[alexray]

Hey HN, Alex and Ben here, and we wanted to share a simple web app we created recently.

UI Filler is a quick way to get placeholders for your designs.

We do a lot of UI design and development and frequently need to fill it with placeholder content. I usually just Google “Lorem ipsum” and end up on a site about the history of lorem ipsum, then copy and paste some small chunk of it to fill the field I need. Ben, who is even more design-oriented than I am, tries to make up appropriate text to fill fields (my favorite thing he does is placeholder names, like “Anita McLaren”). We decided to make a tool that would save us a bit of time every time we needed a placeholder, so we built UIFiller.

Let me know what you think!

[danielvaughn]

I'm about to build something similar, not as a standalone product, but as an internal component for a side project of mine. If this could be fleshed out, and delivered as an API, I'd pay for it.

[bartvk]

Not an API but as a library, a friend of mine made this for Java/Kotlin: https://www.datafaker.net/

[kc10]

something like this? https://fakerjs.dev/

[alexray]

Interesting -- want to chat and tell me a bit more? You can send me an email at alex at ui filler dot com

[alex3305]

Great idea, thanks for this! The only thing I would change is the background color of the site. The high visibility jacket green does not contrast well with the white boxes and dark gray text. I also get a bit of afterimage, but that's probably because of me.

[alexray]

That's a fair callout -- thanks. We will probably make the color a little less intense in the future, or at least give an option of muting it :)

[ActualBest]

If you click just a little too far to the right of the Shuffle button, you download instead.

[alexray]

Oops! I'll fix that :)

[throwaway888abc]

Brilliant idea! Bookmarked. Will use.

Some wish list:

- implement seed number (to get same results every time)

- json endpoint

- little bit more of data types

[blooalien]

Yes! A JSON RESTful API GET endpoint would be SWEET! Easy scriptable way to populate a local testing / design resources folder with some fast starter data. Just to name one possible use that came instantly to mind for my uses. Love the random seed idea, too.

[alexray]

Those are great ideas. I hadn't thought of including a seed, but it shouldn't be too hard to set up. What kinds of data types are you imagining?

[lazyjeff]

Nice idea, I could imagine using this. Just a thought, it might be nice to see more variation in the Lorem Ipsum, like with text that include numbers and links and capitalized word, maybe even multiple paragraphs.

[alexray]

That's a great idea

[wallawe]

This makes a ton of sense as a browser extension, why not go that route? With this, I still have to google your site (or at least type it into the url bar if i remember the exact url)

[blooalien]

If you use it a lot, this makes a ton of sense as a bookmark on your browser's quick access bookmark bar, sidebar, or new tab page. It would also make great sense as a script accessible JSON API endpoint, as another reader here suggested.

[alexray]

How do you imagine using it as a browser extension?

[iratewizard]

Click icon, scroll to desired filler and copy or download