
Show HN: ImportDoc – Use the content from a Google Doc in any web page - aev3O
https://importdoc.com/
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mikece
Something I've been wanting to write but will quite honestly never have time
is a lightweight replacement for WordPress where all editing happens locally
in an Electron app and a static site is published/rsynched to a web server
with backups stored in a git or hg repo. The big nut to crack, in my mind, is
to support multiple distributed content editors at once, which is why I was
thinking that the publish action is really pushing to Git and invoking an API
on the web server to do a `git fetch` or equivalent. Does anyone know of a
project that does what I'm describing? ImportDoc _sort of_ does this but with
a reliance on Google Docs it's not 100% portable.

~~~
mxuribe
Well, not exactly electron-based, but Lektor (python-based) for the most part
DOES provide conceptually what you asked for:

* lightweight replacement for wordpress

* static site generator

* ability to deploy/publish through various channels such as rysnc, github, gitlab, etc.

* not dependent on google docs.

Here are the details around Lekot's deployment options (you'll want to review
the left-hand nav under this section too):
[https://www.getlektor.com/docs/deployment/](https://www.getlektor.com/docs/deployment/)

I've been using hugo for my personal site, and it has been ok-ish...but I will
be moving to Lektor...because jinja templating seems to be easier for me to
understand as opposed to hugo's/Go's templating. But, this is of course a
personal choice, and YMMV.

Cheers!

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mikece
The idea I've got is that __anyone __could use the editor /publisher I'm
trying to describe after watching a 10 minute YouTube video and pulling down
the Electron app. Another goal would be to help people in repressive regimes
spread news and information that the government wants suppressed: that's why I
was thinking of building this on a git/hg model but with all of the hairy
aspects of distributed source control abstracted or made easy so the content
creators can focus on creating content instead of learning MIS minutiae.

~~~
mxuribe
I see what you mean...and i definitely would NOT want to dissuade you from any
such activities in building what you described - the more attention around
providing options for tech and non-techs alike is for the best! However, i
wonder if part of what you wish for, might already be built? Have you scoured
options via the following?
[https://www.staticgen.com/](https://www.staticgen.com/)

If not the whole stack, maybe components and modules might already exist, and
you can build upon them? Again, the more options that exist for people to more
easily post and host their own content (and in my opinion not beholden to the
walled garden silos) is best! In any case, good luck! Cheers!

~~~
mikece
I kinda hope all of the Legos exist and just need to be snapped together in
the right way! Would a high-level write-up of the concept be appropriate to
post as an "Ask HN" in order gauge (1) whether all of the needed parts exist
and (2) what the level of interest would be in assembling the parts/creating
what is missing? Regarding part 2, I __suck __at JavaScript so me creating an
electron app will happen the day after Linus Torvalds and Steve Ballmer create
a tech startup together...

~~~
mxuribe
In response to your items...

1\. I mean, i guess you could post an "Ask HN"; you could certainly get other
insights and intel from others...but if it were me, i think I'd just dive in
and start researching things on my own. Or, maybe just get all meta on this
topic, and post your thoughts around this to your own existing blog (assuming
you have one now?)...about how you wish to go through this endeavor!

2\. I vote for you to just "scratch your own itch".

Hey, I'm not a javascript guru either...But if this were the approach that i
would want to take - i.e. to leverage electron - and it doesn't/didn't exist,
i might be compelled to learn enough javascript to at least get the ball
rolling myself ("dangerous" though it might feel)...and along the way -
assuming you've already posted about this effort of yours - maybe others will
join in to help you - that is, others who might be better javascript
practitioners, and who want the same platform as you want. I think that's
worth a shot! I encourage you to go for it! What is it that Ghandi said: "Be
the change that you wish to see in the world." Good luck and cheers!

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scotchio
Love the concept, but I am waiting for Notion.so API to fully migrate to this
type of perfect/simple blog back-end.

The engineers at Zeit have a concept of this WITH magical SPR

[https://zeit.co/blog/serverless-pre-
rendering](https://zeit.co/blog/serverless-pre-rendering)

~~~
aev3O
Glad you posted, that was a big inspiration for this project!

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quickthrower2
I’m seeing so many google docs/sheets ideas on HN lately. Maybe there’s a new
trend! This on, the database one and someone linked to one that turns it into
an AppStore ready app!

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monkeydust
Also noticed this recently - whats driving this? Non-developers looking to
prototype or build actual products without developer involvement?
Democratisation of technology?

~~~
rev12
I would say ease of use and cost. A friend of mine has been using Google
Sheets for years to power some small bits of data on his website. Maintaining
and running his site costs nothing but the domain since he uses Netlify for CI
w/Github and hosting with Google Sheets for dynamic data.

His "credits" section and song list uses Google Sheets:
[https://www.pontusrufelt.com](https://www.pontusrufelt.com)

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max0563
All these ideas are cool, but I am not sure how I feel about further locking
myself into the google ecosystem.

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lordpankake
We did this a couple years ago! It works similarly, plus our version is open
source (not sure if their one is). Runs on Google Apps script, but you could
use it on any hosted js service really.

[https://github.com/PeterTheHe/GoogPress](https://github.com/PeterTheHe/GoogPress)

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jhunter1016
There needs to be more of these types of solutions. Though, I'd like to see
people moving away from Google as a whole. There is a decentralized publishing
platform called LetterMesh
([https://lettermesh.com/](https://lettermesh.com/)) and it uses the content
from (disclaimer: this is my company) Graphite Docs
([https://graphitedocs.com](https://graphitedocs.com))

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jonnydubowsky
this has become one of those HN threads that just keeps on giving. thanks for
recommendations for publii lektor, googpress, staticgen and hexopress, and the
parent article on import doc.

There is a geshtalt emerging in this space that makes me hopeful and curious
to see where it leads?

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Shinchy
I've always found the Sheets Solution to be a little bit better as it feels
more like a database. It also allows you to store lots of data in different
ways, but maybe a google docs / sheets solution would be the best all round
for something such as a blog.

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ninetax
Really cool. So the doc has to be sent to the importdoc.com servers first? Is
there anyway around that?

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herohamp
HN hugged? I get a network error when I click login. A network error has
occurred Dismiss

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aev3O
Hey, I built this. Login seems to be working fine at the moment. Mail me at
contact@importdoc.com if you're still having issues.

