Incremental Website Updates

I always try to be very incremental in my website updates because making a website is a lot of work that I'd totally abandon if I didn't get the reward of seeing it slowly grow, a little at a time.

A Ban is Not a Block

So, just an FYI to others that if you ban someone you used to give access to from commenting on your account here on Dreamwidth, it's probably a good idea to uncheck 'gives access' before doing so AND MAKE SURE TO PRESS THE 'save changes' button. Then double-triple-quadruple check this in multiple ways by navigating out and back to the page and clicking 'show banned users?' and seeing who you have checked 'gives access' to. Even in the best case scenario (which I have not been able to confirm), should you somehow unintentionally unban the person, they would immediately regain access to your access-list only posts. In the worst-case situation, this means they can still read your access-list only posts even when they're banned, they just can't comment on them. I always lean more towards assuming the worst-case situation, but if anyone can confirm that banning is also intended to prevent users from seeing access list only posts even if that's checked, or confirm that it's not intended to do that, I would find that information useful.

Today I just noticed a former friend I unfortunately had a falling-out with a while back and so banned here on Dreamwidth was still listed as on the access list to my blog when I clicked 'show banned users' in my circle. Of course I unchecked that box instantly and chose 'save changes'. I thought I had done that earlier but I guess not.

It's certainly not ideal for me but in my case, I'm not going to have too much emotional turmoil over that by itself. I limit what I put on social media, regardless of restriction level. Still, other people might want to be aware that regardless of whether banned users can still view access-only posts if you don't uncheck the 'gives access' box, that ban =/= block.

'Gives access' will always be imo better than 'followers only' or 'mutuals only' choices, but I think ban being different from the current conception of blocking can cause some problems when it interacts with these settings, especially given the expectations set by blocking. My understanding is that ban is more a 'read only' setting than the more 'restraining order' approach attempted by blocking. I think blocking is the better approach, even if it sometimes grants people a false sense of security, because it increases barriers for troublemakers.

Since I seem to recall unchecking those boxes way back when I did the original ban, my guess is that I didn't select the 'Save Changes' button before banning.

A Letter From Julia Baritz

A Letter From Julia Baritz

To the Pillowfort Community,

Transparency from myself and my Staff is part of the foundation that makes Pillowfort so great. The news I am about to share is not easy. But it is important for you, our community, to know what is going on.

Pillowfort has always relied on the generosity of our users. We are proud to be user funded. Over the years we have been able to operate using the funds from our 2018 Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $60,000, in addition to ongoing payments and donations from you. I am extremely grateful for the support we continue to receive.

However, despite cost-cutting efforts, we have struggled to break even in revenue since 2021. The funds from the 2018 Kickstarter have been depleted to cover operating costs and to ensure our Staff receives the compensation they deserve. I will never ask my Staff to work without being compensated.

We are now at a point where Pillowfort is in danger of exhausting all current finances in the next six months if we continue the current funding/spending trajectory. This is not hyperbole. This is the unfortunate reality of what the platform is facing. If we do not change course now I will have to end contracts with our entire team soon and, eventually, Pillowfort would no longer be able to operate.

For the past two years I have not compensated myself for my work on Pillowfort. My commitment to Pillowfort is not for personal gain. I was fortunate enough in my privilege to have adequate savings to cover my own personal expenses for a while. I sacrificed what would have been my own compensation in order to ensure my third-party contractors (Staff) could be paid.

I take full responsibility for the current state of Pillowfort. It has been challenging being a first-time business owner in such turbulent times. Looking back now there are ways I would have managed things differently with the knowledge I have now. If we can recover from this, I will continue applying what I have learned these last several years to make sure we do not reach this point again.

I knew Pillowfort was going to be a difficult enterprise due to the very things that I believe make us great: we don’t have shareholders or venture-capital investments (which often leads to shifts away from a company’s primary mission as they are directed to achieve revenue and profit growth to benefit investors); we don’t compromise your privacy by selling user data to third parties; and we don’t host third-party ads that would disrupt your experience. We also pay much higher payment processing fees because we host adult content. Compared to other social media sites that have millions of dollars in corporate investments backing them, things are much harder for us.

