Show HN: Turn an email to a web page(mailp.in)
mailp.in
Show HN: Turn an email to a web page
http://mailp.in/c8cN1BEb
33 comments
Thanks for your testing! We have fixed the script / meta tag strip problem. We keep improving our code base, making sure emails are rendered correctly on web pages. We won't use user data for anything else.
Nicely done. Feedback:
- Where's your privacy policy detailed? With the nature of the service (gathering email addresses etc) you could head-off lots of questions with that.
- A default serif font drags anything down. For me personally I'd prefer another font.
- You sensibly replace emails, but other links like 'unsubscribe' remain intact, which could be problematic (don't worry, you'll still get your costco emails although it can sometimes lead to real emails/names).
- I guess grouping and parsing is the next step, i.e. process them and provide features around them a la tripit. Is that the direction you might take it?
- Where's your privacy policy detailed? With the nature of the service (gathering email addresses etc) you could head-off lots of questions with that.
- A default serif font drags anything down. For me personally I'd prefer another font.
- You sensibly replace emails, but other links like 'unsubscribe' remain intact, which could be problematic (don't worry, you'll still get your costco emails although it can sometimes lead to real emails/names).
- I guess grouping and parsing is the next step, i.e. process them and provide features around them a la tripit. Is that the direction you might take it?
Thanks for your feedback!
"Where's your privacy policy detailed? With the nature of the service (gathering email addresses etc) you could head-off lots of questions with that."
We haven't worked out a formal privacy policy ... but of course, user privacy is our top priority! We won't use user emails for anything else. In fact, from the post page, you can't find your email address.
"A default serif font drags anything down. For me personally I'd prefer another font."
We are still improving on the UI ... We would appreciate if you tell us your preferred font :)
"You sensibly replace emails, but other links like 'unsubscribe' remain intact, which could be problematic (don't worry, you'll still get your costco emails although it can sometimes lead to real emails/names)"
We also take care of unsubscribe part if the unsubscribe url contains your email address.
"I guess grouping and parsing is the next step, i.e. process them and provide features around them a la tripit. Is that the direction you might take it?"
Definitely there are many possibilities to explore from what we have right now. We'd like to hear users comments / critiques / suggestions first.
"Where's your privacy policy detailed? With the nature of the service (gathering email addresses etc) you could head-off lots of questions with that."
We haven't worked out a formal privacy policy ... but of course, user privacy is our top priority! We won't use user emails for anything else. In fact, from the post page, you can't find your email address.
"A default serif font drags anything down. For me personally I'd prefer another font."
We are still improving on the UI ... We would appreciate if you tell us your preferred font :)
"You sensibly replace emails, but other links like 'unsubscribe' remain intact, which could be problematic (don't worry, you'll still get your costco emails although it can sometimes lead to real emails/names)"
We also take care of unsubscribe part if the unsubscribe url contains your email address.
"I guess grouping and parsing is the next step, i.e. process them and provide features around them a la tripit. Is that the direction you might take it?"
Definitely there are many possibilities to explore from what we have right now. We'd like to hear users comments / critiques / suggestions first.
Just to clarify what I meant by the 'unsubscribe' part, many newsletters (like your Costco example from the OP) contain an unsubscribe link without an email but with a unique id in the href. When clicking this you often get to a page that then lets you unsubscribe and sometimes also see who the address was subscribed too, which defeats the purpose. I'm not sure what would be the ideal solution, but you could hit it with a hammer and remove all hrefs from the content in the email DOM, or perhaps parse explicitly for unsubscribe links (harder, as they vary, a bit of NLP etc). Alternatively, just consider the page as 'not for hostiles', in that the user should only share with people who wouldn't hunt for mischief in the first place.
For next steps and parsing, it really depends on if you want to store a user graph your end, i.e. do you want to also initiate the 'share' and know who is looking at the link? If you do then the features go in one direction (collaboration, conversations, actionable stuff) but if you don't want that then it's sort of a different animal (formatting, i.e. galleries, content suggestions and the like).
For a font, Helvetica Neue or anything in that family is all the rage ;)
For next steps and parsing, it really depends on if you want to store a user graph your end, i.e. do you want to also initiate the 'share' and know who is looking at the link? If you do then the features go in one direction (collaboration, conversations, actionable stuff) but if you don't want that then it's sort of a different animal (formatting, i.e. galleries, content suggestions and the like).
