3 ms·

Show HN: Verbatim – a simple pastebin

14 points by 3princip 10y ago

fiatjaf 10y ago
Others would call things much worse than this "publishing platforms". This is the most beautiful "pastebin" I've ever seen. It would be a shame if it was used to paste error messages, logs and pieces of broken code.
- 3princip 10y ago
  That's high praise, thank you. It was an interesting hobby project, it reminded me just how much knowledge and work is required for the simplest of projects.
CatsoCatsoCatso 10y ago
I loved it until I hit save and saw the monster of a URL it returned. These URLs aren't something I'd be able to quickly tap in on another device to save messing about with accounts & logins. If the URLs became short and/or pronounceable I'd use this service daily.
- 3princip 10y ago
  That was my main concern when creating it, that link length would be a turn-off. It's understandable and I am considering shortening the hash in the next iteration. The idea is that the link is actually a sha224 hash of the content itself. This serves two purposes, the first that the content is verifiable and de-duplicated by default, i.e. posting the same content will not create another entry. This also has the added benefit that it's very cache-able. Since content addressed by a unique hash/link never changes by design, it can be cached forever (popping something like cloudflare in front makes it very economical to run).
  - Fogest 10y ago
    Can't you make an id in the database that translates to the hash? Then you can generate short URL's.
tugberkk 10y ago
I had this idea for a long time (not that it is something new), it looks definitely great. Good work!
niftich 10y ago
I love your use of content-addressing, and adore the visual design. So much so that I'm almost hesitant to bring up this point. Having read the FAQ, I know your pastes are immutable and permanent. But there are no UX cues on the main interface to suggest this, and no confirmation modal on submit. Would you consider adding a one-time, limited-validity URL given to the original submitter, only in the case that it was a non-deduped paste, with which they can delete the URL? Or would you consider adding additional UI cues to suggest the submitted content is irrevocable?
- 3princip 10y ago
  I like this idea, for example the author will, upon submit, be presented with a secret code (link) that they can use to remove the content if they wish. Will be added soon.
harrisreynolds 10y ago
I honestly don't get it at all. I pasted in some content. Left the page. And now have no idea how to find it. So I guess it is kind important to copy the URL to keep up with this. I would think there would at least be a way to see your own pages even it is was temporary based on cookies. It does look cool though. Maybe I am just not a good candidate for this service.
ruler88 10y ago
Great UX, I love software that is simple, and just works!
agnivade 10y ago
This looks great. May I have the link to the source ? :)

14 points by 3princip 10y ago

Others would call things much worse than this "publishing platforms". This is the most beautiful "pastebin" I've ever seen. It would be a shame if it was used to paste error messages, logs and pieces of broken code.

3princip 10y ago
That's high praise, thank you. It was an interesting hobby project, it reminded me just how much knowledge and work is required for the simplest of projects.

CatsoCatsoCatso 10y ago

I loved it until I hit save and saw the monster of a URL it returned. These URLs aren't something I'd be able to quickly tap in on another device to save messing about with accounts & logins. If the URLs became short and/or pronounceable I'd use this service daily.

3princip 10y ago
That was my main concern when creating it, that link length would be a turn-off. It's understandable and I am considering shortening the hash in the next iteration. The idea is that the link is actually a sha224 hash of the content itself. This serves two purposes, the first that the content is verifiable and de-duplicated by default, i.e. posting the same content will not create another entry. This also has the added benefit that it's very cache-able. Since content addressed by a unique hash/link never changes by design, it can be cached forever (popping something like cloudflare in front makes it very economical to run).
- Fogest 10y ago
  Can't you make an id in the database that translates to the hash? Then you can generate short URL's.

tugberkk 10y ago

I had this idea for a long time (not that it is something new), it looks definitely great. Good work!

niftich 10y ago

I love your use of content-addressing, and adore the visual design. So much so that I'm almost hesitant to bring up this point. Having read the FAQ, I know your pastes are immutable and permanent. But there are no UX cues on the main interface to suggest this, and no confirmation modal on submit. Would you consider adding a one-time, limited-validity URL given to the original submitter, only in the case that it was a non-deduped paste, with which they can delete the URL? Or would you consider adding additional UI cues to suggest the submitted content is irrevocable?

3princip 10y ago
I like this idea, for example the author will, upon submit, be presented with a secret code (link) that they can use to remove the content if they wish. Will be added soon.

harrisreynolds 10y ago

I honestly don't get it at all. I pasted in some content. Left the page. And now have no idea how to find it. So I guess it is kind important to copy the URL to keep up with this. I would think there would at least be a way to see your own pages even it is was temporary based on cookies. It does look cool though. Maybe I am just not a good candidate for this service.

ruler88 10y ago

Great UX, I love software that is simple, and just works!

agnivade 10y ago

This looks great. May I have the link to the source ? :)