

Forrst like Community for Side-Projects? - ankitaggarwal

I have a day job, but try to work on side-projects time to time. I made 5 side projects last year. Forrst is an awesome community, but I get a feeling that most of the members are Designers. Kinda feel left out in there.<p>Also, I am a great fan of "Show HN" posts but a good feedback is always a matter of luck. Only posts reaching frontpage gets the exposure and rest dies out with 2-3 comments.<p>Is there a community/forum for people like me to show my side-projects, get feedback etc.
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macca321
I'm working on a webapp which turns side-projects into SAAS startups (by
providing CMS, auth, billing etc.), and I would love to hear from anyone in
this thread.

I have a 3 minute questionnaire which I would love to have filled out, or if
you'd like to contact me my email is on my profile page.

thanks, Harry

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEhGWjl...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEhGWjlqY0k3MDgxSVRjVXNsTkhPUEE6MQ)

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macca321
Thanks everyone, keep 'em coming!

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anthonyb
I think you just found your next side project! ;)

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pknerd
Forrst was supposed to be _Dribbble for programmers_ but it has been hijacked
by designers.

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Kudos
For a long time I tried to help correct that, but I gave up at the sheer
number of designers offering bad (and sometimes harmful) programming advice.

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thomasrambaud
Same for me. I think Forrst is kinda dead, I'm ranked #4 (was #1) since 1 year
now, and I did no activity.

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guynamedloren
By side projects I assume you mean web apps and programming related things.
I've pondered a system to track these, but it would be even more fascinating
to extend it beyond code - think: artwork, carpentry, electronics projects,
robots, etc. Basically a _'Things I've Made'_ kinda site.

Edit: Interestingly, the thing about side projects is that most of their value
is derived from what can be learned while building them. Often they simply die
upon completion (or when boredom sets in) because there isn't much left to
learn from the project. Because of this, I don't know if there's necessarily a
personal benefit to archiving your own projects online (other than showing off
/ clout / credibility for resumes and such), but I can definitely see value in
the social building part of it - which is probably the goal anyway.

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adlq
I can definitely see the potential of this, and would love to contribute. I'd
go even further and suggest the ability to collaborate on side-projects, think
github with broader project types. The hard (and fun!) part would be to devise
a minimal set of functionnalities to power such variety of projects.

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appbot
I made one in a hack day once, never actually told anyone about it. Would love
to see an active one: <http://leanly.co/>

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helen842000
I was working on something like that called Shipyard. I got a bit stuck with
it technically and am not sure how to proceed.

URL is Shipyard.me - Unfortunately it has mostly become a home to spam at the
minute.

I was planning on hiring freelancers to help with the development tasks that
were beyond my skill set but then my contract ended which put a stop to my
budget for my side-projects.

It was meant to be a place for side-projects to get their early adopters and
for the founders to discuss and share & get feedback. Then on the front end
would be a blog that documented the latest sucesses and a discover page with
side project logos and a quick description. The monetisation side was going to
be a low cost payment to get a project logo on the discover page. Nothing
major, just enough to cover costs.

I had got 20+ teams/founders with side projects waiting to become members and
I'd had a lot of positive feedback.

If anyone would want to join me on working on it to get it usable, it would be
great to share it.

~~~
codenut
ping me at termr00t\at\gmail\dot\com

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DevonInCO
Two years ago I was looking for something very similar myself and not finding
it, decided I'd try to learn a bit of Python and try out Google App Engine
simultaneously. This was the result:

<http://www.ijustshipped.com>

I am overhauling it at the moment because it needs a responsive design, SSL,
and non-Google-reliant accounts (based on feedback I got when I initially
released it).

I'd love to hear if anyone thinks they'd use this..

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DevonInCO
UPDATE: Just rewrote this so it's responsive and relies on email-based
accounts (versus Google authentication as it had originally).

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

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dsowers
I just built a new app to satisfy this exact need and launched on monday!
<http://www.mycelial.com>

I would love to get feedback about what you think.

This app essentially answers "guynamedloren's" comment above. It's a "things
I've made kinda site" that goes beyond just coding projects. It can include
any hobby you have, such as electronics, beer-brewing, etc...

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ivanvanderbyl
I'm always interested in what others are building both professionally and as a
side project. I think this is a great idea and would love to be part of it.

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guero
<http://www.founder2be.com>

Share your project(s) as 'idea' with a link to prototype - about 12,000 people
interested in early stage start-ups / projects and co-founders use the site.
it's a bit like forrst for developers, designers, marketers, sales, etc. good
luck!

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bentoncreation
Communities are really good at providing social rewards for certain behaviors.
It would be nice to see a community like this include mechanics to reward
those who "complete" their side projects. Shipping side projects is hard. This
could provide additional, helpful incentive.

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kmfrk
The simplest way to do it is to seek out or create a subreddit. You need to
use RES[1] to display images inline, though.

[1]: <http://redditenhancementsuite.com/>

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SkyMarshal
Some HNers tried to do this with the Hacker News Monthly Launchpad Facebook
Group:

<https://www.facebook.com/groups/launchinnov/>

YMMV.

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eduardordm
<http://coderwall.com>

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marknutter
Yeesh, I'm surprised a site aimed at developers doesn't allow for signup by
plain email.

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rbn
<http://betali.st/>

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vidarh
Most side projects don't end up as anything even beginning to resemble a
startup.

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frankdenbow
If you could also pitch a side project idea and link up with people would be
awesome. I'd use it.

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bodegajed
Set up a mailing list form so we can all sign up to your new side-project :)

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ebae
maybe these?

<http://showinghn.com/> <https://twitter.com/JustShowHN>

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timme
Might be as simple as a scraper for "Show HN" posts.

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macca321
<http://www.hnshowcase.com/> is one. It's ok but I would prefer something with
disqus comments so I would get notifications and stuff.

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u2sonderzug
if you build this.. i'll be a member!

