"It would be great if..."
This app started with a casual request on Tuesday, March 27th, in a public CloudFlare support thread.
I think it would be great if CloudFlare had an app to aid in Earth Hour this upcoming Saturday, March 31 @ 8:30 PM. It's not too late to join in on the effort!
Time was too short for CloudFlare to help, based on other projects. But — just in case — I mentioned the alpha version of our developer platform. Katie G., a developer in the UK, warned that she was busy with lots of work and other projects, but ended with:
I'll still try to do it though in time for Earth Hour.
Underpromise, Overdeliver
Last night — about 48 hours later — Earth Hour was made available to all CloudFlare customers as a free CloudFlare app!
Turn on the app, and for one hour on March 31 (today, for some; tomorrow for many) your site will go dark and present a message to the site visitor explaining Earth Hour. The app offers site owners the chance to "Save the world, 60 minutes every 365 days at a time."
We applaud Katie for her quick work, and her questions during development have helped us improve the platform already.
What Can You Do On CloudFlare?
More info coming soon about this developer platform. But the impatient can follow links in this thread. If you'd like to develop an app, let us know. Developers can build globally-deployable apps for CloudFlare-powered sites, with no operation costs, to join the existing CloudFlare apps. That's just the beginning.
Don't Forget
It's easy to observe Earth Hour, no matter your time zone.