5 ms·

Show HN: my weekend+2d project: Web hosting for Dropbox

47 points by iradik 15y ago

iradik 15y ago
i learned plenty making this. varnish, httpcore, and the dropbox apis are all very cool. though clearly i need to learn how to make an effective landing page, because no one who is visiting actually trying this service.
- mashmac2 15y ago
  It's not clear what we're doing on the landing page. What is the subdomain? A subdomain of your domain? I'm assuming that, but I don't know... What will happen when we connect our dropbox? Is that even what the submit button does? Just some thoughts... great work otherwise!
  - azylman 15y ago
    This. I was really confused as to what was happening.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - iradik 15y ago
    If you enter "foo" it will create foo.80cols.com for you and create a folder in your Dropbox called Apps/webcache/foo.80cols.com and host it. If you enter "www.yourdomain.com" it will work too, though you need to setup a DNS CNAME record and point it at 80cols.com. Clicking sunlit links whatever domain you enter to a folder in your Dropbox account called Apps/webcache/www.yourdomain.com/ Then whatever you put in that folder will be automatically synced to webcache and hosted within a minute. As you update the folder it will sync within a minute. Unfortunately Dropbox does not have a push API so I have to poll Dropbox to check if your files changed. Otherwise it would be faster. Dropbox has an rss even feed but it's not really designed for programmatic access and I would need to ask the user to provide it. Supposedly an events API is coming; that would be very cool.
  - dangrossman 15y ago
    iradik replied to your comment but his reply is [dead], FYI.
    - iradik 15y ago
      Why is it dead?
      - pg 15y ago
        You submitted two identical comments. When that happens the second is automatically killed. But meanwhile you noticed and deleted the first. I just unkilled the second.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
  - iradik 15y ago
    Trying again... If you enter "foo" it will create foo.80cols.com for you and create a folder in your Dropbox called Apps/webcache/foo.80cols.com and host it. If you enter "www.yourdomain.com" it will work too, though you need to setup a DNS CNAME record and point it at 80cols.com. Clicking sunlit links whatever domain you enter to a folder in your Dropbox account called Apps/webcache/www.yourdomain.com/ Then whatever you put in that folder will be automatically synced to webcache and hosted within a minute. As you update the folder it will sync within a minute. Unfortunately Dropbox does not have a push API so I have to poll Dropbox to check if your files changed. Otherwise it would be faster. Dropbox has an rss even feed but it's not really designed for programmatic access and I would need to ask the user to provide it. Supposedly an events API is coming; that would be very cool.
udp 15y ago
What's the advantage over the Dropbox "Public" folder?
- iradik 15y ago
  You can use your own domain. It's not advertised but if you enter xyz.yourdomain.org and point a CNAME to 80cols.com it will host it for you. It's faster, supports index.html, and directories. I've found public links to be slow. Additionally it's extensible because it's running on an http core I can modify.
wonjun 15y ago
there is no way to deactivate
- azharb 15y ago
  +1
- iradik 15y ago
  You can delete the folder, but I agree there are no settings and no login. In fact there isn't even a database, which is a problem if I have to restart the server. I am pretty sure I can easily reconstruct from the logs though. You can email me, not a great solution I know. You can revoke access in your Dropbox account.
tectonic 15y ago
You need a paragraph explaining what this is.
- iradik 15y ago
  Definitely agree. I'm putting together something now. I think some screenshots along with a video would go along way of explaining what happens after you click submit, which I'm thinking is what visitors are wondering when they get here.
- iradik 15y ago
  ok updated.. this is what site originally looked like: http://webcache.80cols.com/orig.html http://webcache.80cols.com/orig.html for comparison.
  - tectonic 15y ago
    Much better!
MichaelApproved 15y ago
What are you doing to prevent this from being abused by spammers?
- iradik 15y ago
  Nothing. It's a great question though. What do normal web hosts do to prevent such things? I suppose I would have to do something similar.
tszming 15y ago
Do you cache the file on your server? Or just fetch from Dropbox every-time?
- iradik 15y ago
