DEV Community: Yao Long

I've bookmarked 300 articles "to read later" and never read a single one. So I built a system for that.

Yao Long — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 14:53:04 +0000

I have a bad habit.

I see a good article, bookmark it. I see a useful snippet of code, save it. I get a great take, I save that too. My bookmarks bar has more than three hundred links in it now. Nine out of ten of them have never been opened since the day I saved them.

Not because I didn't want to read them. Because once I saved them, I couldn't find them again.

Open the bookmarks bar and there they are, three hundred of them, all squished together, each one looking like it's from the last century. The article about query optimization you saved last week — you probably don't even remember its name, let alone dig it out of that pile. After a while I stopped saving things. Every bookmark felt like I was making room for something I'd never see again.

So I switched to a notes app. Saving was easier, but a new problem showed up: I'd taken the note, but when I needed it, I couldn't remember I'd had it. Notes lying there, one by one, like they'd been dropped into a bottomless box. You definitely saved it, but every time you need it, it's like you never did.

I tried to fix this.

I tried tagging every note. I tried sorting everything by topic. I tried giving folders really thoughtful names. Every attempt worked beautifully for the first two weeks. By week three, it started leaking. By week four, it fell apart, and I never touched it again. There are three half-dead "organization systems" in my drawer right now, and they all died from the same cause: I couldn't be bothered to file things.

That's the thing. I just didn't want to file. Energy is limited. I've already spent a day writing code, and now I have to figure out "which category does this note belong in" just to save it? Three days of that and I'm done. One bad day and the whole thing's abandoned.

Eventually I realized the problem wasn't that I was lazy. It was that I made "saving" too complicated. Saving should be effortless — throw it in, done. And when I want it back, it should know where it belongs.

So I built a system.

Last summer I spent three months building myself a knowledge base in Notion. It does one very plain thing: what you save, you can find again.

It's made for people who write code. I called it Dev Knowledge Hub. A few specifics:

You write a note and give it a topic. That note automatically joins the list of everything else under that topic. Next time you want to review that topic, all of it — notes, articles, code snippets, whatever you were thinking at the time — is waiting on one page. No more digging.

You save a code snippet and link the article you got it from. Now, when you go to use that snippet, you'll know where it came from and why you saved it. No more staring at a line of code wondering why.

You're preparing for interviews. Interview questions link to your study notes, so when you review a question, the related knowledge you saved sits right there next to it.

Plainly: it glues your fragments together so they remember each other.

I've been using it for almost a hundred days. I haven't abandoned it. I couldn't stick with a workout app for two weeks before this.

Don't pay. Try the free version first.

I turned this system into a template and put it out there. There's a free version and a full version. But I'd tell you to start with the free one.

Not because the free one is enough. Because I don't want you to buy off my description. I've bought too many things that "sounded great."

The free version is called Lite. The core stuff is all there, I just cut the heaviest features. Spend a few days throwing your usual scattered stuff in there, and you'll feel the difference. It's not the same as "saving things."

Dev Knowledge Hub — free template

If you use it for a week or two and think "that's it?", then don't buy the full version. Keep the $29. We're even.

If you use it and think "hmm, something's missing" — then the full version is probably what you want. The full version has a whole set of advanced features, and there's an intro page inside the free version. I'm not going to recite the feature list in this post. Look for yourself.

$29, one-time payment. Free updates. 14-day money-back if it's not for you.

And here's a less conventional offer.

I want to trade the full version for your honest review. First 20 people, each gets a one-time code. The full version, free.

One condition: after you've used it, tell me whether this thing actually works. Whether it truly solved your problem, or I'm just fooling myself. Negative reviews are welcome. I almost want them more — "I hate this thing" is worth ten times more than "it's great." When all the codes are gone, I'll update this post.

Comment "I'm in" below, and I'll send you a code.

At the end.

If your bookmarks are sitting there with dozens of saved links, none of them ever reopened — we are the same person. This thing was made for you. Take it, use it, and tell me the truth.

Stop buying Notion templates. You're buying someone else's chaos.

Yao Long — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:24:52 +0000

I'm a student. I made 3 Notion templates, put them on Gumroad, and got 3 views total. Not 3 sales. 3 views.

So I started reading the template market from the other side. Not as a seller. As someone who finally realized what I was actually doing wrong.

Here's the thing nobody on Product Hunt or the template roundups will tell you: most Notion templates are someone else's chaos, organized just enough to look sellable.

And I bought into it. I made a "Freelance OS", a "Digital Product OS", a "Monster Dragon Shop". Names that sound like they contain a system. They contained a database and a dream.

