What is used in something like secrets.meteor?

secrets.meteor.com is a simple application in which each user types in something and when submitted the message is sent in real time through the application for everyone to see, which then is deleted for the next message to show up.

What is actually being done to make this possible? I'm sorry for the dumb question, but I've searched far an wide on how this is made and have seen nothing. Is each message a function being passed through then executed and deleted?

Warning secrets.meteor.com not sanitze use input!! If you type <code><script>alert('hi')</script></code>, you see an alert, which means anyone can run javascript on your machine. If you really want to check out the site, you're probably okay to open it in an incognito window.

Answer

September 11, 2015

KyleMit

Here's a complete answer that actually showcases the reactivity across multiple computers.

Working Demo in MeteorPad

lib/collections.js

Secrets = new Mongo.Collection("secrets");

client/templates.js

Template.body.helpers({
  secret: function () {
    return Secrets.findOne({}, { sort: { date: -1} });
  }
});

Template.body.events({
  'submit form': function (e) {
    // prevent page action
    e.preventDefault();
    
    // get value
    var message = event.target.mySecret.value;
    
    // insert into database
    Secrets.insert({
      text: message,
      date: new Date()
    });
    
    // clear form
    event.target.mySecret.value = "";
  }
});

main.html

<body>
  {{secret.text}}

  <form>
    <input type="text" name="mySecret" placeholder="Say Something..." />
    <input type="submit" value="Post It"/>
  </form>

</body>