Sep 19, 2023 11 min read

Deckible Just Gets Better

Welcome to the lastest Deckible. 23.3.0 This was reasonable amount of work that has been done alongside the pre-work for trials. We wanted to provide some fixes in advance of the next release.

Version 23.3.0

We expect this release to be approved today by Apple/Google.

We now name our releases by year, quarter and version number within the quarter. So this is the first release of Q3 2023.

Welcome to the lastest Deckible. This was reasonable amount of work that has been done alongside the pre-work for trials. We wanted to provide some fixes in advance of the next release.

This is mostly a stability release, but we added a few tiny tweaks.

Screenshot Blocking - Now optional. So you can record videos and take screenshots with ease. Creators that want this can enable it for any deck. We added this for creators concerned about IP theft. We offer it to support give creators peace of mind. We believe that is reduces the experience for consumers as they can't simply share a screenshot. And it's not an expected behavior. For example it blocks you from video recording the deck. So this feature made it harder for us to support the product. So we decided to change the default to "no" and enable the option for creators to chose.

Updating Deck Artwork. Now if your box art is updated it will reload with this version. We cache box art for fast downloading, but it no longer blocks the changes to your deck art from being seen in the app. If it does not just edit and update the deck. Change nothing. And this will force an update.
Autoplaying of Sound on Audio Cards. This is big news. Your audio track on a card will auto play as soon as the card is dragged onto canvas. No need to go to card info and hit play. You can flip faces to make it play again. You can still go to the info page to control the play experience . There is mute button top right.
Loading New Decks. This was on occasion problematic. Too much data was being processed in edge cases. This is now much more streamlined and reliable.
Testing Status: New decks need to be advanced to "Testing" status to view them in the app. Shortly all decks will beed to be testing and used in the app before proceeding to production. ie creators will need to test the deck before submitting. This should always have happened, what's new is we will block any deck from proceeding until it's tested and has timeline draws.
Canvas Display Options: Cross removed from Canvas display options. A celtic is part of the the layout options.
Sharing Contact: It was not loading contacts in all cases. This is fixed
Label Missing on Spread / Layouts. This is fixed. This was only on some devices.
In App Purchasing. Not working in edge use cases. This is fixed.
Switching user - Not clearing down cache data when you log out. This now 100% clears down all cached data. This caused odd results especialy if you switched user accounts.
Tarot layouts not working. Edge case - Most people won't have seen this.
Downloading deck - failings on occasions if fast click on deck. This is likely connected with new decks. And we only immediately after sign in. Edge case.

Deckible.com Updates

Reworking of Collages - Better Visual Experience. Very simple. Such a huge time saver. Use this to create art to share your decks on social. You can even spell out the alphabet with your deck artwork. You can save the image or save to collages.

"App Testing" This is a new status option. These are now the steps.

Draft > Testing > Submit > Published.

Zipping of Decks. This is not new. This is automatic when a deck is published. What is new is you need to have a zip of your deck to view the deck in the app. ie decks won't download without a zip. Just faster and simpler.. This happens when you advance to testing. Without a zip your decks will not download. It's automatic on published decks. So basically to see your deck successfully in the app, move it to testing. We will be adding more here to support and streamline this process.
Version Incrementing.: This will create a new zip. Anyone with your deck will need to download the new version.
New Collages - Fan, Double, Peacock. This add to the earlier circle option. This is created at random in one click. How long would it take you to lay that our by hand?

Smart Rotation of cards: On collages the circle, fan , double or peacock options now rotate the cards to be human readable. ie text up.
Control of Sides to show: On collages you can now control which sides are shown when the platform chooses cards. So you can make a collage using face 0 or face 1 or both. You can choose to include the shared backs or not.
Sample: When loading the csv it now ignores the sample flag as Collage gives you control of what people see. If you have collages, we no longer show single cards, which is much better IP protection for creators.
Checklist Update: Lots of small change here. Simpler with many more options being accessed from here. For example it's one click from here to create or manage your collages. Creators need to design and choose their collages.

Kickstarter Projects

Both these projects are live on Deckible. We expect to do many more Kickstarter projects moving forwards, especially on the back of trials. So people will be able to try any deck before they buy. This will be available to everyone from the next release.

These two Kickstarter projects include tokens that will expire at the end of the Kickstarter. So they are free to try.

So exciting. I could talk for an hour on how significant this is, moving forward.

Kickstarting your deck. Pre-Kickstarting your deck on Deckible. It solves a very real problem for people with kickstarter projects.

Visual Frameworks

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davegray/visual-frameworks-card-deck

Wash-A-Pig

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/todduhturner/wash-a-pig-a-creative-copywriting-game

Enjoy this update.

Lots more coming. So much more.

Major Milestone : 500+ Decks

PS This image was made using the collage feature!

This is one freaking amazing milestone.

We have 200+ decks in development/draft mode.

There's 1000+ creators on the platform. Momentum. Trust.

Deckible makes so much more sense today. 500+ decks is easier to comprehend. 1000 decks will be more credible. And 10,000 even more so. We believe there are 100k unique decks in the world today, but this number is rising fast. And what's interesting so much more non-deck content is moving to the deck format.

