6 ms·

Show HN: Replacing WordPress with GitHub Issues-like Blog Comments

90 points by shurcooL 10y ago

africajam 10y ago
Smart idea - got me curious about what else I can do with the github api
- Operyl 10y ago
  Besides the login, this isn't using the GH API at all for what it's worth.
  - shurcooL 10y ago
    This is true. Package githubapi uses the GitHub API [1], but that package is not currently used on my site. [1] https://godoc.org/github.com/shurcooL/issues/githubapi https://godoc.org/github.com/shurcooL/issues/githubapi
fiatjaf 10y ago
The original https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14170041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14170041 was much more about how Disqus was awful, not much about how GitHub Issues comments are a great solution. They're not. There are much better solutions than GitHub Issues comments.
- shurcooL 10y ago
  That's true, Discus is pretty bad. That said, I really enjoy GitHub Issues-like comments. They're simple and get the job done just right.
  - fiatjaf 10y ago
    But you need the commenter to have a GitHub account. Yeah, that's not too bad anyway. Otherwise you would need them to have an account on your site, or on Disqus.
    - shurcooL 10y ago
      Yep. My target audience has a GitHub account already, and I'd rather not force them to create yet another account on my personal site just to comment or leave a reaction. It also works well as a quality filter. People with a GitHub account will be much more responsible with their words, compared to anaonymous posters or throwaway accounts, since they have a professional reputation to maintain.
      - hueving 10y ago
        And it rules out those pesky commenters that care about things like privacy and avoiding the centralization of open source development and shoveling everything into 'the cloud'.
        arjie 10y ago
        Now that's a feature I'd get behind: the ability to select out people I'd rather not talk to. The one you mention is a nice positive effect.
williamle8300 10y ago
It's great... the only drawback is that the solution is exclusive to GitHub users only.
- shurcooL 10y ago
  Thanks. That's the case now, but it doesn't have to be. I could add Google, Facebook, my own accounts (username/password), or other ways for people to authenticate with. I chose not to do that, and stick with GitHub auth only for now, because it covers my current needs. My target audience mostly has an account on GitHub. Also, when a website has many ways to login, it's hard to remember which you've used previously.
mike503 10y ago
I'm still focused on delivering comments from a client side option, so that my site can be delivered using a static approach. Disqus is a bit bulky but does meet that requirement still.
grimborg 10y ago
I'd be tempted to use Firebase as a backend instead: simple integration with the browser, built-in auth using facebook, google and others, and no need to create a github issue for each post.
- tyingq 10y ago
  That sounded logical, so I searched a bit, and there's several good resources. The two that stood out to me: This article goes through making a very basic interface, and is easy to follow...ended with 31 lines of js. It isn't production ready, but was a good intro: https://css-tricks.com/building-a-jekyll-site-part-3-of-3/ https://css-tricks.com/building-a-jekyll-site-part-3-of-3/ Then, a more complete implementation. Hasn't been updated for a few years, but has markdown support, up/down voting, flagging, etc: https://commented.github.io/ https://commented.github.io/
franciscop 10y ago
I made the same with Hacker News comments: https://comments.network/ https://comments.network/ Just add it and get automatic comments from HN right in your blog/page. However I'm discontinuing it soon after HN asked me to do so, but it shouldn't be too difficult for anyone motivated to do their own.
- eriknstr 10y ago
  If HN asked you to discontinue it, shouldn't others avoid doing it also?
  - franciscop 10y ago
    IANAL. IMHO That is up to each individual's decision. I actually asked them and they said they really don't want other people to embed comments on their website. BUT a case could be made about fair use, embedabble content and the fact that there is no effective terms and conditions on HN, just a FAQ (so I think they don't have the exclusive copyright of the comments). Plus the whole YCombinator ethos of asking for forgiveness instead of permission. So I am discontinuing it just because HN is awesome and they asked nicely. But other people might consider things differently.
    - rafark 10y ago
      But I guess he meant morally, rather than technically.
      - franciscop 9y ago
        And who am I to judge the morality of other people in different cultures? What is legal and moral in a country is totally dependent on the culture and many times it has little to do with legality.
- mbrookes 10y ago
  What was the reason given?

