The Journal
Field notes
on the craft.
Notes from the studio on building software for the Orthodox world: what we’re learning, what we’ve decided, and why.
Built to be kept, not leased
Most software is rented. You never stop paying, on terms that can change under you while you sleep. We build software to be kept instead: owned, exportable, and made to outlast even us.
Read the note →Your data is yours, and we mean it literally
Most software holds your records hostage, then hands you an export that is a useless dump. We built the records layer so leaving is genuinely painless, which turns out to be exactly what makes people want to stay.
Read the note →We answer our own email
Software has trained you to brace before you hit send. Here is why we built a studio small enough to be the exception, where the people who make the thing are the ones who answer when you write.
Read the note →The liturgical calendar is a database problem
Every parish tool treats the calendar as a list of events. That is the mistake underneath all the others.
Read the note →Made for you, not for everyone
Generic software is built for everyone, so it ends up fitting no one. We do the opposite: we take on a few institutions at a time and build a complete suite around how each one actually works.
Read the note →Designing software older volunteers will actually use
Most parish administration runs on unpaid, often reluctant hands. Keeping the software calm and simple is not a finishing touch. It is where the real work goes.
Read the note →