In the last few years I've been doing a lot of technical writing, both for my own programming blog and others, and I've noticed there is a lack of good tools for this kind of writing.Whether that was a programming blog post or documentation, I always had to move back an forth between different editors, and sometimes even other apps for content management and the actual content publication. A lot of copy-pasting, and wasted time.Based on this experience I decided to try and build a tool that could provide a good experience for this kind of content from writing to publishing. This (I call it Vrite) ended up being essentially a headless CMS, but optimized for technical content and a pretty unique one overall, I'd say.I tried to combine what can be seen as 3 separate products into one:
- WYSIWYG editor (with the addition of code-specific tooling like code editor or formatter)
- Kanban dashboard (inspired by my experience of tools like Trello used in larger technical content teams to manage content production process)
- The actual headless CMS (content delivery via API, integrations, etc.)Most recently I decided to open-source it and see if there's any interest in such a tool. Right now the primary focus was my personal use-case (kind-of "promotional" technical writing seen in programming and start-up blogs), but I think, with more customization, something like this could extend to the documentation space and make writing and managing docs a lot easier.Let me know what do you think about this.
Users provided mixed feedback on Vrite, with some appreciating the UI/UX and content service but questioning its market fit, suitability for technical writing, and terminology like 'headless'. There were suggestions for improvements in project management, editor features, and integrations. The need for better documentation, pricing details, and self-hosting information was highlighted. Criticisms included confusion over the GUI in a headless CMS and the complexity of CCS. Users also discussed alternatives like Markdown, static site generators, and docs-as-code, and mentioned the success of Stripe's documentation system.
Users criticized Vrite for poor documentation, limited collaboration due to personal kanban, and a lack of features for non-technical writers. Design choices were seen as disruptive to user flow. Issues with project management, editor flexibility, and image handling were noted. The use of 'headless' was deemed misleading, with confusion over the GUI's role. The API's lack of a management interface, unclear image/table support, and subpar default Swagger UI were also criticized. Jekyll's missing features, unclear pricing/self-hosting, and resistance from developers were mentioned. Doubts about market fit and the restrictive nature of a headless CMS were expressed, alongside specific technical and sign-up issues.