Bracket: Private Layers for Creators & Followers

Publish in public, gather in private: a private layer on the page your community gathers around, for creators and followers.

Publish in public. Gather in private. Bracket is a browser extension for creators, thought leaders, educators and analysts who have a following, and for the followers who gather around their work. Every community has pages at its centre: a game guide, a collection catalogue, a research blog, a newsletter archive, a market commentary. Bracket gives those pages a conversation of their own. Talk with everyone in public, and open a private layer on the same page where only the people you invite can see and join the conversation. Everyone else who visits that page sees nothing of it. It all happens in your browser's side panel, next to the page. FOR THOSE WHO PUBLISH If you share your thinking online, your page is where your audience already is. But the conversations worth having, with your closest readers, your students or your collaborators, are often not ones you want in public. In Bracket, your page gets a space of its own (we call it a bracket), with a public conversation for everyone and a private layer for your circle. • Engage your following where your work lives: open the panel on your article, post, paper, guide or video page and talk with your audience in context. • Keep a private circle: invite readers, students, subscribers, peers or clients into a conversation no one else can see. • Work with collaborators: create workspaces and projects for co-authors, editors and research partners, with the page as the shared context. • No changes to your website: Bracket works on public pages whether you own them or not. THE PRIVATE LAYER: A PRIVATE CONVERSATION ON A PUBLIC PAGE Anyone can start a private layer on a public page. Only the people you invite can see it, join it or reply in it. Other visitors to the same page, including people who also use Bracket, see nothing of it. Your public page stays public. Your circle stays yours. FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW You do not need a following to use Bracket. If you care about a page, a creator or a topic, Bracket is where you meet the people who care too. • Join the public conversation around the pages and people you follow. • Accept an invitation into a creator's private circle, or a teacher's class discussion. • Ask questions and share ideas in context, right next to the page. • Keep your own space: personal notes, saved pages, folders, tasks and reminders tied to the pages they are about. PAGES WORTH GATHERING AROUND • Gamers: guides, patch notes and strategy pages, with a private layer for your squad or guild. • Collectors and hobbyists: catalogues, reference pages and build logs, with the people who share your craft. • Thought leaders and writers: a public thread around each piece, and a closed discussion for your most engaged readers. • Professors and teachers: a public reading, paper or lecture page, discussed with your class while everyone else sees nothing. • Business and finance: published reports, commentary and research, discussed with a hand-picked group of colleagues or clients before you share your view. • Policy analysts and researchers: a public policy document, annotated with colleagues or stakeholders. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Open the side panel on a page and see the conversation around it. • Start a public discussion, or a private layer for the people you invite. • Select text on a page and turn it into a note or a discussion. • Jump back to the exact spot on the page that a note refers to. • Use right-click actions and keyboard shortcuts to act without leaving the page. • Set reminders and tasks, and get a notification when they are due. • Keep what you find in saved items and folders, and search across your chats, notes and tasks in the Bracket app. • Join public brackets in Discover to find communities around the pages and topics you care about. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install Bracket, pin it to your toolbar and sign in. 2. Open the side panel on a page your community gathers around. 3. Join the public conversation, or start a private layer. 4. Invite the people you choose. 5. Select text, or right-click, to add notes and start discussions in context. PRIVACY AND PERMISSIONS, IN PLAIN LANGUAGE Bracket works on the pages you choose. It reads a page's content when you click Bracket, use a right-click action or use a keyboard shortcut. While the side panel is open, it follows the tab you are on so it can show that page's conversation. When the panel is closed, it does not read or send the addresses of the pages you visit. We do not sell your data. What you create is visible only to the people you share it with, and public brackets are public. Our Privacy Policy and Support page are linked on this listing. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK What is Bracket? Bracket is a browser extension and web app that lets creators, educators, analysts and the people who follow them talk, collaborate and keep notes around the pages their community gathers around, with a public conversation and a private layer, in the browser side panel. What is a private layer? A private conversation attached to a public page. Only the people you invite can see it, join it or reply in it. Can other visitors to the same page see my private layer? No. People you have not invited see nothing of it, even when they are on the same page. I am not a creator. Can I use Bracket? Yes. Followers, students and readers can join public conversations, accept invitations to private circles, and keep their own notes and tasks. Do I need to own the page? No. Bracket works on public pages whether you own them or not, and the website needs no changes. Do the people I invite need Bracket? They join through Bracket, in the extension or the web app, and sign in. How is Bracket different from a comments section or a chat app? Comments are public, and chat apps do not know which page you are discussing. Bracket ties public conversation, a private layer, shared workspaces and your own notes to the page itself. Does Bracket read every page I visit? No. It reads a page when you click Bracket or use a right-click action or keyboard shortcut. While the side panel is open it follows your active tab to show that page's conversation, and when the panel is closed it does not read or send the addresses of your pages. Which browsers does it work with? Chromium-based browsers, including Chrome, Edge and Opera, in a recent version. Can I use it with a team or a class? Yes. Create a workspace or project, invite people, and work from the same page with notes, discussions and tasks. How do I delete my data or get help? Use the Support page and Privacy Policy linked on this listing. You can delete your account from your account settings where available, or by contacting support. Bracket: publish in public, gather in private.