[epic] MarkdownDB site (landing page) and "launch"

[rufuspollock]

Landing page / launch announce

Objective: can announce the "idea" and prototype on e.g. hacker news

I'm imagining we 3 pieces of core content (which could be posts/pages in themselves) which then inform the main front page

• Why: what's cool about markdowndb
• What: the vision of markdowndb, how it works at a high level and where it's going
• How: some concrete detail (a demo, or short video etc)

🚩 I'm not convinced doing this so thoroughly is necessary. Maybe we can just have a rough landing page and flesh out detailed post later 😉 /cc @olayway

Acceptance

• Core content
  • Why
  • What
  • How
• Landing page
  • Vision statement
  • Roadmap (maybe in form of features "coming soon")
  • CTA (e.g. sign up / follow us / get in touch / contribute on github)

Announce

• Hackernews - Rufus Pollock
• Reddit (what channels)
  • r/Markdown
  • r/CMS
  • r/nextjs
  • ...
• Tweet @olayway (w/ @popovayoana) tweet thread ready, will post tomorrow morning
• Post on PortalJS https://portaljs.org/blog/markdowndb-launch
• dev-to - i'd repost intro (hero) + quickstart with link to full tutorial at the end (this could be v similar to portaljs post but a bit more oriented to actual use - so actual code snippets etc). https://dev.to/datopian/markdowndb-a-rich-sql-api-to-your-markdown-files-in-seconds-8k8
• Post on DataHub??

Tasks

• Brainstorm the main content
  • Collect content - perhaps merge from [inbox] What is a MarkdownDB? #7 and also see How to use a MarkdownDB to build simple catalogs of stuff (and why) portaljs#899
• Turn into mini posts (?)
• Draft landing page

2023-10-11

Minor additions

• Reduce whitespace at top of hero (there's a lot and "Built with ..." is right at bottom of screen)
• Quickstart link in hero and navbar should link to quickstart not tutorial
• Built with ❤️ by Datopian in footer and at bottom of Hero
• Centering the quickstart titles
• Fix-up Github README
• Review Roadmap

2023-10-04

• Update hero section as per discussion in excalidraw
• Create how it works sequence from above story
  • Bonus: turn gif into video and put on youtube and then embed in the hero on the right (can have this and the "how it works" section)
• Leave out "How MarkdownDB fits your world" (for now - we'll add back later)
• Features section ... hmmm (leave for now and we can revisit - what i note here are just thoughts)
  • Can we simplify to have fewer features and

2023-10-07

• Fix theme color bug
• Hero section
  • have new tagline and summary i.e. "A rich SQL API to your markdown files in seconds." and "An open library to transform markdown content into sql-queryable data. Build rich markdown-powered sites easily and reliably."
  • Add 3 key features
  • Image placeholder for video
• Move features up below hero
• Then unified vision
• Then quickstart

Quickstart text

1. You have a folder of markdown content e.g. some blog posts

   1. Each file has some frontmatter

2. Install markdowndb (optional)

3. Index the files using markdowndb mddb

4. Query our files: get a list of all our blog posts with their titles

• sql query
• js examples (nextjs)

4. A bit more interesting: query just featured blog posts

5. Use in your application with framework your of choice [show js code using this in e.g. getStaticProps]

6. [optional] Running app with blog posts or list of projects (reuse our screenshot ...)

Notes

Inspirations perhaps for landing pages

These aren't all as relevant (some we just like layout or approach vs actual info architectuve)

• editable.website (like the way it explains the need)
• dub.sh (a nice simple product landing page with clear explanation of what it is)

Landing page v1 copy

Hero section

Title 1: The missing API/interface from your markdown files to a blog/digital garden/notion alterantive/...

Title A:
Welcome to MarkdownDB - your next-level content base. 🔥🔥

Title B:
Unlock the potential of Markdown as data.

Title C:
Reimagining Markdown's potential with MarkdownDB.
...

---

Subtitle A:
Combine the simplicity of Markdown with the capabilities of a database. 🔥

Subtitle B:
From Markdown files to a rich, queryable database in a snap. 🔥🔥 👈👈

Subtitle C:
Elevate your markdown files. Create, extend, and extract with MarkdownDB.

[DEMO gif or side-by-side screenshots of md files opened in e.g. Obsidian and indexed in the db]

Features / Why MarkdowbDB

• Power of plain text: Combination of unstructured content and structured data in simple Markdown files. With MarkdownDB, you no longer have to compromise between the ease of writing in Markdown and the functionality of a full-fledged database.

