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Issue 025 - Templates Needed More in the AI Era ​

This weekly journal is open-source, documenting what we see and hear each week, mainly focusing on frontend, AI, indie development, open-source tools, etc. Published every Saturday/weekend. You're welcome to contribute, and we also look forward to your follow/subscribe -- fav0.com

>> Topics to Discuss ​

Templates More Essential in the AI Era

Whether it's Cursor, Windsurf, or Copilot, AI coding has become more and more seamless. However, those who have used these tools know that having AI code a decent application from scratch is quite challenging. Compared to starting from scratch, AI is extremely good at mimicking existing templates. You provide a template, ask it to make tweaks, and it quickly produces an application you're satisfied with.

I truly believe the statement above, which is why my recent website was developed using templates plus AI. I used Mkdirs (a paid navigator template) + Copilot to develop a navigation site featuring 500+ free web templates: Template0.

Some contrasting views:

How could I possibly think the opposite? Templates are fixed, AI is dynamic. With the advent of AI, the traffic to template sites should decline, as people no longer need to look for templates to kick-start; instead, they can directly have AI generate something more tailored to their needs.

In my perspective, AI still struggles with generating comprehensive, systematic websites; whereas, customizing a template requires a certain level of ease for those who don't develop or are not familiar with that technological stack. Combining AI coding with template usage provides a perfect complement. Launching a website like the one mentioned above is swift, something I have experienced firsthand. AI's completions and edits are relatively usable.

This can also be reflected in the prompts we write for AI assistants. Giving an example is one of the important techniques frequently used to improve the accuracy of AI (LLM) Chat responses.

Let me briefly introduce the website I developed, which can help you quickly find the templates you want:

  • Contains preview images of the homepage, and most details include long or multiple screenshots
  • Categorized by usage, such as product landing pages, blogs, resumes, personal homepages, admin dashboards, services, business websites, etc.
  • Tags for the technological stack used, allowing you to quickly find your familiar tech stack
  • Personally selected some favorite templates

In addition, you can also submit your free templates to get permanent backlinks to enhance your SEO.

Pricing Strategy

Pricing strategy is a part that many indie developers often ponder about. Here's a simple discussion of my strategies and thoughts.

Collecting the data for this website also required a considerable amount of time and effort, and maintaining it over the long term demands financial support. Therefore, I considered sponsorship for monetization. I believe my pricing strategy is quite reasonable and allows for a smooth transition past the initial phase of limited traffic, which indie developers can consider:

First, let me state that this site does not make money on templates themselves, so you can happily search for your desired templates without any commercial content. The site's profits come solely from sponsorships, meaning top-of-page sponsorships on the homepage and category pages to cover server hosting, domain, CMS, and manpower costs.

To ensure equal exposure for all brands and not affect the normal user experience, template0 has carefully limited the maximum display positions to 8. If there are more than 8 sponsors:

  • They will be sorted according to the sponsorship amount per month, with a maximum of $99.
  • If the sponsorship amount is the same, we will sort by the earliest sponsorship time.

As template0.com is still in the very early stages, now you can get the most prominent, niche developer traffic for as little as $1.

Try Not to Cross Boundaries

This weekly journal covers the content of two weeks because I found an excuse for myself last week and delayed it. So, try not to cross the boundaries; once it happens, it will occur multiple times.

>> Must Read ​

2024 State of Frontend Survey ​

2024 Frontend Survey (6000 participants)

For instance, these questions:

  • What frameworks have you used in the past year?
  • What build tools have you used in the past year?
  • What AI tools have you used in the past year?
  • What is the future of AI in frontend development?

Notable Repositories Injected with Malicious Scripts ​

Vant, @rspack/core, @rspack/cli were injected with malicious scripts by hackers. Please upgrade to vant 4.9.15, @rspack/core 1.1.8, and @rspack/cli 1.1.8.

More details:

Sora vs. Google Veo2 ​

Sora has finally been released, although it seems less impressive than initially seen in previews. Additionally, based on some generated videos, Sora's understanding of the physical world seems inferior to Veo2.

More ​

>> Useful Tools ​

Idea Harbor ​

Here you can browse others' project ideas or share your own project ideas.

Free Watermark-Free OG Tool ​

Similar to imgsrc.io, but this one is free, and the free version does not add a watermark.

Next SaaS Starter ​

Next SaaS Starter appeared on GitHub trending with 7K stars, and its last update was just the previous week.

Tech stack includes Next.js, Postgres, Drizzle, Stripe, and shadcn/ui.

Open-source Invoice Generator ​

Tailwind Gradient Generator ​

Easily create stunning visual effects. Customize gradients effortlessly, copy the code, and paste it into your projects. Ideal for vibrant, attention-grabbing designs.

Offers over 20,000 meticulously curated gradient collections to dazzle.

Real Human-like Avatars ​

  • 100% free, allowing for commercial use
  • AI-generated, tailored for designers

Export and Build Apps with Your Personal Data ​

Surfer Protocol is an open-source framework for exporting and building apps based on your personal data.

Your personal data is scattered across multiple platforms and applications. Big tech companies have no incentive to make it easy for you to access your own data. Whether you want to create an AI clone that texts like you or reclaim your data from big tech, or leave a digital legacy, Surfer Protocol is a way to achieve this.

More ​

>> Interesting Finds ​

Is It Worth Dying at 23 with a Debt of 100,000? ​

An interesting answer goes like this:

Think of it this way: you are a corpse, and paying 100,000 allows you to start a vibrant life at 23. Would you buy it?

Indeed, many times, thinking from a different angle makes things clearer.

Taiwind!! ​

>> Worth Reading ​