What I actually learned (the hard way)

1. Templates sell a feeling, not a workflow

When you buy a template, you're not buying organization. You're buying the feeling that tomorrow morning you'll open Notion and finally know what to do.

That feeling lasts about 3 days. Then the database structure you never fully understood starts fighting you, and you abandon it, and you feel worse than before 鈥?because now you've "failed at being organized" too.

The market knows this. That's why every template page says "life-changing" and "all-in-one". They're selling the feeling. You're paying for hope with a database attached.

2. The more databases, the more you lie to yourself

My first template had 6 interlinked databases. I was proud of it. Look at the complexity, look at the relations, look at the views.

Then I actually tried to use it for a week. I was spending more time moving cards than doing the work. The system had become my hobby and my project manager at the same time 鈥?and it was a terrible project manager.

If a template needs a tutorial to explain how to use it, it's not a system. It's a project. And it's your project now, not the creator's.

3. People don't need more structure. They need fewer decisions.

Here's the test I now use on anything I'm about to buy or build:

If I wake up tomorrow and open this, will it tell me what to do? Or will it tell me where to put something?

Most templates do the second. They ask you to categorize, tag, link, move. They make you a database administrator of your own life.

A real system does the first. It removes decisions instead of creating them.

So what do you actually do?

If you're drowning in tabs, bookmarks, and half-set-up templates, here's what I wish someone told me before I bought the first one:

Start with one plain page. Not a database. One page with one question on it: "what am I actually working on right now?" That's 90% of a system.
Add a database only when you need to relate things. If you never search "show me all X from last month", you don't need a database. You need a list.
Delete more than you add. Every new view, tag, relation is a new tax you pay every single day. Tax yourself less.
Duplicate it before you trust it. Stop buying. Duplicate your own page, wreck it, fix it, learn what you actually do instead of what a stranger's system thinks you do.

What this made me do

After 3 dead templates, I rebuilt the whole thing around one sentence: a system should do the deciding, not the storing.

My current setup is one page. It decides what I work on when I open it. It doesn't ask me to organize anything 鈥?it did that part once, on setup, in about 15 minutes. After that, it's a machine that takes "I have 20 things" and hands back "you're doing this one right now."

I'm not going to pretend this post isn't a soft pitch. I'm a student with no audience, and this is the system I ended up with: Digital Product OS, $39, on Gumroad. If that's not for you, the four bullets above are honestly the whole lesson 鈥?one page, fewer databases, delete more than you add, and wreck your own copy before you trust anyone else's. That part is free.

Honest question

What's the most expensive template you've ever bought 鈥?and did it actually change your day one week later? I genuinely want to know, because I'm convinced the answer for most people is "no, and now it's 5 more open tabs".

I put 3 products on Gumroad. Got 3 views. I built something instead of quitting — first commenter gets a free copy.

Yao Long — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 15:31:02 +0000

First commenter gets a free copy. Before the story: the first person to comment below gets the system I built for free. No code, no catch — I'll send you the link myself.

Three products. Zero sales. Three views in total.

That's not a typo. I checked my dashboard today and the number was literally 3. Across three products, on one of the biggest marketplaces for digital goods.

I'm a student. I have no budget, no audience, no email list. Just a Notion addiction and a stubborn belief that people will pay for things that genuinely make their work easier. That belief hasn't made me any money yet, but it did make me build something I'm proud of.

This post isn't about the sales (there are none). It's about what I learned from failing in the most public way possible, and the system I built because I got tired of my own mess.

The part where it hurt

First, the honest numbers. Because I think a lot of "I made money online" posts are complete BS.

3 products live on Gumroad. Notion templates for developers and creators.
3 total views across all three. Not 300. Three.
0 sales. Obviously.
0 email signups (I don't even have a mailing list, so that number is aspirational).

I did everything wrong, and I'll tell you the list so you don't have to.

What I did wrong (the full list)

1. I released things nobody asked for.
I built a template for developers to organize their knowledge. Then I built one for freelancers to run their business. Then I built one for digital product sellers. I never talked to anyone before building any of them. I just... made them. Turns out "I would use this" is not the same as "someone will pay for this."

2. I spent my energy on the wrong thing.
I polished descriptions. I re-designed covers. I spent four hours deciding between $29 and $39. None of that matters when you have 3 views. The math is simple: 0 people find you, 0 people buy.

3. I treated "posting" like "distribution".
I published a long post about my developer template on Dev.to. It was genuinely my best writing — I got 0 reactions, 0 comments, maybe 25 views. I posted at the wrong time, with the wrong tags, on a platform where nobody knew me. I treated "putting content out there" as "marketing", and it's not.

