4 ms·

Show HN: Scribble - Simple Markdown Wikis

57 points by choxi 14y ago

p4bl0 14y ago
The name is unfortunate, Scribble is also the name of Racket's documentation tool[1] (which can be used for the same kind of purpose: writing prose and publishing it). [1] http://docs.racket-lang.org/scribble/index.html http://docs.racket-lang.org/scribble/index.html
- Tyr42 14y ago
  Indeed, when I click here, I was expecting a nice presentation of it. scribble is actually quite a nice little markup language.
  - dfc 14y ago
    The "simple markdown" part of the title did not ruin the surprise?
- wavephorm 14y ago
  I imagine both these teams were well aware that using a dictionary word like that for a product name would inevitably lead to name conflicts.
Rudism 14y ago
I initially read the page title as "Simple scribble. Markdown Wikis" and had to do a double take before I realized it's two separate columns.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
wissler 14y ago
Please don't make me sign up in order to see how it works. Give me a link to a representative "simple markdown wiki."
- tedmiston 14y ago
  Agreed. This makes me essential bounce as soon as I land. Although the service itself is self-explanatory, the experience is not.
- choxi 14y ago
  sorry about that, the reason I didn't is because it was simpler and not because I'm trying to trick anyone into signing up
  - mhd 14y ago
    I think jottit's approach is quite interesting: Let anyone create a site/wiki, but require a password to lock it.
    - choxi 14y ago
      +1, I'll try that
  - yashchandra 14y ago
    Sorry but I agree with the parent poster. I bounced immediately when I was taken to sign-up page. Show us a demo or let us do the actual thing before you make anyone sign-up.
    - junkie 14y ago
      Same, clicked the link but closed the tab as soon as it wanted my email address. Would definitely have loved to give it a try without signing up :)
Dejital 14y ago
Also see Gollum[1], a wiki that runs locally from many markup formats including markdown. [1] https://github.com/github/gollum/ https://github.com/github/gollum/
handsomeransoms 14y ago
Please don't ask for a password without HTTPS.
SoftwareMaven 14y ago
When I invite somebody to collaborate, it would be really nice to be able to include my own message. I don't want to have to send somebody a message to let them know that another message will be coming.
evolve2k 14y ago
With your screenshots please show us the diff page and the history page, without these I'm feel like Im just previewing a blogging service.
- cabalamat 14y ago
  I don't think it does history, which is a shame.
DrWhax 14y ago
Opensource it please!
lukifer 14y ago
Beautiful; this is exactly the type of minimalist wiki I've been wanting, but never got around to making for myself. A few points of feedback: - The pricing model is unclear. Are the account upgrades a one-time purchase, or a monthly cost? The amount seems reasonable for the former, and too much for the latter. - One of the great things about wikis is the ability to create new pages from within the content, just by typing [[new page]] or whatever. It would be great if clicking an empty link spawned a new page form rather than a 404. - Once immersed in a wiki's content, the title bar should disappear, or become less prominent in some way. If I'm using this to share info with friends or collaborators (the best use for a wiki), we want to focus on our content, not the site itself. Nice job.
- choxi 14y ago
  thanks a lot for the tips! If you don't mind, I was going to shoot you an email to pick your brain some more.
cabalamat 14y ago
In MediaWiki, to create a new page, I create a link to it, then click on that link abd edit the new page. In Scribble, this workflow doesn't work; maybe you should add that functionality. Also, why do I have to repeat myself and say "[next page](next-page)"? I prefer the MediaWiki syntax where I can just say "[[next page]]"
nathancahill 14y ago
Very cool, but I need to be able to import/export. How do I know you will be around tomorrow?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
  - nathancahill 14y ago
    Please do. My info is on my profile.
mekarpeles 14y ago
Have you guys seen Aaron Swartz' jottit (http://www.jottit.com http://www.jottit.com)? Same idea - all it takes is a text area to produce a version controlled, markdown website.
lists 14y ago
I'm not sure if this is directed at tech-ish people or not, but maybe the word markdown should link to the daring fireball page or some such, something explaining what it is to people not in the know? Or maybe just saying you're a dead simple wiki and leave the markdown emphasis out, like Dropbox with its no-technical-verbiage thing.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
skmurphy 14y ago
Consider sandbox pages where I can do some quick editing to try it out before signing up. I don't care if the page does not last more than an hour. Please be clear on your pricing, I could not find a pricing page.
ahoge 14y ago
It doesn't support fenced code blocks (from GFM). That's kinda inconvenient. Uhm... it actually does, but the preview does not. E.g.: ```ruby def foo puts 'bar' end ``` This results in a `pre>code.ruby` block as it should, but it does not apply any code highlighting nor does it work in the preview. I really like the idea (I always wanted some private markdown wiki I can conveniently access from anywhere without having to set it up and maintain it myself), but without history/diff its usefulness is somewhat hindered. Edit: Add "max-width: 100%" to "p img". Code inside paragraphs should be also 18px, not 12px.
evincarofautumn 14y ago
As one of the last six users of the original Infogami, this makes me happy. :)
edwinyzh 14y ago
I like the simplicity of it. I suggest you to provide hints for markdown markups, that'll let people who don't know markdown get started quickly. I blogged about it here: http://liveditor.com/blog/new-simple-markdown-based-wiki-system-with-live-preview/ http://liveditor.com/blog/new-simple-markdown-based-wiki-sys...
pyre 14y ago
In the preview, there is no margin below the <pre> blocks, which I find annoying. I've tried adding different types of text blocks underneath it, but I'm unable to force more bottom margin.

