October 2026
Discover, ranked by readers
Discover now opens on Front: posts from the last week, ranked by readers' likes and time, the same for everyone, followed by the newest posts so it is never empty. Next to it are New and Random, with a filter for language, and the home page shows a few of its posts. Likes count toward it only from readers who read the post. An automated review keeps spam and abuse off it, never changes the order, and logs every decision in public without naming anyone; if it keeps your post off, you see why above the post and can ask for another look, answered at once. The rules, with every number, are at /rules.
One place for a post's words
A post's words are now edited in Write only, and its date, address and tags in Blog › Posts. Posts in Files are read only, New post opens a draft in Write, and a post you imported or wrote through the API gets its own document the first time you choose Edit in Write.
Fewer things that aren't ready
Write now starts articles only, and the sidebar no longer shows Plan or a search button that did nothing; Post and thread drafts return when publishing to X opens. In Settings, light and dark mode moved into Profile, where you can now change your name; connected apps and access tokens share one page, Apps & tokens; and Bluesky has its own page beside Fediverse.
Pin, quote and move
Pin a post from its settings and it shows first on your blog's fediverse profile. Mastodon users can quote your posts, with your blog's approval sent automatically; blocking someone takes it back. And in Settings › Fediverse you can bring your followers over from a Mastodon account, or move your blog's followers to a new one.
Every feed format, and your own handle
Your blog now has an RSS feed at /rss.xml and a JSON Feed at /feed.json beside the Atom feed, and every tag has its own feeds under /tags/<tag>/. On your own domain your fediverse handle moves there too, @yourname@yourdomain.com, and your followers stay with you if the domain ever changes.
Your say over who follows
In Settings › Fediverse you can remove a follower or block an account, and unblock it later; Responses had a Block button too (Responses has since been retired). Fediverse accounts now live at @yourname@social.bearletter.com, and changes to your blog's profile reach your followers. Moderators elsewhere can read how Bearletter handles reports at /fediverse.
Easier to find, and to cite
Pro blogs now describe each post to search engines with structured data, offer an /llms.txt that AI search can cite from, and load images as readers reach them. Bearletter's own pages explain themselves the same way.
Your blog in the fediverse
On Pro, your blog is an account people follow from Mastodon, Threads, Ghost, WordPress and the rest of the fediverse: search for @yourname@social.bearletter.com or paste your blog's address. New posts reach them as articles, edits and deletions follow, and their replies, likes and boosts landed in Analyze › Responses, since retired. Find your handle and followers in Settings › Fediverse, where one switch also puts your blog on Bluesky through Bridgy Fed.
Responses from other sites
Your blog now speaks Webmention. When another site replies to, likes, reposts or mentions a post, it landed in Analyze › Responses, with one email a day about new ones, and ::responses showed them on the page (both since retired). On Pro, your posts tell the pages they link to, too.
Sign in to apps with your blog, and publish through Micropub
Bearletter is now an IndieAuth server: apps such as iA Writer and Quill can sign you in with your blog's address, and you choose what each may do. On Pro they publish through Micropub: titled posts go to your blog by way of Write, short ones become Post drafts, and files land in your media library. Connected apps lists them and disconnects any of them.
Blogs speak microformats
Every blog page now marks up its posts, dates, tags and author with microformats2, and your social links carry rel="me". Feed readers and IndieWeb sites can read your posts, and Mastodon can verify the link to your blog.
Catch a mistyped email
Logging in or subscribing with an address like name@gamil.com now asks whether you meant gmail.com before any email is sent, and an address whose domain cannot receive email is turned away. Login codes come from auth.bearletter.com; subscription confirmations and reader replies come from mail.bearletter.com.
See your Markdown as you write
The editor keeps Markdown marks in view, dimmed beside the text they shape: ## before a heading, ** around bold, the address after a link. Paste plain Markdown and it turns into formatting; copy from the editor and you get Markdown.
Readers can reply by email
Posts can end with Reply by email. Replies go to your inbox through Bearletter, so readers never see your address until you answer. New blogs get it under every post; remove ::reply from the end-of-post part to turn it off.
Open your blog as you publish
Publishing your first article opens your blog in the same step: pick an address, a title and a line about you. Your home page shows your line, never placeholder text, and every publish ends with the link to your post.
One account, one blog
Sets are gone: your account holds your writing, your blog and your list, with nothing to switch between. Pro no longer counts blogs. A new blog is named after you until you give it a title.
Send to your list with Substack
Your list stays on Bearletter. Export it for Substack in one click, import Substack's export back to carry over its unsubscribes, and copy a published post for Substack with a link back to your blog.
Thoughts are gone
Bearletter now keeps to articles and posts. Thoughts, their pages, their feed and the ::thoughts component are removed; their addresses on blogs show Not found.
A blog, starting with Bearletter vs Ghost
The new blog opens with an honest comparison with Ghost, checked against Ghost's own pages. Importing a Ghost member CSV now leaves out members who turned off email.
Clearer billing and backups
Billing shows your plan, what it costs, when it renews and how much of it you use. Backup & import gathers every way to take your work with you: writing, your blog folder, media and subscribers.