Documentation

A Personal Note from Handi Homepage

Welcome to the Handi Homepage. Developed by a data privacy advocate and Web Developer. The vision behind this project is to reclaim the Web as a platform for personal data privacy and user control. By installing the Handi Homepage and using our features (and the platforms with which we integrate, e.g, Matrix Chat, Streaming Radio, Mastodon Social Network, etc.), we can help protect you from unwanted tracking and data collection by third parties, e.g., ad networks, tech companies, and others.

A quick note on the features. Some of the news websites linked charge for access to their articles. Think of this as a way to support journalism and democracy. Support your favourite news sources! The Handi Homepage plays music files stored on your device. Visit the homepage of your favourite artists to download digital copies of their music. Music aggregation websites often harvest your data and pay music artists very little. Support your favourite artists.

We integrate with the free and open (no algorithm) Mastodon social network. Join your local free Mastodon server. Requests to integrate with other big tech social networking platforms will go unanswered and will not be considered. Make sure to download the Element App to join the Matrix Chat network. Set your details in Settings and share your private Matrix Room ID with your local community and friends.

Finally, elements like Chat, News, Social, Radio, etc. are all provided by third parties. We are not responsible for the content you find on these platforms. Simply choose another platform in Settings or disable the element altogether if you prefer not to use it. Thanks for using the Handi Homepage!

Dashboard Issues?

If the page has a rendering issue, simply try refreshing the page. Please send all bug reports to issues. Thanks.

Open Source

Check out our open-source code on Codeberg: PLE. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact daz at true.cork.rebel {AT} proton.me

Important Note For Smart Phone Users

Issue: The app stops working when your phone locks or goes into the background.

Fix: To keep music or calls running, allow your browser to run in the background.

📌 Getting Started

The dashboard is made up of elements (boxes) arranged in a grid. Each element has a title bar with a pin (📌) icon to pin the element into position at the top of the dashboard. Each audio element, e.g., Radio, Player, Podcast, etc., also has a lock (🔒/🔓) icon to lock the element and prevent audio playing accidentally.

Friendly Phone

One‑tap calling to your saved contacts. Your phone contacts are displayed as large, colourful buttons inside the element.

Controls

• Tap a contact button – initiates a call to that person's phone via your system's browser.
• Lock – when locked (🔒), tapping contacts is disabled. Prevents accidental calls.
• Pin – keeps the Phone element at the top of the dashboard.

Settings (⚙️ → Phone Contacts)

• Add Contact – enter a name and phone number. Contacts appear immediately.
• Edit Contact – tap the pencil icon next to any contact to change name or number.
• Delete Contact – tap the trash icon to remove a contact.
• Reorder – drag contacts up or down to set their order on the dashboard.

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Music Player

Load your own music files and play them with a built‑in audio visualiser. Supports MP3 and other common audio formats.

Controls

• ▶ Play / ⏸ Pause – start and stop playback.
• ⏮ Previous / ⏭ Next – skip between tracks.
• 🔀 Shuffle – randomise the playback order.
• 🔁 Repeat – loop the current track or entire playlist.
• Progress bar – click anywhere on the bar to jump to that position.
• Visualiser – animated bars that dance to the music.
• Lock – when locked, playback controls are disabled so music plays uninterrupted.

Settings (⚙️ → Music Player)

• Load Music – choose MP3 files from your computer. They load instantly.
• Delete Tracks – remove individual songs you no longer want.
• Clear All – remove every track at once.

Radio

Stream live radio stations.

Controls

• Station buttons – tap any station name to start streaming. Tap again or choose another to switch.
• Volume slider – adjust the radio volume independently from the music player.
• Lock – when locked, station buttons are disabled to avoid accidental channel changes.

Settings (⚙️ → Radio)

• Station List – enable or disable individual stations. Only enabled stations appear on the dashboard.
• Default Station – choose which station plays when you first open the page.

Gallery

A slideshow of gallery images. Images rotate automatically and can be viewed in full‑screen.

Controls

• Automatic slideshow – images change every few seconds.
• ⏸ Pause / ▶ Play – stop or resume the slideshow.
• ◀ Previous / ▶ Next – manually browse images.
• Click any image – opens a full‑screen lightbox view.

Settings (⚙️ → Gallery)

• Load Images – add photos from your computer. Supports JPG, PNG, and WebP.
• Slideshow Speed – set how fast images rotate (slow / normal / fast).

News

Latest headlines from international news sources. Scroll through stories using the arrow buttons.

Controls

• ▲ Scroll Up / ▼ Scroll Down – browse through headlines one at a time.
• Tap a headline – opens the full article in a new tab.

