Using Reltext

What Reltext does

Reltext is where you write blog posts in Markdown and publish them to a static site you already run. It does not host your blog. When you publish, it commits the post as a Markdown file, together with its images, to your own GitHub repository, and your site builds from there. It works with Hugo, Jekyll, Hexo and Astro.

You can write on the Web at reltext.com or in the Mobile app. Both open the same drafts.

Writing

• Saving. Drafts save as you type. Each change is kept on your device first and then synced to your account, so a closed tab or a lost connection does not lose it. The Mobile app also works offline and syncs when you are back online.
• Changes from another device. If a draft changed somewhere else, Reltext stops and asks before replacing anything. Choose Keep mine or Use the other version; the words are the same on the Web and in the app. On the Web, both copies stay in Version history.
• Markdown. Headings, lists, quotes, links, code, tables and task lists all work. The Mobile app shows a formatting toolbar above the keyboard.
• Images. In the Mobile app, use the image button in the toolbar, then Photo Library or Take Photo. On the Web, open More → Post details and upload under Images. JPG, PNG and WebP are accepted; the Mobile app converts HEIC and very large photos to WebP. Location and other metadata are removed from each image before it is uploaded. An inserted image always gets a line of its own.
• Summary and slug. On the Web, More → Post details has both. In the Mobile app, open ⋯ → Summary. The slug is the file name and the end of the post's URL. It follows the title and keeps letters in any language; a title with no usable letters gives post-YYYY-MM-DD. You can set it yourself on the Web.
• Reading. The eye button (Read on the Web) shows the draft as formatted text, with its images.
• History. On the Web, More → Version History lists earlier versions of a draft, and you can restore one.
• Export. On the Web, More → Export offers Copy as Markdown, Download .md and Download with images (.zip). In the Mobile app, ⋯ → Export… offers Markdown (.md), Plain text (.txt), Markdown + images (.zip) and Copy Markdown. The zip holds the Markdown file and an images folder, with the links pointing at those files, so the post opens and publishes without Reltext.

Connect your blog

Sites are set up on the Web, because connecting GitHub happens in a browser. The Mobile app lists your sites but cannot change them.

1. Go to Publishing destinations at reltext.com/sites and choose Add destination. Enter the site name, framework, domain, repository owner and name, branch, content path and media path, then choose Create site.
2. On the site's page, choose Connect GitHub App. GitHub asks you to install Reltext Publish; give it access to that one repository.
3. Choose Verify repository. When the site shows Publish Ready, it can receive posts. This check only reads the repository.

Publish

In the Mobile app: open the draft and choose ⋯ → Preflight. The first time, pick a site. Preflight checks the draft, the site, the GitHub connection, the repository, branch and paths, the images, and that no file already exists where the post would go. When every check passes, choose Review confirmation. That page shows the repository, branch and target path, and stays valid for five minutes. Choose Publish now.

On the Web: choose Publish in the editor. The Publish preview shows the target file, the generated Markdown and the same checks. Choose Confirm Publish.

• Each publish makes one commit that adds the post and its images.
• A new post never overwrites a file. If one already exists at the target path, Preflight stops.
• Update a published post. Choose Edit post on it (on the Web, in the banner; in the Mobile app, under ⋯). Your site does not change until you choose Update post, which runs the same checks and replaces the post's own file in one commit. Its address and first publish date stay the same. Discard changes goes back to the version on your site. If the file was changed on GitHub since Reltext published it, Reltext will not overwrite it; undo that change or copy it into the draft first. Images removed from the post stay in the repository.
• After the first publish, the draft stays with that site and its file name no longer changes.
• A published draft is marked Published and becomes read-only.

Framework reference

This table shows where each post and its images go in your repository. Images are saved as sha256/<hash>.<ext> inside the image folder, and the post links to them.

• Jekyll, Hexo and Astro use the standard folders shown above. Hugo uses the content path and media path you enter for the site.
• Astro needs a blog content collection whose schema requires title, description and pubDate. The post's summary becomes its description, so every Astro post needs a summary.

Your account and data

• Trash. Delete a draft from More → Post details on the Web or ⋯ → Move to Trash in the Mobile app. Restore it or delete it for good from Trash on the Web or Settings → Trash in the Mobile app.
• Remove a published post. A published post never goes to Trash. Remove from Reltext deletes the draft, its history and its publish records after two confirmations. The post on your site stays, but you can no longer edit and publish it again from Reltext.
• Delete an image. Under Media on the Web or Settings → Images in the Mobile app. The space is freed at once. An image that a draft still uses cannot be deleted; Reltext lists those drafts so you can remove it from them first. Copies already on your site stay.
• Delete your account under Account on the Web, or Settings → Account → Delete account in the Mobile app. Drafts, versions, images, sites and publish records are deleted at once. Posts already in your repository stay there.
• Local data on your phone. In the Mobile app, Settings → Storage & data → Clear local data on this device removes the drafts and recovery files stored on that phone. Signing out does not.
• What is stored, where, and for how long is set out in the Privacy Policy.

Current limits

• The interface is in English.
• Images: JPG, PNG or WebP. A photo wider or taller than 2,560 pixels, or larger than 6 MB, is resized before upload. Each stored image is at most 10 MB.
• Summary: up to 1,000 characters.
• Sites are added and changed on the Web only.

If something is unclear or not working, contact support.