Deckible Beta U5 is Released

Ok, wonderful people.

This is big. It's long. And well, totally transformative. What else do you expect me to say. Hold your breath. Install it, then you decide.

We passed 450+ signups. I know many of you from our initial zoom calls, but these days I don't get to engage 1:1 with everyone.

I knew no Card Deck creators when Deckible began.

I was reflecting on the people I'd met through Deckible, and it's approaching 600. I've reached out to probably a 1,100 people.

So many channels: Twitter, Instagram, Kickstarter, Linkedin, Etsy, email, sms etc. So many places to discover and connect with people.

I had a call this week with Thomas Power. He's likely the most networked person I know. Thomas has been an early adopter of every platform (social network) that you've ever heard of.

For his latest project, Thomas he's complete 2500+ zoom calls so far.

These are big numbers. Passion is all consuming.

There is always someone with more, someone with less. Someone who's smarter or funnier or richer or younger or more creative. And the reverse is always true. Life is so grounding.

Projects worth doing take superhuman effort and demand huge levels of collaboration/communication. So many emails and phone calls and written documents. So much follow-up.

And when you do all that, you reach your milestones.

So here it is. U5 The next release of the Deckible Beta for Google and IOS.

A milestone and a cause for celebration. I raise a glass to you all and thank-you for your patience and trust.

SEQUENCE OF CONTENT

This is a big long post. Perhaps the sequencing could be better. I've tried to capture everything here. This product is significant and feature rich.

It's also super simple and consistent.

U5: NEW RELEASE/ NEW RULES

For U5 we need to reset the clock, so you don't need to read all prior info to participate.

There's a many more of you now, so please read carefully. This is your FAQ.

A reminder to all. Published decks are free to all other card-deck creators on the deckible beta for the duration of the beta. At the end of the beta, we will remove these decks from your library and you can then purchase the decks you love. This has proven to be an effective .

READ CAREFULLY - THIS IS YOUR FAQ

A lot of effort goes into making these updates factual and detailed so you don't have to ask questions about everything that is included.

I love to chat to you all. I'm sure you get that, but i am having to be a bit more guarded about my time.

Reading this is in your interest if you want Deckible and your decks to succeed. There's lots of tips and sharing that should influence your next steps.

Please check carefully before asking a question.

I will send you back to the documents if you ask a question that is answered here. That may seem rude, but it's simply pragmatic.

I'm bound to make a mistake or omission or two. I'll fix them here, so everyone can benefit. This is the new FAQ for the beta.

This is the FAQ for importing.

https://www.deckible.com/import

HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY (PHONES & TABLETS)

I mention this as some of you have learned that your phones and tablets aren't compatible with the Deckible app.

The app is built using Flutter from Google. https://flutter.dev/

It's really the latest and greatest in tech. This means we can support both IOS and Android, and we also work offline and online. And there's also amazing animations. Flutter is cool. We are so happy with the technical choices we made to build Deckible.

The project currently needs Android SDK version 27 (see https://apilevels.com/ for mappings onto versions) as a minimum. That accounts for 87.1% of all Android devices. That means Android 8.1 or higher.

iOS is version 15.0 and up. IOS compatability as follows:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/iphone/iphe3fa5df43/ios
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/ipad/ipad213a25b2/ipados

99% CODE COMPLETE

This release is not 100% functionally complete. We still have some work to do regarding completing the buying of decks, but we felt this was such a big leap forward we had to share. We are also still missing Alerts/Reminders.

Many have joined recently. And this release reflects the version you have seen in recent Webinars.

We also plan to explore the options around a desktop experience. This seems viable.

TRY FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER

Experience leads me to suggest you try first, ask questions later.

I get asked a lot of clarification questions that would all be solved by trying. i.e. you ask a question, we answer and then you ask for confirmation. Please don't do this. Just try. Take action.

Create a deck, create and load your spreadsheet, import it and upload your images.

Try first, please.

The act of trying will fill in your knowledge gaps and help you ask better questions.

