
Prismic.io goes live - Doublon
https://prismic.io/#live
======
sunir
A few things. I would expect a writing application to have incredible
copywriting. You have to out-write the writers!

Here are some examples where the text could be improved, though really the
whole page needs to be rewritten using the inverted pyramid.

1\. "Api" should be "API".

2\. "You're the skilled developer, so why would it be ok to settle for
technical constraints as soon as there's manageable content involved?" is
awkward. I actually don't know what you're pitching. What is manageable
content? Why use a fill verb like "involved" instead of something concrete?

3\. "prismic.io helps you make all your content adaptable to all possible
designs." is passive. "prismic.io adapts your content to..." who knows.

4\. "All possible designs" is clearly impossible.

Second, I still don't know what this does after reading the homepage.

Third, the title of this post was too vague. Maybe that was beyond your
control. Did you submit it?

Fourth, almost all the graphics are not related to the application. Show don't
tell!

~~~
sadache
Thanks for the valuable feedback. Here is a question, do you think the
following explains well the product?

"prismic.io is a different approach to content management. It features a
Writing Room for content writers to author and manage content, and a Content
Query Api for developers to integrate managed content into any website or
app."

~~~
sunir
Again, please spell API correctly. It's an acronym, not a word.

Second, your jargon is for yourselves. You need to speak in the language of
your customers.

1\. What is a Writing Room?

2\. What is a Content Query API?

3\. What is managed content?

Third, don't advertise your writing. "prismic.io is a different approach to
content management" should be obvious and left unstated.

By the way, this customer testimonial is not helping you. I already feel
exhausted thinking about how much work it will be to use you.
[http://www.elastic.io/blog/82796857416/why-we-chose-api-
base...](http://www.elastic.io/blog/82796857416/why-we-chose-api-based-cms-
system)

I think the idea is that you expose the content through an API which can be
inserted anywhere.

Prismic.io, an API for content.

Prismic.io is a content management system that only publishes through an API.
Let your writers focus on writing and your developers and designers can focus
on layout.

------
mattmanser
It's frustrating as this product looks like a great idea and looks well done,
but you're leaving out all the important bits of information that I'd want to
know immediately.

Do I have to request the the content from prismic with every request? Is it
done client or server side? What kind of caching will I be able to do my end?
What happens when you go down?

That website and especially the video are terrible at communicating (pan, pan,
pan, pan, pan, arghhhhhh). I thought it was because I was watching it without
sound. Turns out there is no sound.

It visually looks great, but the content itself is practically useless,
classic style over substance.

And the API documentation is bad. What does the first section of the
documentation even mean?

 _/ api is the single endpoint of your content repository. You can learn and
browse everything else from there. You should never forge any API URL in your
code, as all usable forms (that define what URLs you can build) are available
in /api (and the URLs might change as features get rolled out)._

I (finally) found the api which is hidden in the help menu of all places and
kinda can guess what you're supposed to do, but I think you've a few rough
edges to sand off in the usability.

Gratz on the launch, but get someone in to help you write the copy and
overhaul those API docs.

~~~
sadache
We've answered most of your question in our blog, take a look at
[https://blog.prismic.io](https://blog.prismic.io)

It is very hard to talk technical specificities on the homepage while staying
understandable for everyone. There is a big room for improvement for sure (and
that's what we're targeting), so thanks for your feedback.

Also we'll keep working on our API and development kits documentation, any
help is appreciated.

Our API has a cache forever semantics explained here
[https://blog.prismic.io/UzQYNwEAAGIjZ3UZ/immutable-
documents...](https://blog.prismic.io/UzQYNwEAAGIjZ3UZ/immutable-documents-
and-restful-api-cache-forever-update-instantaneously)

It is a Restful API, that's why there is a single entry point, all follows
programatically from there.

~~~
tommi
Take this as a positive criticism. Good looking website but it me took too
long to get it. Not really sure if I still fully got it.

The site doesn't really doesn't say what it is. "Manage your content in one
place. Display it your way. Using your favorite technology. prismic.io is a
different approach to content management." \- all that seems like filler text
to me.

I watched the video. It was way too complex. All the close up shots, error
messages, etc. Make it simpler.

btw. I wouldn't go searching answer to API questions in a blog.

------
nichochar
Can you help me understand exactly what this does, and how it is better than
basic CMS? (not being a brat, I'm actually curious. It's just that I just
couldn't quite figure it out by reading the website at a quick glance, which
you could also take as feedback I guess)

~~~
sadache
maybe this blog post can help [https://blog.prismic.io/Ux-
QjgEAAGMGit8h/writing-room-and-co...](https://blog.prismic.io/Ux-
QjgEAAGMGit8h/writing-room-and-content-query-api-a-different-approach-to-
content-management)

Put simply, it is a backend called "Writing Room" for managing and structuring
content, and an Restful API for developers to integrate this content in any
technology (websites or apps).

~~~
pfraze
So the pitch is, it's a managed CMS backend that gets your content-creators
working immediately while you dev the rest of the site. Then you just run
queries to pull the content.

