OwnComments

OwnComments is a simple, self-hosted solution to add a comment system to any web page, with storage on Google Firestore. It also allows you to import comments from Hyvor Talk.

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✨ Main Features

• Per-page comment threads (distinct feed per URL)
• Secure storage on Firestore (Firebase)
• Easy integration on any HTML page (e.g., Ontraport)
• Pagination: Comments are displayed in pages (default: 20 per page) with navigation controls
• Security: User input is sanitized and escaped to prevent execution of malicious scripts in the browser
• Automated import of Hyvor Talk comments

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📁 File Structure

• comments.html: Example frontend to embed on your web pages (browser only)
• import-to-firestore.node.js: Node.js script to import comments into Firestore
• transform-hyvor-to-firestore.node.js: Converts a Hyvor Talk export to Firestore format (Node.js)
• firestore-comments.json: Generated file containing comments to import
• serviceAccountKey.json: Firebase private key (generate from Firebase console, do not share)
• FireStore.rules: Example Firestore security rules for this project. Review and adapt these rules before deploying to production.

Note: All files with the .node.js extension are intended to be run with Node.js (backend/CLI only), not in the browser.

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⚙️ Prerequisites

• Node.js (for import)
• A Firebase project with Firestore enabled
• A Firebase service account key (serviceAccountKey.json)

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🚀 Installation & Comment Import

1. Clone the repository
2. Install the required dependencies:

   npm install firebase-admin firebase

3. Place your serviceAccountKey.json file at the project root (downloadable from Firebase Console > Project Settings > Service Accounts).
4. (Optional) Convert a Hyvor Talk export:

   node transform-hyvor-to-firestore.node.js

   This generates firestore-comments.json.
5. Import comments into Firestore:

   node import-to-firestore.node.js

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🧹 Duplicate Prevention

Automatic Duplicate Prevention

• The import script (import-to-firestore.node.js) uses a deterministic ID (hash of name+text+timestamp) for each comment.
• This ensures that re-importing the same data will not create duplicate comments in Firestore.

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Frontend Integration Example

For a complete, secure, and up-to-date frontend integration example, see comments.html.

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🔒 Security Tips

• Never expose the serviceAccountKey.json file on the client side or in a public repository.
• After import, restrict your Firestore rules to prevent abuse.
• The frontend API key is not secret, but always use appropriate Firestore rules.

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📄 Pagination System

• The frontend displays comments in pages, with a default of 20 comments per page.
• If there are more than 20 comments, navigation buttons ("Précédent"/"Suivant") appear below the list to switch pages without reloading.
• This is handled entirely client-side for a smooth user experience.

🔧 How to configure the number of comments per page

• In the comments.html file, look for the line:

  var COMMENTS_PER_PAGE = 20;

• Change the value (20) to your desired number of comments per page.

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🛡️ Data Protection & Compliance (GDPR / nFADP)

OwnComments is designed to store only minimal user data (name, comment, timestamp) and does not collect emails or IP addresses by default.

However, compliance with the EU GDPR and Swiss nFADP depends on your configuration and usage:

• Ensure your Firestore database is hosted in a region compliant with your legal requirements (e.g., EU servers).
• Update your privacy policy to inform users about data storage and their rights.
• Provide a way for users to request deletion of their comments if needed.
• Do not collect more data than necessary.

You are responsible for ensuring your use of OwnComments complies with applicable data protection laws.

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❓ Quick FAQ

• Q: Is Node.js required to display comments?
  • No, only for importing. Display is handled client-side with the Firebase SDK.
• Q: Can I have a separate comment thread per page?
  • Yes, this is automatic using the page URL.
• Q: Can I import formats other than Hyvor Talk?
  • You just need to adapt the conversion script.

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📝 License

BSD-3-Clause

Comment Importation Workflow

1. Convert Hyvor/Exported Comments to Plain Text

Use the script below to convert all comments (including Hyvor rich text) to plain text:

node convert-comments-to-plain.node.js <input-file.json>

• This will create a new file with -plain.json appended to the name.

2. Import Cleaned Comments into Firestore

Use your import script to load the cleaned comments into Firestore:

node import-to-firestore.node.js <cleaned-file.json>

• Make sure your Firestore is empty or cleaned before importing to avoid duplicates.

Available Scripts

• convert-comments-to-plain.node.js: Node.js script to convert all comments (including Hyvor rich text) to plain text before import
• import-to-firestore.node.js: Node.js script to import cleaned comments into Firestore
• transform-hyvor-to-firestore.node.js: Converts a Hyvor Talk export to Firestore format (Node.js)