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Jottit – Publish in seconds, reviving my 2007 project with Aaron Swartz

Jottit – Publish in seconds, reviving my 2007 project with Aaron Swartz

by simonbc·Mar 11, 2026·8 points·5 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidCozyNiche Gem

Revives Aaron Swartz's 2007 vision: publish markdown instantly without signup or JavaScript.

Strengths
  • •"Claim later" flow removes signup friction for initial publishing.
  • •Public pages serve static HTML with zero JavaScript dependencies.
  • •Open-source revival preserves a specific piece of internet history.
Weaknesses
  • •Lacks rich media embedding or customization compared to modern CMS platforms.
  • •Niche appeal limits adoption beyond privacy-focused writers and minimalists.
Category
Productivity
Target Audience

Minimalist writers and privacy advocates

Similar To

Telegraph · Write.as · Pastebin

Post Description

Aaron Swartz and I built Jottit in 2007 as a really simple way for anyone to make a page on the web in seconds. You just typed something, clicked a button, and you got a page on a secret URL. It went offline years ago.

I've now rebuilt it from scratch. It's basically the same idea, but even simpler. Go to jottit.org, write markdown, and you have a published page. Claim it, pick an address, and you now have a feed of your pages at yourname.jottit.org. There's no signup to start writing. And no JS on public pages. You can export your writing when you want.

Jottit is free and open source. It's not a startup, just something I really wanted to exist again.

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