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diff --git a/build/poormans-comment-system/index.html b/build/poormans-comment-system/index.html index feca90a..e8554e5 100644 --- a/build/poormans-comment-system/index.html +++ b/build/poormans-comment-system/index.html @@ -1,63 +1,88 @@ <!doctype html> -<html lang="en" id="top"> +<html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="icon" href="data:,"> <title>My Cheapskate Commenting System</title> - <link href="https://bt.ht/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" /> - <style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{overflow:auto;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}</style> + <link href="/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" /> + <link href="/rss.xml" type="application/rss+xml" rel="alternate" title="RSS feed for blog posts" /> +<style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1.33;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{border:1px solid;overflow:auto;padding:5px;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}.footnotes{font-size:90%;}</style> </head> <nav> - <a href="#menu">Menu ↓</a> + <a href="#menu">Menu ↓</a> </nav> <main> -<h1>My Cheapskate Commenting System</h1> +<h1 id="my-cheapskate-commenting-system">My Cheapskate Commenting System</h1> + <p>2022-02-03</p> -<p>My blog now has comments! Well, <em>kind of</em>...</p> -<p>I went down a two day long rabbit-hole trying to find the best solution for implementing comments on my static website (generated via Jekyll FYI). There are a ton of options out there and many open source models that allow you to spin up your own instance with something like DigitalOcean or AWS. But I'm a cheap bastard. I refuse to spend $5/month on a blog mostly used for fun and one that I have zero incentive to "monetize".</p> -<p>So, what <em>free</em> options did this old miser have left to chose from? To my surprise, there were two solid options that initially caught my eye! Let's take a look then, shall we?</p> -<h2>Remarkbox</h2> -<p>Overall I don't have many bad things to say about <a href="https://www.remarkbox.com">Remarkbox</a>. It looks nice, is easy to implement and runs a "pay what you can" pricing model. What more could you ask for?! The major issue (for me, <em>personally</em>) is precisely <strong>that</strong>; the free model. This makes it difficult for me to trust 100% that this system will still be around in 3-4 years. Now I know - even paid systems can shutdown unexpectedly, but I find free tier options end up shutting their doors sooner. There is an option to self-host Remarkbox, but that requires a yearly license and also comes back to the point I made about not wanting to pay for hosting...</p> -<h2>Utterances (Github-based)</h2> -<p>The other major option was <a href="https://utteranc.es">Utterances</a>. This system was almost the winner due to it's pretty great feature set:</p> + +<p>My blog now has comments! Well, <em>kind of</em>…</p> + +<p>I went down a two day long rabbit-hole trying to find the best solution for implementing comments on my static website (generated via Jekyll FYI). There are a ton of options out there and many open source models that allow you to spin up your own instance with something like DigitalOcean or AWS. But I’m a cheap bastard. I refuse to spend $5/month on a blog mostly used for fun and one that I have zero incentive to “monetize”.</p> + +<p>So, what <em>free</em> options did this old miser have left to chose from? To my surprise, there were two solid options that initially caught my eye! Let’s take a look then, shall we?</p> + +<h2 id="remarkbox">Remarkbox</h2> + +<p>Overall I don’t have many bad things to say about <a href="https://www.remarkbox.com">Remarkbox</a>. It looks nice, is easy to implement and runs a “pay what you can” pricing model. What more could you ask for?! The major issue (for me, <em>personally</em>) is precisely <strong>that</strong>; the free model. This makes it difficult for me to trust 100% that this system will still be around in 3-4 years. Now I know - even paid systems can shutdown unexpectedly, but I find free tier options end up shutting their doors sooner. There is an option to self-host Remarkbox, but that requires a yearly license and also comes back to the point I made about not wanting to pay for hosting…</p> + +<h2 id="utterances-github-based">Utterances (Github-based)</h2> + +<p>The other major option was <a href="https://utteranc.es">Utterances</a>. This system was almost the winner due to it’s pretty great feature set:</p> + <ol> <li>Open source</li> <li>No tracking, no ads</li> <li>All data stored in GitHub issues</li> <li>Free!