  It's cached on my server using varnish http://varnish-cache.org http://varnish-cache.org, which uses LRU caching with ttls. A very cool open source web caching project. I use a configuration very similar to media wiki where I set long ttls and then have the backend send a PURGE http message followed by a GET to varnish when a file is updated to refresh the cache.
  - judofyr 15y ago
    I've point briefly looked at the Dropbox API, but couldn't figure it out; how do you detect when a file has changed?
    - iradik 15y ago
      There is no push api or list of changes at this point. You can check each directory to see if it's changed... by passing a hash to the metadata function. It will tell you if the directory has been modified in any way.
nicksergeant 15y ago
I honestly have no idea what this is. If I didn't find this via HN, I'd immediately assume it was some scam for phishing Dropbox accounts. You need some information here about what this thing does.
- nicksergeant 15y ago
  Reading the comments below, I see that you're well aware of this. I would suggest just adding a single huge sentence at the top of the page that says "by you giving us X information, this web app will do Y". No need for fancy graphics, slogans, etc, just something simple that explains what it does, in a short, effective sentence.
  - iradik 15y ago
    Yeah that's a great point. I added such a sentence. The site you visit is actually located on my Dropbox so nice and easy to edit. I mean I basically made this because I wanted to start making a old school type of personal web site (80cols.com) and didn't want to have to scup files all over the place. I also didn't want to use an existing blogging platform. The major disadvantage is you can't run script or anything, but it's great for serving static content. I mean I could basically load gigs of videos and photos and just share them with the world if I wanted. I need to do more, but at least now I know there's interest. I didn't even know that before launching.
- iradik 15y ago
  Yup, the copy was non-existent.. I've been updating the copy tonight after I fixed some troubling oauth bugs. I didn't realize you ultimately throw away your first oauth key, and keep the second oauth key.
ftwinnovations 15y ago
iradik, now that I've read your explanation in the comments below I want to say I love the concept. A very cool way to almost instantly throw a site online and update from anywhere. Of course I have to agree with everyone saying "what the heck" based on the homepage. Maybe just add a "what does this do?" section to start, and be sure to describe what fields like "subdomian" actually are for. The other major hurtle here I think is simply fear of having our Dropbox data or account stolen in some way. I'm not claiming that is in any way what you are doing, but it's a natural immediate thought, particularly for this techie security focused audience I suppose. Either way, I really do love the idea. You might want to fix up the homepage and see if the MVP gets some traction.
- iradik 15y ago
  Dropbox has two modes: APP_FOLDER and DROPBOX. APP_FOLDER just creates a sandbox and does not give me permission to all your Dropbox data. I would never want access to such a thing on a server that's publicly visible. The Dropbox authentication screen says: "This app will create a folder named webcache in your Dropbox. The app will only have access to this folder." But yeah you have no idea what's going to happen when you click that grey Submit button. I agree the lack of polish makes it look spammy. Maybe some rounded corners and bubbly clouds would make it more trust-worthy. Along with an invitation to come over my house and have a beer.
  - asmosoinio 15y ago
    If found this intimidating on the first read: "By you giving us a subdomain and ...". I don't want to give you a subdomain! How about "Enter the subdomain name you want:". Or something.
    - iradik 15y ago
      yes i'm realizing there's nearly nothing approachable about this ui as simple as it may be. glad hacker news visitors are so friendly and giving such great feedback. i really appreciate it. i'm also seeing lots of errors in the server due to authentication reasons, clearly i have some learning to do in terms of how oauth actually works.
moustachio 15y ago
Hi iradik. I put together a 5 minute review of your software specifically looking at the usability of it. I hope you find this useful. http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wLJs5xa9OVhr/MUwzQ9et32ZtUGmjdgrvxg http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wL...
moustachioapp 15y ago
Hello again iradik. I've put together a second review of your updated app. Again, I hope you find this useful. http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wLJs5xa9OVhr/90nndgK2FbwTeySSIDuwIA http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wL...

