So i never posted about it but i've quietly closed https://hosted.md for now, working on a little pivot and refocus of it's mission! Have a little sneak peak of the new homepage that will be coming soon.

Been a bit quiet recently, but I've been tinkering with something for a while, reworking an existing SaaS idea and turned it open source! Get X and Bluesky scheduling for free! Built with #Laravel #Livewire do with it as you please https://github.com/mikebarlow/bluewing

New profile picture day! Had to give chatGPT a go for making an avatar of me. Makes my beard look neater than it actually is 😂

Thinking about starting a blog in 2025? 🤔 Should you stick with WordPress or try Markdown? ✍️ I’ve broken down the pros & cons of both to help you decide 👉 https://link.hosted.md/aeCeQ

Use Obsidian, Typora, VS Code, or any Markdown editor? With hosted.md, you can take those Markdown files and publish them as a website—no Git, no build scripts, no command line. More on that (plus a roundup of the best Markdown tools of 2025): 👉 https://link.hosted.md/iqKXd

🚀 New on the hosted.md blog: Markdown + AI: How I Use AI Tools to Speed Up Blog Writing ✍️ I share how I pair Markdown with AI tools to draft faster without losing my own voice. Read here 👉 https://link.hosted.md/nWEp5

I just published a post about building hosted.md and why making static site hosting feel simple is harder than it looks. 🙈 If you like dev logs or build tools for creators, give it a read: 👀 https://link.hosted.md/pCyXF #buildinpublic #markdown #staticweb

MkDocs is great if all you want is clean, simple documentation from Markdown files. It does that well. But if you want a personal blog or creative site, it's a bit limited. I compare MkDocs to other tools (and an alternative that skips the setup) in this post: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/z2juh

Not live yet, but cost matters. Cloudflare’s free tier and simpler setup helps me keep hosted.md lean while I build. Wrote up the full reasoning here → https://link.hosted.md/RQQPe #buildinpublic

Already got this in place on generatepdfs.com, been looking forward to Rick completing this for a while. It took some nudging and persuading but glad he finally got it out the door!

🧑‍💻 New GitHub integration is here! Connect your GitHub account, choose an existing markdown repo (or create a new one), and hosted.md will build your site automatically. Push to GitHub, rebuild instantly ⚡ Full update 👉 https://link.hosted.md/kDSFq

📝 Want to collaborate on blog posts without the email chaos? Discover how Markdown + hosted.md makes teamwork smoother for writers and developers alike! Check it out 👉 https://link.hosted.md/hUZMn

PDF generation feels like one of those problems everyone has solved slightly differently. Is there a reason you stick with your current approach?

Markdown was meant to simplify writing for the web, not bury you in Git, builds, and config files 😵‍💫 Let’s make publishing easier for writers again. More thoughts here 👉 https://link.hosted.md/KY2Gz

If you have a folder full of Markdown notes and want to make sense of them, Obsidian is still one of the best tools in 2025. Backlinks, graph view, works offline—what's not to like? I rounded up more of my favourite Markdown tools in my latest post: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/iqKXd

📝 Tired of bloated blogging setups? Discover why simpler tools win in the long run and how writing in Markdown can get your blog online fast ✅ Read more: https://link.hosted.md/VUlWG

Always keep pushing! Just deployed some updates to the PDF rendering engine for https://generatepdfs.com Time to play and beta test @rickmills.uk latest SaaS, a customer feedback widget! Going to integrate it into GeneratePDFs! #buildinpublic #saas

Writing a book, course, or long newsletter in Markdown? ✍️ We just published a guide on organizing long-form projects in a way that keeps things clean, structured, and easy to manage. Read it here → https://link.hosted.md/9zjvt

For anyone dealing with PDFs regularly: what finally made your setup feel reliable? Tooling, constraints, lowering expectations…?

The christmas break was a blessing and a curse. Was great to chill and not think about posting on here, but at the same time. I've come back and my inspiration is at an all time low for posting. It was only a couple of weeks off! Anyone else find that?

