#23 – Mind Mapping Discussions

Summary

In this conversation, Adam and Ste discuss the importance of work-life balance and their recent weekends. They provide updates on Hardcover’s product launch and discuss improvements to the homepage. They also explore grassroots marketing ideas and brainstorm merchandise for the brand. The challenges of indie authorship and the potential of discussions on Hardcover are also discussed. The conversation covers various aspects of discussions on the platform, including prototypes, filters, discussions on other pages, differentiating comments and top-level posts, reporting and moderation, moderation dashboard and resolutions, filtering and categorizing reports, granting moderation and managing moderators, activity feed and progress updates, discussions for characters, other places for discussions, and filtering discussions in the feed. The topics range from technical implementation details to user experience considerations. The conversation covers various topics related to the discussion feature on the platform. They discuss the possibility of users being the topic of a post, posting without a book reference, posting by authors, following authors, flexible discussions, expanding discussions to author and profile pages, and preparing for the product launch.

Takeaways

Maintaining work-life balance is crucial for productivity and well-being.
Improving the homepage and marketing efforts can help increase visibility and user engagement.
Exploring grassroots marketing strategies and attending relevant conventions can help promote Hardcover.
Discussions on Hardcover have the potential to support indie authors and connect readers with books they will enjoy. Implementing filters for discussions is important to allow users to customize their experience.
Discussions can be organized and displayed on different pages, such as book pages, author pages, and series pages.
Differentiating comments and top-level posts can help users navigate discussions more effectively.
Reporting and moderation features are necessary to maintain a healthy and safe discussion environment.
Consider using AI-powered tools to assist with content moderation and categorization of reports.
Granting moderation privileges to users and managing moderators can help distribute the workload.
Activity feeds and progress updates can enhance user engagement and provide a sense of community.
Creating separate pages for discussions related to characters can provide a dedicated space for fans to engage.
Consider implementing filters in the feed to allow users to customize the content they see.
Other discussion-related topics include book ads, notifications, bookmarks, and groups. Consider allowing users to create posts where they are the topic.
Provide the option for users to post without a book reference.
Explore the possibility of authors posting updates and allowing users to follow them.
Design discussions to be flexible and easily integrated into different parts of the platform.
Plan for expanding discussions to author and profile pages.
Prepare for the product launch and address any bugs or issues.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Weekend Recap
03:00 The Importance of Work-Life Balance
08:34 Updates on Hardcover’s Product Launch
11:56 Improving the Hardcover Homepage
14:00 Switching to Plausible for Analytics
16:41 Exploring Grassroots Marketing Ideas
20:10 Preparing for Dragonsteel Convention
23:53 Creating Hardcover Merchandise
29:26 The Challenges of Indie Authorship
39:48 Mind Mapping Discussions Features
47:37 Prototypes and Filters
49:00 Discussions on Other Pages
50:22 Differentiating Comments and Top Level Posts
51:49 Reporting and Moderation
54:09 Moderation Dashboard and Resolutions
56:21 Filtering and Categorizing Reports
58:09 Granting Moderation and Managing Moderators
01:00:30 Activity Feed and Progress Updates
01:09:29 Discussions for Characters
01:19:23 Other Places for Discussions
01:28:19 Filtering Discussions in the Feed
01:29:13 Other Discussion Related Topics
01:30:32 User as the Topic
01:31:41 Posting without a Book Reference
01:32:01 Posting by Authors
01:33:14 Following Authors
01:34:07 Flexible Discussions
01:34:36 Expanding to Author and Profile Pages
01:35:06 Preparing for Product Launch