Maybe the Internet is forever, but publishers migrate systems or un-publish content or flat-out fold all the time, resulting in dead links throughout your portfolio of online writing.
To protect your work, you can save PDFs, republish work on your personal website, use paid bookmarking services like Pocket Premium to save copies of webpages, or rely on archiving tools designed for creatives to exhibit your work.
The Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine has been archiving webpages since 1996. You can request a page be saved using a browser extension, though archived pages can be removed by site owners.
Cost: It’s free to use, with optional donations.
Authory
Authory automatically backs up your content from specified sites, preserving both links and text. It also serves as a portfolio where you can showcase your work, even if the original source disappears.
Cost: A free plan allows for 10 items, with no auto-import. The Standard plan ($15/month or $144/year) includes unlimited items and automated import, and the Professional plan ($24/month or $216/year) adds features like custom domain support.
Journo Portfolio
Journo Portfolio builds personalized portfolio sites for creatives. It offers themes, customizable content blocks, and e-commerce features. Higher plans include automatic article backups and archiving.
Cost: A free plan includes one page with 10 portfolio items. The Plus plan ($8/month or $60/year) offers a 5-page site with 50 items. The Pro plan ($12/month or $96/year) supports 1,000 items, backups, and two collaborators. An Unlimited plan ($18/month or $168/year) provides unlimited pages, items, and collaborators.
Conifer
Conifer, managed by Rhizome, saves pages as interactive sessions with working links and organizes them into collections. It’s less user-friendly and lacks automation but offers extensive free storage.
Cost: A free Plan offers 5GB of storage. For $20/month, you get 40GB, with additional storage available. Annual plans are available for $200/year with extra storage for $50/year.
If you’re a digital writer, it’s time to safeguard and showcase your work so it’s accessible no matter what happens to the original platform.
