I believe in building in public. Not just shipping features, but sharing the thinking behind them. So I'm opening up Jottings' roadmap—not as a promise, but as an invitation into our process.

Why Share This Now?

When I started Jottings, I was running from the chaos of social media platforms. I wanted something quieter, owned, and sustainable. A year later, we've got several hundred writers using Jottings to publish their own corner of the internet.

But here's the thing: I don't know what you need next. Some of you want better analytics. Others want to write poetry and want the formatting tools for it. A few have asked about email newsletters. Many just want to know we're not abandoning ship.

So here's where we're going, and more importantly, why.

The Next Three Months: Foundations

1. Markdown Enhancements

Right now, Jottings uses intentionally minimal markdown. No fancy formatting, no distracting features. But I've realized minimal doesn't mean boring.

Coming soon:

• Inline code highlighting (because developers exist)
• Definition lists (for explanations and glossaries)
• Table support (requested by newsletter writers)
• Footnotes (for the academic crowd)

These additions won't break the clean aesthetic. They'll just give you more ways to express complex ideas without leaving Jottings.

2. Better Site Analytics

You're publishing into the void if you can't see who's reading. We're building page view analytics—kept intentionally simple. No tracking pixels, no creepy surveillance. Just:

• Total views per post
• Page views over time
• Traffic sources (referrers)
• Top posts

No user tracking. No profiling. Just enough to know if your writing resonates.

3. Scheduled Publishing

This is the request I get most. You shouldn't have to publish at midnight because that's when you wrote something. Coming in January: write now, schedule for later. Support for recurring posts is also on the table.

The Six-Month Vision: Growth Tools

Email Integration

Here's where I'm being honest: we're exploring email. Not to spam, but because some of you want to notify subscribers when you publish. We're thinking:

• Simple email list management within Jottings
• Single button to email followers when you post
• Optional subscription widget for your site
• Full control (you own the list, not us)

This is still in the "philosophy phase." We want email to feel like an extension of your site, not a separate platform. No complicated automations. No marketing speak. Just: "I wrote something new. Here it is."

Better Import/Export

Jottings should never be a trap. I'm working on:

• Export your entire site as static HTML (works offline)
• Import from other platforms (Medium, Ghost, Substack)
• API endpoints so you can build your own integrations
• Data portability as a core value

Custom Themes

Right now, Jottings has one design. It's intentional. But I get it—you want it to feel like your space. We're exploring:

• A few carefully designed themes (not a theme marketplace—that's chaos)
• Simple color customization
• Optional sidebar navigation
• Typography choices

Still minimal. Still fast. Still yours.

What We're NOT Building

This is equally important. Here's what I've decided against:

• Comments sections: They create moderation burden and rarely add value. If people want to respond, they'll email you or write their own post.
• Social integration: We're anti-social media, remember? No auto-posting to Twitter. No Instagram carousel syncing. If you want to share, copy the link.
• Freemium limits: No paywalls between free and Pro. If something is worth paying for, it's worth actually being different, not just "more of the same but locked."
• Gamification: No streak counts. No engagement metrics designed to make you feel bad for missing a day. Writing shouldn't feel like a treadmill.
• AI features: At least for now. Everyone's adding AI. We're not. We'll revisit when it genuinely solves a problem rather than creating one.

How You Shape This

Here's where you come in. The roadmap above? It's not set in stone.

Email me at hello@jottings.me with:

• Features you're stuck without
• Problems you're trying to solve
• Things we're building that don't matter to you
• Crazy ideas that might work

I read every email. I can't build everything, but I can make informed choices about what to prioritize.

Join the community at our Discord (link in the footer). We're building a small community of writers who actually use Jottings, and the best ideas come from those conversations.

The Longer Game

If I zoom out five years, I see Jottings as the default choice for independent writers who want simplicity and control. Not a VC-backed rocket ship chasing growth. Not overloaded with features. Just a reliable, fast, beautiful place to write and publish.

We're profitable. We're sustainable. That means we can afford to move slowly and say no to things that don't fit. It also means we're not racing to exit or acquisition. We're here for the long term.

One More Thing

I want to acknowledge the elephant in the room: I'm one person building most of Jottings alongside freelance help. That means slower shipping than some platforms, but also more thoughtful decisions. If you're waiting for a feature, your patience directly enables that thoughtfulness. It's the tradeoff, and I think it's worth it.

The roadmap above represents genuine work in progress. Some items might ship next month. Others might take six months. A few might get cut entirely if they don't feel right.

That's not failure. That's how good products get built.

Thanks for being here. Now go write something.

Questions or ideas? Reply to this post via email, or reach out to hello@jottings.me. I'd love to hear what you think should be next.