4. I skipped the boring stuff.
I did not post a single time on Twitter. I did not comment on other people's threads. I did not help anyone. I just threw content into the void and got annoyed it didn't echo back.

The moment I stopped doomscrolling

I kept having this feeling: I'm doing something, but I have no idea if it's working. My sales data is in Gumroad, my launch checklist is in my head, my marketing is scattered across drafts, my customer feedback — I have one customer, but if I ever had more, where would it live?

That's when I realized my problem was never the product. It was that I had no system.

I'm a student with $0. I'm not buying a CRM. I'm not paying for marketing software. I'm not organizing a Notion workspace that takes 3 hours to set up and gets abandoned by Sunday. I need the cheapest, dumbest, most reliable system on earth.

So I built it.

The system

One workspace. Six databases. Every number in my "business" (if you can call it that) lives in one place, connected.

Products — one row per product. Status, platform, price, revenue, links. I can see at a glance what's live, what's retired, what made $0 (all of them, for now).

Sales — every sale that comes in. Date, product, platform, amount. Even the 0 rows are there. I want to see them.

Launch Planner — because I released products like I was throwing pasta at a wall. Now each launch has a checklist, a date, and a status. I can see what's actually done vs. what I told myself was done.

Marketing Pipeline — this one changed how I think. Every post, every channel, every video idea goes in here with a status: Idea, Drafting, Scheduled, Published. And a place for views, clicks, conversions. The goal is to stare at the pipeline and admit when something isn't working, instead of just "doing content".

Customer Feedback — I have one customer (yes, one). But when I got feedback — one piece, from a stranger on the internet — I had nowhere to put it. Now I do. Bug, feature request, praise, complaint. It has a status.

Ideas & Roadmap — every random thought I have at 2am about a new product or a feature goes here, with priority. Not into the void, not into a "maybe someday" folder, but into a place where it will actually get triaged.

And here's the thing that actually matters: all six are linked to Products. Open any product, and you see its sales, its launches, its marketing, its feedback, its roadmap. It's not a dashboard that looks cool. It's a place where the answer to "what is going on with this product?" is one click away.

It's not sexy. There's no auto-magic. It's just honest. Which is more than I could say for my "business" before.

The uncomfortable takeaway

Nobody has cared about my product yet, and that's okay. But I care. And if I can't even tell whether it's working, I'll never know if I'm building something worth caring about.

A system is not the same as a strategy. If the product is bad, a system won't save you. But if the product has any chance, you need to be able to see the data. That's what the system is for.

I'm going to keep building in public. I'm going to post at the right time, with the right tags, and actually talk to people. I'm going to treat distribution like the product, because that's what it is.

The product

Since I'm building in public, here's the system I made. It's the Notion workspace I wish I had from day one, for anyone selling digital products, Notion templates, ebooks, courses, whatever.

If you're in the same spot — $0 budget, few eyes, everything in your head — this might be useful. I built it to solve my own mess. Notion is free, and the template is cheap.

The first person to comment below gets a free copy. Not a code. I'll send you the link myself. The rest can get it at $39 here:

Digital Product OS — the system I built

Thanks for reading my 0-sale story. Here's to 4 views.

I Built a Developer's Second Brain in Notion — Free Template (5 Databases)

Yao Long — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:46:58 +0000

As developers, we consume an overwhelming amount of information every day — tutorials, docs, Stack Overflow answers, YouTube videos, code snippets, Reddit threads... But where does all that knowledge go?

Most of it disappears. We read it, maybe bookmark it, and then forget where we put it.

I built Dev Knowledge Hub — a complete developer's second brain in Notion. It's a free template with 5 interconnected databases designed specifically for developers.

What's Inside (Free Version — 5 Databases)

1. Knowledge Base — Your core knowledge management system

Track topics by category (Frontend, Backend, DevOps, Database, AI, Mobile)
Tag with language/tool (JavaScript, Python, Rust, React, Docker, K8s...)
Track mastery level: Learning → Reviewing → Mastered
Link reference URLs and related code snippets

2. Code Snippets — Stop searching for that snippet you saw 3 months ago

Organize by language and category (Algorithm, Utility, Component, Hook, API, Pattern)
Store code with descriptions and source links
Mark favorites for quick access

3. Resources — Curate your learning material

Track articles, videos, courses, books, podcasts, tools
Rate with 1-5 stars
Track reading status: To-Read → Reading → Read → Archived

4. Bookmarks — Tame your chaotic bookmark bar

Categorize: Documentation, Tutorial, Tool, Inspiration, Reference, Repository
Add descriptions so you remember WHY you bookmarked it

5. Quick Notes — Capture ideas before they're gone

Categories: Idea, Question, Bug, Tip, Reminder, Misc
Track status: Active → Resolved → Archived

All 5 Databases Are Interconnected

Knowledge Base links to Code Snippets. Resources link to Knowledge Base. Everything is cross-referenced so you can navigate your entire knowledge graph seamlessly.

