Building in public
#Sharing what you are making while you make it, including what stalls and what you drop, rather than only announcing finished work.
A Building in Public Glossary of the Words meinpublic Uses
The words meinpublic uses, defined plainly. Link to any of them.
Map
#A person's public record on meinpublic: everything they have made, are making and want to become, drawn as an orbit around them.
Node
#One project on a map, with its own dated timeline. An app, a farm, a channel, a race or a child learning to swim.
Ring
#A node's distance from the center shows its state: outer for wishes, middle for work, inner for things that landed.
Live
#A project that exists and keeps going, such as an app, a shop or a monthly visit. It stays bright on the inner ring and keeps taking updates.
Finished
#A project with an end, such as a book, a race or a skill. It settles on the inner ring and fades slowly with age.
Parked
#Paused on purpose, with a written reason. A parked node dims on the middle ring and can come back at any time.
Let go
#Stopped for good, with the reason kept. The node returns to the outer ring, grey. It is not deleted.
When to let a project go, from the essay Parked is not failed
Sealed
#A node that shows only a shape and the date it will open. It announces the date without revealing the thing.
Because
#The one line on a node saying why its owner started it. It is what makes a map readable to a stranger, and what the weekly letter quotes back.
Ask
#A question attached to a node, seen only by the members its owner chooses. Never on the public web.
Helped
#The asker's private mark on an answer. It earns the answerer an ask of their own. Nobody else sees it.
Letter
#The note a map writes its owner every Monday, from their own nodes, dates and words: what moved, what went quiet, and one question.
Watch
#Following a person or a single node. Their updates reach your inbox. The count is private to the owner.
Questions
What is the difference between parked and let go?
Parked is a pause on purpose, with a written reason. The node dims on the middle ring and can come back at any time. Let go is stopped for good; the node returns to the outer ring in grey and keeps its reason. Neither is deleted, and only the owner can delete a node.
Can I link to one definition on this page?
Yes. Every term has its own address, such as meinpublic.com/glossary/#parked, which opens the page at that definition. Click the # beside a term to copy its address.
Why doesn't meinpublic call a project failed or abandoned?
Those words pass a verdict, and a map only records what happened. Parked is a pause with a reason, let go is a stop with a reason, and finished is an end that was reached. Each says plainly what happened, and the reason stays on the record.
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