Since announcing zelo.news, I’ve been deep in implementation mode, wiring up all the core nostr functionality that makes the platform actually work.

So far, the basics are in place:

• Reactions and likes

• Zaps

• Long-form content support

• Markdown rendering

On top of that, I’ve added some quality-of-life features that make reading and exploring smoother:

• Time-to-read estimates for every article

• An article progress slider so you always know how far you’ve read

• A following feed to keep up with your favorite writers

• Bookmarks for saving articles to revisit later

• A search bar that lets you find users, articles, npubs, naddrs, #tags, NIP-05 identifiers, and more

• Trending tags and a “latest in …” component to surface new content around topics you care about

The Challenges

As with any early-stage project, a few challenges have already popped up:

• OpenGraph for better SEO and shareability:

  Since zelo.news is built as a client-side app, getting proper OpenGraph metadata to render cleanly across social platforms is tricky.

• Markdown Editor:

  The Markdown Editor needs some attention. Currently, editing is not working and writing (or pasting) in the current Editor is not ideal.

• Rendering HTML and Markdown together:

  This is a missing piece at the moment. Some nostr notes and articles mix both formats, so supporting them gracefully is on my list.

• Highlights in the Markdown component:

  I’d love to add article highlights to zelo.news. But right now, the Markdown rendering component makes this difficult. It’ll take a bit more experimentation to find the right approach.

Every day, zelo.news feels a little more real, not just as a reader-friendly Nostr app, but as a space for open, shareable long-form writing that actually feels good to use.

More updates coming soon. 🚀