- Published on
HideContent.ml: My First Online Project That "Took Off" - The Story of a 14-Year-Old Coder
- Authors
- Name
- Jack Nguyen
Being a teenage coder is quite the adventure. Late nights spent figuring out bugs, tons of half-finished projects, and that constant question: “Should I share this, or just keep it to myself?”
This is the story of one project I actually decided to share. It surprised me in ways I never expected, attracted some… interesting users (read on to find out who!), and taught me a lot about coding, life, and why server bills are no joke. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
1. A Perfectionist’s Confession
I’ve been coding since I was in 6th grade. Over the years, I’ve created tons of projects, but almost none of them ever saw the light of day. Why? Because I’m a perfectionist.
If my project wasn’t 100% perfect—whether it was the features or how the code looked—I’d refuse to share it. It didn’t matter if no one else noticed the flaws. To me, if it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t good enough.
But this project was different. It was the first one I ever shared online, and to my surprise, it did really well! For a 14-year-old coder, I’d call it a success. It achieved results I never imagined, and honestly, I was pretty proud of it.
2. The Backstory: Ninjas and Necessity
Before I explain how I came up with the idea, let’s talk about what was happening back then.
At the time, I was a member of J2team, a tech group on Facebook. It was an amazing place with active members and lots of shared resources. They even had a special system called AnLink, created by Nguyen Huu Dat, to protect the group’s content.
This system blocked people known as “ninjas”—those who would use the group’s resources without so much as a "thank you" or even a simple reaction. The system made sure people had to engage with posts (comment or react) before accessing the content.
The problem? AnLink only worked for J2team. Meanwhile, I was running a group with over 10,000 members. My group also had its fair share of ninjas, so I needed something similar for us. That’s how HideContent.ml came to life.
3. Enter: HideContent.ml
What is HideContent.ml? It’s a system I built to help group and fanpage admins boost engagement by hiding content behind certain actions.
Here’s how it worked:
- Admins create a system on HideContent.ml.
- They create hidden content links by:
- Picking their system.
- Entering the content or link they want to hide.
- Choosing how to unlock it (password, reacting to a post, or commenting).
- Getting a shortened link.
- Admins post this link on Facebook.
- Users who want to see the hidden content must complete the required action.
It was simple but effective—a perfect way to turn silent scrollers into active participants.
Archive website: HideContent.ml
4. Video Demo
Disclaimer:
- Viewer discretion is advised. Let's just say, my UI/UX skills from 8 years ago were... interesting. Kind of like a toddler trying to paint the Mona Lisa. But hey, we all start somewhere, right?
- Back then, I was more comfortable talking to a brick wall than a video recording. Btw, this text-based tutorial (Vietnamese) was quite popular back then.
- This video was put on the main page of the website. That's why it has so many views.
5. My Jaw-Dropping Discovery: When Reality Gets Weird
At its peak, HideContent.ml was doing better than I ever expected: 100 people online at once, over 1,000 hidden links created, and more than 10,000 users in total. Pretty impressive for something I built as a 15-year-old, right?
But here’s what really caught me off guard: the most active users weren’t students or casual internet users like I had imagined. Instead, it was “adult” fanpages and groups.....YES! those kinds of pages—with thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of likes. It turned out there was a surprising demand for hiding content in certain... let’s call them niche communities.
The admins of these pages were another surprise. Their profiles made them look so professional and serious, but the pages they were running told a very different story. It was a weird mix of funny and unsettling, and let’s just say it wasn’t what I expected at all.
6. Shutting Down and Unexpected Offers
Eventually, I had to shut down HideContent.ml. The reason was simple: I couldn’t afford to keep it running. The costs of servers and hosting were way beyond what I could handle as a ninth-grader on a limited budget.
Even after it was offline, I kept getting messages from people asking if I would sell them the source code. But at the time, I didn’t have a bank account or the knowledge to handle transactions like that. It all felt a bit overwhelming, so I decided to turn them down.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder what would’ve happened if I had sold the code. Maybe it could’ve gone somewhere bigger, or maybe it was better left as a project I learned from. Either way, it was an experience I’ll never forget.
Conclusion: The Accidental Success
Looking back, creating HideContent.ml was an amazing experience. It started as a small idea to help my group but ended up growing way beyond what I expected. It taught me a lot—not just about coding but also about dealing with people, handling surprises, and understanding the costs of running a project.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. But next time, I’d make sure I had a way to handle the bills!