Welcome to the Phase 2 Era!!!!!

This phase is all about building a desktop app version of the generator specifically for people who want to use Keely App for serializing their stories but don’t know their Git from their Hub. There will still be a little bit of tech knowledge required, but at the level of “self-hosted WordPress account” not “code monkey on the command line.”  

To understand how and why I decided to do things this way, you need to understand that I LOVE the notetaking app Obsidian. I don’t just love it as a user, I love it from a philosophical level. While the app is not open source, it is founded on simplicity, portability, and customization. 

It’s local to your device but not an energy hog, and you can build out a version of the app that fits your exact needs, be that simple note capture, Zettelkasten, project management, business tracking, or writing. It’s super easy to learn, but if you want to dig into the weeds of customization there are hundreds of plugins for it that help you refine every aspect of it. However, you have it set up, in the end ALL your actual files are simple text files in Markdown format that you can save and open with a variety of apps including MS Word and Google Docs. You can have one “vault” (folder) or dozens. 

And that’s what I wanted for Keely App: an app that is local to your device, creates simple text files YOU OWN that you can copy or move anywhere without complex exporting, and that would build a website for you to share your story. That last part is actually the most complex piece. The rest of it is all about the user interface and building the files. 

On the backend I had to learn about tools like Tauri and React and Astro, which are needed to both build the app and run the generator. It’s been fun, but also a challenge. 

Phase 2 is also the stage for phase 3, where I will have a (paid) hosted version that is entirely online for authors who don’t want to mess with things like downloading apps or learning how to stage their website. That’s a ways off, yet; first I need to get this Deathstar app fully operational! 

The next few posts in this blog will be talking about features of the app, as I build them. Buckle up!