Fika Improvements Part 2: The End of February

A little over two weeks has passed since we last posted about changes to our platform, but February was such a productive month that we have not one, not two, but seven new things to share with you that have made Fika an even better place to build your writing habit and start publishing your work.

Some of these changes may seem small, but they all contribute to the experience we want Fika to represent for readers and writers: a place where the written word is centerstage and writers can create a space for themselves on the internet that is theirs; where they can produce their best work and readers can find them and form a connection.

This article is part of a series bringing you changes to Fika every now and then, but sometimes more frequently as the platform picks up momentum. Read the previous updates to learn what more you can do with Fika, or take a look around and while you’re at it—write something and publish! We need some reading for the weekend.

Double down on your word count with Focus mode

Sometimes the best writing happens when everything else fades away. Now you can hide the tool icons from your screen and enter focus mode. Just you and your words.

When focus mode is on, the editor interface disappears, leaving nothing but a clean canvas for your thoughts. Want to edit? Turn focus mode off to get back to your toolkit so you can get at your text with our full arsenal. This approach of alternating between focus mode and editing mode echoes Hemingway’s write-drunk-edit-sober philosophy. Anything to produce your best work!

Play your own kind of music with rich media embeds

Fika is really growing, and this newest addition shows it. Words are one thing, but now you even have the option to embed YouTube videos and Spotify playlists, with more sources on the way.

Again, this is great for people who not only write, but do other things as well. Or for people who write about things that cannot be put into words and need a video to illustrate it. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, then imagine how many words a video of Rick Astley dancing for his life is worth.

Crunch some numbers with math equations

As one plus one equals two, Fika and you equal great writing. Bad math joke, I know. I was always more of a words person than a numbers person, but the amazing thing about Fika is that we have all sorts of different people writing about a variety of topics. And some of those topics can only be shown in numbers.

Know more with metrics

When you make writing your business, you appreciate the importance of metrics. How many people read what I write? How many people have subscribed to my publication? Do all of my readers open my newsletters? We’ve upgraded your publication metrics, and here’s what’s new:

Bugs removed; code improved

As we add features to Fika we always find little kinks to iron out. These are small things that don’t work the way they are supposed to. You may not notice one of these bugs in the wild, but together, they can become annoying.

So our team works tirelessly, ensuring that Fika becomes a better experience for all—readers and writers.

Another important task is making everything work well for SEO. A few specifics this month were ensuring that all content translates well across languages to avoid Google seeing it as duplicate content and making Fika’s menu responsive.

Know where you stand with a Table of Contents

Another improvement that provides readers with a better user experience. Looking for a specific answer or want to read a specific chapter? You click on the title in the ToC, and boom, you can jump to the specific section. So it works exactly the way a Table of Contents is supposed to work, but we didn’t have it yesterday, and we have it today. Yay!

Pretty posts

Many updates across the design of our interface both in the Editor and in the way Publications look. All of these little tweaks and changes aimed at making Fika a better experience. We want to make sure Fika is a place where nothing distracts from creating you publication, from reading and writing.

Choose who your post is for…

Now this is a big one. This is a sneak peek of something big brewing in Fika’s lab. That’s why it is hidden down here at the bottom of this article, for only the most devoted Fika fans to see.

You can already guess what it is by the picture, but the big announcement is in the works and coming soon. But if you want to get a head start, take a look around.

Now check Fika out for yourself

Really, log in to your account and have a look around. Let us know what you think about the improvements in features and design. We really hope these seven updates help you write more—we look forward to reading your next article. What will you write this weekend? Go to Fika and publish something!