Techsslaash: A Writing Platform That Actually Gets Technical Writers

Writing about technology feels easy enough, until you have to turn that rough draft into an article.

For me, the article writing itself is never the struggle. It’s the formatting that comes afterwards that gets the best of me. Code blocks can look wonky, indentation can drive me mad, and JSON examples can lose all meaning when I’m not sure where they begin and end.

I’ve been there several times, which is why I paid attention when I heard about techsslaash.

I’ve tried plenty of writing platforms in my time, and many of them start to blend together. You get an editor, publishing options, statistics and SEO tools.

techsslaash is positioning itself as something slightly different, with a product tailored towards one specific audience: technical writers.

It’s fair to assume, then, that if the majority of your writing falls under that category, this will be a handy tool to have.

What is techsslaash, then?

techsslaash.com is a publishing platform for technical writers.

The premise is simple: you write your article, format it using tools that are helpful in a technical writing environment, and hit publish. Some of the tools are more useful than others, depending on what kind of articles you write.

The most obvious comparison here is to sites like Dev.to or Hashnode.

They serve a similar audience, and offer somewhat similar tools – and, most importantly, they already have a strong following. This isn’t a disadvantage, but it does mean that techsslaash has to find its niche elsewhere.

Where techsslaash manages to do something interesting, is by bringing together publishing and blog tools that you’d usually only find on a self-hosted website.

There’s Markdown and custom-domain support, SEO-options and article version history, and a whole lot more. I like the latter two particularly, because they each solve a problem that I’ve encountered before.

Technical writing doesn’t always have the same lifespan as other kinds of content. Articles and tutorials, in particular, will often become outdated – sometimes within months. A programming language or framework could have been deprecated, an API changed, or a command stopped working.

Being able to have access to previous versions of an article helps in that situation. You’ll be able to update the article itself, or use it as a reference for the old version.

A small thing I found quite neat

One thing I found quite neat was a typo in the URL.

If I were to search for techsslaash com instead of techsslaash.com, I would still be redirected to the main website.

This isn’t a huge bonus, I’ll admit. I’m not choosing a publishing platform based on this feature alone.

But I do like seeing little details like this, because it shows that thought has been put into the general design and usability of a website. People will inevitably mistype a URL, and I think it’s better that they be greeted with a helpful error message, and not a dead-end 404 page.

The features are more interesting, though

techsslaash.com – pushing limits powerful features for tech writers, is a motto that techsslaash wears with pride. I’m not one for analysing taglines, however, and I’d rather take a look at the actual features.

Something I found interesting was the mention of collaborative editing.

Working together on an article is often more convenient than sending Word files back and forth, or editing the same Google Doc. Version history fits in well with that, as does the article comparison tool.

The live code sandbox embeds, I think, are particularly well-suited for programming tutorials.

Instead of uploading a picture of a code snippet and asking your readers to re-type it, you can make it interactive and let them play with it online.

The GitHub Gist integration is another nice touch, since it takes advantage of something developers already use extensively.

Most programmers will store their useful code snippets in a Gist, and this makes it easier for them to display it on their site as well. The cross-posting tools are likewise something I appreciate.

If you know your content gets reused across multiple platforms, it’s a great plus to have tools that streamline that process.

The SEO analyzer tool that goes in-depth on your headings, keywords and meta descriptions is something I personally like, as well.

I like to take SEO seriously, but finding a generic score wasn’t something that interested me. Being able to analyse my articles for specific rules was a much more rewarding experience.

The same goes for the newsletter tool, actually. I like building an audience for my content, but it usually takes time and effort to set up a separate email tool and integrate it with the rest of your platforms.

Getting something up and running without that much hassle is a huge bonus.

None of these features individually will transform the way you publish content online. But together, they create a sense of convenience that I think will largely appeal to technical writers.

How does it stand up against the competition?

The more important question, however, is how techsslaash compares to the other platforms out there.

We’re looking at a crowded space, so it’s worth taking a closer look at just what sets techsslaash apart from the rest.

Medium, for example, is a well-established publishing platform that prioritises exposure. You write your article, and it can be read by others simply because it’s available on the Medium-site. This is great, since exposure is always a struggle for newer writers – but you don’t have the same tools to customise your article.

Hashnode, on the other hand, is more comparable to techsslaash in certain ways. It’s a community-driven site, geared toward developers and technical writers. The audience it provides is a good bonus, but it’s somewhat limited if you want to share your writing elsewhere.

Dev.to is similar to Hashnode in that regard: its community and audience are its greatest strength. Writing there is a good way to engage with readers and participate in the ecosystem, but it doesn’t leave you with the same publishing options as a standalone website.

And then there’s Substack. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been put off by its marketing. Newsletter and paid subscription platforms don’t have the same appeal as regular blogs or forums – especially when they charge money for the service. That’s not to say it isn’t a good product, though. If your articles are mostly opinion-based and shorter, it could very well be a viable option.

If your articles are tutorials or code-focused, however, it simply doesn’t fit the same kind of writing experience.

This is where I think techsslaash has carved a nice niche for itself.

It gives the exposure and discoverability of a large website, without sacrificing the tools and flexibility of a self-hosted platform. It’s not an easy thing to balance, but I feel like techsslaash manages to do it.

Quick comparison

The above is always subject to change, so I encourage you to take a look at the features for each platform and decide for yourself. This is merely a general overview of how the tools compare.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is techsslaash free?

There’s a free version of the software, with paid plans available for more serious use. It’s always good to take a look at the plans before signing up, since certain features may be unavailable for the free version or require upgrades.

What’s the difference between “techsslaash com” and “techsslaash.com”?

There isn’t one. “techsslaash com” is simply the website without the dot, and will redirect to the main page. It’s always good to keep in mind that some people will randomly mistype a URL, and it’s better they be greeted by a helpful message than a 404 error page.

Is techsslaash good for code-heavy articles?

This is a loaded question.

If your writing contains a significant amount of code, Markdown, syntax highlighting, embedded code examples or GitHub Gist integration are all useful features to have. Your writing is no longer just text – it can include code, and you should be able to format it as neatly as possible without having to re-format it multiple times.

Can you move articles from another platform?

You can import and export articles using Markdown or HTML.

Moving articles around between platforms is rarely a seamless experience, but the basics of text and formatting shouldn’t be too hard. Custom code and embeds may need a bit of extra work, but it’s better than starting from scratch.

Should I try techsslaash?

To wrap it all up, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this is a tool for technical writers, by technical writers. If that’s not your primary focus, then most likely there are other platforms better suited for your needs.

Technical writing is slightly different, though – articles often take more care to produce, and can include code, diagrams, documentation, references or images. This requires a slightly different approach to publishing, and I think techsslaash captures that well.

I don’t think this tool is perfect, but I also don’t think there’s a perfect tool for every niche. If you regularly produce technical content, and you’ve been frustrated with the process of publishing it, I don’t think you’ll regret giving this a try.

Sometimes, a good tool doesn’t reinvent the wheel – it simply makes the process a little easier.

— Aashish Hagwane