Blogging with Markdown shouldn’t require a crash course in Git. With hosted.md, it doesn’t. Just write, hit publish, and you’re live. ✍️✨ No repos. No installs. No nonsense. Read the post 👉 https://link.hosted.md/qIXQd

✍️ Ever wondered what really happens when you hit publish on a static site? From Markdown to live pages — we walk through every step. We’re building a tool to make it way easier. 👉 https://link.hosted.md/X8dYY

📝 Drafting in Markdown is about to get easier. Here’s how hosted.md will make managing unfinished posts simple and safe: https://link.hosted.md/5U2sd #Blogging #Markdown #StaticSites 🚧✨

Static vs Dynamic Blogs ⚡ Which one’s better for the long haul? We break down the pros, cons, and why static Markdown sites are winning for writers and creators who want something fast, secure, and built to last. 👉 Read now: https://link.hosted.md/TGEoG

Trying to make static site hosting approachable without hiding the hard stuff - and it’s way trickier than i thought. I shared some lessons from building hosted.md: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/pCyXF #buildinpublic #markdown

I obviously have my reasons for building https://hosted.md and detailed them in the first blog post. But does anyone else have any different pain points when it comes to getting a simple static site hosted somewhere? 🤔 Ones without extending build time too much would be great #buildinpublic

New on the hosted.md blog 🎉 Curious how to track your blog’s performance without cookies or heavy scripts? Privacy first analytics are easier than you think. Read the full guide 👇 https://link.hosted.md/hQ6qi

🙋‍♂️ Just pushed out a new post talking about Why Markdown is the perfect format for blogging! 👉 https://hosted.md/blog/why-markdown-is-the-perfect-format-for-blogging Would appreciate some 👀 on it if people have 5 minutes! #buildinpublic

I know it’s not helped the algo but been nice to have a break from socials for a few days. Was ill just before Xmas, and just recovered in time fo the big day! 🤒 Felt too ill to even schedule any posts, that’s how bad I was! Feeling back to normal and refreshed now though. Back on it soon 💪

Search engines care about structure. Start every post with one # H1, then use ## and ### to guide the flow. Good for SEO, great for readers. More static site SEO tips in our latest post 👉 https://link.hosted.md/Wdoh4 #Markdown #SEOtips

At what point does a “simple” publishing setup stop feeling simple? Is it themes, plugins, settings, or something else?

New post on hosted.md: The Hidden Complexity of Static Site Hosting (And How to Avoid It) I shared the common pain points I’ve hit with static hosting and why I’m building hosted.md to fix them. #buildinpublic #markdown #staticweb 🔗 https://link.hosted.md/HTTbK

🆕 New on the blog: What actually happens when you hit "Publish" on a static site? 🛠️ We break down the full journey from Markdown to a live site. 🚀 hosted.md will make it much easier when it launches. 📄 https://link.hosted.md/X8dYY #buildinpublic #markdown

Do you prefer writing in something structured like Markdown, or a full editor with buttons and previews? Genuinely curious where people land on this.

Want stronger SEO over time? Build content clusters 📚 Related Markdown posts that link to each other help readers explore and help search engines understand topic depth. We explain how to do this step by step 👇 https://link.hosted.md/2JvEM

Do you ever avoid publishing something because you don’t want to deal with the tooling around it? Or is that just me?

What makes a writing tool feel distracting to you? Too many options, too many prompts, or something more subtle?

Anyone else had a “this should be simple” moment with PDFs that turned into way more work than expected? 😅 Would love to hear some war stories.

For anyone dealing with PDFs regularly: what finally made your setup feel reliable? Tooling, constraints, lowering expectations…?

PDF generation feels like one of those problems everyone has solved slightly differently. Is there a reason you stick with your current approach?

Internal linking is about guidance, not volume 🔗 The best links appear where curiosity naturally shows up and help readers go deeper or move forward. We cover how to link with intent in Markdown blogs here 👇 https://link.hosted.md/2JvEM

If you’ve used Markdown for a while, what keeps you coming back to it? Habit, portability, or something else?

GeneratePDFs is a fast and reliable HTML to PDF service built with Laravel by @mikebarlow.uk 📄 - madewithlaravel.com/generatepdfs

Anyone else had a “this should be simple” moment with PDFs that turned into way more work than expected? 😅 Would love to hear some war stories.

Headings do more than break up text 👀 They tell search engines how ideas connect and help readers scan and decide what to read next. This post breaks down how to use H1, H2, and H3 properly in Markdown blogs 👇 https://link.hosted.md/2JvEM

Feel like you need a degree in Git to publish a blog post? 😵‍💫 hosted.md keeps things simple: log in, write in Markdown, hit publish. That’s it. No commands, no repos, just writing. More here 👉 https://link.hosted.md/qIXQd

What’s the most annoying part of generating PDFs from code for you? Layout quirks, fonts, hosting, performance, something else?

When you start a new blog or site, what’s the first thing that makes you think “this is already more work than I expected”?

Quick question for other #devs 👀 When you need to generate PDFs, do you usually roll your own setup or reach for a service? Curious how people are handling this right now. #developers #buildinpublic

📝 New on the blog Content Structure and Internal Linking for Markdown Blogs A practical guide to improving SEO and reader flow using clean structure and thoughtful internal links. Small changes that add up as your site grows. 👇 https://link.hosted.md/2JvEM