

Show/Tell HN: Finally made it to alpha - jfc

TL;DR - Site in alpha after previously treating my coding projects as hobbies. Dug deep and got it done.<p>I am a self-taught coder. This is my (short) story.<p>Built first site in geocities in late 90s. HTML w/scrolling java. Pure comedy.<p>At school, built site to highlight social events in the area. Ended up scoring free stuff and some local DJs called to get events on my site. Got in trouble w/group in my technology entrepreneurship class for skipping (was working on my site). Turned out okay.<p>Fast-forward #1 - Went to work in the big city and started a niche social networking site, but didn't have much time to work on it--also worried that my coding skills (such as they were) had diminished. Got someone to help me, and got some users, but just couldn't do it and practice law. Too much to manage. Plus it didn't feel as good not coding it.<p><i>Interlude of some years - more work</i><p>Fast-forward #2 - About a year or so ago, I posted about the Joy of Coding, and also shared a landing page for the app I was building part-time (got some snark for it, but didn't care). Started with an iOS app, but then switched to building the web app first.<p>Currently in alpha and am getting ready for private beta. It's called Toour (ontoour.com)--so far it's been mentioned in Techcrunch, Tnooz, and in one of AngelList's email updates.<p>(Full disclosure: I have another developer that helps me with some of the database stuff and other advanced functions. But I can legitimately say that I built most of this site myself).
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tonyjwang
The idea is nice - when my fiancée and I travel to Taiwan for our honeymoon,
I'd probably want to read reviews from people who travel like us (or have also
planned out a couple vacation) rather than just any tourist.

Some comments on design: the images and text were a bit dense for me - yet I
also felt I didn't get enough of a sense of the UX. For me, I'd like to
envision the ACTION I would be taking on your site - what links would I click
on, theoretically, to search for information, how would I find users like me,
etc. Also, because the images were circumscribed by circles, it felt like the
screenshots didn't capture enough for me to REALLY want to learn more. It felt
like I was peering through a tube, unnecessarily constricted in my access to
information.

Anyway, just my 2c. Good luck!

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jfc
@tonyjwang, thank you for this feedback. I'm hoping to add a screencast soon
that will provide a fuller sense of what you can do with the app.

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jaxn
Clickable link: <http://ontoour.com>