90 points by shurcooL 10y ago

africajam 10y ago

Smart idea - got me curious about what else I can do with the github api

Operyl 10y ago
Besides the login, this isn't using the GH API at all for what it's worth.
- shurcooL 10y ago
  This is true. Package githubapi uses the GitHub API [1], but that package is not currently used on my site. [1] https://godoc.org/github.com/shurcooL/issues/githubapi https://godoc.org/github.com/shurcooL/issues/githubapi

fiatjaf 10y ago

The original https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14170041 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14170041 was much more about how Disqus was awful, not much about how GitHub Issues comments are a great solution. They're not. There are much better solutions than GitHub Issues comments.

shurcooL 10y ago
That's true, Discus is pretty bad. That said, I really enjoy GitHub Issues-like comments. They're simple and get the job done just right.
- fiatjaf 10y ago
  But you need the commenter to have a GitHub account. Yeah, that's not too bad anyway. Otherwise you would need them to have an account on your site, or on Disqus.
  - shurcooL 10y ago
    Yep. My target audience has a GitHub account already, and I'd rather not force them to create yet another account on my personal site just to comment or leave a reaction. It also works well as a quality filter. People with a GitHub account will be much more responsible with their words, compared to anaonymous posters or throwaway accounts, since they have a professional reputation to maintain.
    - hueving 10y ago
      And it rules out those pesky commenters that care about things like privacy and avoiding the centralization of open source development and shoveling everything into 'the cloud'.
      - arjie 10y ago
        Now that's a feature I'd get behind: the ability to select out people I'd rather not talk to. The one you mention is a nice positive effect.

williamle8300 10y ago

It's great... the only drawback is that the solution is exclusive to GitHub users only.

shurcooL 10y ago
Thanks. That's the case now, but it doesn't have to be. I could add Google, Facebook, my own accounts (username/password), or other ways for people to authenticate with. I chose not to do that, and stick with GitHub auth only for now, because it covers my current needs. My target audience mostly has an account on GitHub. Also, when a website has many ways to login, it's hard to remember which you've used previously.

mike503 10y ago

I'm still focused on delivering comments from a client side option, so that my site can be delivered using a static approach. Disqus is a bit bulky but does meet that requirement still.

grimborg 10y ago

I'd be tempted to use Firebase as a backend instead: simple integration with the browser, built-in auth using facebook, google and others, and no need to create a github issue for each post.

tyingq 10y ago
That sounded logical, so I searched a bit, and there's several good resources. The two that stood out to me: This article goes through making a very basic interface, and is easy to follow...ended with 31 lines of js. It isn't production ready, but was a good intro: https://css-tricks.com/building-a-jekyll-site-part-3-of-3/ https://css-tricks.com/building-a-jekyll-site-part-3-of-3/ Then, a more complete implementation. Hasn't been updated for a few years, but has markdown support, up/down voting, flagging, etc: https://commented.github.io/ https://commented.github.io/

franciscop 10y ago

I made the same with Hacker News comments: https://comments.network/ https://comments.network/ Just add it and get automatic comments from HN right in your blog/page. However I'm discontinuing it soon after HN asked me to do so, but it shouldn't be too difficult for anyone motivated to do their own.

eriknstr 10y ago
If HN asked you to discontinue it, shouldn't others avoid doing it also?
- franciscop 10y ago
  IANAL. IMHO That is up to each individual's decision. I actually asked them and they said they really don't want other people to embed comments on their website. BUT a case could be made about fair use, embedabble content and the fact that there is no effective terms and conditions on HN, just a FAQ (so I think they don't have the exclusive copyright of the comments). Plus the whole YCombinator ethos of asking for forgiveness instead of permission. So I am discontinuing it just because HN is awesome and they asked nicely. But other people might consider things differently.
  - rafark 10y ago
    But I guess he meant morally, rather than technically.
    - franciscop 9y ago
      And who am I to judge the morality of other people in different cultures? What is legal and moral in a country is totally dependent on the culture and many times it has little to do with legality.
mbrookes 10y ago
What was the reason given?