MAKE CHANGES THEN TRY AGAIN

The second piece of advice: If you try and it does not work and you try again without changing anything, it likely won't work. If you change your spreadsheet, download it to CSV and upload it again. It's a logical process. Follow your changes from end to end.

Doing the same thing won't produce different results. Make changes then try again.

When you get stuck, that's the time to ask a question and not the time to keep trying the same thing. If you are stuck because to tried, then ask a question.

When you ask a question provide a URL and a screenshot.

ACCESS TO THE BETA (IOS/ANDROID)

Google/Android. If you are on Android you need to be granted access to the beta using the email you use to log into Google (your Google email). You do NOT get an email/invite from Google. You find Deckible in the google play store. This link won't work if you have not been given access. Or if we gave access to a different email. We don't know your google email.

Apple/IOS requires TestFlight . Apple sends you an invite (when we give you access). You need to accept this invite. No accept = No entry. You need an invite for the email you use for IOS and the app store (your IOS email address)

If you log into Deckible with a different email, tell us your Google email and/or your IOS email (via the Whatsapp group see below), then we can give you access to the beta.

Apple & Google have different rules. Just what it is.

You do not need a redeem code if you can see the Deckible app. Just click "open" or "update"

You do need an invite from Apple (from us) for the right email. If you have this you will see Deckible.

If you have no apps listed in Test Flight it's because you have not received and then accepted the invite from Apple.

IOS - SCALING

beware if you change text size via (settings->accessibility options). If you rever to the default this will get fixed. See left vs right.

This may happen. This is worst on very small phones like iPhoneSE. We have patch already complete. The joys of making this work from the tiniest of phones to the largest of desktop and tables.

DELETING THE APP / DELETING DECK DATA

If you delete the current app you a get asked if you want to delete the data. This is useful if your deck has changed. You can delete the data and reload you deck with the latest deck you have updated on Deckible.

If you delete data, it does not delete your timeline posts.

We have versioning in the platform, but its not fully implemented, so this is the solution for now. Fear not, this will get simpler - i.e. automatic.

Google does this slightly differently.

NEW WEEKLY DECKIBLE SUPPORT SESSIONS

I've scheduled the following weekly meetups for the next 8 weeks from July 6th 2022. If you have an issue, please report it via the new Whatsapp group (below). Don't want to log an issue on the call.

We are serving a global community. Early is for Europe and East Coast. Later in the day is for West Coast and Australia.

Wednesday 9:00 AM PST - 30 mins

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkc-Cvqz0oG9PIf-oXQtWwkmtHsnOARW7l

Wednesday 5:00 PM PST - 30 mins

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrcO-tqTspGtUMRnO3IGzUH7-RGwu-WjG8

After this 8 week period we will review make new plans.

WE WANT TO KNOW IF YOU FIND A BUG

This release has a massive amount of changes.

My sense is it feels very stable. There are always edge cases. We're all human. Mistakes and omissions happen.

We want to know if you find a bug.

Please include a screenshot of better yet a short video.

Recording videos on your phone is easy.

If you don't know how to make a video.

Please make videos on your phone or tablet and screenshots and share via social media. Please use the hashtag #deckible.

Please share and promote the survey. Recommend fellow creators to join.

Share videos and screenshots other people's decks. Give and you shall receive. We are creating a culture of collaboration. And that starts with one person sharing one persons deck and paying it forward.

WHATSAPP SUPPORT CHAT

Join the support chat. Please jump in to support other creators.

Please read the above about trying before asking.

CARD DECK COMMUNITY SURVEY

Please take, share and embed the surveys. Take all the surveys that match you.

Card Deck Creator

2. Tarot Reader

3. Card Deck Professionals

4. Card Deck Collectors

This is a wonderful opportunity to grow Deckible's reach before launch and we need the data to place in media stories to promote the wider use of card decks.

We plan to run this annually. The industry is short on data and we aim to fix that.

We need your help. We need your community's help.

Here's an example embed.

https://www.showandtell.ie/deckible-survey-embed

For over a decade Andy Crestodina has ran his annual blogging survey to aggregate opinion/tactics and strategies from around the world.

