Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

hyperclay.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 240 posts

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#61

Post by panphora »

BoppreH wrote: post #35

For people who are confused: Hyperclay is a NodeJS server and frontend JS library that allows HTML pages to update their DOM and then replace their own .html source with the updated version. Imagine clicking a checkbox, which adds the `checked` attribute to its element, then using Hyperclay to globally persist this version of `document.body.outerHTML`, so that it's there next time someone visits the page. There's aut…

I added this word-for-word to the home page. Thank you!

Note: we are working on a way for a developer to push "DOM-based schema migrations" to all forked apps.

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#62

Post by panphora »

lcabral wrote: post #59
panphora wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an open source, local app version by the same author (me) here: https://hyperclay.com/hyperclay-local

There is no reference to its license model...

Sorry about that, it's fixed now: MIT License

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#63

Post by panphora »

Tepix wrote: post #8

Looks like it's on Github at https://github.com/panphora/hyperclay-local

This is a version that lets you easily update HTML apps locally. The hosted version is for when you want to share your apps or let other people fork them online.

But the ultimate goal is to have an ecosystem of where you can host/deploy/use HTML apps, including other competing services.

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#64

Post by panphora »

heikkilevanto wrote: post #14

Interesting idea. Well put it on the list of things I should try some day. After a quick look at the site, I like the idea. But I wonder where it's limitations start to get in the way. How about security, if I can modify the page, who else can? And who controls that? How much code and logic does it handle before getting difficult to maintain? And how much data? If I make an useful app with it, say to track beers, can…

1. Security: It operates under the same security model as most website builders (think SquareSpace), we completely trust the end user to modify their own site in their own best interest. If the end user violates this trust, they will lose access to their paid account and could be liable to damages from other users. Their actions, their consequences.

2. Who can modify: You can modify any app you create. You can also "enable signups", which allows other users to easily fork your app, but they all trace back to your source app. We're making a plan right now where you can ship updates to forked apps.

3. Difficult to maintain: Pieter Levels (of NomadList) famously codes his $60k/month apps in single index.php files, so I suppose it matter how you organize your code and what level of navigating-through-the-cruft you're comfortable with.

4. Other people can fork your app and track their own beers. We also want to integrate collaboration features, so 2 people can have control over the same page simultaneously, but for now it's best for single-user apps.

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#65

Post by panphora »

clemensnk wrote: post #15

This is really neat! It echoes many of the ideas we've been exploring with the Webstrates project ( https://webstrates.net ). We've been using the DOM as persistence layer for building malleable collaborative software for smaller groups, whereas hyperclay focuses on using the same mechanisms for traditional webpages. Recently, I have been experimenting with a local-first approach to Webstrates ( https://github.com/We…

Hi Clemens, I'm a big admirer of yours and what you're doing with Webstrates. I first heard of you about a year ago, when I was first exploring the ideas that became Hyperclay.

I love the idea of a local-first Hyperclay. Offline editing is one of the pillars of personal software and I'd like to head in that direction.

Would you be open to hopping on a video call at some point? I'd love to compare notes.

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#66

Post by rbbydotdev »

I really like this idea, I envision something where this would be made possible on browsers now. This could only happen after further consideration about the security implications of localhost html files using secure context apis like indexeddb and localstorage The powers that be would rather turn this concept into a mArKetPlaCe -- Just let us create! Why must we always kneel before the altar of capitalism?

I experimented a bit with the concept to build my resume, I had naively been using gatsby a while back. "Just use a plain html file!" - It was a real "duh!" moment. You just edit the embedded markdown then viola. Want a pdf? Press cmd+P

https://github.com/rbbydotdev/resume

Re: Web apps in a single, portable, self-updating, vanilla HTML file

#67

Post by panphora »

phantomathkg wrote: post #4

At first I thought it is tiddlywiki but it is not.

The author (me) was strongly inspired by TiddlyWiki -- I love that software and wish it was allowed to proliferate more. If only browser vendors allowed their users to persist HTML files back to their own machines, we'd have a whole new ecosystem of personal applications!

I wish I could change the name from Hyperclay to TiddlyApp :)

Post reply on HN