Hey everyone! I've just published a beta of my new app for writers -
It's a simple tool meant to help writers to develop a daily writing habit, achieve their writing goals, and track their progress.
If you're interested in this sort of thing - it'd be really awesome if you could check it out and let me know what you think. I'm looking for any feedback, first impressions, your thoughts on what could be better.
@ThatTupperKid Thanks! Before you login, data is saved in your browser. Once you click sign up, the data from your browser is uploaded to the server (and deleted from the browser).
@rayalez Ok, thanks! How is that data being stored? I can imagine there are quite a few writers who would want some assurances that their writing was being stored securely.
@rayalez I'd do something to make the writing box stand out a bit more. I missed it the first once over of the site. Is there an option for downloading data once it's saved to the server? Lot of folks will want that.
I understand not wanting the calendar bar to start on today, so folks can see their progress. But with today all the way on the write, my progress for today is off the screen, which is a bit annoying.
Last thought is you might want to have a shorter intro page with a link to "more info on features. That's a LOT of text to throw at someone as soon as they arrive on your site.
App itself seems to work well, does what it says on the tin, and the minimalist design will appeal to a lot of folks.
@jessmahler Thank you so much for your feedback!
I'll try to make the writing box stand out.
Data can be exported from main menu. Currently as a text file, but I'm planning to add different formats and features(like exporting only some of the days)
I'm not sure what you mean about the calendar bar, it's supposed to automatically focus on today by default. Did that not work for you or do you mean something else?
You're definitely right about the intro page, I'll try to make onboarding easier
@rayalez Sorry I wasn't clear about the calendar--no it wasn't focused on today, it had today all the way to the right of the screen.
@rayalez Hi. Does this app have any offline functionality using a service worker?
@starbreaker Not at the moment. I've started putting it together but it's not done yet. Once I'll figure it out it will =)
@rayalez OK. I might give it a try anyway. I can cope with needing wifi, but I find that it often helps to disconnect when writing.
@starbreaker Thanks for letting me know it's important to you, I'll try to bump it up on my todo list =)
@rayalez This looks pretty great. I'll give it a look tomorrow! I have a few places I think I can share it, as well.
@rayalez
My biggest concern is what data gets uploaded. While I don't mind (and expect) my output in word count getting uploaded and tracked, does it upload the actual words put into it?
@Cybertrash @rayalez Related question: is this #FreeSoftware? (e.g., open-source, at minimum)
It looks really pretty, and a cool concept. I'd love to try it, but I don't use proprietary software anymore if I can help it..
@Cybertrash Well, the app saves everything you write so that you could click on any day in the past and see what you wrote that day, like a note taking or a journaling app would.
Thanks =) I love Mastodon so I've used most of it's colors.
@rayalez
is it #FOSS? Can it be #selfhosted ?
@rayalez This is cool. I see a couple of things which I would like to see improved:
- registration/login clearer that it's happened
- the "embed" code I'd like to see point to the correct source.
I'll give it a go, and I will try to give some feedback over the time I play with it.
I think it could make a great editor for people to plug in on their own projects, if of course you're open to that.
Thanks! I'll definitely need to improve the login process.
Thanks for letting me know about the embed code, I'll fix it. It's definitely more of a prototype for now, I want to make it work better and be a lot more customizable so it'd fit well with any website's design.
Making it pluggable is an interesting idea, I'm not sure how it'd work, but I'll think about it.
Meanwhile, check out slate.js, that's the editor I've built writing streak around, and it's brilliant.
@rayalez Oh, that *is* really cool. I think you've made it "even better" with a few things: word count, timer, and the not reflowing box. But it *does* support MD which is really cool.
@atenorio This is an interesting idea, one more person has suggested it too, so I will be thinking about this. I don't quite see how it would work, but I'll try to figure it out.
For now, you should check out slate.js, it is an extremely flexible and powerful editor, and writing streak is built on top of it. It might be more useful for extending your own project.
Have you considered to develop your tool as free software and build your business model in a different way than requiring subscriptions?
@rayalez @lostnbronx Not that I think you need it, but it's a thing relevant to your daily activity.
@rayalez This looks really cool! I agree with the data storage concerns, I'd rather have a native app. I also hit the issue with the current day being off to the right (Firefox here). The colors are also a bit dull, something other than greys would be more motivating :)
@rayalez
heya, having trouble signing up – put in my email/password, then nothing happened. tried a second time but was told the email was already in use. still can't seem to log in, either in firefox or chrome.
also, i couldn't find answers in the thread here (a faq will probably help in the future!) but where is the data stored? like, is it google, amazon, &c...
anyway, thanks for setting it up! looking forward to using it.
@rayalez Looks really cool! I have a question about where data is going. Is the writing being synced with the server, or does it stay local?