

Show HN: Daybook – A new take on personal journaling - daybook
http://www.daybook.io

======
prawn
Bit rushed this morning so no time to sugar coat this - hopefully it helps you
get on track:

I think it might've been worth a bit more time before showing it off. The
front page tells me nothing and the About page is waffly. Put in some
screenshots of a nice example - that wouldn't take long. Saves me reading the
text.

I tried the privacy.daybook.io link you provided, but that had a fancy
pageturn, then two incomplete page promos (little point providing the first
three words - not enough) and a burger menu that didn't do anything.

I clicked through to the Privacy Policy, then tried to use my back button and
the page didn't change. The pageturning swipe introduced earlier doesn't seem
to do anything here, but I can click the burger menu now.

There are also loads of typos in the copy. In some places it's "daybook",
others it's "Daybook". Get a friend to proofread for you and standardise your
product name.

Where's your Daybook? Make that one great and use that as the demo.

------
kingnothing
You need a landing page, not a signup form. I'm not going to blindly input my
name and email address in a form without any sort of context about the
service.

~~~
kingnothing
SSL is needed, too. Transmitting passwords via plaintext is a gaping security
problem.

------
taco_emoji
This is beautifully designed, but otherwise I don't see how it differentiates
from other personal journaling apps (e.g. 750words, or even Evernote, or
_even_ Notepad), and I'm not about to sign up to find out.

I think you should wait until things are further along and then share this
again with HN. I imagine you have a significant vision for this thing, but
that's still opaque at this point.

Also:

> Daybook was built with the idea of providing a foundation where people can
> write about their lives and save it for days to come, for generations to
> see.

I'd be wary of putting any writing that I wanted to preserve "for generations"
on a website that--no offense--might disappear in two months.

~~~
daybook
Thanks for the feedback. As of right now the main difference would be the
writing experience, and the way platform transforms the post into book-like
form. There are still a few key features which I have yet to implement, but I
thought it would be a good idea to show HN the site early so I could grow the
platform from the outside in.

~~~
taco_emoji
> way platform transforms the post into book-like form

OK, well... there's a reason mice have wheels now.

If you're committed to a page-turning UX, you might want to think about this
as an iPad app.

------
ngokevin
I suggest if showing something off, don't force user registration to be able
to see what it is. It's shallow, but I don't want to spend time to register
and possibly be subscribed to emails to see what it is.

~~~
taco_emoji
I don't think it's shallow to not want to give my e-mail address out as a
favor to someone I do not know.

I would love to see something like this in the HN guidelines (not that anybody
reads those, but...)

~~~
bramgg
It is already. From the Show HN Guidelines[0]:

> Show HN is for something you've made that other people can play with. HN
> users can try it out, give you feedback, and ask questions in the thread.

> A Show HN needn't be complicated or look slick. HN users are comfortable
> with work that's at an early stage.

> If your work isn't ready for people to try out yet, please don't put "Show
> HN" in the title. Once it's ready, come back and share it then.

> For example, blog posts, email signups, and fundraisers can't be tried out,
> so they don't count as Show HNs.

[0]:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html)

~~~
taco_emoji
It doesn't sound like that's proscribing user registration (account creation),
more just stuff like e-mail newsletters.

------
daybook
This is side project I undertook this past winter-break. It's far from
finished, but I though it would be great to show HN what I am currently
working on. The app was more of scratching personal itch, rather than trying
to bring order to the dozen blogging platforms. The app is just an attempt to
give a different take on what could be if the intimacy of journaling and the
power of the web where to come together.

~~~
felixgallo
It rankles me a little that you want to be a trusted voice in journaling, but
can't be bothered to proofread or spell-check the very first descriptive
paragraph anyone sees.

~~~
bbissoon
He's showing his project, it's best to keep condescending comments about the
person to yourself. Just focus on what is needed to make the project better.

@Daybooks - Kudos for actually launching something. Done is better than
perfect. Now on with comments that actually help the project.

Writing copy is always a pain - I still have issues with grammar and spelling,
however my code is flawless :) It's a pain to proofread when you're heavily
invested in the code.

The presentation is neat and clean. Until you get buzz that will do the
explaining for you, it's best to put something on the front page for those who
don't get what you have already. It feels intimate because you have to be in
the know to have a good gist of what it does. However, it's all about your
audience.

I like UI but for users with IE or older browsers, your dependence on HTML5
and CSS3 might pose a problem with adoption. Always have graceful fallback.

The images you're loading are sized way too large and take time to load. Kill
the image sizes at 1080P and let responsive CSS do the rest. Faster load times
and better presentation.

On the landing page or about page - show an actual example of what the daybook
entry looks like. Is there a link or a screenshot?

It looks promising - is this public or private posting?

~~~
daybook
Thanks for your suggestions, I have been working on making the images smaller
and load faster. In reply to your question if the post is public or private,
the answer is up to you. Initially your daybook page is private, this can be
changed under settings, a published post is public and a private post is
hidden from the site. I get this can be confusing and I'm working on adding
clarity throughout.

In response to everyone else who commented, thanks for taking the time to
share your thoughts, and I will be sure to update the page accordingly, i.e
(copy, landing page, ssl, clearer publish button, demo, etc). I apologize for
not commenting earlier, but being HN was not allowing me to comment at my
usual speed, that and I was taking a history exam. Anyway, thanks for looking
at the site, I hope in the next update will shed more insight as to what
daybook can do.

------
brudgers
I see a lot of care in the site.

But I had to be curious enough about why Daybook was a highly rated _Show HN_
to get past my first reaction. The

    
    
       All your email are belong to us.
    

of the link is, for me a complete turnoff. I haven't even seen what the Hell
you're offering in return.

Why would I use it? If Daybook is for writers sell it that way. If it's more
social media then pitch it that way. If it's a journal then pitch that. If
it's all these things then come up with some sensible stories illustrating why
a social media mavens would want an intimate journal.

Big suggestion. Make the writing/journaling tool standalone and make the
product social media tooling and hosting. This better addresses the issue of
what happens if Daybook becomes abandonware. Let me run the basis without
shooting my intimate thoughts onto your server...unless I see a benefit from
it.

Giving away the tool and monetizing the platform means the tool has to be good
for writing and journaling But if it isn't a pure SaaS is dead anyway.

Good luck.

------
brianliou91
I signed up blindly out of curiosity! Agree that some context on the service
needs to be added. I love the simplicity and feel. Reminds me a lot of medium
and I've actually often caught myself journaling on medium by accident because
it's so easy to do.

\- The publish post button is weird though because I don't know what you mean
by publish, is it being published to the public? Published as in like it's a
finished entry?

------
Arun2009
From your site I couldn't readily figure out what this offers that a private
blog on an established site like wordpress.com or blogspot.com doesn't. At
least we know that these players will not vanish anytime soon, and if they do,
they're likely to do so "responsibly". I recall another attempt in this space
called ohlife.com which has shut down apparently.

------
DevFactor
Check your typos ([http://testtest.daybook.io/](http://testtest.daybook.io/)).
Otherwise, its very pretty and easy to use. I like the pop-up profile editor.