Not a bad idea; worth checking out if you're in the market, I figure.

------
14113
I hate this trend that startup homepages seem to be going through. They don't
seem to actually explain what their product _is_. All I can see from this page
are a load of assertions that either:

A) It's not the same as thing X B) It's better than thing Y, because of Z C)
Their Q (which is part of their product) is really really good!

To someone landing on the page, that doesn't tell me what they do on a
grander, more abstract scale, it only gives me a pinhole view of parts of
their app, and thus prevents me from seeing the bigger picture. I'm sure the
product as a whole is great (after all, I know each part is great), but I
still have no idea what the product as a whole does!

I've read the FAQ, and I still can't quite figure out what this is offering.
Can anyone condense this into a single paragraph (or better, sentence) that
describes concisely, and completely what prismic does? I really can't fathom
it from their website...

~~~
sadache
We're working on a different website for explaining the approach of the
product.

Do you think that the following fails at explaining the idea of the product?

prismic.io is a different approach to content management. It features a
Writing Room for content writers to author and manage content, and a Content
Query Api for developers to integrate managed content into any website or app.

~~~
14113
The paragraph you've posted there is very helpful - it gives me more of an
idea of what the product as a whole does, and it does sound really quite
interesting!

Even doing something like including that at the top of the current website
would work wonders for giving an explanation before delving into finer
details.

------
Xdes
I'd like to see an open source version of this. I like the API centric
approach to site building, but I don't want some third party to have access to
all of my content in one place.

~~~
bergie
Content repositories have been around for quite a while. At least Apache
Jackrabbit has a RESTful API:
[https://jackrabbit.apache.org/](https://jackrabbit.apache.org/)

(for a binding to that API, see for example
[https://github.com/jackalope/jackalope-
jackrabbit](https://github.com/jackalope/jackalope-jackrabbit))

------
enoptix
What are the SEO implications of this? I tried looking at their site (since
they built it with their tech) and at the FAQ but couldnt find an answer. Is
the content pulled via AJAX after page load? Or is it pulled server-side on
the initial request?

~~~
zubairov
I'm not the prismic.io developer but I believe it depends on you - how you
fetch the content fragments from prismic.io. We are doing it on the backend,
so it's perfectly searchable by Google ;) See here -
[http://www.elastic.io/blog/82796857416/why-we-chose-api-
base...](http://www.elastic.io/blog/82796857416/why-we-chose-api-based-cms-
system)

------
crypsis
This is a cool idea that I think a lot of Digital agencies need. I can't think
of how many projects I've lead where we had to build a custom cms for a design
that needed to be pixel perfect and was hard to do in either Wordpress or an
Enterprise CMS.

However, I think your own website does a poor job of communicating what it
does. The language of "display content your way" is very vague and it takes a
lot of digging to figure out what it is that you are offering. Your target
audience is not the general non-technical user, your target audience is the
Technical Lead or Software Architect or programmer that is actually building
the website. They are going to be the one that says use this instead of
Wordpress or some Enterprise sized CMS.

My suggestions are:

1\. Put screenshots of the product immediately on the home page (instead a
blank desk, pencils, plants... what is that?).

2\. Describe precisely what it is: a new type of CMS that eliminates templates
and delivers content as a service to your own custom front end. Everyone hates
CMS templates so I think you can strike a chord there. I'm not a copywriter so
someone can probably spruce that statement up. I actually echo some of the
other commenters statements in that you really ought to have a copywriter look
through your content on the website and focus it a bit more. I think the
writing/copy on the site is weak in describing the product and needs to be
much more technical and specific since your target audience is different.

------
sudhirj
From what I can make out:

1\. Define all document types (document metadata and structure) in their
custom JSON.

2\. They build pretty looking CRUD forms based off the JSON so non technical
content writers can fill in and manage content.

3\. Expose all documents via a REST API with a bespoke query language.

4\. Allow content to be edited collaboratively and changes to be scheduled /
buffered.

That's about it, actually. Would work very well when I build a site for my
mum's chocolate shop.

~~~
rudyrigot
You get the idea roughly, although use cases are likely to go beyond that, but
your mum's chocolate shop sounds like a great case to start with! :)

Here is more details in video about how to get started:
[https://developers.prismic.io/documentation/UjBaQsuvzdIHvE4D...](https://developers.prismic.io/documentation/UjBaQsuvzdIHvE4D/getting-
started)

And here more about how to develop:
[https://developers.prismic.io/](https://developers.prismic.io/)

Have fun!

------
Dorian-Marie
A few suggestions:

* Make it possible to "Tab" between fields, same for using "Cmd-Return", "Cmd-A", ...

* Inserting an image is really ankward, as soon as I upload it, I expect it to be in the article/product/... but it's not, I have to "Select" it, and then choose some kind of dimensions, and the UI/UX for it is not user-friendly, I think you should show the image in the article images sections, and then have small icons for differents sizes, or just when clicking the image, then we can edit it.

* When you use the terms "Publish", "Live now", ..., I expect to see something publicly accessible, like even some kind of raw template of a website, or show me the API urls, because now I'm like hitting the "Publish" button and then nothing seems to happen.

* Also when clicking "Publish", "publish now" should be the default (eg: always have defaults for select inputs)

Otherwise it looks really good and I like the ideas.

Do you plan on translating it? Also, you say it's free, but then there is a
billing section, etc..., do you have a idea how much it will be?

