8 ms·

Show HN: Authpad - Elegant way to publish

42 points by stevelis 14y ago

crisnoble 14y ago
Very nice. I will add it to my list of "friction free" writing webapps. Others on the list include: http://typerighter.com http://typerighter.com , writespace (chrome plugin: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aimodnlfiikjjnmdchihablmkdeobhad https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aimodnlfiikjjnmdch...) and my personal favorite: http://calepin.co http://calepin.co
- 18pfsmt 14y ago
  Sorry for the off-topic: Could you (or anyone) explain why I need to sign-in to Google in order to install this?
  - crisnoble 14y ago
    which?
    - 18pfsmt 14y ago
      Sorry. I was referring to Writespace. For some reason, it requires a sign-in, but another extension that is similar doesn't. So, I was wondering if this is author-specified or what.
eslachance 14y ago
I've seen other minimalist blogging platforms and I have to admit this one seems a little more responsive (speed-wise), and truly simple to use while retaining the basic feature set that's necessary for a functional blog. I've opened an account and will test it out. Great work!
webwanderings 14y ago
Yeah, nice.
lysol 14y ago
This makes me think of when Tumblr was still a nice, stripped down platform for blogging, instead of Livejournal 2.
chromedude 14y ago
What's up with the onscreen keyboard to type your username?
- reddit_clone 14y ago
  I guess it cuts down on scripts automatically opening and abusing accounts ?
  - mikeevans 14y ago
    How? You can still type in the box.
    - pixelcort 14y ago
      Maybe it's to work around public computers with keyloggers?
    - reddit_clone 14y ago
      That's a bit odd. Normally the edit box is grayed out. I have even seen, in some cases, these pictorial keyboards coming up with scrambled key arrangements. Bit annoying for real users. But way harder for scripties.
splatcollision 14y ago
Pretty nice work, thanks for sharing. Markdown is the best.
DoubleMalt 14y ago
https will hopefully be added ;)
gordonguthrie 14y ago
Yeah it was sweet and easy if you just want to get some text up there.
nathancahill 14y ago
Cool, any way to float images?
jwarzech 14y ago
Look great, this is actually something I've been looking for.
webwanderings 14y ago
Here in my opinion what a blogging platform needs as a least minimum features: - Good SEO, signal. - A sense of ownership and trust by the user community. A blog is like a home. An average person would most likely have one home to live. So a platform should provide enough comfort and trust-worthy mechanism for users to adopt. I guess every blogging platform started with this vision but over time, they lost trust-worthiness and a feel of comfort for users (unless you self-host). It didn't feel right when Blogger was littered with neighbors who were spammers and pornographers, although blogspot was a fine and crisp start. The guinea-pig aspect of Wordpress.com and their lack of control for user over their own blogs is another negative. I don't know much about Tumblr and others so I won't speak about them. Ultimately, if you are providing blogging services as a platform for users to adopt, than you have to ensure that your ground has a solid foundation for users to build their houses.
some1else 14y ago
Cool keyboard. I need to have a number in my username
minikomi 14y ago
Love the look and the speed of this. The title to slug fails on non English text .. http://minikomi.authpad.com/ http://minikomi.authpad.com/ Also doubled up, or blank, slugs might be better handled more gracefully. The view count is subtle but already gave me a grin !
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
lrm 14y ago
I like it. Nice and simple. Is there any way to turn a timestamp off for a page? Also, is there/will there be an RSS feed for each blog? And I know it's early, but will you be adding domain name support?
amwelles 14y ago
Doesn't look like the about and legal links work. (Edit: They work when logged out, but not when logged in.) I do like it, though... reminds me of when Diary-X was still around. I mourned the loss of that site. The simplicity of it all makes my brain happy.
smokinjoe 14y ago
Very nice, I like. Performs real well on my phone (VZW stock GNexus) as well. I am really digging the simplicity and the combination of the typographical syntax and html within the textarea. I wish I could think of some critiques, but I'm really at a loss right now.
jorgegonzales 14y ago
Please use https for logins..
dougbarrett 14y ago
It's pretty cool! But I've found a few bugs: Code doesn't wrap, you can see the posts I did here: http://doug.authpad.com/ http://doug.authpad.com/ The bottom post is using a codeblock, but it stretches out the pages. Also, when I went to edit the page and updated it, it made a new post.
- stevelis 14y ago
  Thanks for the report. First bug is fixed. Quick question: does editing any page cause it to be reposted when you update?
  - dougbarrett 14y ago
    Hey, sorry to get back to you so late. No, it actually didn't do it again when I replicated the issue. Maybe I hit the back button to edit it, and it reposted it?
fidz 14y ago
It would be even better if we also can edit post when offline and publish it when online (like jekyll and octopress).
davidandgoliath 14y ago
When you hit 'preview' on your new post, the publish / draft buttons disappear in chrome on mac os x, leaving you to question your sanity.
dmdavis 14y ago
Very nice looking setup. Easy to use (as advertised) and attractive by default. I love the simple look of it. [edit]Since advice is not forthcoming, I'll add a suggestion instead. A forgot password link would be great on the login page.[/edit] Oddly, though, I can't log back in. I created an account, made some pages, and signed out. When I try to log in with the email address I used, it correctly changes to my username, but then it says that the username is invalid. Any thoughts? http://d-rock.authpad.com http://d-rock.authpad.com.
- stevelis 14y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. The bug you reported is fixed. :) Try logging back in with your username or email.
  - dmdavis 14y ago
    Excellent, that works. Thanks.
mmmmax 14y ago
Really cool. UX-wise, I think you're missing a message that says: "That username is already taken. If it's your account, please login."
stevelis 14y ago
Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback. We really appreciate it!

