CodePen Blog
blog.codepen.io · Company blog · on HN since 2012
The team behind CodePen, the online front-end code editor, posts product news, licensing and terms of service updates, and technical notes.
What HN saysHN commenters cite it for CodePen's MIT licensing of public code, its terms of service, and its explanation of why embeds require referer headers.
30HN people shared it
15linked it in comments
16stories submitted
69story points
3 months agolast shared
2012people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Licensing3 people · first shared 2016
- 2CodePen's terms of service: Official and plain2 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 3Radio2 people · first shared 2015
- 4Regarding referer headers2 people · first shared 2017
- 5CodePen Projects1 people · 33 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 6Flutter on CodePen – Compiles Flutter apps to web apps for learning1 people · 8 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 7Iframe Security Is So Strange1 people · 5 points · first shared 2022 · discussion on HN
- 8New Feature: A JavaScript Console (Codepen Blog)1 people · 3 points · first shared 2016 · discussion on HN
- 9Legally Binding vs Plain English ToS1 people · 3 points · first shared 2013 · 1 comments on HN
- 10Codepen now has VIM keybindings1 people · 3 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 11How all privacy policies should be written1 people · 2 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 12Working full time on CodePen1 people · 2 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 13Codepen - Terms of Service1 people · 1 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 14Boomerang1 people · 1 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 15Custom Scrollbars (2015)1 people · 1 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
fencepost · 2015-07-06
Shop Talk Show http://shoptalkshow.com/
Codepen Radio http://blog.codepen.io/radio/
Software Engineering Radio is in my podcast software but I don't find myself listening to it much.
I have a variety of others more oriented to productivity and freelancing, but they're less technical. I do highly recommend the Home Work podcast by Aaron Mahnke and Dave Caolo - one of the few I have set to auto download.
okzgn · 2026-07-30
What you can do with it: https://blog.codepen.io/2026/07/23/two-point-oh/#what-can-it-do
Jka9rhnDJos · 2023-08-19
Because all public code on Codepen is MIT Licensed?
https://blog.codepen.io/documentation/terms-of-service/#your-license-t…
gomoboo · 2019-03-02
Here is CodePen's justification for requiring a referrer:
https://blog.codepen.io/2017/10/05/regarding-referer-headers/
They don't say why exactly though.
marvindanig · 2019-02-24
And there is this one who makes children's book using css3:
https://bubblin.io/cover/abcd-animal-book-by-judith-neumann#frontmatte…
How: https://blog.codepen.io/2016/01/08/abcd-animal-book/
sonicaa · 2018-12-18
I've added Codepen's MIT License [0] to your name to credit you correctly at the right spot on our CSS. New build will be rolled out in a couple of hours so kindly check back again.
If however you're still uncomfortable about us using this experiment without a coffee, do let me know and we'll remove it from Bubblin completely. Just kidding, we'll sponsor you a coffee as well ;-)
[0] https://blog.codepen.io/legal/licensing/
psetq · 2018-07-26
right click the button and `inspect` in firefox or chrome, it simply submits the form immediately before the button markup using:
https://blog.codepen.io/documentation/api/prefill/
icebraining · 2017-10-17
Apparently it's to prevent phishing. You should be able to click on "Edit on Codepen" to see it.
(Not affiliated with them, I just found https://blog.codepen.io/2017/10/05/regarding-referer-headers/)
greggman · 2017-09-25
apparently codepen runs the code through a parser and inserts exit checks in all detectsble loops.
https://blog.codepen.io/2016/06/08/can-adjust-infinite-loop-protection…
ballenf · 2017-03-15
https://blog.codepen.io/legal/licensing/
Public pens are MIT licensed.
gitlabfan · 2017-01-25
Codepen recently published podcast episode [0], where they tell why they spitched from GitHub to GitLab. Built in CI solution was one of the reasons.
If you don't want to listen the whole thing, there's also a transcript: [1]
[0]: https://blog.codepen.io/2017/01/24/114-gitlab/
[1]: http://gitlabfan.com/ce4d016e0eec
tomcam · 2016-12-29
The Google machine says MIT for all public pens: https://blog.codepen.io/legal/licensing/
burger_moon · 2015-07-20
https://codepen.io does this on their pro plan.
http://blog.codepen.io/documentation/pro-features/professor-mode/
didgeoridoo · 2015-03-15
Another vote for ShopTalk[1]. Also Jen Simmons' The Web Ahead[2] is fantastic, and gets into some higher-level trends and concepts in tech, art and design. For my Chris Coyier overdose, I tack on Codepen Radio[3]. On the UX and design side, I love The Dirt[4] and Hustle[5]. Finally, The Businessology Show[6] does a great job covering management and leadership (focused on the agency/service world).
[1]: http://shoptalkshow.com
[2]: http://thewebahead.net
[3]: http://blog.codepen.io/radio/
[4]: http://freshtilledsoil.com/thedirt
[5]: http://funsize.co/hustle/
[6]: http://www.businessology.biz
laacz · 2014-07-23
I know it's already too late, but recently CodePen announced their blogging platform [1] which is nicely integrated with their base service - sharing of code snippets.
[1] http://blog.codepen.io/2014/06/19/can-write-blog-posts-codepen-now/