MotirBuilding in public
MOTIR · moooon
onMotir
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MOTIR-783

6.17 Build in public — discoverable entry + reframe the `public` access level as a status

Done
Description

Make going public a first-class, discoverable product action framed around the established "building in public" concept — sharing your project's journey openly (roadmap, board, work items, progress) to build community, gather feedback, and attract users/teammates/investors (the #buildinpublic movement: Indie Hackers, founders on X). Today the only way to go public is a buried four-level Access dropdown (Settings → Members/Access, 6.12.8) — undiscoverable and unframed.

This story:

  1. Reframes the public access level as a "Building in public" status. The four levels stay (public > open > limited > private), but public is presented/branded as "Building in public" — copy, the make-public control, and a project status indicator. Going public = "starting to build in public"; the other levels stay the private/team modes.
  2. Adds an easy, discoverable entry point — a prominent "Start building in public" CTA (not buried in an access dropdown), with a short explainer of what it means and what becomes visible (the board, roadmap, and work items become public + crawlable; sign-in is needed only to submit/upvote/comment), that flips the project to public (reuse the 6.12.8 setAccessLevel).
  3. Shows a "Building in public" status badge on the project when public, with a manage / "stop building in public" path.

Pairs with 6.16 (once you're building in public, you author your public hero + page in place); no hard dependency — they can proceed in parallel.

Why

User feedback (2026-06-15): "we should have an easier access to let the user start 'building in public', search for the concept online, and the project 'public' just became a status if the user starts building in public."

Concept refs (researched 2026-06-15)

  • Building in public = sharing the startup journey openly (decisions, roadmap, metrics, milestones, WIP) for community, feedback, and reach. Spectrum from full transparency (revenue/churn) to narrating progress. Sources: mercury.com/blog/build-in-public-or-private, paddle.com/blog/build-in-public-boost-your-engagement, failory.com/blog/building-in-public.

Context refs

  • 6.12.8 access control + make-public: lib/services/projectsService.ts setAccessLevel, app/(authed)/settings/project/members/_components/ProjectMembersSettings.tsx (~509-596)
  • prisma/schema.prisma ProjectAccessLevel enum (public > open > limited > private)
  • project shell / header for the entry-point placement; design design/public-projects/ (Panel 6 access)