Major celeb are jumping into the deck space.

Mark Groves
Esther Perel
Steven Barlett

Each has 1million followers and their decks have all sold out multiple times.

This is a trend that will continue.

I recently made some predictions

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw7m0kOM7hZ/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

Creator Adoption

I've spoken to many creators that have not promoted the product for one reason or another. Everyone begun with different expectations. The product was not perfect when released. And we took a few releases to stabilise the downloading of decks from around the globe with highly variable wifi / data speeds/reliability.

This is normal. This is the release cycle. You cannot release a product without glitches and mismatched expectations. We have worked through every issue that every creator has raised to this point and more. And we are working with users too, who also have unique wishes and desires.

Everyone of those creators is now onboard with supporting Deckible. We have addressed every issue they raised. There will be more issues. We will resolve them too. This normal. Our big push will be on the release of Trials. We plan to relaunch Deckible at this point.

Creators are now regularly connecting us with their publishers and sharing and recommending Deckible to friends and colleagues. This is amazing validation

I know how hard this is to achieve. Creating a category is not simple.

Creator & Their Deck Collections

We have many creators now who have tried with one deck and are now bringing their full collection to deckible. eg Kris Hay.

Thanks Kris. I so appreciate your support. 7 Decks.

This represent trust and belief and validation that it works and that decks sell. And so much more.

This makes new fun things possible. Like bundles and discount deals. And on.

Speak Up. Were Listening

You guys are shaping this. You the creators. And you the consumer. We are now simply the shepherds of the mission. The mid-wives or doulas if you will. And you are too. You are shaping this experience

Got doubts, go question? , call me. email me. I'm insanely accessible. Follow me on instagram and message me. Let's connect on Linkedin. Pick your channel. What's holding you back from doing more. Book a zoom. I'd love to hear.

We are creating a category. A new ways to do personal growth. And that is not easy. Not easy at all. Play Bigger is my go to resource for this process. You can be sure nothing is done without deep consideration.

We will make mistakes. We will try lots of things. Some with get undone. Some tweaked. Some will lead to new amazing insights and ideas. Doors lead to more doors. You got to open them. You got to stay curious and open to more.

The Pre Re-launch Momentum is REAL.

You can see the spike of traffic from last year for the launch. This year you can see we have keep growing steadily since Jan and we are now have steadily growing traffic higher than the launch. And this is before we move to relaunching Deckible with the next release. This data does not include app traffic, which is also rising.

Our daily active users are trending up. Sign-ups are trending up.

We just published this Point of View Document in line with Play Bigger and other such guides.

Paid Promotion is the Norm

The word tells you can't launch an app without paid ad spend. If you buy into this you need very very deep pockets. Paying is the easy option. And very few products have what it takes to go against the norm.

I disagree with the norm becasue I am deeply invested emotionally in crowdsourcing and collaboration. That love came from using crowdsourcing on my board game before it was a word. I proudly re-used and adapted the ideas I saw in action at Jones Soda in the USA.

GiftTRAP won 20+ awards for my board game and sold 100k units without it. Zero ad spend. 640 gifts ideas crowdsourced from 100's of photographers. All before Twitter and Instagram.

I then joined List.ly as co-founder because I saw the value of what it brought. It spoke to me. I took Listly to 1 million users without paid ads.

Today list.ly is a top 5k website based on traffic. No small achievement.

We have not paid for promotion with Deckible.

I believe in the power of the 1% rule. Aka 1:9:90. I've written a lot on this topic. I drafted a book on topic. I've written a lot about POEM paid, owned and earned media.

There will be a time to use paid, but be proud this is 100% word of mouth and organic. We did this together. Deckible's momentum is real and sustainable. And things are only going to get better as the product gets better as we gather more feedback and gather more decks.

Finding the right words to describe any new product is hard. Yet so essential.

We have created obstacles in that process, but that is normal. Audible for decks is a great metaphor, but it targets or speaks to creators.

I believe with a passion that Daily Practice is the right direction.

The point of view is solid and game changing. I'm sure it well evolve. This is the way. Sometimes you just have to hit publish.

I think I've written this 4 times so far in the last three days. I've shared with many. Got lots of feedback.

We have something very special in Deckible, and the creators and the decks and a thriving and growing community of user's passionate about Deckible

Jorie was cool that I share this with everyone.

Thank you to everyone.

I'm eternally grateful for all that is Deckible and all the paths that led me here and the people I've met on the way

I'm sure there's the usual smattering of typos.

It it what is is. Enjoy. Onwards and upwards!

If you made it to the end, here's a list bit of sizzle.

Russell Grant's Astro Tarot Deck

We are very close to releasing this deck.

Complete with the integrated guidebook. 2 pages of guidebook per card. Just flip and you can see. So cool. Such a great deck.

Russell is the creator of the world famous Zodiac spread. aka the Horoscope spread. Here's the snake and guidebook. 4 sides per card!

He has such a great energy. I had the pleasure of hearing / watching him talk about every card in the deck live at the TABI event in Manchester, England.