How to Use It

Click the link below to open the template
Click "Duplicate" in the top right corner
Start adding your knowledge!

Free Template Link: Dev Knowledge Hub — Free

Want More? Meet the Pro Version

The free version covers the essentials. But if you're serious about leveling up your developer workflow, the Pro version adds 5 more databases for a complete developer productivity system:

Learning Path — Track your learning journeys (e.g., "React Mastery") with start/target dates, progress tracking, and auto-calculated days elapsed/remaining
Projects — Manage side projects and work projects with tech stack tags, priority levels, and linked tasks
Tasks — Break down projects into actionable tasks with priority, estimated time, and type tags
Interview Prep — Prepare for technical interviews with categories (Algorithm, System Design, Behavioral...), difficulty levels, and mastery tracking
Daily Log — Reflect on your daily progress: what you did, what you learned, challenges, blockers, mood tracking, and plans for tomorrow

All Pro databases are interconnected with the free databases — Knowledge Base links to Interview Prep and Learning Path. Projects link to Tasks and Daily Log. It's a complete second brain.

Pro Version ($29): Dev Knowledge Hub — Pro

I built this because I was tired of losing knowledge across dozens of browser tabs, scattered notes apps, and forgotten bookmarks. If it helps you too, I'd love to hear about it!

Drop a comment if you have any questions or suggestions for improvements. 🚀

I built a complete freelance business dashboard in Notion — 7 interconnected databases with rollups and formulas

Yao Long — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:45:25 +0000

As a solo developer doing freelance work on the side, I was constantly juggling tools: clients in a spreadsheet, projects in Trello, time tracking in a separate app, invoices in Word docs, and goals... somewhere in my head.

So I built everything into a single Notion workspace. Not just standalone databases — I wanted them to actually talk to each other.

What I built: Freelance OS

7 interconnected databases, each with relation, rollup, and formula properties:

1. Clients

Track status (Lead / Active / Completed / Archived), type, source
Total Revenue auto-calculated via rollup from Projects → Budget
Reverse relations from Projects and Finance

2. Projects

Linked to Clients (bidirectional relation)
Priority, status, budget, estimated hours, progress
Actual Hours auto-calculated via rollup from Time Entries → Duration

3. Finance

Income and expenses linked to specific projects AND clients
Type (Income/Expense), category, currency, payment method, status

4. Time Entries

Linked to Projects (bidirectional)
Billable checkbox toggle
Auto-calculates amount: if(prop("Billable"), prop("Duration (hrs)") * prop("Rate"), 0)
Rolls up into project's Actual Hours

5. Invoices

Issue date, due date, payment status, paid date
Linked to both Clients and Projects

6. Goals

Quarterly targets with deadline and status
Progress auto-calculated: round(prop("Current") / prop("Target") * 100) / 100

7. Tasks

Linked to Projects (bidirectional)
Client auto-pulled via rollup from Project → Client
Priority, tags, due date, estimated time

The relation map

Clients ←──→ Projects ←──→ Tasks
   ↑              ↑
   │              ↓
   │         Time Entries
   ↓              ↓
Finance ←──→ Invoices

Every entry you make ripples across the workspace. Log a time entry → the project's actual hours update → the client page shows the updated project. Record a payment → it's linked to both the project and the client. Add a task → the client name auto-fills from the project relation.

Why Notion instead of separate SaaS tools?

No monthly subscriptions — Notion is free for personal use
100% customizable — every property, view, and formula is yours to change
Single source of truth — no more copy-pasting between 5 apps
Your data stays yours — export anytime

Who it's for

Freelancers, solo founders, consultants, designers, developers, writers — anyone running a one-person business who wants to stop juggling tools.

Pricing

$49 one-time. Not a subscription. You duplicate it into your own Notion workspace and it's yours forever.

After purchase, you'll receive a private link to duplicate the entire template.

Preview the template here: https://app.notion.com/p/Freelance-OS-The-Complete-Solo-Business-Dashboard-3c93b3af224f80f6a593de20161be8b4

Get it here: https://www.creem.io/payment/prod_6rmvfybzKiSLHRk3Yq2GZL

Happy to answer any questions about the setup, formulas, or how I structured the relations!