This year could go one of two ways — I either accomplish a lot, or very little.
Goals
Here’s what I hope to accomplish this year:
- publish Windows version of LZ Desktop
- implement full support for CDOCs and SDOCs. Finalise these two data formats
- implement Republishing
- add backup options to LZ Desktop (right now, backups have to be created manually)
- add multiple worlds to LZ Desktop (a world is a zoomable square where you organise your content).
- add all the missing functionality and fix bugs in LZ Desktop
- create a web browser (a separate desktop app) that supports both regular (Web 2) pages and new static pages (HDOC, CDOC, SDOC)
- add an option to integrate Google Analytics with the Static Web Publisher plugin
- promote Static Web Publisher plugin so that by the end of this year we could have a list of hundreds of websites that support Web 1.1
Crowdfunding this project
I need about a year—maybe less—to accomplish these goals. The problem is, I don’t have enough money to keep working on the project full-time.
I started this project in late November 2023. Initially, I worked on it while taking on freelance jobs, but by summer 2024, my workload became overwhelming, forcing me to pause development for a few months. Since October 2024, I’ve been on a sabbatical, working on this project full-time. I’m burning through my savings, and that can’t go on forever.
So, I’ll try crowdfunding. I need about $600 per month to cover basic expenses.
Why you should consider donating
If I don’t get enough funding, I’ll have to take on freelance work within a month or two. I’ll try to keep developing this project on the side, but realistically, there will be huge gaps in progress. What could take a year might end up taking years. Worse, the project might never properly launch if I can’t dedicate enough time to it.
Another risk: now that I’ve put the idea of Web 1.1 out there, others might jump in and start developing their own software. This could lead to a mess of incompatible standards—which is the last thing we need. At least in the beginning, until all the new data types are well-defined, you don’t want to have too many cooks in the kitchen.
So, it makes sense to crowdfund my project and complete it as fast as possible, as delays can lead to bad outcomes.
Can I commercialise this project?
Eventually, I may explore ways to monetize services built around this project. For example, I could offer seamless content transfer from a mobile phone to a user’s zoomable desktop, or streamline content sharing between users. Instead of exporting content to a file and emailing it, you could send it directly from the app, and it would appear in your friend’s app. These are features I could integrate into LZ Desktop.
Other potential projects include:
- A backup service, as discussed in Republishing on Web 1.1.
- A social network of websites or an aggregator service, which I covered in The Three Stages of Web Evolution.
- A Xanadu-like publishing platform, also discussed in the same post.
These ideas, however, are a bit more ambitious.
The main issue with commercialising the project right now is the lack of users. Any early attempts at monetization would be a distraction—I’d spend too much time setting things up without generating meaningful revenue.
At this stage, crowdfunding is the most viable way to sustain the project, at least for the first year.
How to donate
Currently, I don’t have any payment methods configured. I will first start discussions about Web 1.1 on different forums. Then, if I see positive feedback, I’ll think about the ways to accept donations. So, stay tuned.
