Show HN: Replace Chrome new tab with a blank WYSIWYG editor for taking notes
github.comminimalistab is an extension for Chrome that replaces the default "New tab" page with a blank WYSIWYG editor for taking notes.
Sometimes I need a blank screen to stare at, especially when context switching between tasks; so I made this Chrome extension with basic note taking capabilities.
I kept the code as simple as possible, formatted for developers with dyslexia. Let me know your opinions.
I hope you find it useful. Feel free to personalize and hack your own copy. Feedback very welcome.
DEMO: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hakaneskici/minimalistab/r...
Install as an extension: https://github.com/hakaneskici/minimalistab
Features:
* Take notes with formatting
* CMD/CTRL + {B, I, U} or toolbar
* Works offline by design
* Auto save to local storage
* Download as .html file
* Dark/light system theme
* Paste images and links
* Plain JS, no dependencies
* No tracking, no telemetry, no cookies
* Works without JS too (no saving)
* 100% handcrafted human code (TM)
Here's the primary trick that makes this possible:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43179649
Previous discussions and tools:
[1] Nash - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43358914
[2] Notetime - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43434152
[3] NoteUX - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43492415
[4] TiddlyWiki - https://tiddlywiki.com/ I found more tools from previous discussions: https://zareith.github.io/chillmd/ Although most tools use the "contenteditable" trick, I noticed some save the *entire page* as HTML. I used a different approach to enable downloading just the editable content: I made one like this for myself. Love this. Mine has two panels. One for notes and the left side is just a tall menu, big buttons of my favorite sites/tools - saves a few clicks. Custom newtab is underrated. Awesome! I'd love to see it. One of my goals was to make the code "hackable", so that you can take this as a starting point, then extend and personalize it, to make it "yours". > Custom newtab is underrated Exactly. I'm surprised myself how handy this turned out :) I haven't really looked but my immediate reaction was - why an extension? Wouldn't a web page be capable of of this? The only reason is that it shows up on all new tabs. It's just always there. Backstory: My primary goal was to have a blank screen when I open a new browser tab. It helps me with context switching, to stop and think. Later I added an editable area to jot down a few quick notes before typing a URL that takes me to my next distraction :) But on most browsers you can set any page as the default. A browser extension is part of distribution channels that websites are excluded.
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