Feedback on my 'simple' To-Do List app/plugin?
Context:
I have no idea what I'm doing. This is my first app/plugin. I have only ever run a couple of plugins on my TRMNL which arrived about 2 weeks ago. And I only signed up to Base44 for app building about 1 week ago. I also had zero intent to share it with others, however, it may be useful for some with similar needs.
Here's something I've been working on for a week or so. And by working on, I mean typing prompts in Base44. No idea what the overall feeling around AI is in this community, but here we are.
I'm open to any feedback/suggestions: Does anything here stand out as an obvious design flaw? Or something I'm over-thinking or not considering? I know I tend to have an overly complex idea in mind when starting projects and get tunnel vision, while an obvious easier solution is staring me iun the face.
Basic idea:
I've got ADHD and needed a simple list I could edit from anywhere so random thoughts at work had a chance to become tasks completed at home hours later. But I can't use a phone at work, I don't want to pay for a solution that's not perfect for my needs, and I have used apps/websites in the past, and I know I will never rememeber to actively open them and check them.
Anyway, here's what I've put together to meet my fairly specific desires.
Features:
-Simple/Clean output with multiple categorgies for lists.
-No sing-up or account. Just create a list and have the generated list ID and your chosen password is all you need.
-Email CAN be used to create a list and have a recovery code sent, but no email's needed to use it.
-Add tasks from phone or PC via an in-browser app.
-Choose between a few different fonts, font sizes, up to 5 categories (columns), choose background and font colour/shade options for List title, Categories and list items.
-Other users can request to add to the list once, or to be a contributor by scanning the QR code.
-You can also send an invite to others, and choose what permissions they have with an access code.
Current problems:
- The current solution is not really a new plugion at all. This is the basic Image Display plugin, pulling an image of my list which this web app publishes to a given URL every time there's a change to the list. Well, it SHOULD do that. What it ACTUALLY does is creates some completely new table/spredsheet with slightly different formatting, font and spacing and then seems to export and image of that table. I've currently got it set up in a way that the font size I've chosen ends up looking fine when it gets to the display, but if someone else wanted to use a different font size, I have a feeling the end of each line would be cut off. The current easy fix is just to disable font changes, but I want it to be as customizable as possible.
This is less of a TRMNL issue, and more of a "I have no idea how to export the pixel-for-pixel image that I'm looking at in my app automatically to our set URL" issue.
- The next issue I have, and I suspect it's something I could solve if I paid for some kind of TRMNL license, is that the image exports from the app as soon as there's a change, and my TRMNL device pulls the image from TRMNL every 15 minutes, BUT the image TRMNL pulls from the app-generated URL is only updating once per hour.
-There are also plenty of functions I've tried to add but am yet to test.
A Little more background on what I was aiming for with this:
I have many lists in many notebooks but I often leave them at home or at work, or just lose them. So having one list I could update from anywhere was the goal. I also work in Defence and can't bring my phone into my office. So it had to be editable from my browser. And TRMNL made the most sense, because I also need it on a screen that's always on and always in front of me, otherwise I'll never think to check it. I also wanted my wife to be able to add tasks to it (these should be displayed slightly differently and I've just realised that needs to be tested still).
I initially made it only for myself, but I think it's pretty cool, so maybe others will like it too. Regardless, I made sure it didn't require any kind of sign in or handing over information.
Wow this was long. I hopew someone reads it.