Ask HN: review my web app, a wiki for code snippets | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: review my web app, a wiki for code snippets

refactory.org

47 pointssmokestack11 comments

I think this is generally useful, but I would prefer to see each version of the code. By making this a wiki you will end up with only one version, but if you could see each version you can see different approaches to the problem. The history attempts to address this, but it is difficult to use.

I really like the design and way that your site works, a lot of really nice elements in there.

It appears heavily influenced by pbwiki and stackoverflow.

Looks useful. If I invest time in it with my existing collection of snippets, what confidence can I have that it won't get zapped?

Anyone can edit is tough. There are situations where people think they know what you mean and go in and mess with things but miss the subtlety of a situation. Or where it comes down to matters of taste. With no commenting area, there isn't a mechanism for people to discuss this.

There should be a search mechanism that allows you - in a single command - to indicate the language your searching for and keywords. Better still if you can get to it via hotkey and if it sits at the top of every page. It should be possible to see and search just your own code submissions, and to make private submissions. I've got a page of stuff I keep handy which is where I track dumb cisco tricks and the like, and I'd love to have a place where I could move these. They're not always the sort of thing you want public.

There was an inline vi-in-javascript editor - would be fun if users could set this up as their editor of choicein their profile.

I normally use sites like DZone snippets for code snippets but I'll check out this site too if I need any. Thanks for sharing. I also like the design of your site better.

My first thought was, "Damn that's pretty."

My second thought was, "Nice AJAX, and it works..."

Very polished job. Nice work!

I'm really quite enamoured with your work. Most wikis seem confusing or dead or forboding when you first load them. You've really brought the "visible pulse" of the site right up front and made it inviting for people to take an initial action.

I am not a big fan of re-inventing the wheel but I am also not a big fan of copy-paste programming. Often times you unwittingly introduce errors, assumptions, or complexities into your program without realizing it. Having said that, it is a great way to get a general idea of how to solve problems if you're stumped.

[EDIT]

I really like the design. It is very clean visually and seems well thought out from a UI perspective.

I think it would be best if there was no editing on another persons code snippet. But instead of a fork have it as alternate code under the same title then have some kind of voting to decide the display order.

So the main one would come up as it as as a slide down with a link down the bottom that would say something like 2 alternative snippets.

Snipt.net is the one I use and it keeps me coming back because it allows me to have my own personal snippets (which can be either public or private). Perhaps you should let people register and do the same (or "flag this revision for me" if you want everything public?)

The plan was to allow users to create public/private wikis, very much like Reddit's subreddit system. The creator would set access permissions, so it could work as a personal library, or a collection for a blog/BBS/open source project. Any suggestions on this would be especially helpful... I'm working on implementing this over the next few days.

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