We know we can do that with Card Decks. We all need this information. Smarter together. If it worked for Andy it will work for us.

METRICS

I am a metrics guy. My background is in Business Intelligence and data analysis. Weirdly I love boolean logic and writing complex SQL (I talk database). Data gets me excited. I love to measure the pulse of things.

So here's my time spent on the app. I have been using Deckible a lot and really enjoying the experience.

I ran across this while Googling "Deckible". It's a measure of Deckible's web traffic.

And this is similar but different.

Here's a snippet of information from google Analytics, which I only added recently.

NEW UNIQUE DECK CREATORS PER MONTH

60+ new deck creators in June. that is solid traction. That's for decks that are loaded and approved.

We also only measuring new unique creators. i.e. excluding 2nd and 3rd decks from each creator. Many people are loading 3, 5, 7 decks.

We began our Webinars in early April. That was the first time we chose to go public with Deckible .

We offered no incentive to act until May when we introduced the idea of monthly fees or listing fees beyond launch. I'm not a fan of incentives because they don't create true behavior, but there's an essay behind that comment.

We will pass 250+ by the time we enter public beta and 500+ creators by the end of the 42 day countdown. There is deep value in being an early adopter on Deckible.

For every deck that's shown here, there are twice as many decks in process. And as Deckible grows in status and the app nears completion there is more urgency, more value and reward for people who load their decks. And a lot less risk.

The fear of missing out is rising. FOMO is real. First mover advantage is a real phenomenon. Early users get more rewards. Thomas Power (mentioned above) was so aware of first mover advantage when we spoke. It's why he jumps in early on any new platform. Early adopters win. They get more attention, more followers and more sales. And more early benefits.

When we talk to publishers, they can load decks for 10 or 20 or 50 authors at a time. Publishers know our offer is very strong. It won't last. So get your decks loaded now.

There is a very real unmet need in the digital card-decks (i.e. a vacuum).

To quote Seth Godin - "Ideas explode into a vacuum".

VERVANTE WEBINAR

Another great webinar ran in conjunction with the on-demand-print and fulfillment company - Vervante.com. Many of you use Vervante.

I think this is the 5th webinar we've run so far. They have proven to be highly effective so please share.

COMMUNITY PROFILES

There are now 85+ creators listed. Can we hit 100+ or 120+ this week? It's very easy. It's down to you.

Click here when logged in and you can setup your profile in 5 mins.

We have 150+ creators with approved decks, so it's just the profile that is blocking you from being found on the community page. Only people on the community get submitted to Google SEO. And only approved decks get indexed .

To qualify, you need an approved deck, a photo, a bio and social links.

Are you listed on the Deckible Community ?

CREATOR PROFILES

Here's 3 random profiles.

We are a diverse, eclectic soul-collective. Together we are going to change the way the world values and uses decks.

You are in on the ground floor of something very special.

I remember in 1980 you had to add the prefix "computer" to games. Let's play game was the exclusive domain of cardboard.

In 2022 you have to add the prefix "board" or "cardboard" to games. Digital become the default. Playing games in 2022 means computer games.

I add the prefix "card" to decks because non-users don't always make the connection. And digital is another prefix. We will see a lot of changes here in the next 10-20 years. There is a huge shift of deck usage on the cards.

More people, using more decks, more often. Decks as a learning platform. Watch this space. I'm not wrong here. Decks are the new book.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES (DECK LOADING)

We have multiple options. Many of you are offering up your skills to help others and we will extend the community pages to include a way to feature the services you offer.

I simply don't have as much time to load decks like I used to.

eg Esther Sanchez is offering design help for decks and her partner, Christopher who loaded her deck is offering uploading services starting at $100CAD. So if you don't want to learn how to load your deck, there's an option for you. That feels like a bargain.

https://www.esthersanchez.com/services-deckible

If you are able to help other creators load their decks for a fee or for free let me know. We are starting a directory of professional services.

Loading
Copywriting
Design
Branding
Marketing
Strategy

We are all here to help each other, in one way or another. Kindness and generosity creates more of the same. There is an abundance of potential in the card-deck industry.