For a font, Helvetica Neue or anything in that family is all the rage ;)
Thank for your insightful feedback! It's really really helpful! We'll think through it :)
Please consider keeping the default serif font. It lends an air of humble authenticity to the service, giving the impression that it's hosted by some no-BS people who want an alternative to the glossy and boring options for social media.
Good! I created a similar thing last year when Posterous died; it sill exists and although it never got any traction I still use it for my blog; it's called urgeous.com and has an API that lets users use it as a service (posts can be displayed from your own domain while being hosted by Urgeous).
Your positionning is certainly superior though, because 'mail2web' is simpler and more fun than 'yet another blogging platform that uses email'...
I never got around to turning attachments on because I was afraid of the hosting costs; how do you plan on dealing with those?
Your positionning is certainly superior though, because 'mail2web' is simpler and more fun than 'yet another blogging platform that uses email'...
I never got around to turning attachments on because I was afraid of the hosting costs; how do you plan on dealing with those?
Thanks for your support!
"I never got around to turning attachments on because I was afraid of the hosting costs; how do you plan on dealing with those?"
As long as users don't delete their posts, we keep them (including attachments) there. If we are running out of storage space, we can add more machines :)
"I never got around to turning attachments on because I was afraid of the hosting costs; how do you plan on dealing with those?"
As long as users don't delete their posts, we keep them (including attachments) there. If we are running out of storage space, we can add more machines :)
Are you guarding against malicious users who send automated emails containing large attachments?
… like sharing the latest block busters …
I'd be curious what your approach is to handling porn submissions, be they legal or not? (i.e. I don't see anything about reporting illegal images, like most gallery-hosting sites have.)
Also how will you handle spam? Just post it regardless unless or until volume becomes excessive?
Also how will you handle spam? Just post it regardless unless or until volume becomes excessive?
Very good idea, I'll use it. just a heads up though.
Abusers will abuse, and it seems that you are only going to consider restrictions and security overall after it happens.
Set some alerts so you at least get a warning before the server goes down.
Abusers will abuse, and it seems that you are only going to consider restrictions and security overall after it happens.
Set some alerts so you at least get a warning before the server goes down.
Thanks! Will do!
Nice! We've been working on a similar project http://jokund.com
You just send an email and any Cc'ed people is subscribed to your blog. Would love some feedback.
By the way, we also open sourced an npm module to handle inbound emails and post them to a webhook of your choice https://github.com/Flolagale/mailin
Awesome! I blogged about people sending emails with content that didn't have an associated URL recently (and how that pained my heart): http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1441
And mailp.in solves that issue perfectly. If someone sends you an email that is chock full of content that should be shared, just mailpin it.
One question: how long are the URL and the content preserved?
And mailp.in solves that issue perfectly. If someone sends you an email that is chock full of content that should be shared, just mailpin it.
One question: how long are the URL and the content preserved?
Thanks!
"One question: how long are the URL and the content preserved?"
You decide. If you don't delete it yourself, it'll be there forever. And it's private. You decide who to share with. You decide whether to keep it or not.
We will commit to improving mailpin, making it a robust and useful service.
"One question: how long are the URL and the content preserved?"
You decide. If you don't delete it yourself, it'll be there forever. And it's private. You decide who to share with. You decide whether to keep it or not.
We will commit to improving mailpin, making it a robust and useful service.
I know not logging in is the basic premise of your website, but I'd also like to be able to read more than just the one post I found written by that author. Rather than search his tweets, and facebook posts, and any emails he's ever sent me for a mailp.in link.
Is there a way you can have sub-domains such as [username].mailp.in/[post address]
Perhaps the username is a hash of the email address to keep the privacy of the user. Not a deal-breaker but it'd be nice.
Is there a way you can have sub-domains such as [username].mailp.in/[post address]
Perhaps the username is a hash of the email address to keep the privacy of the user. Not a deal-breaker but it'd be nice.
One request: PLEASE don't use highlighting-pops-up-text add-ins. They immediately get blocked on my end and are an annoying user experience.
This is a HUGE pet-peeve of mine because I have a habit of selecting text while I'm reading. And I'm definitely not alone. I don't understand why sites continue to do this.
Thread.is tried to do this a couple years ago. Gone now. Not sure there's a good use case for it.
Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20121118205935/https://beta.threa...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/threadhq
Archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20121118205935/https://beta.threa...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/threadhq
Cool stuff! :-)
Feedback:
"The created web page is private to you."
