Minimal Notepad – side project

General Web Dev
#1

Hello!

I made kvak.io – a minimal notepad. Visiting the homepage generates a new note with a unique link that can be immediately shared with anyone.

What do you think? Would you find any use for it, or is it too simple?

#2

I think I would use Github’s Gist pages for that functionality.

#3

Hi levmiseri, welcome to the forums!

I read the intro and have a few thoughts:

  • Can I create a note with a more readable URL or is the generated note number the only option?
  • What exactly does the password protect?
  • Is it possible to protect notes from unautherized access?
  • Can users search the database?
  • Are notes shared with third parties?
  • How secure is the site from database leaks?
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#4

Hi Erik_J, thanks! Excellent questions!

  1. You can not create custom URL, yet. This option is in the works now.
  2. The password protects editing of the note. Let’s say you are writing a story that you want to share with others, but only you should be able to edit it freely anywhere from any device—the password makes sure that everyone else can only view it.
  3. No, whoever knows the URL can view the note (only those knowing the password can edit it). In general, this product isn’t really aiming to be a substitute for normal note-taking—it’s more for a quick sharing of text content.
  4. No database searching
  5. Nope, notes are never shared with third parties. Even though notes are not encrypted and everything is stored as a plain text in Firebase, no one else but me has access to that database. I’m looking into putting some basic encryption into place though, but this is difficult to solve. One of the reason for why I’m trying to position it as a ‘public notes’ kind of tool.
  6. I’m using Firebase with proper rules set up. Should be safe from any leaks.
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#5

Searching for similar services I found a few, I take you’re aware of many more than I saw.

What made you create this version and what are the features here compared with other online notepads?

The Github’s Gist was mentioned and the few I researched expected to save notes on my box, is your app the only one that saves the notes in their own place?

1 Like
#6

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