

Ask YC: Feedback for programming code/info sharing site - yourmomis1337

We could really use some feedback on our site... we want to make it useful but we don't really know if we've succeeded or not :-/<p>The site is for sharing and finding code and programming knowledge... you can read about it at www.siafoo.net/help/about
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saundby
The site as a whole is a good start, I'd say. I like the filter setup, it may
get unwieldy as the number of languages/subjects multiplies, so you'll want to
think ahead on scaling.

I think a little less text in the bubbles on the about page is a good idea.
You can catch it all in the backup text below if you've caught the reader with
the short version above. But the page layout looks pretty good overall. Maybe
give it one more coat of polish, then try a couple of divergent ideas and mock
them up, then ask us to take a look and compare?

I'll admit to being favorably prejudiced toward your site's purpose, BTW, so
my response may be more enthusiastic than you'd get from most of your targets.
;)

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yourmomis1337
Yeah... the filter design is pretty much a short term fix, I'm not sure what
the next stage in its evolution should be. Maybe start limiting the displayed
keywords to the more popular ones, I dunno.

I think I agree about the bubbles on the about page... I suppose it's better
to have shorter text blocks and more bullet points, images, etc?

I'm glad you like the site's purpose at least... it would be really
unfortunate if we had designed this to solve a problem and everyone had just
said, 'what problem?' ;)

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stou
Here's an actual link <http://www.siafoo.net/help/about>

In general we want to know what wastes most of your time when writing code...
and how Siafoo can reduce this wastage.

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comatose_kid
Well, I'm not really sure I grasped the most important features in the first
10 seconds of browsing. Perhaps a few example projects? For instance, it would
be a good move to put up a pre-built page for someone interested in learning a
new language or framework - Lisp, C, Python, Cocoa Touch. This way devs could
immediately see how the service would help them (since most devs don't know
all of these languages).

You should also consider a screencast demo.

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yourmomis1337
You didn't grasp the most important _features_ , but did you understand the
purpose of the site? Because that is perhaps the most important thing, I
think. If we can get people interested in the site then they will read about
the features (maybe?).

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comatose_kid
I just took another look. The purpose is pretty clear, and like you say,
that's really important. But I think it is also important for your site to
show (not just describe) a prospective user how they can benefit.

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bigbang
It looks to me like there too much info on the homepage, like explaining all
ur features. Even your "about" is in the homepage itself. Maybe you want to
trim down the content on the homepage

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yourmomis1337
Well... it is more like the home page bubbles are on the 'about' page :-D They
originally existed to solve the problem of 'how can we tell people what the
site is about if they only go to the home page?'... maybe they still aren't
concise enough? We already trimmed out so much, the first drafts were _huge_!

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stou
Yea they were like freshman year term papers...

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yourmomis1337
I'd just like to say here that we were science majors and have no idea what
we're doing as far as marketing the site goes... so thanks for all your
inputs.