REVIEWER'S GUIDE

It's common practice to guide people through how to look at a product. So I want to draw your attention to a list of key features. There is one heck of a lot here.

Workflows have changed a lot.

Quick Draw : The random selection of 1, 2 or 3 cards from a selected or random deck. This is top of screen and the gateway experience for card decks - the quick fix.

Timeline - Exploring - Everything you do is save to your timeline. So you never lose a reading again.

Timeline - Filtering. We reworked the filtering experience. You have a lot of control and power to find prior events

Layout Selection : Choosing which spread of custom layout you want to use.
Free Form Spreads : Free form, is when you just choose card(s) and move and arrange them as you wish on the card surface.
Custom Spreads : Custom Spreads can be made by your for each deck.

Here's the custom spread in the The Tarot Restless

And here is the spread implemented in Deckible.

This is the design interface, ie how you create it. This is part of Deckible.com

Deckible has the richest, most-complete implementation of custom spreads you will ever see. Notice we don't need the index in the app. The labels are placed on the card.

Spreads Selection : This is when you choose which spreads to include with your deck. You can choose from the 10 standard spreads we offer and any custom spreads you create.

Journaling: Reflecting on any experience in deckible

Journaling has had a major makeover since the 1st release. You can now select any of the cards or the entire spread as you journal.

We changed the font to a simpler more readable handwritten font and we turned the ink biro blue.

Meditation: Another makeover. We re-designed the timer. And we enhanced the end of journaling experience. And made it cleaner to return to the timeline by design.
Deep Sharing: Nothing is really new here. We just let your connect to the phonebook on your phone or tablet and search for existing friends as a simple and obvious way to share cards (with and without the journal).
Curation: We've hid this temporarily. Back soon.
Marketplace: This is where you find and buy decks. It' incomplete, but features our new list of genres. And there is now a mock purchase button. Very close to complete.
Deck Info : A consistent and simple way to find information about a deck. One click and you can buy the deck.
Card Info : A consistent and simple way to find out more information about each card. Access the description and the audio video option and the extra info card URL. When you are here you are one click from the Deck Info page and two clicks from a purchase.
Deep Links to Decks : Each deck had a deep link. It's like a URL. Click on it and it take you to the app and to the deck in question.
Flipping Cards - Flip Mode : We add the ability to change between flip mode and info mode. when in flip mode if you click on a card it flips. when in info mode you click on a card at it take you to Card Info.
Decks in the Timeline : When you buy a deck or are gifted a deck either by the platform or a friend, the deck is added to your time. A reminder of when you acquired the deck
Multi-Deck : Deckible is multi-deck. Don't forget it. A marketplace for all the decks you love.
Cross Device Syncing : You can use Deckible on your phone and your tablet. Pull down on the home screen and any new events will be added to your timeline. Super simple. If any device is offline or has not synced then the data won't sync as it has not been saved to Deckible

ROTATE YOUR CARD ART

I had the pleasure of speaking with David Hutchens last week.

He loaded his awesome Leadership Story deck. I spotted he'd loaded as all the files were loaded portrait, but some of hard cards were portrait. So I suggested he rotate those cards and he did. And he reuploaded them.

So here's how the art work looked after he'd rotated the. On one hand it does not matter as you can rotate them in the app, but why make people do that.

And here's how those cards look in the app! Pretty cool, right.

SPREADS / LAYOUTS

The big change is you need to pick the spreads you want to use.

We now offer 10 shared spreads and you can add these to any deck.

You can also create your own custom spreads

You can have no spreads for your deck (this is the new default) or many. You decide. See below. This is how you select the spreads.

And here's an example of custom spreads

With each card in the spread you can define

short label (displayed when selecting)
the questions
the description
tags (for future use - filtering by tag)

It's very simple to create a custom spread.

You must select it to be used with your deck for it to appear in the app.

We've also done a lot to generalize the language. Some people don't like the notion of tarot (religious issues), but in our opinion, they are missing the huge value spreads or layouts can bring. Spreads are a super powerful tool that has nothing to do with Tarot, other than Tarot is the origin.

