

Show HN: My first MVP - A Tea Search Engine - mmcdan
http://theteafinder.com/teas/search

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diego
1\. I really like the design. Simple and elegant, no clutter. 2\. I keep
looking for a search box because you branded it as a "Tea Search Engine", but
it's more like a directory. I'd either call it a directory or add a search
box. Let me know if you need help with the search function.

~~~
mmcdan
Good call... still debating which direction to go with it. My initial
prototype was search-box based. But I found I actually had more fun exploring
the teas by slowing adding filters rather than typing exactly what I was
thinking of.

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moge
agree that it needs a search box. It doesn't have to be the primary function
but it should be there. I clicked around and couldn't find 'pu-erh' and didn't
want to scroll through the 2 dozen black tea pages.

As a huge tea drinker I love this site. Agree that the design is clean and
simple.

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narenst
Nice site. Very simple and easy to use. I'm not a tea lover but it got me
hooked!

A couple of suggestions - I would like to see the number of results I would
get after applying a filter (shown in braces next to the filter words). a few
times i got zero results. so it will be useful.

Also a small 'x' can be shown next to the already added filters at the top.
Easy to understand that clicking it will remove the filter.

Other than that, nice work!

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acgourley
I like how you have collected a lot of data and let me peek into it in
different ways. However - even as an avid tea drinker, you're still not
solving a real problem of mine. I'm not wondering "what is the complete set of
tea that contains ginger" or "or what are the set of teas from cylon".

I look forward to see what you do with the site, but please solve a problem
and make it clear on the site what that problem is.

~~~
dannyr
Care to tell us what problem the site can solve for tea-drinkers?

ps: i'm not affiliated with the site. just curious.

~~~
delano
I would imagine by use (digestion, rest, energy), flavours (sweet, savory),
caffeine content, etc.

That said, OP, congrats on your first MVP!

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3pt14159
Couple of thoughts off the cuff:

1\. Make the text size larger. I know I can ^+ but the people using your site
may not. Many of them will be over the age of fifty and you want them to
really _enjoy_ using the site.

2\. Give me more information at a glance. Maybe a symbol or icon for "improved
digestion" etc. Sometimes I don't want to just filter on health benefits,
because I don't want to close off options, but I still do want to see neat
little green icons.

3\. Social proof. This one doesn't belong in a MVP, but eventually you will
want people to be able to rate teas. Make sure that this doesn't require a
login.

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gsivil
This can give to someone the idea of content specific search engines. Still
use Google for generic search but a specialized search engine in various
fields could be of interest. Imagine something like the let's say: the Java
finder, the soccer finder, the physics finder, and the list can go on almost
infinitely. At these times that technical people tend to complain about
Google's spammy search they could find such search engines (not just indices)
very handy

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Samuel_Michon
I'm missing the option to select teas by vendor. However, listing vendors
would make it clear to users how few vendors are included in the search
results. The database seems to consist of less than twenty vendors, and I'm
missing well-known brands like Yogi Tea and Zhi.

I understand that the idea is to earn through affiliate links, but you'll get
more users if you also include some well-known brands that aren't necessarily
Share-a-sale partners.

~~~
mmcdan
You're right, the diversity of vendors is pretty small at this point. My first
goal was to make the # of searchable teas as large as possible. Next on the
TODO list is to add those smaller shops that have some delicious custom brews.
Soon there will be a filter to search by vendor size(e.g large tea retailers
vs. mom-and-pop shops) so that they don't get lost in the larger suppliers.

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revorad
This looks beautiful. What stack are you using? I'm thinking of building a
similar site for another category of products and am wondering whether to roll
my own in Rails or just go with Wordpress. Would love to hear any suggestions
based on your experience.

~~~
mmcdan
I'm using JQuery, Rails w/Passenger, and super-fast searching with Sphinx.
Rails is awesome. This combo makes coding awesome and efficient... I wouldn't
even bother with Wordpress.

~~~
revorad
I'm reasonably comfortable with Rails. Never tried Sphinx or any other search
library before, so it's a good time to give it a go.

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spencerfry
You should work with <http://steepster.com>.

I'm friends with those guys if you want an intro. Just shoot me an email.

~~~
mmcdan
Thanks, will send an email!

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brk
Looks neat. Would be nice if you added Harney and Sons teas to the database.

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jacquesm
Hm, you missed my favorite addiction, cinnamon ;) Pretty cool otherwise!

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Samuel_Michon
Cinnamon can be found under 'Herbs'. Perhaps you expected it to be under
'Flavors'?

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jacquesm
Yes, exactly.

Cinnamon is actually bark, not an Herb.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
You're right. Cinnamon, ginger and licorice are spices, not herbs. Perhaps the
category could be renamed 'Spices & Herbs'. Also, grape, goji and grapefruit
are neither, they should be placed in the 'Flavors' category, or in a separate
'Fruit' category.

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duck
It would be interesting to hear about your experience with ShareASale.

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jasonb05
Great site, well done. Now iterate!

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Swizec
Pretty freaking cool! I'm a tea lover and this might just be the catalyst I
need to start buying online.

[pedantic] This is more of an index than a search engine though. [/pedantic]

~~~
mmcdan
Nice:) At what point does a search engine become an index/directory? The site
scans the tea websites for product updates periodically, but it does add
contextual knowledge about the domain(tea) rather than general matching like
google.

~~~
Swizec
Well if it only crawls predetermined sites then it's an index plus a scraper.
If it finds new sites, then it's a search engine.

At least I think that's the distinction.

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codemonger
MVP?

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Minimum viable product

[http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/03/minimum-
viable-...](http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/03/minimum-viable-
product.html)

