

Show HN - My side project: Thingist - blhack
http://www.thingist.com

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blhack
Originally this was supposed to be a way for my sisters and I to make and then
keep track of christmas lists for each other (there are 6 of us kids, so it's
a lot of lists to make).

I thought it would be fun to be able to list more than just stuff I wanted for
Christmas, and it just kindof grew from there.

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mcantelon
It's a fun idea. One thing that I immediately wanted was, when you click a
list, a short form of the list. I found I had to scroll a lot to see the list
in its entirety.

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blhack
Hmm... That's a good point. I think listing _all_ of the information about all
of the items when you're viewing one of the lists does take up too much space.

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jonpaul
You get an upvote for initiative. But, I don't see the use of it in its
current state. Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and
monetize it by affiliate sales (referrals)? Even better if you incorporate
game mechanics. Good luck.

~~~
blhack
>You get an upvote for initiative.

Thank you :)

>But, I don't see the use of it in its current state.

Eh, that's okay. It's not a hammer, it's a television; it's just fun, and it
doesn't really _have_ a point. Just kindof a neat way for my friends and I to
exchange little thoughts with each other.

>Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and monetize it by
affiliate sales (referrals)?

Not sure if you saw this in other comment or not, but it _is_ a wishlist app,
that is what it started out as. Here is my Christmas List:
<http://www.thingist.com/t/list/1/>

And it _is_ using affiliate links via <http://www.viglink.com/>

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krainboltgreene
Love the idea, shouldn't require logging in (Maybe it doesnt? Wasn't clear
from the UI), but it could use a designers touch.

Very early-twitter.

~~~
blhack
Agree 100% on the "needs a designer's touch".

Hmm...not requiring a login. Do you mean how stack overflow does it? I think
that would actually be pretty doable. Give somebody a session, let them post
things as much as they want, then offer them the option to merge that session
with a real username.

~~~
krainboltgreene
I suggest two things:

1\. Remove login crap. No one needs to password protect a twittery-wishlist,
however cool.

2\. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with
grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out
random thing, like football figurines]. Once someone hits submit, ask them if
they'd like to make an account (possibly with a password). Then just have them
use that name. Very similar to Instapaper.

I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean.

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blhack
Without the logins, how do you prevent people from posting things to each
other's lists?

For instance: I have a list called "Good Bars in Phoenix"
(<http://thingist.com/t/list/65/>), which is a list of bars that _I_
like...without the logins, what is to prevent, say, user "Aaron" from posting
to that?

One of the use cases is my friend Dave. When he retired from his corporate
job, he got a new blackberry. Over the several years that he had had that
blackberry (likely that account on exchange, actually) he had been keeping a
list of wines that he had tried and liked. When he gave up his old blackberry,
he lost his list of wines. How would Dave keep it as "Dave's" list of wines
without having logins?

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying...sorry. I looked at
instapaper to see if I could see an example of what you meant, but it seems to
act just about the same. If I click on "Read Later", it prompts me to either
login, or create an account.

>2\. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with
grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out
random thing, like football figurines].

If you've registered, this is what you would see:
<http://i.imgur.com/TwPwb.png> (The title is picked randomly from your group
of lists). I think this is actually even simpler and more specific than what
you're saying.

I really _really_ appreciate the criticism, honestly. I'm not trying to say
"durr hurr, my way is best!", I hope what I just said doesn't come across as
that.

>I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean.

If it's not any trouble, that would be hugely appreciated, thank you. :)

(Now I just wish I had a lot of users so that I could A/B test the two)

Again, thanks.

I think one thing I could improve right now (well, as soon as I get home,
actually), is including both the registration form and the login form if you
click "add" without being logged in...

~~~
krainboltgreene
It'd be easier to talk via email, so feel free to contact me at
kurtisrainboltgreene@gmail.com

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mmmmax
This is similar to one of my side projects called #want:
<http://www.hashwant.com>

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tdoggette
What's it for?

~~~
blhack
Eh, it's just kindof fun. I was playing trivia the other night, so I updated
it to say "Ryan added 'trivia' to 'things I love'".

Or, some jerk stole my friends bike the other day, so I updated it to say
"Ryan added 'people that steal aaron's bike' to 'things I hate'"

Kindof like status updates, but categorized.

