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Ask HN: Is there a site that is just a text scratchpad?

39 points| leros | 3 years ago | reply

I'm looking for a site that is basically just a text editor. It doesn't need to save, support multiple files, etc. I just want to type in xyz.com and copy/paste some text. Google Docs is too complicated and slow to load.

Does something like this exist?

63 comments

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[+] CrypticShift|3 years ago|reply
If you are satisfied with absolutely zero features, just enter this in the address bar (+ save it as a bookmark)

   data:text/html, <html contenteditable>
Works at least in chromium based + Firefox
[+] amadeuspagel|3 years ago|reply
Even better:

   data:text/html, <html contenteditable autofocus>
[+] rnoorda|3 years ago|reply
Second this- it's my go-to when I just need some quick notes that won't be saved. I've thought about making a version with little markdown helps like automatic bulleting, but I like the simplicity as-is.
[+] leros|3 years ago|reply
That's pretty darn good. If it only saved the data so I could open it again and see my note, it would be perfect.
[+] al_james|3 years ago|reply
A friend set up https://textareaplease.com/ which I keep coming back to. Useful to have ability to eval JavaScript on the text too.
[+] ruiramos|3 years ago|reply
Friend here, help to hear any feedback or new ideas!
[+] adamredwoods|3 years ago|reply
Just to note, you can write this site yourself as a file, load in Chrome, and it will load/save to localStorage:

  <html contenteditable="true"><body></body></html>
  <script>
      const a=localStorage.getItem('saved-text-data');
      document.querySelector('body').innerHTML=a;
      setInterval(()=>{localStorage.setItem('saved-text-data', document.querySelector('body').innerHTML);}, 2000);
  </script>
It will save images as links, URLs, and you can bookmark it.
[+] ghghgfdfgh|3 years ago|reply
The simplest one I know of is https://textarea.online, which I use when I want to get some thought down without waiting for some word processing application to open. It's just a simple <textarea> HTML element with a monospace font.

My only issue with it is that it does not allow you to scroll down if the text fills up the screen; my way of fixing this is removing the "overflow" CSS property with my browser developer tools.

[+] Slackwise|3 years ago|reply
I use HackMD, which supports Markdown and various other plain-text formats, including LaTeX, Mermaid, GraphViz, etc:

https://hackmd.io/c/tutorials/%2Fs%2Ffeatures

For your use case, it saves files immediately as you type them. It's also collaborative and can sync to GitHub.

As an extra bonus, optional Vim and Emacs keybindings are built right in.

[+] Oxidation|3 years ago|reply
I realise it's not a solution that you want to use, but I have a global hotkey set for launching or focusing a preferred text editor: Windows + Shift + E.

You can even have a special hotkey for opening a specific file.

The big advantage for me there is that you get real text editor, not just a browser text box and I can delete lines with "dd" like God intended.

[+] codazoda|3 years ago|reply
Oooh, I built one of those.

This is just a textarea. Edits are saved to local storage. You have 10 “files”.

https://ponder.joeldare.com/app

[+] leros|3 years ago|reply
I love this. I question whether the 10 files is too complex or a brilliant feature. I've been thinking about building something similar and I don't know the answer.
[+] julienreszka|3 years ago|reply 

  data:text/html, <html><textarea autofocus style="width:99vw;height:98vh">
Text area preserves newlines when copy and pasting
[+] pwg|3 years ago|reply
What is the intended purpose that is not supported by a local text editor (i.e., notepad if on windows)?
[+] leros|3 years ago|reply
- Staying within my workflow. I'm already in a browser and I want to save a few thoughts. I can type xyz.com and write a few words without context switching. Opening a notepad app would make me context switch enough to lose flow state.

- Having a single, always open file. Something like notepad would require me to open the app and then open a particular file. Again, too much effort.

[+] tomcam|3 years ago|reply
Do you mind explaining how you use such a site, and if any of the other suggestions here worked? If it's because you want to paste clipboard contents without formatting maybe you don't know about Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+V (Mac) which does that for you.
[+] leros|3 years ago|reply
I'm trying to offload a thought from my brain in the least amount of effort possible, so I can let the thought go, knowing I can come back to it later. Least amount of effort possible is so I can write the note without losing my current thought process as I'm very easily distracted.

In my ideal world, I'd type in xyz.com and it would have a blank text area I can type a few words into. Then going back to xyz.com would still have that data in the text area.

Tools like Notion are too heavy and would tempt me into taking proper notes.

Things like a notepad app on my desktop require too much context switching. I have to leave the browser, open notepad, etc

A blank Google doc isn't a bad solution, except it takes a bit of time to load and then I end up with lots of little abandoned note docs in my Google Drive.

Literally a site with a text area that saves the text to local storage would be perfect. Maybe it supports Markdown.

[+] cornstalks|3 years ago|reply
More features than you asked for, but I’ve enjoyed https://stackedit.io/app#

If you’re not using Markdown though then I wouldn’t use it. But for those needing a quick Markdown tool, it’s been great

[+] fattybob|3 years ago|reply
Moniker.com have a handy online notepad kinda thingy, beware as it auto wiped after a year of inactivity, but that’s fine for most users. I used it lots in the past, mostly when mobile, less so when home or office based.
[+] ikornaselur|3 years ago|reply
My goto one is https://zenpen.io - very minimal UI, just let's me focus on writing something down, with basic features such as bold and italics
[+] leros|3 years ago|reply
This is good and the domain is short and easy to remember.