In spite of every hurdle we face, I truly believe Pillowfort deserves to exist. I believe in Pillowfort’s mission and I am determined for this platform to succeed. I am not going to abandon this platform until every possible option is exhausted. That is why I have decided it will be necessary to initiate another, more ambitious fundraiser. Our goal will be to raise $25,000 by December 31, 2023.

This amount is based on the following:

We are at risk of the IRS reclassifying Pillowfort as a hobby instead of a business because Pillowfort has not been profitable for several years. If we are reclassified as a hobby this would prohibit us from deducting expenses which will make our financial situation more dire. The $25,000 amount will make up for our existing year-to-date losses as well as cover our projected expenses (Staff Compensation & Operating costs) for the remainder of the year.

Raising this amount will also buy our staff the time needed to complete the following projects geared toward increased long-term revenue:

• Finish Progressive Web App development to allow Pillowfort to reach a much broader audience on mobile platforms.
• Add the ability for users to pay to promote their posts.
• Add the ability for users to gift Pillowfort Premium to other users.

Once these features are in place, Pillowfort will be in a better position to bring in reliable revenue than we have been recently and will hopefully be on the road to continued self-sustainability.

If you appreciate that Pillowfort is beholden to its users instead of shareholders– if you believe in Pillowfort’s core principles of user privacy control and freedom of expression and creativity– then I ask you to consider supporting this fundraising effort.

We will post more information soon regarding rewards for reaching our goal (yes, we will be offering a profile badge to donors, and more!), so stay tuned for details. This time around we are also planning to have rewards geared toward users who help spread the word about us too. We understand that not everyone can support us financially right now.

If you can’t donate to the fundraiser there are still many ways to help us. Here are some examples:

• Talk about us to your friends and family.
• Write about or make a video about us. (Psst: Use #Pillowfort on other platforms like X, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Bluesky so we can find your posts!)
• Invite your friends, family, and colleagues to Pillowfort using your Invitation Keys to allow them to join immediately.

I am forever grateful for your past and continued support. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this message. Let’s work together to make Pillowfort a robust site for years to come.

Best Wishes,

Julia Baritz
Founder & Lead Architect

I want to draw attention to the current Pillowfort situation on other social media. As a long-time user of the site, I'd obviously prefer it not to go under. But beyond that, I'm concerned about further limitation of social media choices by those of us who are tired of the endless ads and abuse that mainstream social media sites force their users to endure.

Baked Oatmeal

Made some apple-cinnamon baked oatmeal in my muffin tin. I used fresh apple and a bit of apple cider for the flavor. Forgot the maple syrup, but pouring a little bit on afterward made them the expected sweetness. Texture was very muffiny. Would definitely make again, though next time I'll try to put the maple syrup in beforehand rather than treating them like muffin pancakes. Used this recipe as a base, though without the banana or salt.

Ourchive: Software For Archiving Fanworks

Ourchive MVP Announcement

MVP release is  today  

What this means is:
1. A tagged release will appear on GitHub, at some point.
2. An admin install guide will be available.
3. A few final changes will be pushed to https://ourchive.io

In coming weeks we will be opening up the Discord and contacting focus group signups as well. As always, a huge thank you to our beta testers, without whom this project would be moldering in a private GitHub repo.

Is the site broken? Probably! Can you install your own anyway? Yes! A release is tagged and getting started docs are available: https://docs.getourchive.io/admin-getting-started/ 

Thank you again to our lovely beta testers   We're putting together tickets for v.05 now. Onward, upward, inward, etc.

The purpose of this software is to lower the barriers to entry for people wanting to host their own fandom archive by supplying a modern piece of software with user documentation.

I've helped with beta testing this software in the hope that it will be able to supply another option besides static sites for independent fan archives.