• Simplicity at core: Turn your Markdown files into a queryable, lightweight SQL database.

• Flexible and extendabile: Bring your own document types, extend your frontmatter with computed fields and check for errors with with custom validations.

• Simple API: Get a list of all or some Markdown files, filter them by frontmatter fields, and more.

• Do one thing well 😉 markdowndb just gives you a database, an API a super-powerful and extensible way to create those from markdown. We don't provide a UI, live editing of values etc ... (though others may do!)

• Open source: Your content isn’t locked away in proprietary platforms. It’s open, it's free, it’s yours.

• Not tied to any stack: Use anywhere you want - NextJS, SvelteKit, from the command line etc etc.

• Images and other assets as well as text

MarkdownDB the Pattern - why use markdown to create a database/collections

• Power of plain text: Combination of unstructured content and structured data in simple Markdown files. With MarkdownDB, you no longer have to compromise between the ease of writing in Markdown and the functionality of a full-fledged database.

• Open source/formats

• Combined Structured and unstructured information

• Images and other assets as well as text

Roadmap

Phase 1 - Basic Implementation:

• Indexing
  • Conversion of Markdown files into database records
• Structured Data Extraction
  • Extraction of frontmatter data
  • Automatic type casting for simplified queries
• Links Extraction:
  • Extraction of forward links and backlinks
• Basic API:
  • Get a list of all or some of the Markdown files
  • Get a list of forward and/or backlinks to a Markdown file
  • Filter by metadata fields

Phase 2 - Advanced Features:

• BYOT (Bring Your Own Types) System:
  • Ability for users to define their own types for more customized data validation and retrieval.
• Plugins system:
  • ...

Phase 3 - Optimization:

• Database Optimization:
  • Refinement of database operations for enhanced speed and data integrity.

The vision

Unified Content Management

Imagine a world where Markdown isn’t just text - it’s an entry in a database, it's a source of structured and unstructured data. With MarkdownDB, we aim to balance the simplicity and accessibility of writing in Markdown with the ability to treat your collection of markdown files like a database (think Notion) - allowing, for example presenting each markdown file in a folder as a row in a sheet (e.g. for a project list or any other kind of collection), think querying your markdown files like a database e.g. show me documents with a created in the last week with "hello world" in the title or show me all tasks in all documents with "⏭️" emoji in the task (indicating it's next up!)

How does it work?

1. Extract: From frontmatter, links, tasks, and more - data extraction is comprehensive and intuitive.

2. Index: Effortlessly index a folder of markdown files and transform them into structured databse records.

3. Query: Utilize the simple API to query your content. Whether you’re creating an individual page, generating a tag list, or referencing backlinks, MarkdownDB has got you covered.

[See It in Action]: Dive into our demo video that walks you through how MarkdownDB transforms the familiar markdown syntax into a rich, interactive database. You'll witness how effortlessly you can extend, embed, and extract content, all with the foundational simplicity of Markdown.

CRF

Old taglines use on github:

MarkdownDB is a pattern and toolkit for using markdown to store collections of stuff. Think a simple open source Airtable or spreadsheet alternative.

[olayway]

@rufuspollock here is what I have so far: https://hackmd.io/Vjs2nusSQF6B0qEfTA0tMg
Let me know what you think. I don't feel strong at writing "pitch-deck" content 😅

[rufuspollock]

@olayway great start. I think we can start with something like this and just iterate - let not the best be the enemy of the good 😄

[rufuspollock]

Notes from discussion just now:

https://link.excalidraw.com/l/9u8crB2ZmUo/RVethZITOO

• Pattern: idea of using markdown (strictly: collection of markdown files) as an alternative to ...
  • A collection of docs in google drive, in word etc
    • especially of collection of docs that are a collection in the sense of being about the same thing e.g. you are researching smartphones, or making list of your projects
  • google sheets, airtable, notion database etc
  • an alternative overall to notion
• Job stories for markdowndb
  • I want a blog for my static website built in markdown
  • I want a project list where each project is a markdown file
  • I want to catalog my photos
  • I want to make list of X

[rufuspollock]

Reviewed in standup. Key points:

• Reverse taglines and simplify it a bit e.g. Simple, powerful and open-source library to turn markdown files into a SQLite database with JS API.
  • "Treat markdown as a rich data/content source ...
• Don't capitalize markdown

[olayway]

@rufuspollock I've updated the README with some content from the landing page and added some basic API reference as well.

[rufuspollock]

FIXED. Site is up https://markdowndb.com and we've done some posting.