Blink
A self-hosted app for posts, comments and profiles. I opened the source after this Forge lab didn't gain enough traction to justify the time it needed.
Why I opened the source
I started Blink as a Forge lab and tried to market it. It wasn't gaining traction, and I didn't feel the idea justified the time it would take to keep pushing it. I decided to open-source it instead.
About Blink
Blink is a small publishing app you can host yourself. It supports formatted posts, public links, comments, profiles, category requests and approximate session view counts.
Who Blink is for
- People who want to run a small publishing site on their own server.
- Operators prepared to configure email, set their own policies and moderate public content.
Intended result
Publish posts and run a small moderated community on your own server.
This summary is reconciled from the current catalog and repository documentation.
Features in v1.3.0
Capabilities below come from the current project README and release documentation.
Publish formatted posts with public links, comments and user profiles.
Review reports and category requests through the moderation tools.
Run the app with PHP and SQLite, without an npm build or database server.
Verified examples
Screenshots are shown only when the current README references a local source image. Otherwise, repository example files are linked directly.
Verified release evidence
This project does not currently publish a screenshot or dedicated example folder. The current README, tests, changelog, tagged release, and source repository remain the verified examples of its behavior.
Platforms and implementation
The public release claims only the cataloged platforms and technologies.
Supported platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
Built with
- PHP
- SQLite
- JavaScript
Changelog
Release notes from the canonical v1.3.0 source tag.
- Standalone open-source release with installation and deployment documentation.
- No production accounts, content, credentials, analytics or Forge integrations in distribution.
- Gold: released as-is; future maintenance and features are discretionary.
Quick start
The shortest documented path into the current release.
Requires PHP 8.3+ with PDO SQLite, mbstring and iconv. No database server or npm build is needed.
git clone https://github.com/loganpendragonmultiverse/blink.git
cd blink
php install.php
php -S localhost:8000 -t public router.phpOpen http://localhost:8000 and register your account. Grant moderation with php tools/make-admin.php YOUR_EMAIL. No default account is shipped. Shell and PowerShell installers are included.
Current limitations
These boundaries are part of the product and prevent the page from implying unverified capability.
- Released as-is; future features and maintenance are optional.
- Public posts and comments need operator moderation. Session view counts are approximate.
- Password recovery depends on correctly configured PHP email. The operator must supply contact details and site policies.
Privacy and licensing
Review the actual data boundary before using a tool with sensitive inputs.
Privacy and safety
Fresh installations contain no production posts or accounts. Serve only public/ and keep the SQLite database private. No analytics or private author service is enabled.
License and release
Blink is published under MIT. The current cataloged release is v1.3.0, published 2026-10-17.
Related projects
Related projects are selected deterministically from shared catalog tags, category, and implementation technologies—not popularity or paid placement.
Blink v1.3.0
Use the tagged release for downloads and release notes. Use the repository for source, issues, contribution guidance, security reporting, and complete documentation.
Page source: current Forge catalog plus README and CHANGELOG from the canonical GitHub release tag. Fingerprint: 3e371ba0c972ab52.