47 points by iradik 15y ago

i learned plenty making this. varnish, httpcore, and the dropbox apis are all very cool. though clearly i need to learn how to make an effective landing page, because no one who is visiting actually trying this service.

mashmac2 15y ago
It's not clear what we're doing on the landing page. What is the subdomain? A subdomain of your domain? I'm assuming that, but I don't know... What will happen when we connect our dropbox? Is that even what the submit button does? Just some thoughts... great work otherwise!
- azylman 15y ago
  This. I was really confused as to what was happening.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- iradik 15y ago
  If you enter "foo" it will create foo.80cols.com for you and create a folder in your Dropbox called Apps/webcache/foo.80cols.com and host it. If you enter "www.yourdomain.com" it will work too, though you need to setup a DNS CNAME record and point it at 80cols.com. Clicking sunlit links whatever domain you enter to a folder in your Dropbox account called Apps/webcache/www.yourdomain.com/ Then whatever you put in that folder will be automatically synced to webcache and hosted within a minute. As you update the folder it will sync within a minute. Unfortunately Dropbox does not have a push API so I have to poll Dropbox to check if your files changed. Otherwise it would be faster. Dropbox has an rss even feed but it's not really designed for programmatic access and I would need to ask the user to provide it. Supposedly an events API is coming; that would be very cool.
- dangrossman 15y ago
  iradik replied to your comment but his reply is [dead], FYI.
  - iradik 15y ago
    Why is it dead?
    - pg 15y ago
      You submitted two identical comments. When that happens the second is automatically killed. But meanwhile you noticed and deleted the first. I just unkilled the second.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
- iradik 15y ago
  Trying again... If you enter "foo" it will create foo.80cols.com for you and create a folder in your Dropbox called Apps/webcache/foo.80cols.com and host it. If you enter "www.yourdomain.com" it will work too, though you need to setup a DNS CNAME record and point it at 80cols.com. Clicking sunlit links whatever domain you enter to a folder in your Dropbox account called Apps/webcache/www.yourdomain.com/ Then whatever you put in that folder will be automatically synced to webcache and hosted within a minute. As you update the folder it will sync within a minute. Unfortunately Dropbox does not have a push API so I have to poll Dropbox to check if your files changed. Otherwise it would be faster. Dropbox has an rss even feed but it's not really designed for programmatic access and I would need to ask the user to provide it. Supposedly an events API is coming; that would be very cool.

udp 15y ago

What's the advantage over the Dropbox "Public" folder?

iradik 15y ago
You can use your own domain. It's not advertised but if you enter xyz.yourdomain.org and point a CNAME to 80cols.com it will host it for you. It's faster, supports index.html, and directories. I've found public links to be slow. Additionally it's extensible because it's running on an http core I can modify.

wonjun 15y ago

there is no way to deactivate

azharb 15y ago
+1
iradik 15y ago
You can delete the folder, but I agree there are no settings and no login. In fact there isn't even a database, which is a problem if I have to restart the server. I am pretty sure I can easily reconstruct from the logs though. You can email me, not a great solution I know. You can revoke access in your Dropbox account.

tectonic 15y ago

You need a paragraph explaining what this is.

iradik 15y ago
Definitely agree. I'm putting together something now. I think some screenshots along with a video would go along way of explaining what happens after you click submit, which I'm thinking is what visitors are wondering when they get here.
iradik 15y ago
ok updated.. this is what site originally looked like: http://webcache.80cols.com/orig.html http://webcache.80cols.com/orig.html for comparison.
- tectonic 15y ago
  Much better!