42 points by stevelis 14y ago

Very nice. I will add it to my list of "friction free" writing webapps. Others on the list include: http://typerighter.com http://typerighter.com , writespace (chrome plugin: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aimodnlfiikjjnmdchihablmkdeobhad https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/aimodnlfiikjjnmdch...) and my personal favorite: http://calepin.co http://calepin.co

18pfsmt 14y ago
Sorry for the off-topic: Could you (or anyone) explain why I need to sign-in to Google in order to install this?
- crisnoble 14y ago
  which?
  - 18pfsmt 14y ago
    Sorry. I was referring to Writespace. For some reason, it requires a sign-in, but another extension that is similar doesn't. So, I was wondering if this is author-specified or what.

eslachance 14y ago

I've seen other minimalist blogging platforms and I have to admit this one seems a little more responsive (speed-wise), and truly simple to use while retaining the basic feature set that's necessary for a functional blog. I've opened an account and will test it out. Great work!

webwanderings 14y ago

Yeah, nice.

lysol 14y ago

This makes me think of when Tumblr was still a nice, stripped down platform for blogging, instead of Livejournal 2.

chromedude 14y ago

What's up with the onscreen keyboard to type your username?

reddit_clone 14y ago
I guess it cuts down on scripts automatically opening and abusing accounts ?
- mikeevans 14y ago
  How? You can still type in the box.
  - pixelcort 14y ago
    Maybe it's to work around public computers with keyloggers?
  - reddit_clone 14y ago
    That's a bit odd. Normally the edit box is grayed out. I have even seen, in some cases, these pictorial keyboards coming up with scrambled key arrangements. Bit annoying for real users. But way harder for scripties.

splatcollision 14y ago

Pretty nice work, thanks for sharing. Markdown is the best.

DoubleMalt 14y ago

https will hopefully be added ;)

gordonguthrie 14y ago

Yeah it was sweet and easy if you just want to get some text up there.

nathancahill 14y ago

Cool, any way to float images?

jwarzech 14y ago

Look great, this is actually something I've been looking for.

webwanderings 14y ago

Here in my opinion what a blogging platform needs as a least minimum features: - Good SEO, signal. - A sense of ownership and trust by the user community. A blog is like a home. An average person would most likely have one home to live. So a platform should provide enough comfort and trust-worthy mechanism for users to adopt. I guess every blogging platform started with this vision but over time, they lost trust-worthiness and a feel of comfort for users (unless you self-host). It didn't feel right when Blogger was littered with neighbors who were spammers and pornographers, although blogspot was a fine and crisp start. The guinea-pig aspect of Wordpress.com and their lack of control for user over their own blogs is another negative. I don't know much about Tumblr and others so I won't speak about them. Ultimately, if you are providing blogging services as a platform for users to adopt, than you have to ensure that your ground has a solid foundation for users to build their houses.

some1else 14y ago

Cool keyboard. I need to have a number in my username

minikomi 14y ago

Love the look and the speed of this. The title to slug fails on non English text .. http://minikomi.authpad.com/ http://minikomi.authpad.com/ Also doubled up, or blank, slugs might be better handled more gracefully. The view count is subtle but already gave me a grin !

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

lrm 14y ago

I like it. Nice and simple. Is there any way to turn a timestamp off for a page? Also, is there/will there be an RSS feed for each blog? And I know it's early, but will you be adding domain name support?

amwelles 14y ago

Doesn't look like the about and legal links work. (Edit: They work when logged out, but not when logged in.) I do like it, though... reminds me of when Diary-X was still around. I mourned the loss of that site. The simplicity of it all makes my brain happy.

smokinjoe 14y ago

Very nice, I like. Performs real well on my phone (VZW stock GNexus) as well. I am really digging the simplicity and the combination of the typographical syntax and html within the textarea. I wish I could think of some critiques, but I'm really at a loss right now.

jorgegonzales 14y ago

Please use https for logins..

dougbarrett 14y ago

It's pretty cool! But I've found a few bugs: Code doesn't wrap, you can see the posts I did here: http://doug.authpad.com/ http://doug.authpad.com/ The bottom post is using a codeblock, but it stretches out the pages. Also, when I went to edit the page and updated it, it made a new post.

stevelis 14y ago
Thanks for the report. First bug is fixed. Quick question: does editing any page cause it to be reposted when you update?
- dougbarrett 14y ago
  Hey, sorry to get back to you so late. No, it actually didn't do it again when I replicated the issue. Maybe I hit the back button to edit it, and it reposted it?

fidz 14y ago

It would be even better if we also can edit post when offline and publish it when online (like jekyll and octopress).

davidandgoliath 14y ago

When you hit 'preview' on your new post, the publish / draft buttons disappear in chrome on mac os x, leaving you to question your sanity.

dmdavis 14y ago

Very nice looking setup. Easy to use (as advertised) and attractive by default. I love the simple look of it. [edit]Since advice is not forthcoming, I'll add a suggestion instead. A forgot password link would be great on the login page.[/edit] Oddly, though, I can't log back in. I created an account, made some pages, and signed out. When I try to log in with the email address I used, it correctly changes to my username, but then it says that the username is invalid. Any thoughts? http://d-rock.authpad.com http://d-rock.authpad.com.

stevelis 14y ago
Thanks for the feedback. The bug you reported is fixed. :) Try logging back in with your username or email.
- dmdavis 14y ago
  Excellent, that works. Thanks.

mmmmax 14y ago

Really cool. UX-wise, I think you're missing a message that says: "That username is already taken. If it's your account, please login."

stevelis 14y ago

Thanks everyone for all the positive feedback. We really appreciate it!