Minichat

Real time forum

Build a cozy corner of the internet for a small-ish group of like minded people. Anonymous users talk in public and build a reputation, similarly to reddit. The messages are real time and listed by date like in a discord chat.

There are no notifications for replies, you need to check back often.

How to use

• No account is needed to read messages.
• You can signup with just a username and password, no email or phone number needed.
• Post your first message, let users know who you are and why you joined.
• Upvotes from other users increase your reputation.
• When your reputation is high enough, you'll be able to access more features
• Upvote messages that make the community better
• Downvote spam and slop
• You cannot edit or delete messages, so take the time to proofread them.

How to self host

• all you need is nodejs 25+ on your server
• no configuration is required
• no npm modules are used
• the first user to sign up is the admin
• the admin can create a channel by opening /channel-name and posting a first message
• the app uses sqlite to store messages
• you probably should backup the sqlite db from time to time

Fighting spam

• A downvote on your first message is basically a ban.
• When a user is banned, all their messages are hidden immediately.
• There's a reputation minimum to upvote.
• New users's messages are private (login required) to avoir publishing spam
• New users have a posting rate limit