One of the best parts of blogging is the ability to share something with the people you care most about. Over the last few weeks, we’ve built a WordPress.com feature to make that easier. It’s geared to the kind of short, casual thing you’d otherwise send in a group chat or email.

Today we’re introducing Lately, a weekly letter sent to close friends every Friday. It’s available in beta for new sites.

We’d love to hear what you think and please do send us your feedback.

Lately lets you blog by messaging the WordPress Agent on Telegram. You send notes to it throughout the week and it captures those into a draft. Every Friday you choose what to keep, what to edit, and what to discard. Once you’re ready, Lately sends everything by email to your close friends (and only your close friends). Plus, any friends with a WordPress.com account can read your letter on the web or in the WordPress.com Reader. It’s a simpler and quieter way to blog.

Blogging simplified

There’s no software to learn with Lately. It’s as simple as sending a new message in Telegram. Just share whatever you notice to the WordPress Agent and it takes care of the rest. You get the power and freedom of WordPress with the simplicity of messaging.

Just friends

Friends are at the core of Lately and your letters are only shared with them. You can send any friend a link to your site and they’ll see an option to Subscribe. Once your friends hit “Subscribe” they’re listed in your Lately where you can approve them. Only friends you approve will receive each weekly letter you publish.

Choose your style

For anyone reading on the web, Lately ships with 3 style packs, from the understated Modern to the loud Pop. You can swap these out with the palette picker in the header. Emails all use the Modern style, but we plan to bring Pop and Zine to those email templates soon.

If you’ve been quietly meaning to share more with your friends, give the Lately beta a try today.