If I understand the system correctly, isn't that misleading? Once you share the link with someone, they could share it with the whole world. I.e. you share full control with every person you share the link with. Kinda like the privacy you get with email (no more) so maybe @mailpin could correct the description to reflect that.
Feedback:
"The created web page is private to you."
If I understand the system correctly, isn't that misleading? Once you share the link with someone, they could share it with the whole world. I.e. you share full control with every person you share the link with. Kinda like the privacy you get with email (no more) so maybe @mailpin could correct the description to reflect that.
Imgur says exactly the same - your Images are private and its up to you if share them. I cannot imagine situation where someone shares a link and expect the content to be private any more...
It must be so fun to look at the breakdown of the company or university email addresses that you are getting emails from
It would be handy if you could attach a js or css file to the email which would be used in the published page.
This is an excellent idea—I've received many requests from people who want to be able to use the BeeLine Reader browser plugins to read their email. This would accomplish that goal. Even without a JS/CSS helper, this is still really awesome because people can use this tool in combination with our browser plugins. Please contact me ([email protected]) if you end up allowing JS/CSS helpers so that we can work with you to make ours compatible. Thanks again for this awesome product!
I'm sorry, you have written a very similar message to the comments section of the given link. It smells spam.
wow, really sorry to have set off your spam-alert. I think their solution is really awesome and a great complement to our tool. I couldn't have made my point without mentioning what my browser plugin does, which is why I included the name (but no link here, mind). If two posts makes me a spammer, then so be it, but I'm mostly just trying to encourage mailpin to consider the opportunity to collaborate with browser plugin companies, which is something they may not have thought of.
What do you mean? Yes, he posted another message endorsing mailp.in in the comments and here he's reaching out for a collaboration. I don't see why it would be spam just because he's mentioning his product.
Seems like I am getting downvoted for some reason. Let me clarify a bit of things here. The product he is talking about is a browser plugin, which is something that claims that speeds up reading by coloring the sentences.
This has no relation whatsoever with the OP's product. It is saying, "Hey great stuff! Check out my unrelated product in the link, maybe we can collaborate."
I doesn't smell spam; it is spam.
This has no relation whatsoever with the OP's product. It is saying, "Hey great stuff! Check out my unrelated product in the link, maybe we can collaborate."
I doesn't smell spam; it is spam.
I don't agree. He purposed how they could collaborate. Bee Line Reader is a great tool which a lot of people on HN use and not something random. I definitely see how it could be used with mailp.in.
It seems primarily because his comments aren't adding significant value without mentioning his product. Take out the product, and it's basically "Awesome!".
A low value comment + product mentions = spammy smell.
A low value comment + product mentions = spammy smell.
Does anyone know which library this uses to convert mails to HTML?
I'm wondering because I need something for a devops project that can show spam inline in a webpage. Obviously this is dangerous because it could spread malware so what could mailp.in be using to avoid spreading malware like this?
I'm wondering because I need something for a devops project that can show spam inline in a webpage. Obviously this is dangerous because it could spread malware so what could mailp.in be using to avoid spreading malware like this?
Sweet! Thank you. I just used your service apply for PIEPDX Startup Incubator just a few seconds ago. I needed a quick way to create an online photo gallery and just emailed the pics to [email protected]. Private by default, no account needed, and easier than min.us
This is a neat idea. It would be cool to somehow allow you to add a list of recipients that should receive the link once it's pinned, but I guess that takes away from the simplicity of it.
like if you receive a mail that was not only to [email protected], you could send the generated link to those people in CC.
I'm not sure what to use this for though. Who would look at the website when it just contains what was in the mail a minute ago anyway?
I'm not sure what to use this for though. Who would look at the website when it just contains what was in the mail a minute ago anyway?
That seems in line with the design more so than uploading css or js.
Can you add so that people can append their emails / attachments to the existing page? Even SMS messages? You can add twitter message to it latter on...
Thanks for pointing this out. All these google indexes are gone.
I like the idea. I can't think of a specific use-case for me yet, but email integrated apps are often pretty cool and make for easier adoption.
We (as developers of mailpin) use the services ourselves:
1. Ad hoc image album. Put a bunch of images as attachments in an email and send to [email protected] to create a simple page.
2. Forward company receipts to [email protected] and create a page, and share the link in coworkers ... (this sounds weird ... but it works well for us ...)
