Features

PearlNook is laid out like a neighbourhood of small rooms. Every topic has a nook, every writer has a front door, and every post opens into its own thread. Here is what is inside each one.

For everyone who reads

Reading is the main activity here, so it is the one with the fewest steps. No account, no pop-ups, no wall to climb before the first paragraph.

• Nooks for every topic

  Each topic tag becomes a nook with an address like n/topic-name. Open one and you get every post on that subject, from every writer, newest first.

• Threads you can join

  Under each post sits its thread. Type a name and a reply; a moderator reads it, and once approved it joins the conversation.

• Profiles with a front door

  Every writer has a profile at /handle/ with a cover, a short bio, their shelves and all of their posts.

• Follow by RSS

  The Follow button on a profile is a real RSS feed. Add /handle/feed.xml to a feed reader, or take the whole site at /feed.xml.

For invited writers

Writers come in by invitation. Once inside, the tools stay out of the way and the writing stays theirs.

• A blog at your own address

  Your posts live at /your-handle/, with a portrait, a few lines about you and, if you like, a link to your own website.

• Shelves you arrange

  Group posts into categories. Readers switch between your shelves with tabs at the top of each one.

• Covers and nooks

  Give a post a cover picture and up to a handful of topics, and it shows up in the matching nooks across the site.

• Contents on long posts

  Longer posts get a contents list at the top, so a reader can jump straight to the section they came for.

Images you place in a post are hosted on PearlNook itself, right next to the words. Links in posts are ordinary links, so you can point readers to your own site and to your sources.

Quietly underneath

• Plain, quick pages. Every page is built on the server as HTML and CSS, so it opens fast even on a slow phone connection.
• Fits any screen. The layout folds from a wide desktop view to a single column on a phone.
• Accents done right. Vietnamese and other accented scripts render cleanly, from ă and ơ to stacked marks like ễ.
• No trackers. There are no ads, analytics, tracking pixels or third-party scripts.
• Reviewed threads. Guest replies wait for a moderator, which keeps the nooks calm and spam-free.

Getting a room of your own

There is no public sign-up. If you already have an invitation, sign in and set up your profile. If you would like one, write to us on the contact page, choose “Writing here” and tell us what you would post about.