Spreads are a way of structuring questions from a coaching mindset. This is huge. It's simple visual and very effective

CARD INFO & DECK INFO PAGES

These are transformative as a sales tool.

Whenever you can see a card, you can click to get to the Card-Info page. From these you can click on the Deck Name to get to the Deck Info page.

If you own the deck is says "Draw Cards" and if you don't own the deck is says Purchase Digital Deck.

So if a card is shared the recipient is two clicks from a purchase.

BUY NOW

We have implemented a mockup of the process. And this add the deck to your collection The final steps of monetization are yet to be completed.

Fear not it will be there by launch.

DECK GENRES

We revised the genre list for the decks. I'm sure this will keep evolving. For now keeping it short feels more manageable.

END OF PRODUCT UPDATE

Lots to learn here. Lots to teach. It's a big update.

REFERRALS / AFFILIATES

We are all here because of referrals, connections and introductions.

Many of you ask if we have an affiliate program and the answer is "No", not now. Not never, just not now.

Three reasons:

We are creating a community of creatives helping creatives. This is in opposition to an affiliate model. We aim to create a community where there mindset is about sharing and supporting your peers.
We have no signup fees right now and we offer a very generous 50/50 split with creatives. Paying for affiliates comes from somewhere. We didn't design this into the model.
In my opinion affiliates work best for high ticket items, because in this model there is more value to payout.

We plan to charge a combination of a signup fee, a monthly fee, a listing fee. This is all to be decided. This will be immediately post launch. At this point we will also implement an affiliate model.

Early adopters (you), will be grandfathered our current rates. Hence there is value being on board and there is value in you referring people. And you should want to pass that value along to your peers. Deckible is an amazing deal when you compare it to other platforms, especially when you consider how unique it is.

We have passed 450+ signups for Deckible. We have created a solid groundswell momentum.

Today, we have 180+ creators with decks loaded. We will easily pass 250+ creators by launch. We will pass 500+ creators with decks during the 42 day launch countdown.

Deckible becomes more valuable to each community member with the additions of each new deck and each new members. Each creator brings their own network of connections who know that creators deck(s), but likely don't know the decks created by the rest of of the Deckible community.

I regularly discover people who I've not spoken with who have loaded decks. This platform is self-service. And that means low friction. This is solid proof this works.

These are all examples of Decks that arrived without me speaking to the creator.

All these decks arrived recently - some loaded the day after we spoke, some months later. Sometimes life gets in the way and that's just fine. What is meant to be will be.

All these decks are referrals and introductions. Each has its own wonderful story.

All these decks were made for/ because of Deckible. I'm surprised just how many new decks are being created because of Deckible.

These decks are from creators loading their second or third deck. A body of work (many decks), will always perform better than a single deck. This rule applies on Netflix, Amazon and Spotify as much as to blogs. It's just a fact of media. Body of works win.

These 5 decks are a magical train of referrals from one creator to the next to the next. In my experience that is exceptional and this not the only example

Heath to Sarah
Sarah to Siobhan
Siobhan to Allyson
Allyson to Ginger

My point here is this is a HUGE amount of human activity, energy, emotion and passion invested in Deckible.

There is so much integrity and nurturing woven into the fabric of this community and there's a lot of skilled manifesters too. FOMO watch out.

We have already begun working with publishers. I can name 5 off the top of my head. More momentum. It all just needs nurturing. More on that soon.

I did not plan or expect to have any publishers at launch.

MEDIA EXPOSURE / JOURNALIST CONNECTIONS

We are actively seeking media coverage. I'm arranging podcasts, writing guest posts. I know of multiple things in the works. I have most podcasts scheduled. And more webinars are planned. There is always room for more.

Do you know a journalist or a blogger who would cover Deckible? Or your deck?

That would be much appreciated. Please make the intro.

Here's some recent coverage.

Authority Magazine

Seeking Tarot Podcast - Snow

I love that snow calls Deckible the future of Tarot. His story about his back back and the affirmator deck is really special

This is just the beginning.