Settings (⚙️ → News)

• RSS Feeds – choose which news sources to include. Enable or disable individual feeds.
• Max Headlines – set how many stories to show (5, 10, 15, or 20).

Mastodon Social

Trending posts from the Mastodon social network – a friendly, ad‑free alternative to X (Twitter).

Controls

• ▲ Scroll Up / ▼ Scroll Down – browse through posts one at a time.
• Tap a post – opens the full conversation on Mastodon.

Settings (⚙️ → Mastodon)

• Server – choose which Mastodon server to pull posts from.
• Max Posts – set how many posts to show (5, 10, or 15).
• Trending – display popular or trending posts from your chosen Mastodon server.
• Hashtag – follow a hashtag on your chosen Mastodon server.
• Whitelist – follow your chosen hashtags posts, from these listed profiles only.
• Profile – choose a user on Mastodon and follow their profile exclusively.

Bus Tracker

Real‑time bus arrival information for (Irish) public transport. Uses your location to show the nearest stops and upcoming buses.

Controls

• Stop selector – choose a specific bus stop from a dropdown list.
• Arrival times – lists the next several buses with their route number, destination, and due time (in minutes).
• Refresh – updates the arrival times manually.

Settings (⚙️ → Bus Tracker)

• Route – choose your bus route.
• Departure Stop – the stop along the chosen route from which the bus leaves
• Arrival Stop – save up to 3 stops for quick access.

Friendly Phone

One‑tap calling to your saved contacts. Your phone contacts are displayed as large, colourful buttons inside the element.

Controls

• Tap a contact button – initiates a call to that person's phone via your system's browser.
• Lock – when locked (🔒), tapping contacts is disabled. Prevents accidental calls.
• Pin – keeps the Phone element at the top of the dashboard.

Settings (⚙️ → Phone Contacts)

• Add Contact – enter a name and phone number. Contacts appear immediately.
• Edit Contact – tap the pencil icon next to any contact to change name or number.
• Delete Contact – tap the trash icon to remove a contact.
• Reorder – drag contacts up or down to set their order on the dashboard.

Location Share

Sends your exact location to trusted contacts via SMS in an emergency or when you want someone to know where you are.

Controls

• Press the red button – sends a text message to all your trusted contacts with your current location and an OpenStreetMap link.
• Lock – when locked (🔒), the button is disabled. Prevents accidental emergency alerts. Unlock (🔓) when needed.

Settings (⚙️ → Location Share)

• Trusted Contacts – add phone numbers of people who should receive your location.
• Custom Message – personalise the SMS text that accompanies the map link.
• Test Button – send a test message to yourself first to confirm it works.

⚠️ Always test with your own number first to ensure everything works correctly.

Common Element Controls

Some elements have two icons in their title bar:

🔒 Lock / 🔓 Unlock

The lock icon toggles between locked (red 🔒) and unlocked (green 🔓). When locked, the element's interactive elements are disabled – preventing accidental taps. This is especially useful for the Phone, Location Share, and Music Player elements.

📌 Pin / 📌 Unpin

The pin icon sticks an element to the top of the dashboard. Pinned elements always appear first and stay in place, even after you reload the page. Click the pin again to unpin.

Global Settings

Open Settings by clicking the ⚙️ icon in the footer bar. The Settings panel has tabs for each element:

📋 Element Visibility

Toggle each element on or off. Elements you don't use can be hidden to keep your dashboard clean and simple. Only the elements you need will appear.

🖼 Gallery

Load, delete, and set gallery timer.

🎵 Music Player

Load MP3 files, delete tracks individually, or clear the entire playlist.

📞 Phone Contacts

Add, edit, delete, and add a picture to your contacts. Changes appear instantly on the Phone element.

📍 Location Share

Manage your trusted contacts list and customise the emergency SMS message. Always use the test button before relying on it.

📻 Radio

Choose which radio stations appear and set your default station.

📰 News

Pick your RSS feeds, set the number of headlines, and adjust scroll speed.

🐘 Mastodon

Choose a server, set post count.

🚌 Bus Tracker

Save favourite stops and routes.

Footer Bar

The footer bar sits at the bottom of every page and gives you quick access to important controls:

• / Global Mute – silences all audio (radio and music) without stopping playback. Tap again to unmute.
• / Screen Wake Lock – Sun keeps your screen awake (ideal for slideshows or bus tracking). Your browser will ask permission the first time.
• Settings – opens the settings panel.

Touch & Mobile

On touchscreens, drag‑and‑drop is disabled to avoid accidental element moves. Elements still arrange themselves automatically using Packery – on wide screens (tablets in landscape) they form multiple columns; on narrow phones they stack in a single column.

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