You Don't Need WordPress
Web and SaaS
blogging platform
SHOW HN2018
257points
110comments
#116of 2,155 in 2018
Top 6%of 2018 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
12 positive, 19 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 22 critical, out of 56 comments about the project. Thread score -0.15.
Idea: 9 for, 5 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 13 againstDesign: 2 for, 2 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful idea for non-technical people who want to publish easily
From 3 comments
I don't know why this is attracting so much hate here. It's a novel and useful idea. Sure, you're relying on Docs, but that's an established, mainline Google service which makes…
moolcool on HNMost static site generators require authors to learn something like Markdown in order to publish, which is a much bigger hurdle for non-technical people than technical people…
smacktoward on HNI can actually see that being helpful for non-technical people
O_H_E on HN
Familiar Google Docs editing and collaboration
From 2 comments
I think this is pretty cool. I know more than one person who loves google docs and hates wordpress whom I will be forwarding this to.
EminIsrafil on HNI did something similar back in 2013-2014 for the initial Makers UPV blog[1], which was much later migrated to Ghost. The underlying technology we used is drive-db[2], a library…
franciscop on HN
Impressive 24-hour build and public launch stream
From 2 comments
Enjoyed watching the idea-to-launch process on Twitter and Twitch. Nice work, Pat!
ladybro on HNSolving accessibility (and simplicity) to blogging and freedom of speech, and in just 24 hours; this is awesome to say the least. I look forward to the words and wisdom that…
rasengan on HN
Objections
Dependence on Google services that may be shut down or change terms
From 3 comments
You don't need Google Docs either. Seems like a terrible decision since Google is known for randomly shutting down services and updating their terms of use at any point. It's a…
miguelmota on HNI agree think there's plenty of room for new ideas for collaborative blogging, but I do think relying on centralised proprietary SaaSS is very problematic. Google can just take…
hjek on HN>Google can just take down your blog any day if they feel like it. That's just the best case scenario. They could close your email, locking you out of gmail, youtube, and any…
vezycash on HN
Privacy concerns about giving Google Drive access and data exposure
From 4 comments
Please, if you are going to use this setup a new google account. The permissions that this requires is crazy.
gumbo on HNI was super excited by this because I do most of my writing in Google docs. But then I realized how much other information is in my Google docs! What are the privacy implications…
dr_dshiv on HN"...I'm collaborating with dozens of writers.." You may be collaborating with more people than you know. Cause it's, you know, google. I wonder how many third parties get access…
asdf1234tx on HNThis looks like a great idea since Docs is both a good editor and a good way to collaborate. However I don't want to give access to my whole Drive to an unknown product, it would…
arikrak on HN
Name seen as insulting or misleading to WordPress users
From 2 comments
It looks like good fun, but I'll be honest I find the name very insulting. I've had a wordpress website for 8 years. Is this going to work in 8 years? 6 months?
CJefferson on HNThe name seems weird. There's tons of blogging systems that aren't Wordpress, presumably your product is interesting for many of their users too, while not being interesting for…
detaro on HN
Source code link was hard to find
From 3 comments
Nice to see an open-source project like this, but where can we find the repository / source?
arayh on HNI really like this. I have a pretty big legacy site with one section full of user-contributed (HTML/images) tutorials written over a period of 20 years (yes, the site has been up…
saberworks on HNWhy do I have to sign up using my Google Account, and give you permissions to host my content in Google Docs in my Google Drive? And where is it Open Source? How can I use it…
orsenthil on HN
Static site generators are better for technical users
From 3 comments
Setting a site up with Jekyll took less than a weekend, and I'm a C++/games programmer with next to zero web experience. If you want a blog I don't know why you would go with…
Bekwnn on HNIt seems like YDNW is like a CMS that uses Google Drive as the "backend"/admin UI. Personally, I see the benefits to using GDrive as the backend, but instead of having to host a…
l_t on HNI maintain a blog built on static tools since 2009, which is older than most people's blogs I see on Hacker News: https://alexn.org Hosting is free if you host it on GitHub…
bad_user on HN
Requests
Use Google OAuth instead of username and password
From 1 comment
I would suggest using google oauth for authentication rather than the username/password combo.
wefarrell on HN
Limit access to one Drive directory instead of whole Drive
From 1 comment
This looks like a great idea since Docs is both a good editor and a good way to collaborate. However I don't want to give access to my whole Drive to an unknown product, it would…
arikrak on HN
Support for custom fields and template changes
From 2 comments
Great idea. But how to change the template or add more data like custom fields? I've been using Meta Box plugin (https://metabox.io) for custom fields and can't live without it.
rilwis on HNSuper cool. Custom fields though?
scotchio on HN
Static export or caching for heavily visited pages
From 2 comments
Yes, very true. Important to think aboout. There is a rate limit on their API although I don't think I will hit it at this point of the project, but I do plan to start thinking…
patwalls on HNIt seems like YDNW is like a CMS that uses Google Drive as the "backend"/admin UI. Personally, I see the benefits to using GDrive as the backend, but instead of having to host a…
l_t on HN
Option to self-host or use Etherpad as backend
From 1 comment
I agree think there's plenty of room for new ideas for collaborative blogging, but I do think relying on centralised proprietary SaaSS is very problematic. Google can just take…
hjek on HN
Questions
Will it keep working long term given Google API dependence
From 2 comments
It looks like good fun, but I'll be honest I find the name very insulting. I've had a wordpress website for 8 years. Is this going to work in 8 years? 6 months?
CJefferson on HNVery cool! I'm guessing that this relies on Google not breaking, disabling or rate-limiting their Docs API, correct?
fucking_tragedy on HN
How images are handled
From 1 comment
Don't you find it difficult to maintain a consistent format/schema between many authors? I thought about using Google Docs for a publishing project, but the lack of an enforced…
pier25 on HN
Are there live blogs built with it
From 1 comment
Nice - so are there any actual blogs built on this that I can take a look at?
f_allwein on HN
Alternatives named
Static site generators such as Jekyll
From 2 comments
Setting a site up with Jekyll took less than a weekend, and I'm a C++/games programmer with next to zero web experience. If you want a blog I don't know why you would go with…
Bekwnn on HNYou don't need Google Docs either. Seems like a terrible decision since Google is known for randomly shutting down services and updating their terms of use at any point. It's a…
miguelmota on HN
Google Sites
From 1 comment
Or you could use the new Google Sites which has a lot of the same features and benefits. https://sites.google.com/
loosescrews on HN
Sheet2Site
From 1 comment
This reminded me of https://www.sheet2site.com/ , which lets you make a website using a Google spreadsheet. I think they’re nifty, and although I haven’t had a personal use case…
pronoiac on HN
Blot.im
From 1 comment
Or, if you can afford $20 per year, there's this https://blot.im which lets you dump stuff in a Dropbox folder to become blog posts. -
Angostura on HN