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Podcast about Archbee -- a new documentation tool with a block-based editor, API publishing capability, content re-use, and more

by Tom Johnson on Oct 31, 2022
categories: technical-writing • podcasts

Archbee is a relatively new documentation tool that offers a block-based editor, API publishing capability, content re-use, and more. The initial version of Archbee was released in early 2019. Since then, the product has been steadily ramping up in features and growing its customer base. In this podcast, I chat with Claudiu Dascalescu about Archbee, the features driving its adoption, their target audience, and more.

Note that this is a sponsored podcast.

Video recording

Audio only

Listen here:

Start a trial version

You can explore Archbee with a trial version. Check it out at Archbee.com.

The beginnings of Archbee

With the launch of Archbee 3.0, founder Dragos Bulugean tells the story of the beginnings of Archbee:

  • Archbee v0: 2018, stuck in a hotel room in Frankfurt… it was raining and I decided to code a software diagramming tool for architects. Scrapped the product after a few months of getting no traction.

  • Archbee v1: Restarted in early 2019 with the idea for an internal docs tool for eng. teams that would include API docs, markdown, diagrams, changelogs, and GitHub integration after realizing all the tools out there (Google Docs, Confluence, Notion) were built for anybody, but not tech people. The product was getting some customers organically but did not show great traction either.

  • Archbee v2: This version was just an improved, better-looking, less buggy version of V1. Launched it on ProductHunt in 2020 and it got to #1. However, most of the traction was coming from a wimpy feature: publishing docs on customers’ domains.

Talking to customers, we realized there are still no great tools for building public product & developer docs for folks who don’t want the DIY approach. Basically, no way of onboarding and activating your tech audiences without spending a ton of energy on docs tech.

For more, see the Archbee’s most notable features over the past 12 months.

Questions and topics

Here are some of the questions covered during the podcast:

  • Does Archbee have some functionality for software documentation that doesn’t exist in any other tools?

  • What feature would you say accounts for the rapid rise in customer growth for Archbee?

  • Who’s your target audience for Archbee? Tech writers, engineers, or both?

  • Can you explain a bit more about what type of content can be reused?

  • How do you plan for long-term success in a relatively small niche of documentation authors?

Learning more

To learn more about Archbee, see my earlier post, Archbee product review – first look at a new online platform for writing and managing documentation.

See also archbee.com.

About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

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