r/webdev • • 21m ago

Discussion Need Help Implementing a Medium-Style Block-Based Article Editor with Cloudinary and MongoDB

• Upvotes

Hey, I need some help understanding my development workflow. This might be a bit long, but I want to explain my problem clearly.

I’m a beginner building a small article web app where users can register, log in, and create articles containing both text and images.

I want to implement a block-based architecture, similar to Medium, where users can add text and images in any order. For example, they might write a paragraph, insert an image, write another paragraph, and then insert another image. I’m storing these blocks in an array in my article schema so that their order is preserved.

My main confusion is about image uploads. When a user selects an image, I want to upload it to Cloudinary, receive the image URL, and store that URL inside the corresponding image block in the article.

However, I’m struggling to understand how to connect all these steps. I’ve tried implementing it and asking ChatGPT for help, but I still haven’t understood the workflow properly.

I’d like a beginner-friendly, step-by-step explanation of how to implement this, including how the frontend editor manages the blocks, how the image is uploaded to Cloudinary through the backend, how the returned URL is added to the correct block, and how the complete article is eventually saved to MongoDB.

Please explain the logic behind each step rather than just giving me code, so I can understand the implementation and build it myself.


r/webdev • • 3h ago

What do you do while waiting for your AI agent to run?

0 Upvotes

There are times when I basically have nothing to do for 10 or 15 minutes while my agent chugs away. I often find myself reading Twitter or Reddit during these times which doesn't seem like a good use of my time. I don't have a ton of tasks in my backlog, so nothing really to work on there either. I'm looking for more productive things to do during that time. Thoughts?


r/webdev • • 5h ago

Adding Go's defer to the TypeScript Compiler

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4 Upvotes

r/webdev • • 6h ago

Is this new framework the fastest?

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0 Upvotes

I noticed Zak Kohler's post about a new web framework Roux in the Roc zulip. It looks really fast in his benchmarks compared to Go and Rust.

How is that possible? I'm guessing he is using some tricks with io_uring and an LLVM optimised build.

https://github.com/Eldhus/roux


r/webdev • • 8h ago

Best forum bulletin board style software

0 Upvotes

Looking for a forum with bulletin board style UI. Not the newer all in one platforms, but simple, list format forums. Think PhpBB or SMF. I’m trying to find a newer software in this style, because all the ones I’ve found use PHP, which is quite dated. Is there a modern forum software like this that I can self host?


r/webdev • • 11h ago

How big is a Git commit?

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16 Upvotes

r/webdev • • 11h ago

Question How dependent on AI is the company you work for?

66 Upvotes

Today, I found out that my company is moving the SDLC 100% to AI. Humans will no longer read or write code. We are also building out an AI code pipeline that removes engineers from the loop entirely. Which I think will eventually culminate in layoffs.

I think my company is on the bleeding edge, but what are you all seeing at your jobs?


r/webdev • • 15h ago

Ai replacing developers

0 Upvotes

I'm using Google translate to help me

After Adobe programs that took years were completely designed in just a few weeks using AI, can we truly say that AI has started to surpass programmers themselves?


r/webdev • • 19h ago

Question Offline uses for HTML (+ CSS)?

0 Upvotes

Crosspost from /r/HTML

Last night, right before drifting into sleep, I got some crazy idea for some offline use case for HTML/CSS... But I can't remember exactly the idea that I had in mind.

It had something to do with photos or maps? I guess it was some "interactive" html/css based interface or mindmap kind of thing, about all the variety of stuff I have on my computer. For example, if I'm writing something, this file is its own separate entity. A file in "my documents", with no relation to any other file.

How about combining all of these files into this freeform "interface" by making an offline website that links into physical locations on my PC? I could organize my thoughts, my screenshots, my writings, my photos, my videos, my source materials, everything into a one personal use "platform" designed from the ground up to suit my workflow, that I could always expand.

Files would not be separate instances hidden in the files, but rather a part of a bigger system. Their links could be highlighted, they could have visual cues to direct my attention, they could have thumbnails or explanatory notes, they could be inbedded videos.

Has anyone ever done anything like this?


r/webdev • • 19h ago

Discussion I signed up for a SaaS product yesterday because I wanted to try one feature.

146 Upvotes

Before I could even see the dashboard, it asked for my company size, industry, role, team size, annual revenue, and what I hoped to achieve in the next 12 months.

Then it asked me to book a demo.

A demo. For a product I was already logged into.

Somewhere there's probably a product team celebrating their new onboarding flow because completion rates went up by 3%.

Meanwhile, I still have no idea what the product actually does.

At this point, just ask for my blood type and get it over with.


r/webdev • • 21h ago

Viewport size statistics

10 Upvotes

Hey web devs, has anyone actually tracked the real viewport resolution of their users (with js)? I'm trying to figure out how many people don't maximize their browser and just keep it in a resized window. LLMs claim that 75% of people don't use maximized windows, but I seriously doubt that's accurate.

