Donation and content platform Ko-fi allows creators to create 'quick updates' and 'blog posts' on their page. What are the main differences between the two, and when should you use one over the other?
Ko-fi is a platform that enables creators to collect donations from their supporters. It's a bit like Buy Me a Coffee or Patreon, if you know either of those.
I use Ko-fi myself here on Technically Product - if you click on the 'buy me a coffee button' over in the sidebar (or towards the bottom of the page if you're on mobile), you'll be taken to my Ko-fi page. Feel free to make me a donation if you want to check out how it works 🙂
As well as being a place to collect donations, Ko-fi is also a content publishing platform where creators can add images, videos, and audio. There are also two text-based post types for creators to use: 'blog posts' and 'quick updates'. So what's the difference between them?
Quick updates consist only of plain text, and are limited to 800 characters. Any web links you include in your text will automatically become clickable when you publish the update, but there's no other formatting available.
Quick updates can't be scheduled, or even edited after they are published (only deleted). Once published, they will be visible to everyone who visits your page. They appear on your main Ko-fi page in their entirety (as well as your 'posts' page) but don't have a dedicated page/URL of their own.
The quick update creation window looks like this:
Blog posts are more complex, consisting of several different elements: title, body content, featured image, embedded content, and tags (the last three all optional). The body content can take rich text as well as inserted media such as images, but links are not automatically clickable: you need to use the 'insert link' option in the toolbar to achieve this. They do not have a character limit
Post can be scheduled in advance, edited after publication, and restricted to your supporters (one-off supporters and/or monthly). Only the start of the post appears on your main Ko-fi page (and your 'posts' page). The rest of the post can be accessed on its own dedicated URL by clicking the 'Read more' button. That dedicated page also has social sharing icons.
The blog post creation window looks like this:
Here's a summary of the main differences between quick updates and blog posts on Ko-fi:
| Quick updates | Blog posts | |
|---|---|---|
| Character limit | 800 | None |
| Links | Automatically clickable | Must 'insert link' |
| Images | None | Embedded and featured |
| Edit after publishing | No | Yes |
| Visibility | Everyone | Can be restricted |
| Has own URL | No | Yes |
| Appears on main Ko-fi page | In full | In part |
| Appears on 'posts' page | In full | In part |
| Social sharing icons | No | Yes |
| Can be scheduled | No | Yes |
So when should you use posts and when should you use quick updates? It's a matter of preference, but the main benefit of quick updates is that they appear on your Ko-fi page in their entirety - no need for your visitor to click to 'read more'.
So if you have an important message you absolutely want people to see, use a quick update. Otherwise, and especially if you have a longer message with lots of rich content, opt for a blog post.
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