Show HN: Replace Chrome new tab with a blank WYSIWYG editor for taking notes
1 day ago (github.com)
minimalistab 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://tiddlywiki.com/
I found more tools from previous discussions:
https://tabnotes.page/
https://original.littr.me/
https://feather.wiki/
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.