You don't get attention unless you want it. My study wiki emulates my Bible study leader's methodology of examining Scripture through the eyes of each character, no matter how minor, and has brought the Bible to life for me. But without promotion, could it help anyone else?
It's no Hexapla, but my Bible study wiki is solid study material. I'm moving chapter-by-chapter through the Bible, telling the story of each figure through their own, individual perspective. This method is not limited to the people but also locations, tribes, and common terms.
The value of this shines when isolating easily-overlooked figures. The Holy Spirit doesn't waste ink, so there is spiritual truth to learn from Lamech's brief appearance rather than locking solely onto high-profile Cain. The wiki format is perfect for dissecting Scripture in this way. Furthermore, I add information and summaries from Bible scholars, literature, history, and other related subjects.
I am sure people would appreciate this resource, but I doubt anyone actually uses it.
I've used LazyWiki as a Bible study tool since 2017. There's gold on my server, but it's a perpetual work-in-progress and a little crud-covered. I'm satisified keeping it for myself, but if it's something that could help others, why not improve its reach? Popularity would direct eyes to my husband's LazyWiki, too, which I certainly am the first fan of.
I've put diligent effort into my wiki, but I only began publishing in a way that suits others in 2023. My content comes slowly, too. I work on this alone, so even if I published a chapter's worth of content per day, it'd take over 3 years to finish one pass of the Bible. I break up my Bible content with online courses and other books, too, so it's difficult to finish anything.
Probably the worst point is my lack of focus. Scriptural studies dominate the wiki, but I also use the same database when studying programming and other scattered topics. Though pursuing my every interest is fun, diluting your identity is a popularity killer online.
Regardless, LazyWiki itself is not set up for popularity. It was written for me to use at home on my own computer, not for an online audience. I already have to break up longer articles into smaller ones to prevent ridiculous loading times, and I'm the only user! The pages are served first come, first serve. Though my husband and I can spam-click pages together without slowdown, a spike in users would wreck the server. The issue is fundamental to LazyWiki's design, so I'd need a whole new replacement to fix it. One could be written for sure whenever necessary, but there's always more relevant things to work on.
Marketing is probably more important than a "product" itself anyway.
As for the site, I mostly like the overall look of the wiki subdomain, but as someone who honestly prefers janky 2000s web aesthetic, I wouldn't be surprised if my site's more off-putting than cute. I have virtually no brand. There's no logo or proper name or anything like that. It's shackled unattractively under my blog's study links. My site definitely lacks that professional touch, and I'm sure that holds it back.
As for promotion, I only recently added my links to my Discord bio. My effort level is less than zero. At this point, I'm not interested in pursuing social media or hitting up potential brand ambassadors. I'm also not interested in placing a price on the wiki or fiddling with donations, even though that bizarrely seems to increase the perceived value of a product. I certainly have a more serviceable wiki than I did 5 years ago, but I still doubt it's worth managing as a tiny "brand." Maybe in the future, when I have completed more books of the Bible?
The only sort of marketing that interests me for now (besides occasional Blessfrey blogging) would be streaming web development or starting a Bible study Youtube channel. Frankly, though, my self-esteem can't handle the cringe of recording myself talking, and I'd have to learn a whole new suite of skills when I'm pretty sick. Maybe I will try some time, but even then, it's likely going to be yet another cutesy project no one but me enjoys. I just never had that natural flair for garnering an audience.
Counterproductive to online success or not, my main goal is still to gain a deeper appreciation of Scripture and be able to access my notes online from anywhere. The Bible wiki fulfills that fully! The rest will improve over time.
At the same time, my 7 years of research is probably cool enough to be worth at least a few minutes of clicking around. I recommend starting in 2 Samuel, a fully rendered book of the Bible, or Origin of the Bible, a book I am currently studying. If you like it, consider adding the wiki to your bookmarks or infinite perpetually open phone tabs! The wiki's always growing, so check in whenever you remember.
Thanks for reading and have fun^^
Last updated February 29, 2024 - minor typos, capitalization.