</li> </ol> -<p>But take a look above at point number three. The fact that readers wishing to leave a comment are <strong>required to have a Github account</strong>. For me, this is a non-starter. I don't want to force my audience to sign up for or sign in to <em>any</em> account just to leave a simple comment on my humble blog. Considering a number of my readers are part of the FOSS community, this just seemed like a bad fit.</p> -<h2>Finding Inspiration</h2> -<p>I absolutely love the <a href="https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com">solar.lowtechmagazine.com</a> website (both for it's content and design) and indirectly found my comment system inspiration there. Okay let's be honest, I completely stole their commenting system "concept". Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?</p> -<h2>My Comment System is...</h2> -<p>E-mail. It's just <strong>plain e-mail</strong>.</p> -<p>I've setup a basic <code>comment-prompt.html</code> in my <code>_includes</code> folder that contains a <code>mailto</code> action button[^1]:</p> -<pre><code><a href="mailto:myemail.com?subject=RE: { { page.title | uri_escape } }"> - <button>Comment via email</button> -</a> + +<p>But take a look above at point number three. The fact that readers wishing to leave a comment are <strong>required to have a Github account</strong>. For me, this is a non-starter. I don’t want to force my audience to sign up for or sign in to <em>any</em> account just to leave a simple comment on my humble blog. Considering a number of my readers are part of the FOSS community, this just seemed like a bad fit.</p> + +<h2 id="finding-inspiration">Finding Inspiration</h2> + +<p>I absolutely love the <a href="https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com">solar.lowtechmagazine.com</a> website (both for it’s content and design) and indirectly found my comment system inspiration there. Okay let’s be honest, I completely stole their commenting system “concept”. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?</p> + +<h2 id="my-comment-system-is">My Comment System is…</h2> + +<p>E-mail. It’s just <strong>plain e-mail</strong>.</p> + +<p>I’ve setup a basic <code>comment-prompt.html</code> in my <code>_includes</code> folder that contains a <code>mailto</code> action button[^1]:</p> + +<pre><code><a href="mailto:myemail.com?subject=RE: { { page.title | uri_escape } }"> + <button>Comment via email</button> +</a> </code></pre> -<p>This include template is placed at the bottom of every article automatically. Then, that action pulls in the article's title as the e-mail subject line in the user's default mailing app. That's it.</p> -<h2>Pros</h2> + +<p>This include template is placed at the bottom of every article automatically. Then, that action pulls in the article’s title as the e-mail subject line in the user’s default mailing app. That’s it.</p> + +<h2 id="pros">Pros</h2> + <ul> <li>No third party application needed</li> <li>Privacy focused</li> -<li>More direct interaction with my audience/readers</li> +<li>More direct interaction with my audience/readers</li> <li>Builds a much more close-knit community</li> <li>Completely free!</li> </ul> -<h2>Cons</h2> + +<h2 id="cons">Cons</h2> + <ul> <li>Must be manually curated and posted</li> <li>No notifications</li> -<li>No "built-in" reply functionality</li> -<li>Has the potential to become unwieldy...</li> +<li>No “built-in” reply functionality</li> +<li>Has the potential to become unwieldy…</li> </ul> -<h2>Fun Experiment</h2> -<p>I figure either way, this will be an interesting experiment. I don't know my audience size (since I don't use any type of tracking) but I assume it's very small. Those willing to write me a personal e-mail in order to share their thoughts on my stupid little blog probably have something interesting to say. At least I hope so. </p> -<p>Let's see how this thing goes...</p> + +<h2 id="fun-experiment">Fun Experiment</h2> + +<p>I figure either way, this will be an interesting experiment. I don’t know my audience size (since I don’t use any type of tracking) but I assume it’s very small. Those willing to write me a personal e-mail in order to share their thoughts on my stupid little blog probably have something interesting to say. At least I hope so. </p> + +<p>Let’s see how this thing goes…</p> <footer role="contentinfo"> <h2>Menu Navigation</h2> <ul id="menu"> |