
Show HN: Track and Control Your PDFs - wsieroci
https://www.helprange.com
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kevin_b_er
The only two questions that matter: 1\. Why is the PDF reader running active
or remote content without prompting? 2\. What PDF readers do not respect my
privacy?

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Spivak
Yeah, why does a document format have the ability to run code and contact the
network without the user's knowledge or permission? (glares at the web)

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mifeng
I was CEO and co-founder of doxIQ
([https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/doxiq](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/doxiq)),
a similar product. We were acquired by Nitro, another PDF software company,
after a couple of years. DocSend started around the same time as us and has
become the standard for final format document tracking.

My suggestions:

\- read analytics are valuable, but it's hard to get people to pay for that
alone given how many other products offer it for free

\- pick your target user persona (SMB vs enterprise) and focus on making them
happy

\- focus on integrations with other systems that your target persona uses,
like CRM/marketing automation/email/etc

\- ignore shiny object syndrome. you'll be tempted to add more analytics tools
or insights to "add more value." while YMMV, i've found this to be a waste of
time.

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wsieroci
Thanks, quite interesting tips!

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eps
Can’t seem to find any information which PDF readers are supported (read -
that fetch external resources without explicit user’s consent). I suspect that
not that many...

Edit - in fact, the site badly needs “How it works” section, because otherwise
it reads like yet another “self-destructing emails” type of product.

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DanHulton
Pretty sure you don't open the PDF in a reader - in fact it looks like there
is no "resulting PDF". Instead the PDF is hosted on the site, which you link
to, and the analytics are run on the page.

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codingdave
At which point, why even bother with the PDF... just host your content on any
web site, and run Google Analytics.

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shashanoid
Seems like a good tool for professors at universities. For some classes my
professors send out quizzes along with (mandatory watch) lecture videos (3-4
min) long and they track how much of it have you actually watched. Mostly to
see if a student is actually putting up effort or simply copying.

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wsieroci
Hi,

my name is Wiktor. Together with my friend Tom, we built HelpRange, tool to
help you track and control your PDFs. What do you think about the idea? I
would love to get feedback!

Best, Wiktor

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nwsm
Can you confirm that the end result is no longer a PDF, but content hosted on
your site?

Or rather a PDF hosted on your site that the user doesn't copy to their
computer but views on your site in their browser?

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wsieroci
Yes, but there is optional possibility to allow for downloading the file,
which we can't track in this case

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swanlyk
So people will screenshot it if they want a copy?

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swanlyk
Sorry didn't read download option :/

