Write documentation intro on WTF Arbour is

[MaggieAppleton]

Why are we building this?

• To solve our own problems. Our existing gardens built in Next.js are absurdly complex for what they need to do, and lead to bugs and confusion (e.g. animation issues with SSR, build errors). Want to turn them into simpler sites with less JavaScript and overhead.
• To give developers a strong base layer to build their own gardens off
• To give web-development-curious people a reasonably simple tool to build their own gardens with (if they're willing to learn some basic web development)

What does this have that we don't think other solutions do?

• Backlinks
• Version control
• Exploratory information architecture
• RSS publishing control
• Micro and macro post sizes
• Distinct post types
• Ownership and control (not publishing on proprietary social media platforms)
• Syndication to existing social media platforms

Why does it need to exist in the world?

• To solve our own problems:
  • Rebuild our gardens in a simpler way that will allow us to publish more and spend less time squashing arbitrary bugs
  • Set our gardens up for longevity; build them primarily in plain HTML/CSS/JS, rather than React, Vue, etc.
  • Set up a system that enables us to publish more across a range of content types
• To make it easier for people to build their own digital garden without making everything themselves. Give people an opinionated tool that does the heavy lifting for them
• To show people how a gardening approach changes the way you can write and publish to the web
• Help get more people to own their own website outside of proprietary social media platforms

What's the guiding philosophy here?

• Simple DX
• Easy to write new content
• Content can and should evolve over time
• Focused on evergreen content rather than chronological updates
• Beautiful, readable typography

Target Audience and Required Knowledge

Web developers
People willing to learn a little web development

Need to know how to use the command line, Github, and a code editor like VS Code