Webpage-based applications

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webfork
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Webpage-based applications

#1 Post by webfork »

In short, programs that are functionally an entire software program written into a downloadable webpage. To clarify what that means:

Comparison with other apps:

What is a webpage-based app? A comparison of different application types:
  • Local application - a program you can run from your local computer (just about everything listed in the TFPC database)
  • Web application - something run from a distant server, e.g. gmail. This can be a problem if you lose network connectivity or are on an especially slow network, and these tools will go away if the individuals/company behind them shuts down. Here's a collection of various web applications.
  • Local web application - a program you can run from a server running on your local computer to enable various tools like PHP, MariaDB, Perl, etc. You often have to run a separate program like XAMPP and it can sometimes require some configuration steps.
  • Webpage-based application (the focus of this thread) - a program that functions entirely within a web browser, no server components needed. These are usually javascript-based.
Why webpage-based?

The advantages of webpage-based applications are really the same as portable freeware except that they function on any system that can run a modern browser and therefore extremely cross-platform. As they are run entirely in the browser, there's little security concern, but new browser updates and controls or tweaks could also break functionality.

Negatively, very old webpage may not behave reliably but this is fairly common across any platforms. Even Microsoft Windows, which is very good about backwards-compatibility, will see some issues with 10+ year old applications.

Background

Everyone is familiar with web-based applications applications, programs that work entirely via a web browser e.g. any web mail service, Google Docs, and Slack. They have two obvious issues: they require an Internet connection (a good one if you're working with large images or video), and occasionally the services behind them die. There's of course always questions of privacy and security for anything not done on your local machine, and many tools require a login of some sort.

One thing that can solve this issue is that some web-based programs will let you download the whole thing to your local machine, meaning you run the whole thing locally and thereafter no internet connection is required.


Related

* The Year The Desktop App Died
* Make desktop apps with HTML, CSS, and Javascript (thanks thepiney)
* Docu-wiki on a stick
Last edited by webfork on Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: (added big section about comparison of different software types)

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Re: Webpage-based applications: pl-copyfind

#2 Post by webfork »

pl-copyfind - a comparison tool targeted at finding plagarism, but I can see a lot of other applications as well:
https://github.com/cmroanirgo/pl-copyfind

Steps

1. Click the green "Code" button and select "Download zip"
2. Extract and launch demos\index.html

Screenshot:

Image

---

NOTE: Text comparison content came from this post.

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Re: Webpage-based applications: Text-Utilities

#3 Post by webfork »

Text-Utilities - lots of interesting text manipulation tools.

Web-based app: https://rawgit.com/instanceofme/text-ut ... index.html

Download locally: https://github.com/instanceofme/text-utilities

Steps:

1. Click the green "Code" button and select "Download zip"
2. Extract and launch index.html

Screenshot:

Image

---

Where I learned about the program: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/103 ... tence-case

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Re: Webpage-based applications: SCEditor

#4 Post by webfork »

SCEditor - Something I use for building any complex formatting used here in the forums (probably my most-used web app). Visit the website for a working, web-based version: https://www.sceditor.com/

Steps: Click download (at hte top of the page), unzip, and launch example.html

Screenshots:

Full view that shows the bbcode:

Image

Window-only view of the standard editor:

Image

Limitations: the various "skins" didn't work for me in Firefox.

Related: BBCeditor

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Re: Webpage-based applications

#5 Post by webfork »

Presenta - a web-based markdown presentation tool
PRESENTA Lib is a javascript library that generates web presentations from config objects.

It's opinionated and it comes with sensible defaults with extensibility in mind.

It enforces some presentation and communication principles, therefore, you need to worry about mainly of your content.
I'm a huge fan of the excellent Marp markdown presentation tool, but it has a few issues and the downloadable project has been discontinued. Presenta looks like it might be just the thing to carry the torch forward.

Demo / web app: https://play.presenta.cc/#s3

Download: https://github.com/presenta-software/presenta-lib

Requirements: unlike other programs in this list, this program does need a webserver, but there's a few workarounds listed on the site.

License: BSD (3 clause)

Image

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Re: Webpage-based applications (NullBoard)

#6 Post by Midas »

I have had this bookmark around for quite a while without knowing what to do with it, so I guess this is as good as any a place to post about NullBoard...

NullBoard is a single HTML file (to start with) web-board cum wiki, with a polished UI and impressive customization -- somewhat similar to much older TiddlyWiki (viewtopic.php?t=2031) -- created by well-known dev Alexander Pankratov of Bvckup2 fame...
Nullboard is a minimalist take on a kanban board/a task list manager, designed to be compact, readable and quick in use.

Image

Current NullBoard release is v2021.08.04 (changelog at https://nullboard.io/changes); to get it, just head to the preview site at https://nullboard.io/preview -- save a copy and start editing...

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Re: Webpage-based applications

#7 Post by Midas »

Note: The topic should be (re-)named "[Web-]Browser-based applications", IMHO.

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Re: Webpage-based applications

#8 Post by Andrew Lee »

I myself prefer "Web-based app".

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Re: Webpage-based applications (NullBoard)

#9 Post by Ploppaz »

Midas wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:25 am I have had this bookmark around for quite a while without knowing what to do with it, so I guess this is as good as any a place to post about NullBoard...

NullBoard is a single HTML file (to start with) web-board cum wiki, with a polished UI and impressive customization -- somewhat akin to far older TiddlyWiki (viewtopic.php?t=2031) -- created by our well-known dev Alexander Pankratov (of Bvckup2 fame).
Nullboard is a minimalist take on a kanban board/a task list manager, designed to be compact, readable and quick in use.

Image

Current NullBoard release is v2021.08.04 (changelog at https://nullboard.io/changes); to get it, just head to the preview site at https://nullboard.io/preview -- save a copy and start editing...
This is great! Thanks for letting it open for everyone to use.

I really like the minimal aesthetic of it, still offering drag & drop interface. Love the legible yet dense font. I'm going to use it myself and pass the HTML to the members of my research group.

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Re: Webpage-based applications

#10 Post by Midas »

You can now run Windows(-like) OS in the browser:
Orb is a free and open source web desktop, which simulates a Windows-like desktop in a web browser. You can use it to access files on a server or a NAS in an easy and secure way.

Image

An Orb demo can be tested at https://desktop.leisink.net/.

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Re: Webpage-based applications

#11 Post by Andrew Lee »

Midas wrote: Sat Aug 19, 2023 12:04 pm An Orb demo can be tested at https://desktop.leisink.net/.
This thing is amazing! My personal favorites:

1. Browser with browser
2. Sheep (cute!)
3. Wolfenstein 3D

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