TheVoreEngineer wrote:https://www.pillowfort.io
Pro's - Specifically looks to be a similar experience to Tumblr, revenue stream not tied to advertising meaning that censorship is less likely, Stronger control regarding how content is distributed.
Con's - 5$ payment required for account creation currently unsure if this will impact uploaders or viewers as well, the site mentions "Very few NSFW restrictions" meaning those looking to upload vore content involving minors may want to steer clear until further confirmation.
Now that their servers are back up and the login page is available, we know a little more about how Pillowfort runs and works and how they intend to continue for the future:
- There are paid registration accounts that you can use to create and manage content, and it's possible to log into a completely free "DemoUser" account that is viewer-only, but it is very limited in features and just lets you see posts.
- Fortunately, it is possible to view user pages and posts even while not logged-in, if you're sent there by the URL of the user's page or of a specific post (whether from being linked to it on another site, or from something like a google search). This means it can work as a gallery of sorts, but for now most people won't be finding your work on pillowfort itself unless they have registered. Technically, browsing by tags is available when not logged in as well, and even the search function if people know pillowfort's search URL, but obviously non-registered people are way less likely to use that stuff.
(For the record, you can search Pillowfort by using https://www.pillowfort.io/search/xxxxx , where "xxxxx" is whatever tag you wanna search by)
- Unfortunately, the Demo account is just generic, not individualized, so at this time it seems like free viewers have no option to Follow/Reblog/Like stuff. It's really hard to tell due to the server issues they're having right now as well, but after trying it, it seems to me like the Demo account might also be completely hidden from seeing explicitly sexual images, which is understandable since it never confirms age. However, it seems like lewd stuff is fully visible if you go to a page while not logged-in, meaning you can link people to a lewd artblog if needed.
- The site is still in what they're calling a "closed beta" phase, and they make it sound like this is the reason behind the current $5 registration fee. Their development and business plans seem to confirm that the fee to join will only be temporary:
pillowfort wrote:Long Term Plans
Premium Account Features: Essential site features will remain free from a paywall, while users can pay for premium features. (For example: being able to upload larger file sizes, uploading gifs to a library, personal analytics.)
- This was pretty well-known even while they were down, but they're still in the process of making a pillowfort app. Currently it's web browser only and will continue to be for at least a few more months.
- In addition to looking and behaving mostly like tumblr, they also have a "groups" function that users can join into. Hard to say right now how much this will or won't be used to establish communities around fetish art.
- Their development/business plans, as listed, are talking about timeframes that go into Summer 2019 (for "short term plans"), and it'll probably take time well beyond that before it becomes a more fully-featured - and eventually free - version of the tumblr-replacement that people are hoping it can be. It's a shame that the timing of tumblr's decision doesn't line up with pillowfort having finished building itself as a website, but by 2020 or so it could end up being an excellent go-to place for artists and viewers of both sfw and nsfw work. If someone actually is trying to make their living as an artist, it may not hurt to jump on board now since it certainly seems like a decent place to host a gallery/artblog, though by all indications it is going to be quite a while before it becomes a place for people at large to publicly discover and follow your art in the way that tumblr was.