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Ask HN: Review/Test My Latest App (test on Chrome if possible)

redo.heroku.com

12 pointsjmonegro20 comments

Here is my idea for a different direction to go in, but I think it digs at what you are trying to do:

You should change the description from "reusable todo lists WTF?" to "Sharable workflows for your everyday life", that would be a succinct description that markets it better.

You could argue that checklists are helpful: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lloyd-i-sederer-md/is-your-doc... and that you help enable the creation and sharing of the knowledge required for processes.

You could then enable people to tag their checklists with uses "budget planning checklists", "software design checklist" etc.

But even still, there's not a lot of meat on your "app", it's basically a ReST cookbook application right now.

It's mostly a proof of concept, but you have given me some very good ideas. A big brother may be born in the future.

Using 'Getting Drunk' as your example isn't putting your best foot forward.

Edit: Not only because its immature, but because most people would never consult a checklist on the internet when they want to get drunk. How about an example that is practical for most people?

Probably. I was trying to emphasize how the app could be used in a fun way.

Your screenshot was kind of confusing because it gets cut off. I thought it was part of the page and that the text on the right was cutting of the text on the left.

I'd remove the target="_blank" on the "try a demo" link just because I, personally, think it's annoying.

Also, the demo is just redirecting back to the homepage.

I'd add some extra text to your <title> pages to help with SEO and to make it clearer. "to re-do | Reusable todo lists" or something similar.

Add some labels to your "new list" form just to make it clearer. The center align on the title of the list is kinda weird. Make it clearer that each new line in the textarea means a new item on the todolist.

I don't see any way to add/edit items on my lists. Planned feature?

All of your links are highlighting when I hover over any one of them. I mean the "save restore clear" links when you're looking at a list.

I don't really like the background changing when I finish an item. It's unexpected and kind of jarring. For a second I was like "my monitor is messing up, wtf?"

I'd add a bookmarking button just to make it easier to get back to your lists. I'd also change the url from using the autoincrement ID to using some sort of random alphanumeric key. I don't really like that people can just change that number and peruse through all of the lists.

The "restore" and the "clear" buttons don't seem to be doing anything.

Consider adding a link to the todolist page that goes back to the homepage. Maybe also a "Create new List" page.

The screenshot also links to the demo; I fixed the text link, but heroku won't accept my commit. I'll try later.

If you test on chrome, you'll see I'm using the html5 placeholder attribute on the new list form, which provides instructions.

A planned feature is to have a secret edit link. For the mean time, you could create a new list, though I know it could be bothersome.

Those links save a cookie that remembers the items you already checked off. Save makes the cookie, restore restores it, and clear deletes the cookie.

I'll definitely do the bookmarking thing.

Thanks a lot!

The "restore" link behaves oddly... I can't seem to figure out any rhyme or reason to why it checks or unchecks certain boxes. Sometimes it unchecks items in the "done" list, sometimes it checks items in the "to-do" list (though it never moves an item from one list to the other). It doesn't seem to do either of these things consistently though...

when you want to save your progress, hit 'save' to store a cookie that remembers your checks. Or, every 10 seconds, it will save by itself.

Later, when you come back to the list, hit restore and the checkboxes will be checked according to the last recorded cookie.

Clear simply deletes the cookie.

Very pretty, but I don't really get why I should use this vs any other to do list.

All the lists are public, and easy to find: http://redo.heroku.com/[0-9]+

hit "wtf" below "reusable to-do lists" to learn why ;). Let me copy that for you:

It's useful for stuff like workout routines, recipes, checklists (launching a website, software testing, travel checklist, requirements list, achieving drunkenness...). the more you think about it, the more uses you find. Anyways, this beats having to create a new to-do list at x website every single time you'll start something you do repetitively.

I know they're rather easy to find atm, but that's just while I find the best possible routes. One of the uses of the lists are to be shareable, so I don't know whether or not I will ever change it. If you need some privacy, though, check out http://done.io ;)

Here ya go

http://www.opinbot.com/reviews/show/agdvcGluYm90chwLEhVyZXZp...

"developed and tested in webkit (chrome4+), screw any other engine."

That kind of attitude won't get you very far in web development.

it's not a serious webapp, I made it for a little short-running contest. As such, I didn't want to spend my time dealing with cross browser issues.

I know that there's no way that I can do that in a serious app.

Clicking 'try a live demo' just opens the same page in a new tab for me.

Windows XP, FF 3.5.8

I know. Try clicking the image instead. I fixed this locally but heroku won't accept my push. I'll try again later.

use case arguments aside, I have discovered a XSS vulnerability for you http://redo.heroku.com/72

thank you!

love it.

I love it! works great on chrome :)

thanks!

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