Reddit and HN posts

Reddit posts that teach, and a Show HN when it's ready.

DevRelay turns a released change into a post for the subreddits you pick, following each one's rules, and drafts a Show HN when people can try your product. The product gets one disclosed line. You approve, then post it yourself.

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Reddit post · r/sysadminGroundingCommunity rulesDisclosure
r/sysadmin · Discussion · problem, then fixes

Two people replying to the same customer email: what actually fixes it

TL;DR: claim a thread before you write, and make the claim visible where people reply.

When two people share one support address, collisions come from not knowing who has a thread. Three fixes, from free to paid: a shared label for claimed threads, a rota by customer, or a tool that shows who is typing…

Disclosure: I work on Acme, which does the last one. The claim habit works with any tool.

Example · Acme is a made-up product
6 Reddit formats
picked by the material
1 post per subreddit
every 14 days at most
You post
never an API
Why it's hard

Developers read Reddit and HN. They can smell a launch post.

The communities that matter most punish anything that reads like marketing.

Every subreddit has its own rules

Self-promotion allowed here, banned there, flair required somewhere else. Get it wrong once and the post is removed.

Launch posts get buried

“We're excited to announce” gets downvoted. A post that teaches something gets read, and the product earns its one line.

There's never time to write them

A good post takes an afternoon: the problem, the code, the gotchas. So it doesn't get written.

How it works

From a release to a post the community wants.

DevRelay picks the moment, writes and checks. You approve and post.

r/golang     self-promo: disclosed only   disclosure only
r/devops     self-promo: allowed          soft mention
r/sysadmin   self-promo: banned           no mention
01

You pick the communities

Add a subreddit in Brain with who reads it, its rules, whether it allows self-promotion, its flairs and how much you may mention the product: not at all, a disclosure only, a soft closing line, or a docs link. Nothing is drafted for a subreddit until you confirm it.
02

It waits for something worth teaching

A Reddit post comes from a released change with material behind it: code, a hard problem, a measured number. At most one post per subreddit every 14 days and a weekly cap you set (two by default), so you never become the account that only posts its own stuff.
Useful without the product Product in ≤ 15% of sentences Follows the subreddit's rules Disclosure when the product is named
03

Checks it like a moderator would

The post has to stand on its own without the product. At most 15% of its sentences may mention the product, and never more than three times. There are no links in the title, no asking for votes, and a disclosure whenever the product is named. The subreddit's rules are checked against the draft.
04

Show HN when people can try it

A Show HN is drafted only when your Brain has a link people can try without a sales call, or the project is open source, and not more often than you allow (90 days by default). You get a plain title and a first comment that says what it is, how it works and what's rough.
Tue 09:30Reddit post · r/golangPlanned
05

On your calendar, posted by you

Approved posts are planned entries on the calendar. When one is due, Today and Slack remind you. Open and copy opens the subreddit's submit page with the title filled in (or HN's submit page) and copies the body. You post it and mark it posted.
06

Brings the comments back

Paste the link when you mark it posted, and DevRelay reads the comments for the first 24 hours. Questions land in Engage with reply drafts, like any other thread.
Reddit formats

Six formats. Each one useful without the product.

DevRelay picks the formats the material supports (code means a how-to, a measured number means a benchmark post), and the last two used in a subreddit rotate out.

  • How toA task readers do, with the steps and code from the change.
  • Lessons learnedThe hard problem behind a change, and three to five things you'd tell someone else.
  • Deep diveHow a mechanism works, the constraint that made it hard, the trade-offs.
  • MeasuredA number with the method behind it. Never a number without one.
  • Problem, then fixesThe problem as people describe it and two or three ways to fix it. Your product is one of them, disclosed.
  • Asking for feedbackWhat you built, the open question, and a real request for input.
FAQ

Questions about Reddit and HN posts.

01Does DevRelay post to Reddit or Hacker News?

No. It drafts and checks the post, a person approves it, and you post it from your own account. Open and copy takes you to the submit page with the text on your clipboard.

02Won't a subreddit see it as self-promotion?

That's what the checks are for. You set each subreddit's self-promotion policy and how much the product may be mentioned, and the draft fails if it breaks either. Posts are written to be useful on their own, and the product appears at most once in a disclosure or closing line.

03Can I ask for a post about a specific change?

Yes. From any change, ask for a Reddit post or a Show HN with a short reason. Every check still runs, and a Show HN still needs a link people can try.

04What about HN posts that aren't Show HN?

DevRelay drafts Show HN posts. For anything else, such as sharing a blog post, submit it yourself; Engage will pick up the comments if your brand is a topic.

05Which plan do I need?

Reddit posts and Show HN drafts are on the DevRelay plan, with listening and Engage.

ProductEngage: find the threads about your product and reply from your docsRead more ProductLaunch posts: X and LinkedIn posts for every releaseRead more ProductChangelog: an entry for every release, grouped the way readers scanRead more

Teach the communities your users read.

Pick the subreddits, set the rules, and approve posts worth reading.

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No credit card · Nothing posts without your approval