Want to invite me to be on your podcast. Just ask.

DECKIBLE OG CREATOR CARDS (MEME STYLE)

This is very much a work in progress, but it is too exciting not to share.

I'm very much open to help and input here. I was hoping to automate these, but in it feels more fun when you customize the colors to match the deck. This is more about you than is is about Deckible.

I'm just following my intuition.

These will be collectible cards that we will include with each deck, I'm not sure how much work it needed to complete/automate this. I think it's good enough to share, but it still needs more work.

We may make these for a fee, so we can outsource to cover costs. I know I can't do this for 500 creators! And printing a pack on Moo would be fun.

If you'd like to volunteer to help. I'm totally open to all of that.

The original Meet-Me cards had QR codes, funny to look back as that was 2011 and only deep tech nerds every used a QR code. It took a pandemic to take QR codes into regular life.

Sadly, Meet-Me cards, are no-longer in business. They were printed business cards based around social media. You gave them away like business cards.

They were inspired by Top Trump cards, at least in my mind.

Here's a collection of old meet-me cards on List.ly

I actually created something similar during my time at Listly. We made these for every keynote speaker at the content marketing world conference in Cleveland. I think this was in 2012

The metrics on these cards analyzed the content on the speaker blog post. these cards span being fun and being useful.

These kinds of ideas just keep on working.

STORYBOARDING DECKIBLE ANIMATIONS

I shared this video with Jane because her son is an animator/gamer.

He said it was a bunch of hours work on Blender to make this.

It's summer and I want an icecream!
New experiment. Building an Icecream with Blender Geometry nodes.#b3d #blender3d #geometrynodes #icecream #magnum #chocolate #boolean #delicious #helado #summer #frigo #3dart #experiment #music #remix #motiongraphics #gnodes #generativeart pic.twitter.com/y9txiSFxmK
— Javier Arredondo (@acidbeat) June 30, 2022

So guess what. We have a storyboard for a Deckible version, see below and this is being built.

When we complete it, you can pay to create a video for your deck. We can run the script with your images and make you a video. Boom! Video processing is resource intensive, but high impact. Is that of interest?

Tell me that is not cool. Another benefit of being on the Deckible train.

We can create many different storyboard variations over time. Staying at the cutting edge of animations is important. We need to keep being interesting and innovative.

I probably should not show this (as it's early) , but why not.

This is like the green screen version before we apply to deck artwork. I've been. bunch of feedback, but I think you can see the sense of where this is going.

IMAGE OPTIMIZATION & DOWNLOADING DECKS

Several things are new as of today:

Downloading is now a background task (just like Audible)
We reduce the image size to 1080 pixels wide and optimize for downloading to reduce image size and speed up downloading.
We have deployed global caching via Cloudfront from Amazon. This means if your deck has been downloaded recently in your locale that the download will be cached and therefore faster.
We also fixed issues with CMYK to RGB conversion on Deckible.com. This never impacted the app, but it was confusing.

So many little things impact the experience. Details is everything.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

PLATFORM STYLE

SEO will be a never ending tasks, but we have begun. I know a fair bit about SEO having been the co-founder of List.ly - a top 5k website based on traffic ranking.

Platforms like DEckible or List.ly have huge advantage in the SEO domain. You can afford to invest in the right / best approach because you have many pages to optimize.

Each published deck and each community member listed on the community page is submitted to google etc with special SEO URLs

You get the URL in question once your Deck is approved and your creator profile is completed.

Each creator gets a unique URL once you have an approved deck and appear on the community page.

SEO is hard, complex and laborious. Most of all, it's an ever moving goal post. What pays is to have ever changing content of high quality from a crowd of contributors. I know this first hand from my Listly experience. In many ways decks are similar to lists. Deckible is well primed for success here.

DECK PRICING

Deck pricing will be just before launch. We will keep you posted.

BANKING INFORMATION

This will be after launch, and part of an expanded creator profile page.

COUPONS

We are working on coupons. All part of the monetization stragegy.

MULTI LINGUAL DECKS

This is in the works for future.

DECK EMBEDS

This is coming too.