Public link lists

[erlend-sh]

My main use case for linkblocks is public link lists.

Example from Linkding: https://links.keybits.net/bookmarks/shared

Since public sharing would be my default, I'd prefer my links to be presented at links.erlend.sh or erlend.sh/links, whereas the private stuff is nested in a level deeper. Just like a blog that's default-public but also has a private section for drafts or restricted posts.

[raffomania]

Yes, this is something I very much want. The authentication system currently denies access to all pages, but once we have a boolean for setting a list to public or private, we can allow users without an account to see public lists. We'll need to think about the implications for bookmarks added to these lists - e.g. on a bookmark details page, only display public lists it's in.

In general, I'd like linkblocks' UI/UX to say "everything you do here is public by default". Private things are the exception.

[erlend-sh]

We've got a first-take of this in #52 so I'll make some inline threads below for further considerations in future work.

[erlend-sh]

Distinct public/private views

public view should be distinct from private view. I.e. links.erlend.sh/all or links.erlend.sh/lists/123 should display the same regardless of me being authenticated or not. When I view blog.erlend.sh I wanna read my blog like normal. I go to blog.erlend.sh/ghost to enter the backend.

[raffomania]

I'm not sure about this one, can you elaborate on your reasons for this? When I go to my github profile while authenticated, it's similar to to the logged in view but there are elements for customizing pins, etc. I like that.

[erlend-sh]

Yeah I’d still like some basic customization controls in the public view if I’m logged in. But I don’t want my authenticated state preventing me from seeing what my public page actually looks like.

Right now, to confirm that the public view appears as I expect it to, I have to open it in incognito mode.

Gamedev analogy:
links.erlend.sh/admin = game editor view
links.erlend.sh (logged in) = live game with debug widgets
links.erlend.sh (anon / non-owner) = plain game view

[raffomania]

Oh right, github used to have a button for a "public view" of a profile as well. I think when you're authenticated, I'd expect linkblocks to redirect you to the private page from the index page, and then have a little "show public view" button somewhere.

[erlend-sh]

Public all-view

A public all-view like links.erlend.sh or links.erlend.sh/all is more important than any specific list being public, as the all-view is the directory for all those other lists. How this should work may lack specification atm though.

[erlend-sh]

Shorter list URLs

Currently a list URL looks as follows: https://example.com/lists/119c98df-8d45-438e-b93f-b9a1fee36205

Can we reduce the length of list URLs?

[raffomania]

I've toyed with the idea of using nanoid. The obvious alternative would be to slugify the list name, which presents lots of interesting problems, like what to do when the name changes, or how to preserve the usefulness of slugs in the presence of chinese or arabic characters. Maybe using slugs by default, and allowing users to specify their own slug, is a good middle ground.