling, are you really going to choose a service that requires you to reach out, potentially wait for me to get back to you, get a PayPal invoice (if you want a paid tier), and then I set up your website?

....I mean if you would actually do that, I'll cry tears of joy! But realistically, no, I don't think anyone would. Most people want convenience, and convenient this isn't. So that's something to work on.

Another thing is an entitlements system that needs to be finished.

OK, no, not that kind of entitlement. The kind of entitlement system that syncs with whatever you pay for (or not, if you opt for the free service) and controls what you are or are not able to access. Yeah, that kind of entitlement.

Psst! I don't want to say it too loudly, but if you sign up right now and don't want to pay yet, you can actually access everything on the paid tiers for free!! It's free real estate.

Wait... Did I say that loudly? No, no I didn't. I typed it, with Header 3 formatting. Some think I'm a bit crazy for doing that and I get it. The thought I had is this:

Once upon a time, a game where you mined and crafted was being developed by a Swedish game company. The guy who started the project tried a unique monetization scheme where if you wanted to support development, you paid only for as much as was created. This way if the game got canceled, you got what you paid for. And as a perk, early supporters get a finished game - if it was finished - at whatever price they paid.

If you like what was made, you can support it.

That was the idea I had. Though, I decide to keep pricing low, and not increase. For the foreseeable future, LawndingPage will have 3 normal tiers, and with the exception of making additional web pages, you pay monthly or yearly for a set of features, and that price won't go up.

That's not to say I won't have surprises in store for those that support me early, but until then, if you like what I'm offering and want to throw money my way, awesome! If not? I hope you at least give it a chance for free (or clone and self-host)! Subscribing early means you help fund development, hosting, testing, documentation, and making this into a fully realized service!

My non-existent lawyer wants me to make something clear, however. The higher-tier freebies are not going to be available forever. At a certain point, entitlement systems will be integrated, and features intended for paid tiers will no longer work. Whatever you already have will be there, and if you need assistance managing/removing files we'll provide support, and of course if you like the service and want to pay, that's an option as well!

Of course, there's a practical philosophy to LawndingPage - clone the repo and self host for free! No restrictions on features!

That concludes my fever-fueled rambling. Hopefully the fever breaks soon, because I've got things to do!