~~~
rudyrigot
There are a lot of interface optimization coming, that will indeed make your
life even easier progressively. Those optimizations are all easy to make, it's
all a matter of building the right ones. :)

There will definitely be support for several languages in the writing-room
too.

For our pricing all of the answers to your questions are here:
[https://prismic.io/pricing](https://prismic.io/pricing)

Thanks for liking it! :)

------
andybak
First impression of the writing room is that it's suffering from classic
'mystery meat' navigation. I think it would be a hard sell to busy clients who
hate learning new interfaces.

I'd love to see footage of the user testing on this. I might be wrong but I
can imagine many a furrowed brow on initial exposure.

Update - Either I'm really dumb or adding a picture to a post is rather
confusing.

I was really expecting a completely stellar UX to be the main selling point.
It's a very pretty UX but it's not immediately intuitive. Which leads me to
wonder what the main selling point of this actually is. I kind of like the
idea of decoupling content from the code that generates the website but that's
an abstraction that many will struggle with.

It's not really any worse than what we're currently expecting content authors
to work with (Wordpress et al) - but it's not significantly better either. So
it lives or dies on the value of the decoupling - which I'm struggling to feel
is a big enough win.

------
sadache
By the way, in another HN thread, we posted a $60 discount code "HNApril15" to
thank HN community for this awesome and constructive feedback.

------
megaman821
I have been using this approach internally for quite a while, a CMS that
exposes all content through its API and then websites, mobile apps, etc. that
consume the API. Taking it a step further you can build libraries in your
favorite programming language against your API. This reduces building a Rails,
Node.js, iOS, or Android app down to mostly design implementation.

------
nemesisj
There's no mention of embedding or "white labeling" prismic within other
applications. Is this possible? For example, within product X I need to manage
quite a bit of content, but would rather not build in a CMS. Can we integrate
Prismic to do the content management parts?

~~~
rudyrigot
This is a great use case for prismic.io!

Since all of your content is structured and delivered through your API, you
can simply pull it from your application, and use the content the way you
want. Look at me take an existing Bootstrap site, and inject content in it:
[https://blog.prismic.io/Ux-CMgEAAFwI9kFg/turn-a-bootstrap-
th...](https://blog.prismic.io/Ux-CMgEAAFwI9kFg/turn-a-bootstrap-theme-into-a-
manageable-content-website-in-no-time) (here in PHP, but you can use any
technology you want). Here, it's a static Bootstrap site, but if your
application was more complex, it wouldn't me more complicated to embed
prismic.io powered content!

~~~
nemesisj
Maybe I wasn't very clear. What I'm interested is the reverse - within my
application, using the Prismic UI to author content, that I then expose
outside the application. I don't want my application's users to know or care
about Prismic - they're just using my application. Then I can take the content
they've authored and use it like normal either within my app, or external to
my app, for example.

------
tlogan
I would suggest to clean up landing page and clearly explain what is
prismic.io. I tried to figure out that from the landing page, but no luck. And
if you are not native English speaker - use that in your advantage. Write
short sentences.

~~~
sadache
We're working on a new website that should do better at explaining what is
prismic.io, with much fewer text. Thanks for your suggestion.

------
mericsson
Anyone figure out how to view a site created from scratch that has newly
published documents? Not obvious how to view a site as an unauthenticated
user.

Or is the API the only way to consume content published on a repository/site?

~~~
rudyrigot
Indeed, you need to set up your application yourself, with your technology of
choice. You want to watch that "Getting started" video to get a better
understanding of how to do that:
[https://developers.prismic.io/documentation/UjBaQsuvzdIHvE4D...](https://developers.prismic.io/documentation/UjBaQsuvzdIHvE4D/getting-
started)

------
krmmalik
What kind of guarantees are you providing that a company that will invest itd
resources in creating content on your platform wont be held to ransom tomorrow
by either price hikes or service closures or something else?

------
lbotos
Biggest challenge: I thought it was these guys with a new look:

[http://getprismatic.com/home](http://getprismatic.com/home)

------
jack_hanford
It appears that scrolling isn't working for me. Chrome on a Mac.. Perhaps it's
a CSS overflow issue?

Edit: Only when the video is playing

------
MicroBerto
We use Google Drive to collaborate on our content. It's simple but it's free.
Why should we switch?

~~~
rudyrigot
Google Drive is great for writing unversioned content that you don't need to
deliver elsewhere and/or manipulate programmatically; I use it myself a lot
for this kind of tasks. But if you want your content to end up automatically
online or in another application, if you want to keep full control of how it's
displayed easily, and if you want to track and plan changes in an advanced
way, then it's for sure not the right tool, and prismic.io sounds more like
it.

------
senorgomez
Very cool, congrats

