Gutenberg Love/Hate

The more I write in Gutenberg, the more tiny bugs and odd behaviors I encounter. While they aren’t enough to stop me from writing, the annoyances can pile up enough to slightly slow me down, which does make me mad.

Thanks to the font and typography enhancements in MD4.9, the comfort of seeing my writing come out exactly as it will appear on my site and the pleasure of seeing my images align with the same precision evens those bad feelings out some.

Still, experiencing those mini fits of rage because of the editor I’m using is unacceptable (I prefer to save my rage for the writing itself), and that conclusion pushed me to include a few extra Gutenberg enhancements into the upcoming MD4.9.2 release that will save myself and you some rage in the near future.

Finished the launch post, and it’s only 8am

Just finished the writeup for the MD4.9.2 release, will be editing it later tonight and releasing this great update early tomorrow, right in time for the weekend! I’ve structured the update post in a way that shows my thought process going through the development of each MD version, so I hope you enjoy the appreciation of detail that goes into every release! Can’t wait to see how you use the revamped Stream on your own sites.

What the Stream is not

What have we learned about social media? For one, we know it was built to be addictive—the dopamine hits we get from the instant feedback is motivation enough for us to keep posting. Think of how social media has altered the way we use the internet—how can we make our websites benefit?

By getting inspiration from social media we can create a new kind of feature on our blog that make it to write quick posts and deliver them in a feed that is easy to scroll through. Fast to publish, easy to read, and now in MD4.9.2: instant feedback with a shiny new Like button!

Just go see how Eric Decker has been using his Stream. He’s created a daily feed for his readers to come back to and has tons of micro content he can repackage into blog posts later.

The goal of the Stream is not to replace social media (it can’t) but to add a new feature to your website that gives you an easy place to write, and a fun place for your readers to check in.

Best of all is it’s your content on your own platform, and it will be all yours soon—so very soon.

MD4.9.2 Changelog

The MD4.9.2 changelog has been published! Here’s the full list of changes coming in this new release:

Old Version of MD

I just stumbled upon a very old version of the MD dashboard, circa 2015. My, how far have we come! You couldn’t pay me to go back to those days, MD has come such a far way and turned into a professional product. But we’re not nearly close to my full vision for it yet…

Stream Revamp (MD4.9.2 Beta)

Well… here goes posting the first post to the revamped version of the Stream! You’re looking at a totally revamped design, a new share button set, the mighty LIKE button, and a new profile header.

The first version of the Stream was a weekend inspiration that delivered a solid concept with an unclear design. While that never bothered me as I knew I would develop this feature, the excitement eventually grew intolerable and I had to get this next iteration out.

Those of you who used the first version of The Stream: well done for catching on to what a beautiful feature this will be for your site. Now you get to experience the next step and build your own thoughts stream and website into something more in 2019.

If you’re reading this now, this is a test of the very first version of Marketers Delight 4.9.2 on a live site and let me tell you that all is going well! MD4.9.2 is bigger than just the Stream, and in the next few days I will reveal all and release it to you too.

Work days

Lately I’ve booked with a crazy amount of projects (all MD based) and have restructured my day to balance those projects. Even though I’m working on client projects all day, I am always thinking about where I left off next in MD’s current development and building up excitement for that chunk of time I give myself at night’s to continue pushing that update out.

Tonight’s work on MD has been a huge success and rather mind-bending one, and I can’t wait to show you this cool new feature coming to your website soon.

Why performance?

Why do I care so much about the performance of Marketers Delight? Why doesn’t every update add “sexy” marketing features and why do I write out the “boring” technical details of each update?

Easy—performance is the most important feature! There are periods where I released tons of new features (popups, share, Stream, Bookshelf) and even bigger updates that are strictly based on invisible, behind the scenes performance stuff (MD4.3.8, MD4.7, MD4.9.1).

Without regular performance updates it’s easy for a software like MD to spiral out of control and hurt you in the longrun.

How many times have you built a WordPress site only to find it end up being slow, impossible to update, and just a nightmare to deal with? I know I have too many times, and much of my motivation goes to never ending up in that time-wasting spot again.

Now, when I deliver the next mega feature I am working on in the MD Labs, not only will your site be prepared to handle it, but you won’t have to worry about the question “will adding this new feature slow down my site?” With MD, that question is all but irrelevant.

MD Optins coming soon.

MD is a full time job

A big reason why I’ve been able to build and continue releasing updates for MD over the years is that I also freelance on the side. Developing for MD has always been connected in that I learn both from directly developing the software to actually using it to build websites.

Freelancing has been where the bulk of my income has come from and has gotten MD some incredible real world experience but I am more gradually shifting my focus to developing MD fulltime as it continues to get easier with each new site I take on.

I have so much to share from the projects I’ve worked on over the years, and while you’ve been getting that knowledge dripped to you for years in new MD releases, it is time for me to be a little more direct with you.

Developing the Stream

The biggest feature that desperately needs new development is the Stream. I have tons of sketches for its next features and how the impending MD4.9.1 helps me get into that phase. Probably starting with an updated layout and then move onto a Like button. I’m the most excited for the Stream to develop further, as I am with improving the MD email forms system and creating landing page elements along the way.