I've been writing a blog since 2009, I've moved platforms a few times for a long time I've used Laravel to power my blog. I've been writing to Hashnode in parallel for a long time too.
You can cross-post to Hashnode from your blog using RSS, which works very well. But this week I decided to commit fully to Hashode and move my domain dcblog.dev to my Hashnode blog. Since all my posts we're on Hashnode already it was a simple transition.
Nothing to maintain
I used to blog using a custom CMS build on top of Laravel, it served me well for years. The problem was when I used to spend a fair amount of time upgrading my system, its packages and themes.
By the time I'd finished tinkering with the system, I was too tired to write any blog posts. What appeals to me about Hashnode is there is nothing to maintain you simply log in and start writing.
Part of a community
Hashnode is more than a blogging platform, it's a development community encouraging engagement with other like-minded people.
Follow other developers, ask them questions, learn from each other. It's a great place to be apart of.
Write in markdown
All posts are written in Markdown which means you don't have to write directly on Hashnode if you don't want to, you can write in any Markdown editor and copy and paste when you're ready.
All common Markdown is supported but also custom image uploads and a new feature of Hasnode is an integration with a free Stock Photos integration from Unspalsh
Hashnode's new Unsplash integration makes it a breeze to find free stock photos for your blog's cover images. No graphic design skills are required! https://townhall.hashnode.com/unsplash-integration
Autosaving
As you write your posts drafts are automatically saved every few seconds so you are safe to write and come back later to finish off without having to do anything. Drafts are automatically saved into a drafts section of your blog dashboard, very handy.
Great embed support
Being able to use Markdown is great but when about embedding tweets or videos? well, that can be tricky but not with Hashnode!
Hashnode uses Embed.ly to support all kinds of embed on the platform. You DON'T have to paste the platform-specific embed code. Just follow the following syntax and the magic will happen.
%[Paste link to embed]
//Embed Tweets
%[https://twitter.com/hashnode/status/1080795453115920384?s=20]
//Embed YouTube Videos
%[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAKtNV8KcWg]
//Embed Github Repo
%[https://github.com/hashnode/hashnode-cli]
//Embed Codepen
%[https://codepen.io/zephyo/pen/MZbLwV]
//Embed Glitch
%[https://glitch.com/edit/#!/lithium-battery-recycling]
//Embed Soundcloud
%[https://soundcloud.com/androidauthority/024-prime-day-shmimeday]
//Embed Expo
%[https://snack.expo.io/@iamshadmirza/tinder-cards]
//Embed Loom
%[https://www.loom.com/share/1436e60ced174f37b729be61081e069d]
//Embed Vimeo
%[https://vimeo.com/258358902], additional valid parameters can be
passed to customize the player.
Ex. %[https://vimeo.com/258358902?width=820&color=ED5565]
Visit this link https://developer.vimeo.com/api/oembed/videos for more
details on how to customize the player, supported URL types and parameters.
//Embed Canva
%[https://www.canva.com/design/your-design-id/view]
//Embed any article on the web or website
%[https://hashnode.com]
Backups
You own the content at any time you can export a JSON file containing all your posts. You can also have your posts added to a Github repository so every time you write a post an MD file will be added to the repo ensuring you always have a backup of your content.
Built-in newsletter
Want a newsletter? good news Hashnode has this built-in, anyone can join the newsletter by entering their email address at the top of the post or blog home page. This makes it incredibly easy to build an email audience with no effort.
Built-in comments
Another great feature, is you get a comments system out of the box, no configuration is required.
Join Hashnode
Want your own blog on Hashnode? come and join me you can use a generated subdomain username.hashnode.dev or you can use your own domain like I am doing.
Thank you for reading, let's connect!
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