
Show HN: A small weekend project - Distraction Free Writing - kushsolitary
http://solitarydesigns.net/write/#v2
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sfard
<shamelessselfpromotion> If you DO want to save what you write, try
<http://throwww.com> I built it a few months ago. Collections of what you
write look like this <http://throwww.com/u/sfard> A ton more features coming
in next few weeks. </shamelessselfpromotion>

~~~
akos
It looks like a simple browser based writer and a minimalistic blogging
platform in one thing.

I like it pretty much. Especially the comments section under each post.

Keep up the good work!

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sfard
Thanks. Can you say more re: comments? Would you prefer something like a
Disqus?

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akos
No No No..don't change a thing on it. Or maybe just one thing: Make the vote
up and vote down icons a bit sleeker.

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sfard
k - I wont lie, that wont be a priority. But I'll add it to work list.

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eloisius
Distraction free, except for the added and unnecessary distraction of
typewriter sound effects.

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RKearney
Honestly I closed the tab less than 10 seconds after opening it. The clicking
sounds are more distracting than the dog barking outside.

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acangiano
You can disable it. Click on the top left, and then on the 'sounds' link.

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RKearney
The point is when I click a link titled "Distraction free writing", the very
last thing I expect is to hear clicking noises until I refresh the page or
wait for the intro to finish.

It would be like test driving a "distraction free car" that starts with the
radio on full volume. Sure, you could turn it off, but why is it on to begin
with?

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saiko-chriskun
Agreed. I'm not gonna bother sitting through that just to learn what the site
actually does. Ridiculous.

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highace
Distraction free writing. Except you do it in the biggest distraction on your
computer - the browser: where burning an hour like it's nothing is just a Ctrl
+ T away!

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matthuggins
Yeah, I've got to be honest -- the name of the app is pretty counterintuitive.
I couldn't understand how it was distraction-free. I kept switching tabs to
see if it would punish me for distracting myself or something, but it didn't
seem to have anything to do with being distraction-free at all. It's not until
I read some of the comments that I realized it meant "distraction-free from
editor UI & markup".

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Swizec
As a writer person, I love distraction free writing. My favourite tool is iA
Writer.

Not because it's distraction free, but because it has the perfect defaults so
I don't feel like tinkering. It also works on all my iDevices and syncs
seamlessly, which is a total win when you like writing in random places as
soon as there's a few spare minutes.

Now if only there was a Linux client ...

As for this particular project, I don't like that it runs in a browser, which
likely means I can't use it when I'm offline ... for instance on a 10 hour
train ride like I spent recently.

But I really love the typewriter noises. I have NoisyTyper installed on my
laptop and it's marvelous.

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stevewilhelm
+1 for iA Writer. Get it for your iPad or Mac now. <http://s831.us/XclFCg>

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Swizec
Don't forget for iPhone. Attaching a bluetooth keyboard to your phone feels
funny, but it is the single best writing tool when you're travelling.

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bgdam
Wow, looks like a lot of people have literally the exact same idea as my
roommate ( <http://pencil.asleepysamurai.com/intro#p> ). Personally, I don't
really see The point in doing distraction free writing in a web browser. The
only real advantage it offers is that you can access it from anywhere/any
device.

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arnorhs
Nice work. It's simple and functional. I think a lot of people in this thread
are underestimating the skill it takes to build something truly simple like
this.

I'm not a huge fan of the sound and the sliding panel could be animated a
little bit faster. I would also personally vote on dark text on a white
background.

All in all you've done a good job. Keep it up.

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ruswick
The noises sort of belie the "distraction-free" aspect. Keyboards already make
noise. The app in which I'm writing does't need to make them as well. This
should be disabled by default or perhaps eliminated entirely.

Other than the sounds, the actual aesthetic of the app is quite nice. A light
theme would be appreciated, but overall fine.

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jfarmer
The sounds effects are cute, but bleed into each other and produce strange
noises if you type faster than your average bear. And bears don't type that
fast, as you know.

iA Writer is a similar desktop app that I use for most of my writing:
<http://www.iawriter.com/>

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matthodan
Just a thought, but you could update the title of the page to be the text in
the first line of the document. This would make it easier to identify your
work later when switching between windows.

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oh_sigh
How is this a weekend project? Shouldn't this be more along the lines of a
Sunday morning after coffee but before I shit project?

It's a text box.

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jfarmer
For posterity, I think the above comment is a great example of a "middlebrow
dismissal."

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oh_sigh
Ah yes, because everything we do is worthy of praise, or makes for interesting
discussion.

Just because some things are unjustly "middlebrow dismissed" does not mean
that all "middlebrow dismissals" are unjust.

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davidjhall
Has anyone tried this and see someone else's writing? I did a refresh (first
time using it - only person on this laptop) and when it came back it said
"This is a test page... xyxysaysdfas" etc. The url was
<http://solitarydesigns.net/write/#v2>

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mansoor-s
Well done!

I find the color scheme and sound combination very pleasing. Maybe I'll write
some project documentation with this :)

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matthodan
I love the sound effects when you type, though it would be nice if you could
toggle them on/off. Great work!

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glazskunrukitis
it's possible to toggle the sound in sidebar (click the button in left top
corner)

i actually found the sound effect awkward and unnecessary because the app is
called "_Distraction_ Free Writing"

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matthodan
I find that there is something satisfying about the sound of a keyboard. I
guess I use to think of it at the sound of progress back in college. :)

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zeynalov
Nice! it would be great if there would be some inspirational music options
just like ommwriter dana II has.

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soci
A friend of mine is the programmer behind ommwritter. It's a really good piece
of software for writters.

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FuzzyDunlop
The distracting sound effect brings back vivid memories of saving my progress
in Resident Evil.

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capex
Most of the comments are ignoring that OP posted this as a small weekend
project, not the next great writing software. Congrats on producing this
usable piece of work, I like the minimal aesthetics.

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ddfreyne
For distraction-free writing, I prefer vim in a fullscreen terminal.

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epaga
I just realized I loved the clackity clack noises so googled around a bit and
figured out you can activate them on OS X under Preferences -> Accessibility
-> Slow Keys.

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jmonegro
Didn't you post this like two weeks ago?