P.S. I'm not talking about screen resolution, I mean strictly the viewport size.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

A peek into Reddit's anti-spam internals

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44 Upvotes

r/webdev • • 1d ago

Backend dev seeking UI Design and Implementation advice

11 Upvotes

hello y'all, so mainly I'm a back-end dev but in my company (especially since it's startup) and with the current state of development and how much is it powered by AI what is required from us in team has expanded beyond our actual roles, need advice on what to do to improve my outcome one the front-end side of things, both on code quality and UI quality in terms of look and functionality.
feel free to ask if more details are needed...


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Ecommerce sandboxes?

1 Upvotes

What’s the best way to learn an ecommerce platform/plugin like Shopify, SureCart, FluentCart, etc. without products to sell? Do they offer a sandbox environment to learn the ropes and build your skill set? Thank you.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

What if you could completely destroy a cloud environment, then bring it back exactly when you need it?

0 Upvotes

I'm a developer exploring an idea and wanted to get some feedback before spending time building it.

One thing I've noticed with cloud providers like DigitalOcean is that you're still paying for servers even when they're powered off. For development and staging environments that are rarely used, that feels like a giant waste of money.

I am genuinely curious to know how other developers and infrastructure managers handle this

What if you could completely destroy an environment to stop compute charges, then recreate it on demand with the same configuration, application, and data? Essentially, a hibernate/wake system for cloud environments.

Would you use something like this? Or is this solving a problem that has been solved before.

Interested in hearing the technical objections too.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Meet Alice. Alice is impatient.

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0 Upvotes

r/webdev • • 1d ago

Question SMPT timing out. Can’t send emails. Any ideas?

4 Upvotes

Running a Wordpress site hosted on GoDaddy (not my choice) and all emails are timing out. There is no domain-specific email set up, so I’m attempting to use Post SMTP to send emails through a @yahoo email account.

Tests already checked and thing done:

- attempts using both ports 465 and 587.

- yahoo external app password created.

- test emails sent from both a PC and Mac.

- Active fire wall turned off.

- connection on WiFi and from mobile hotspot.

- successfully connected to SMTP port 465 via telnet cmd in terminal.

- SPF record added to domain DNS.

- created an ini.php file and increased max timeout limit to 180.

- wordfence plugin turned off.

- successful test email sent using an smtp checker tool.

Maybe this should be posted in the Wordpress sub, so remove if it’s not good here. I’m at a loss what might be the issue. Maybe it’s a plugin conflict but if anyone has a suggestion on what else I can try to get it working, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Resource Agent first QA and feature demo recordings

0 Upvotes

I'm looking for an LLM powered framework, tool or service that i can give a list of QA scenarios to test my PRs and produce evidence of it working or failing, each demo should be polished, smooth cursor movements and properly show case the given QA scenario.

Traditionally we'd use playwright and write our e2e tests but surely there's a better method now?

Any suggestions?


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Question What queue service do you use? Any suggestions based on my requirements?

14 Upvotes

Im looking for a new queue for a Node/TS app running on Kubernetes. My main requirements:

  • Strict FIFO per key, with only one job in flight per key. Different keys run in parallel (SQS has Message groups I think)
  • Cloud-agnostic and self-hostable, so no SQS
  • Handles large bursts (obviously, since its a queue)

I've used SQS FIFO message groups before and they did exactly this. Right now I'm leaning towards Kafka with a key-ordered consumer, but it seems like quite a lot of complexity when in reality I need a simple queue but for scale. I'd love to hear what others use. Pulsar? RabbitMQ? Something else?

I've looked into the popular ones like RabbitMQ, but it seemed to not have exactly what Im looking for.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Question Should I Accept a ₹1 Lakh LMS Project With a 45-Day Deadline as a Beginner Developer?

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I need some honest advice from experienced developers about a freelance project I've been offered.

A little about me:

- I have less than 1 year of development experience.

- I've built a few small applications but haven't developed a large production-level application yet.

- I'm familiar with JavaScript and planning to use Node.js for the backend.

- I'm comfortable using AI coding tools and willing to invest in paid subscriptions like Claude Code or Cursor.

- I can dedicate myself full-time (8–10 hours daily) to this project.

About the project:

A friend of mine owns a web development company. His company is about to close a deal with a client for a custom Learning Management System (LMS), and he wants to hire me as the sole developer.

The company will provide the UI/UX designs, and I'll be responsible for developing the entire application from scratch, including the frontend, backend, database, integrations, testing and deployment.

