
Show HN: GitHub Reviews – Reviews for Popular GitHub Repositories - plurch
https://githubreviews.com/?ref=hn
======
plurch
Hello Hacker News, I am Patrick, creator of GitHub Reviews. Thanks for
stopping by!

I built this web application that lets people review popular GitHub
repositories. The site allows users to:

* Determine quality by reading reviews and viewing aggregate ratings

* Discover related projects that are linked to each review

* Share their thoughts about a package with the rest of the community

* Improve repositories that they own by listening to their users

Currently on stackoverflow, questions in this vein are closed because answers
would be too subjective. This usually happens despite strong interest from
users.

Here are some reviews that I wrote:
[https://githubreviews.com/plurch](https://githubreviews.com/plurch)

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome!

------
allanderek
So first off, I like this. I actually quite like the design as well. I
absolutely agree that a "latest reviews" or something would be great. The
first thing I want to do is at least see a single review, just to see what one
looks like.

Probably a bit late for you to change since you have your domain name, but the
name kind of suggests _code_ reviews. But I don't think you're really aiming
for code reviews correct? You're aiming for a kind of package reputation?

A related project shown here as well:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11481459](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11481459)

There I wrote a comment about how package reputation systems have the slight
problem about what to do when a package is updated. A review may then be out-
of-date, but you cannot just delete old reviews since they may still be quite
appropriate. So it isn't an easily solved problem.

~~~
plurch
Thanks for the feedback. I will add a “latest reviews” list to the homepage
ASAP - some others have suggested this also.

Correct, we are not aiming for code reviews but for package
quality/reputation. Hopefully the descriptions on the homepage are clear and
this does not confuse too many people.

Regarding the problem of outdated reviews - I have a specific field where the
reviewer can put the current version that they are reviewing (example:
[https://goo.gl/rWMHgB](https://goo.gl/rWMHgB) shows version 4.8.2). Reviewers
can also easily update their existing reviews and bump this version as
necessary. We also show the date that the review was last updated.

~~~
allanderek
I like the easy way of bumping the version attached to review. That mitigates
it to some extent.

------
herbst
I like the idea, but you have to work on the Design. I would not try to
advertise it in that moment. Also create something that shows recent/popular
reviews. At the moment i get the feeling that nothing is going on on your
site.

A Question based on your comment, how do i know as package maintainer that
there is your site with potential reviews on my package?

~~~
plurch
Which aspects of the design do you think need improvement?

I agree that there are not many reviews since I have just launched, but I need
people to be aware of the site’s existence so that they can contribute.

Currently there isn’t any notification system in place for package
maintainers, but that would be a nice feature to add.

~~~
herbst
Its not about the amount of views but showing that something is going on.
Basically i have to find a project you commented on randomly to know there is
any review at all. I would expect some "Latest reviews" on the startsite or
something.

About the design it is mostly the colors that create a strange look, but also
the "purse" bootstrap elements. There is no uniqueness to that. The colors
look a bit like choosen randomly, there is no general theme for them.

~~~
plurch
I see your point. A list that shows recent reviews on the homepage would be
helpful.