MichaelApproved 15y ago

What are you doing to prevent this from being abused by spammers?

iradik 15y ago
Nothing. It's a great question though. What do normal web hosts do to prevent such things? I suppose I would have to do something similar.

tszming 15y ago

Do you cache the file on your server? Or just fetch from Dropbox every-time?

iradik 15y ago
It's cached on my server using varnish http://varnish-cache.org http://varnish-cache.org, which uses LRU caching with ttls. A very cool open source web caching project. I use a configuration very similar to media wiki where I set long ttls and then have the backend send a PURGE http message followed by a GET to varnish when a file is updated to refresh the cache.
- judofyr 15y ago
  I've point briefly looked at the Dropbox API, but couldn't figure it out; how do you detect when a file has changed?
  - iradik 15y ago
    There is no push api or list of changes at this point. You can check each directory to see if it's changed... by passing a hash to the metadata function. It will tell you if the directory has been modified in any way.

nicksergeant 15y ago

I honestly have no idea what this is. If I didn't find this via HN, I'd immediately assume it was some scam for phishing Dropbox accounts. You need some information here about what this thing does.

nicksergeant 15y ago
Reading the comments below, I see that you're well aware of this. I would suggest just adding a single huge sentence at the top of the page that says "by you giving us X information, this web app will do Y". No need for fancy graphics, slogans, etc, just something simple that explains what it does, in a short, effective sentence.
- iradik 15y ago
  Yeah that's a great point. I added such a sentence. The site you visit is actually located on my Dropbox so nice and easy to edit. I mean I basically made this because I wanted to start making a old school type of personal web site (80cols.com) and didn't want to have to scup files all over the place. I also didn't want to use an existing blogging platform. The major disadvantage is you can't run script or anything, but it's great for serving static content. I mean I could basically load gigs of videos and photos and just share them with the world if I wanted. I need to do more, but at least now I know there's interest. I didn't even know that before launching.
iradik 15y ago
Yup, the copy was non-existent.. I've been updating the copy tonight after I fixed some troubling oauth bugs. I didn't realize you ultimately throw away your first oauth key, and keep the second oauth key.

ftwinnovations 15y ago

iradik, now that I've read your explanation in the comments below I want to say I love the concept. A very cool way to almost instantly throw a site online and update from anywhere. Of course I have to agree with everyone saying "what the heck" based on the homepage. Maybe just add a "what does this do?" section to start, and be sure to describe what fields like "subdomian" actually are for. The other major hurtle here I think is simply fear of having our Dropbox data or account stolen in some way. I'm not claiming that is in any way what you are doing, but it's a natural immediate thought, particularly for this techie security focused audience I suppose. Either way, I really do love the idea. You might want to fix up the homepage and see if the MVP gets some traction.

iradik 15y ago
Dropbox has two modes: APP_FOLDER and DROPBOX. APP_FOLDER just creates a sandbox and does not give me permission to all your Dropbox data. I would never want access to such a thing on a server that's publicly visible. The Dropbox authentication screen says: "This app will create a folder named webcache in your Dropbox. The app will only have access to this folder." But yeah you have no idea what's going to happen when you click that grey Submit button. I agree the lack of polish makes it look spammy. Maybe some rounded corners and bubbly clouds would make it more trust-worthy. Along with an invitation to come over my house and have a beer.
- asmosoinio 15y ago
  If found this intimidating on the first read: "By you giving us a subdomain and ...". I don't want to give you a subdomain! How about "Enter the subdomain name you want:". Or something.
  - iradik 15y ago
    yes i'm realizing there's nearly nothing approachable about this ui as simple as it may be. glad hacker news visitors are so friendly and giving such great feedback. i really appreciate it. i'm also seeing lots of errors in the server due to authentication reasons, clearly i have some learning to do in terms of how oauth actually works.

moustachio 15y ago

Hi iradik. I put together a 5 minute review of your software specifically looking at the usability of it. I hope you find this useful. http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wLJs5xa9OVhr/MUwzQ9et32ZtUGmjdgrvxg http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wL...

moustachioapp 15y ago

Hello again iradik. I've put together a second review of your updated app. Again, I hope you find this useful. http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wLJs5xa9OVhr/90nndgK2FbwTeySSIDuwIA http://moustach.io/welcome/e/reviewed/Ewoo6m26d19Cm5fj7zr6wL...