57 points by choxi 14y ago

p4bl0 14y ago

The name is unfortunate, Scribble is also the name of Racket's documentation tool[1] (which can be used for the same kind of purpose: writing prose and publishing it). [1] http://docs.racket-lang.org/scribble/index.html http://docs.racket-lang.org/scribble/index.html

Tyr42 14y ago
Indeed, when I click here, I was expecting a nice presentation of it. scribble is actually quite a nice little markup language.
- dfc 14y ago
  The "simple markdown" part of the title did not ruin the surprise?
wavephorm 14y ago
I imagine both these teams were well aware that using a dictionary word like that for a product name would inevitably lead to name conflicts.

Rudism 14y ago

I initially read the page title as "Simple scribble. Markdown Wikis" and had to do a double take before I realized it's two separate columns.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

wissler 14y ago

Please don't make me sign up in order to see how it works. Give me a link to a representative "simple markdown wiki."

tedmiston 14y ago
Agreed. This makes me essential bounce as soon as I land. Although the service itself is self-explanatory, the experience is not.
choxi 14y ago
sorry about that, the reason I didn't is because it was simpler and not because I'm trying to trick anyone into signing up
- mhd 14y ago
  I think jottit's approach is quite interesting: Let anyone create a site/wiki, but require a password to lock it.
  - choxi 14y ago
    +1, I'll try that
- yashchandra 14y ago
  Sorry but I agree with the parent poster. I bounced immediately when I was taken to sign-up page. Show us a demo or let us do the actual thing before you make anyone sign-up.
  - junkie 14y ago
    Same, clicked the link but closed the tab as soon as it wanted my email address. Would definitely have loved to give it a try without signing up :)

Dejital 14y ago

Also see Gollum[1], a wiki that runs locally from many markup formats including markdown. [1] https://github.com/github/gollum/ https://github.com/github/gollum/

handsomeransoms 14y ago

Please don't ask for a password without HTTPS.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

When I invite somebody to collaborate, it would be really nice to be able to include my own message. I don't want to have to send somebody a message to let them know that another message will be coming.

evolve2k 14y ago

With your screenshots please show us the diff page and the history page, without these I'm feel like Im just previewing a blogging service.

cabalamat 14y ago
I don't think it does history, which is a shame.

DrWhax 14y ago

Opensource it please!

lukifer 14y ago

Beautiful; this is exactly the type of minimalist wiki I've been wanting, but never got around to making for myself. A few points of feedback: - The pricing model is unclear. Are the account upgrades a one-time purchase, or a monthly cost? The amount seems reasonable for the former, and too much for the latter. - One of the great things about wikis is the ability to create new pages from within the content, just by typing [[new page]] or whatever. It would be great if clicking an empty link spawned a new page form rather than a 404. - Once immersed in a wiki's content, the title bar should disappear, or become less prominent in some way. If I'm using this to share info with friends or collaborators (the best use for a wiki), we want to focus on our content, not the site itself. Nice job.

choxi 14y ago
thanks a lot for the tips! If you don't mind, I was going to shoot you an email to pick your brain some more.

cabalamat 14y ago

In MediaWiki, to create a new page, I create a link to it, then click on that link abd edit the new page. In Scribble, this workflow doesn't work; maybe you should add that functionality. Also, why do I have to repeat myself and say "[next page](next-page)"? I prefer the MediaWiki syntax where I can just say "[[next page]]"

nathancahill 14y ago

Very cool, but I need to be able to import/export. How do I know you will be around tomorrow?

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
- nathancahill 14y ago
  Please do. My info is on my profile.

mekarpeles 14y ago

Have you guys seen Aaron Swartz' jottit (http://www.jottit.com http://www.jottit.com)? Same idea - all it takes is a text area to produce a version controlled, markdown website.

lists 14y ago

I'm not sure if this is directed at tech-ish people or not, but maybe the word markdown should link to the daring fireball page or some such, something explaining what it is to people not in the know? Or maybe just saying you're a dead simple wiki and leave the markdown emphasis out, like Dropbox with its no-technical-verbiage thing.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

skmurphy 14y ago

Consider sandbox pages where I can do some quick editing to try it out before signing up. I don't care if the page does not last more than an hour. Please be clear on your pricing, I could not find a pricing page.

ahoge 14y ago

It doesn't support fenced code blocks (from GFM). That's kinda inconvenient. Uhm... it actually does, but the preview does not. E.g.: ```ruby def foo puts 'bar' end ``` This results in a `pre>code.ruby` block as it should, but it does not apply any code highlighting nor does it work in the preview. I really like the idea (I always wanted some private markdown wiki I can conveniently access from anywhere without having to set it up and maintain it myself), but without history/diff its usefulness is somewhat hindered. Edit: Add "max-width: 100%" to "p img". Code inside paragraphs should be also 18px, not 12px.

evincarofautumn 14y ago

As one of the last six users of the original Infogami, this makes me happy. :)

edwinyzh 14y ago

I like the simplicity of it. I suggest you to provide hints for markdown markups, that'll let people who don't know markdown get started quickly. I blogged about it here: http://liveditor.com/blog/new-simple-markdown-based-wiki-system-with-live-preview/ http://liveditor.com/blog/new-simple-markdown-based-wiki-sys...

pyre 14y ago

In the preview, there is no margin below the <pre> blocks, which I find annoying. I've tried adding different types of text blocks underneath it, but I'm unable to force more bottom margin.