LawndingPage

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!

...First?

Initial thoughts for the title of my first ever post on this blog consisted of "Hello World!", named after the all-too-common test code that people write to make sure a thing works, some other funny and witty title (that I've got negative energy to think of as I sit at an office I should've left hours ago), or simply act like I'm really cool for being the first blog post made on a blog that absolutely no one else is expected to be using. Like seriously, did I really go "First" on my own blog?

...Yes. Yes I did.

Ahem. In any case, welcome to the future blog of LawndingPage! LawndingPage is a platform to create and host small sites. They can act as an alternative to services like Carrd or Linktree. Need a small landing page for an event? You can do that. Need a link list because you're spread out across so many social media sites? We do link-in-bio pages. Need a small single page site that has a ton of cool features? We got you. Are you an artist? Host a gallery here. Twitch Streamer? There are plans to get a simple twitch viewer pane set up so you can easily integrate your stream into a personal site! Everything is built on a free and open-source CMS known as LPCore, and what's even better is if you'e a nerd (like me) and insist on doing everything yourself (like me), but don't want to reinvent the wheel by building your own CMS (..... like me)... then go with LawndingPage!

But why LawndingPage? What is LPCore? What is a LawndingPage? What is the meaning of life? How do I get out of-

LawndingPage is a play on the term "Landing Page", which is normally a small page that people first visit and give them information, maybe lets them sign up for things. The CMS that powers it, LPCore was originally started for a site that was being made for a Long Island community. Long Islanders are known for a silly accent, that often exaggerates an "aw" sound... like with "cawfee" instead of "coffee". So, Long Island website, and I'm a punny guy, so..... why not? ...And it kinda stuck. Besides, there was no one to stop me. So there.

Hey now, you're not very funny, Anthony.

Yeah, I know. I'll be here all week. Also I'm a web developer, not a comedian.
In any case, while LawndingPage became the name of the service, LPCore is the name of the CMS. Simply put, it stands for LawndingPageCore, a soon-to-be powerful flat-file CMS that makes very specific types of pages, but with a degree of freedom that you don't get with other services. And, it's all free and open-source, so you can clone the repo, and host it yourself! Or, you can completely modify it. I won't stop you. In fact, I can't. It's under the MIT license.

Some have asked me "why didn't you use WordPress?" "Why not use PicoCMS?" "Why not use a database?"

...

I hope to make LawndingPage, and LPCore an amazing piece of software, and I hope that it helps many people create awesome sites for whatever it is they need!

You didn't answer those questio-

Take care, all! Until next time!