Philosophy

Why Blank Board exists and how it’s different

The Problem

Most productivity tools come pre-loaded with features you don’t need. You fight the UI, hide panels, disable features — and still end up with a cluttered workspace.

What if the tool started with nothing and you added only what you needed?

The Blank Canvas Approach

Blank Board inverts the traditional model:

Traditional	Blank Board
Ship everything, let users disable	Ship nothing, let users enable
Features are baked in	Features are plugins
Customization = settings panels	Customization = write code
One-size-fits-all	Everyone’s board is different

Core Principles

1. Minimal Kernel

The entire core is ~100 lines. It boots the board, loads plugins, and provides a small API. That’s it.

// That's basically the whole kernel:
const bus = new EventBus();
const api = createApi({ boardEl, bus, storage });
plugins.forEach(p => import(p.url).then(m => m.setup(api)));

2. No Coupling

Plugins never import each other. They communicate through the event bus:

// Plugin A emits
api.bus.emit('todo:added', { text: 'Buy milk' });

// Plugin B listens — no direct dependency
api.bus.on('todo:added', (data) => updateUI(data));

3. Progressive

Start with nothing. Add what you need. Your board grows with you.

1. Day 1

   You open Blank Board. It’s empty. You install a sticky note.
2. Week 1

   You add a clock and a to-do list.
3. Month 1

   You’ve got 12 plugins, a custom layout, and a workflow that fits you perfectly.

4. Portable

No build step. No Node.js required. No framework lock-in. Just open index.html in a browser.

5. Transparent

Every plugin is a readable .js file. You can see exactly what it does before installing it.

Inspiration

Blank Board draws from:

• Unix philosophy — small tools that do one thing well
• Browser extensions — modular enhancements to a base platform
• Physical cork boards — blank space you fill with what matters to you

The Name

Empty — because that’s the starting point. What you build on it is entirely up to you.