Customer Story

From Stale Markdown Files to an Always-Updated Help Center

Fed shares how Ferndesk transformed GummySearch documentation from neglected markdown files in a codebase to a beautiful, AI-maintained help center.

"I used to never update my articles, just write them once and they get stale right from day 1. Now my docs stay up to date automatically."
Fed
Fed Founder, GummySearch

Key Results:

  • Migrated from markdown files in codebase to a beautiful, maintained help center

  • Documentation now stays up to date automatically instead of getting stale from day one

  • Enabled hiring content editors (previously only the founder could update docs)

  • AI agent writes better documentation than manual efforts


Meet GummySearch

GummySearch is a Reddit audience research tool that helps entrepreneurs, marketers, and product teams discover what their target customers are talking about, struggling with, and asking for across thousands of communities.

The Pain Before Ferndesk

Like many solo founders, Fed’s documentation lived where it was easiest to manage at the time—markdown files buried in the main codebase.

My docs were previously markdown files in my main codebase.

This approach had serious limitations:

  • Rarely updated: Documentation was written once and immediately started going stale

  • Single point of failure: Only the founder could make updates

  • No scalability: Couldn’t hire content editors to help maintain docs

  • Poor user experience: Markdown files don’t make for a beautiful help center

Why Ferndesk Was Different

As a beta user for several months, Fed discovered that Ferndesk solved multiple problems at once:

I’ve been a beta user for Ferndesk for several months now, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite tools I use for GummySearch.

Easy migration: Moving from markdown files to Ferndesk was seamless.

Not only was it super easy to migrate my old helpdesk, now my help center is SO MUCH more beautiful and easy to update.

AI-powered content creation: The AI agent became Fed’s secret weapon for documentation.

I particularly love the AI agent - I can just give it my other guides/urls/videos and it pulls in the important stuff and formats it in a consistent manner.

Better writing than manual efforts: The AI agent produces higher quality documentation than writing everything from scratch.

To be honest with myself, it’s a much better writer than I am.

The Results: Documentation That Maintains Itself

The transformation was immediate and dramatic:

Before Ferndesk:

  • Documentation: Markdown files in codebase

  • Updates: Never happened after initial writing

  • Who could edit: Only the founder

  • Quality: Stale from day one

After Ferndesk:

  • Documentation: Beautiful, professional help center

  • Updates: Automatic and continuous

  • Who can edit: Anyone, including content editors

  • Quality: Always current and consistent

I used to never update my articles, just write them once and they get stale right from day 1. Now my docs stay up to date automatically.

A Product Built With Care

Beyond the functionality, Fed appreciates the craft that goes into Ferndesk:

Wilson makes beautiful software products that are a joy to use, and Ferndesk lives up to that and is very clearly getting better every day.

Looking Forward

For founders who’ve been putting off documentation or struggling with stale help centers, Ferndesk represents a new standard:

This will be the new standard for help center software.

The AI-native help center

Stop drowning in support. Create your help center with Ferndesk.

Create a modern, AI-native help center in minutes. Sign up today and ask Fern to write your first few articles.