RichardLitt
commented
9 years ago @CurtisSV Brought up a good question: "Let's say Juan highlighted some text in the PDF that he wanted Adam to pay attention to. Should we include those highlighted snippets in the email?"
@jbenet: "Yeah depends on the flow. This is tricky to get right because I may only want to send some highlights and not all. For now sending just one is a good first step."
We wouldn't want to disrupt the logical flow of the email. We would want to include quotes, but not the entire text of the .pdf (copyright issues, overwhelming data, etc, etc -- only for some cases). This would help with viral marketing, though.
There are two modes: one is an annotated .pdf, and the other should be quick thoughts based on the paper. There should be a summary - maybe with some quotes? - about why you're sharing this document, and then to look deeper, they'd have to go to the web wrapper // pdf to see.
Quoting Juan:
Yeah, we'll need good email integration. Just the right amount: well targeted + on user initiated actions. (I find github sends about the right amount by default, and lets you {,un}subscribe from things. Let me know if you feel otherwise).
Emails should be minimalist. Showing the user content and making it as helpful as possible. It should be possible for people to derive value to interacting via email alone. (github does well on this IMO too).
Link on the email should be to a sci-nav wrapped paper (i.e. we can have a tiny webapp that provides the extension in clientside javascript, even if you don't have it installed). Example:
I find
https://jbenet.static.s3.amazonaws.com/0525f90/ipfs-the-permanent-web.pdfand I share it using scinav to Adam, who doesn't yet have it. (this could be done by either sending email ourselves, (long run strategy), or simply pre-filling an email with your composer (useful to avoid spam filters etc, easier to start with and upgrade later).He will receive an email, including a personal message to him:
When adam clicks that link, he sees the pdf as usual, but has sci-nav on it, so he can see it + start using it / install it.
(Note that this simple webapp is to help users start using it, not a replacement. We still need an extension to ensure that it works on every pdf on the web without the user having to take any action).