Airscript dot dev?

[Dominik_Bosnjak]

Not sure if I’m missing something obvious, but was wondering why is Airscript.dev listed with the anchor of “airscript tutorials” in the scripting app (Documentation tab, item #4 of “Other Resources”).

The site itself says it is neither endorsed nor owned by Airtable. A forum search yields two topics from the apparent owner of the domain, both of which are self-promotions and don’t explain the link. I understand the half a dozen or so marketplace scripts come from third parties but is the scripting app itself not owned by Airtable?

Just to be clear, the site is a pretty decent resource but I’m amazed a company with a ten-figure valuation like Airtable would promote anyone for free. And that particular link has some pretty insane promotional value in terms of domain authority juice from Google.

[Justin_Barrett]

Dominik_Bosnjak:

A forum search yields two topics from the apparent owner of the domain, both of which are self-promotions and don’t explain the link.

You might have selected the wrong user. The owner of that site, @JonathanBowen, is one of the forum’s community leaders, has close to 1000 posts at the time that I’m writing this, and has contributed immense value to the community by answering users’ questions. That site is his way of continuing to give back by providing further insight into Airtable’s scripting system.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

The site itself says it is neither endorsed nor owned by Airtable.

Correct, though that may have been written before Airtable linked to it. It’s possible that Jonathan wasn’t alerted about the link, and this might be the first post to bring it to his attention. Is that link actually an endorsement of his site? Some might view such links as endorsement, others might not.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

is the scripting app itself not owned by Airtable?

The Scripting app is owned by Airtable. I’m not sure what makes you feel otherwise, or how this question relates to your other questions re: Jonathan’s site.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

I’m amazed a company with a ten-figure valuation like Airtable would promote anyone for free.

I’m sure that whoever added a link to Jonathan’s site in the Scripting app docs had to go through certain channels to approve the action, but I doubt that any part of the discussion was along the lines of, “Is this an appropriate action to take for a company with our valuation?” I don’t see how company valuation has any connection to employee kindness and generosity. Not all companies (or company reps) think “What’s in it for me?” when considering whether or not to be kind to someone else.

[JonathanBowen · Accepted solution]

Thank you @Justin_Barrett !

@Dominik_Bosnjak - first of all, I’m glad you like the site :slightly_smiling_face:

To add some comments to your points:

Dominik_Bosnjak:

why is Airscript.dev listed with the anchor of “airscript tutorials”

Not long after the scripting app was released and after I had set up airscript.dev, Airtable asked me if they could link to the site and, of course, I said “yes!”. I think they did this because the scripting app was a big thing for Airtable and opened up a lot of possibilities and anything that promoted this in the right way was worth linking to. (I have no idea if this is actually true, just what I think). I think it also helped that the content was aimed at non-expert developers.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

neither endorsed nor owned by Airtable

As @Justin_Barrett notes, the copy was on the site before Airtable decided to link to it. I’ve never thought to modify this text since then. Is a link an endorsement? It is a good question and maybe I will update the text. What I’m really trying to say to visitors here is “this site isn’t by Airtable - you can’t blame them for the content of this site”. I also tell users that they use the scripts at their own risk. Same kind of thing, really.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

both of which are self-promotions

Guilty! Yes, sometimes, if I see a particularly relevant post on the forum, I link to a post on Airscripts that addresses the question.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

Airtable would promote anyone for free

My reading of this is that Airtable didn’t do it “for free”. It was a value exchange - they traded something they had of value (the link) for something which they perceived to have value for them (a site about Airtable scripting that they didn’t have to write). On the face of it, I write posts on Airscripts and on the forum “for free”, but, again, I’m trading my time for something in return - to exercise my brain, reputation, introductions to potential clients, opportunity to be “an expert” (I’ll let you be the judge :winking_face: ), lots of reasons.

Dominik_Bosnjak:

pretty insane promotional value in terms of domain authority juice from Google

Just because I know I’d be interested in this: airscript.dev gets about 500 - 600 unique visitors a month. I don’t make any money directly from the site - no ads, no subscriptions - but people do contact me occasionally about doing Airtable development for them, so I have earned some money indirectly.

Thanks!