What's new aboard, mid-July

July 18, 2026

A note to the crew of PopsicleBoat — the small online harbor for creators I look after — posted here for the harbor’s neighbors too.

More new rigging this week. As always: additions, nothing to relearn.

The boat keeps count. The sidebar’s All Posts link wears a badge with the number of posts you haven’t read. The feed opens with them listed under “New since your last visit,” reading one retires exactly that one, and “Mark all as read” sweeps the shelf when it gets noisy. Once you’re settled in, your home page leads with recent posts instead of the welcome mat.

Your profile can point home. There’s a website field on your profile now — your blog, your corner of the web — shown under your name for anyone who wonders who you are. It carries the little rel="me" tag, so if your site links back, services like Mastodon can verify the connection.

Word arrives even with the sails down. Browser notifications: hear when someone answers you without sharing an email address. Your browser asks permission, nothing personal leaves your device, and a reply that lands while your laptop’s closed greets you when it next opens.

Pictures can explain themselves. Media you attach takes alt text — at upload, and editable after — so screen readers get the picture too.

Your words are yours to take. Settings has a “Download your data” button: profile, posts, replies, and media links in one file. No lock-in, as a matter of habit.

The whole pitch, one address. If you know a blogger who’d want a comment section without running one: popsicleboat.com/comments now says everything in one page.

That’s the batch. If something feels off — or the boat doesn’t do something you wish it did — reply and tell me. A real person reads every word.