The LMS requirements include:

  1. Five dashboards: Super Admin, Coordinator, Trainer, Student and Corporate Admin.

  2. Program, batch and session management.

  3. Live class integration and recorded video lessons.

  4. Assignments, quizzes, tests and grading.

  5. Attendance and student progress tracking.

  6. Fee management and installment tracking (not necessarily an online payment gateway).

  7. Certificate generation and QR-based verification.

  8. Notifications and announcements.

  9. Reports and analytics.

  10. Corporate training and employee management.

The client expects a working, deployable system, not just a prototype.

Here's the catch:

- Development budget for me: ₹1,00,000 (~$1,100)

- Deadline: 30–45 days

- Team: Just me

- Development approach: Heavy use of AI coding tools

- UI/UX: Provided by the company

My friend has already quoted the client and is close to finalizing the deal.

I'm considering this opportunity because it could give me valuable real-world experience building a complex application.

However, I'm concerned about the scope, deadline, my limited experience and the possibility of getting stuck with a project I can't finish.

My questions:

  1. Is it realistically possible for a solo developer to build this LMS in 30–45 days using AI tools extensively?

  2. Would an experienced developer be able to deliver this within the same budget and timeline?

  3. Is ₹1 lakh reasonable compensation for this scope?

  4. Should I accept it for the learning experience, negotiate a smaller MVP, or reject it?

  5. If you've built an LMS or a similarly complex SaaS application, how long did it take you?

I'm willing to work hard and learn whatever is required, but I don't want to make an unrealistic commitment that creates problems for both me and the client.

What would you do in my position?

I'd especially appreciate advice from developers who've worked on LMS platforms, large full-stack applications, or AI-assisted development projects.


r/webdev • • 1d ago

Article Software engineers don't get to be Luddites about AI

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0 Upvotes

r/webdev • • 2d ago

Unable to save the picture on XAMPP image folder

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I am trying to save the image in the xamp img folder, but due to some reason I am unable to do that. I don't know what the problem is, however, I am able to save the picture in the different folder and then copy and paste it from that into the XAMP image folder but I can't directly save on xampp image folder. Here is the image of the error for clarification.

Update: So I was able to solve the issue by going to security folder of the folder properties then click on Advanced>Change Permissions>Disable Inheritance. Afterwards, I have click on administrator and click on edit button. Then provide all the access.


r/webdev • • 2d ago

Question Finding it impossible to solve problems

34 Upvotes

Hey guys. I'm a web developer and have a job but unsure if I can pass future interviews, because when I get a technical question like a basic loop problem, "program that starts counting from 1 and increases by 1 during each iteration, stopping once it reaches 5". This is incredibly incompetent and concerning, not to mention AI has made me worse.

What's the solution to this? I can memorize solutions but what happens when a new problem comes up in an interview and I can't remember the syntax even if I know I need a loop or some thing else to solve a problem? I feel like crying


r/webdev • • 2d ago

Question Scoping and pricing a custom-illustrated, interactive single-page product drop (first freelance gig)

1 Upvotes

Hey all,

Looking for some guidance on pricing a project that blends custom digital illustration with frontend development.

A content creator is launching a physical print zine, and I built an interactive single-page promo site to pitch them. The deliverable includes:

  • Bespoke illustration & art direction: Designed original 2D digital artwork in a Folk-Pop / retro kitsch style (panoramic illustrated storefronts, character art, and collage stickers) tailored to match the zine's identity.
  • Bespoke frontend build: Built from scratch in HTML5, CSS 3D transforms, and Vanilla JS—featuring a 3D book-flip interaction with perspective tilt, an Apple Cover Flow carousel, and procedural audio via Web Audio API oscillators.

Her talent management team wrote back asking for a formal rate card (design + basic upkeep).

Because this is a bespoke creative build (custom art + interaction code) rather than an off-the-shelf Webflow/Shopify template, how would you evaluate scope and pricing for a beginner working with an individual creator? What is a balanced project rate that accounts for both the illustration and the code?


r/webdev • • 2d ago

Question Is a vibe coding first mentality normal at agencies?

25 Upvotes

My first web dev job, I vibe coded almost all of the components. It was a small agency comprised of just my boss and a designer. My boss knew how to code but he needed more hands on deck to help him out with the amount of clients he was handling.

I came in expecting to learn more about PHP and Shopify Liquid, but day 1 was just him teaching me about his AI workflow with ChatGPT and how he creates reusable components. He held my hand for the first few product pages, then he gave me full websites to help deploy.

I was usually given a figma file for a product page from a client or our designer and was told to translate it into a reusable component with AI. I eventually took the reins on developing a full site for a big client. My boss stepped in only a few times to help create a page and let me vibe code everything. It successfully launched with most of my work on it still today, but it doesn’t truly feel like I could explain what’s under the hood.

Is this normal nowadays? I feel like this experience isn’t helpful towards landing a new job if I have to explain that I vibe coded most of my work. I came out of this learning more how to debug with AI, and not how to code by hand.