3. Forward marketing spams to create page, and publicly share such pages to denounce those spammers :)
4. Forward paper acceptance latters or other letters to create pages, and share them to show off -- vanity!
5. Ad hoc blogging ... Don't want to have an account, don't want people to follow me. But occasionally, we still want to say something and share to Friends that we really trust.
6. Create a playlist of youtube videos. Put a bunch of youtube links and send to [email protected]. A page with embedded videos will be created. We don't have youtube accounts ... sorry ... but still want to share a bunch of videos with friends ...
7. Tweet more than 140 characters. Create a page with short url, and tweet!
There would be more use cases. The point is, we want something dead simple. No registration, no app (well, email client is still needed ...), and private.
1. Ad hoc image album. Put a bunch of images as attachments in an email and send to [email protected] to create a simple page.
2. Forward company receipts to [email protected] and create a page, and share the link in coworkers ... (this sounds weird ... but it works well for us ...)
3. Forward marketing spams to create page, and publicly share such pages to denounce those spammers :)
4. Forward paper acceptance latters or other letters to create pages, and share them to show off -- vanity!
5. Ad hoc blogging ... Don't want to have an account, don't want people to follow me. But occasionally, we still want to say something and share to Friends that we really trust.
6. Create a playlist of youtube videos. Put a bunch of youtube links and send to [email protected]. A page with embedded videos will be created. We don't have youtube accounts ... sorry ... but still want to share a bunch of videos with friends ...
7. Tweet more than 140 characters. Create a page with short url, and tweet!
There would be more use cases. The point is, we want something dead simple. No registration, no app (well, email client is still needed ...), and private.
Thanks for the update of what went through your minds. Keep track of how customers use it. You will likely be surprised by what actually is done with it.
Great Idea. Can you add a time limit functions on the generated webpage? The generated webpage will be deleted after x number of days.
[deleted]
Do you know if google index your pages ? and how it can find all the pages or links ?
If you put your link to public places like hacker news, then google will find it.
If you simply create a post page and keep it to yourself or share in a closed social network (e.g., IM, facebook private group ...) that cannot be indexed by google, then you are good.
That said, you decide to what degree you want to share your page.
If you simply create a post page and keep it to yourself or share in a closed social network (e.g., IM, facebook private group ...) that cannot be indexed by google, then you are good.
That said, you decide to what degree you want to share your page.
This is not correct. With Google now having Chrome and other tools, there are many ways for Google to find out a URL exists.
You may want to send a follow up email with a quick link for the user to add a noindex meta tag to the page, or even password protect it.
You may want to send a follow up email with a quick link for the user to add a noindex meta tag to the page, or even password protect it.
Thanks!
We just did a release to address this problem. Now, <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> is added for each single page.
We just did a release to address this problem. Now, <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> is added for each single page.
Email is for me a convenient way to pass data.
And client are more easy to manage or interact with emails.
And one of the best is that you can keep your data with emails an decentralised it.
Very nice works, the idea is pleasant i'am thinking on a private open source network. Would you mind if i use your idea ?
And one of the best is that you can keep your data with emails an decentralised it.
Very nice works, the idea is pleasant i'am thinking on a private open source network. Would you mind if i use your idea ?
I am thinking that it could be a way to make a extended kind of mailing list.
A maling list where you can publish things more easily ....
A maling list where you can publish things more easily ....
And again what please me is tahat oy decentralised the things why not make comment for a post with emails too ?
Did you read this ? http://mobisocial.stanford.edu/papers/mrprivacy.pdf
Did you read this ? http://mobisocial.stanford.edu/papers/mrprivacy.pdf
"You email client is your editor"
Should be "Your email client...."?
Should be "Your email client...."?
I want to see the mailp.inception on the image attached!
What are the restrictions on attachment sizes?
For now, we really don't have any restriction on attachment size. We accpect whatever you are allowed to send for your email account.
But definitely we have alerts and closely monitor to prevent something bad happens.
But definitely we have alerts and closely monitor to prevent something bad happens.
This passed the instapaper test, thanks!
This is really cool!
http://mailp.in/dashboard/reply/*ID*
Where I replaced the actual id with "ID". So I copied the ID from that referrer and visited:
http://mailp.in/*ID*
It seems you don't strip out quite a lot of stuff, including script tags and meta refresh tags.
If you want to contact me about any of this, my details are at https://grepular.com/#contact (I am the author of https://emailprivacytester.com/ if you hadn't guessed)