

Ask HN: Review my startup, wompt.com - abtinf

Check it out http://wompt.com/<p>Wompt is a group chat web app with an integrated twitter feed. My cofounder and I grew up on chat - we really missed old-timey web chats and IRC (every job we've ever had blocks IRC ports).<p>Would love to hear you feedback. Lurking in http://wompt.com/chat/startups.
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lsblakk
I'm confused by trying to join a channel without seeing a clear list of what
channels currently exist and how many people are in them (two things which you
can do in IRC and most chat apps). So I can enter any word in the box and
"Join Channel" and just hang out in there by myself? That made me think, this
is a good use case for private chat where you could tell your friends "join me
in 'secret' channel" and they could do so, without being listed on the site.
That would be cool. However, since I was just taking a look at it by myself I
couldn't test that. Does the landing page look different if you are signed in?
I'd like to see an About page on there to get a better idea of who is running
this site before I give over google/facebook login.

Pros: I love the name and the simplicity.

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craigkerstiens
Good clean look, like the ability to instantly view without signing in, though
I can see good and bad from that as well. First its a low barrier of entry to
observe, but that could deter others from as openly engaging, and also was
slightly confusing to need to sign in when it appear to already be live.

Also, is there a need to require a signed in user, or could you allow
anonymous users as well? It seems like that would really improve engagement.
Finally, is any ability for users to moderate/administer certain chats, it
wasn't immediately clear that there was?

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revorad
Since I can't use the app without signing in, you need to place the sign in
links more prominently. When I click on a chat room, it says "Anonymous: Sign
in to send messages". Please make that a link so that I can click and sign in
right away, not look for the sign in links on my own.

It sounds trivial, but little annoyances like these will keep people from
trying the app.

You also need to seed the chatrooms with some users and conversation. I don't
see anyone in any room.

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apedley
I went to the page and was confused. I may not be as chat savvy as some but I
didn't know what I was meant to enter in that box on the front page.

Then I assume we are chatting based on Twitter hashtags?

I know it seems trivial but stating that in a short sentence somewhere on the
page would make all the difference.

I believe this will really help lower the barrier for entry.

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alastair
Feedback: It wasn't exactly clear that I was entering a topic or channel to
chat about on the front page, rather then my nickname.

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matomesc
Looks great, it also has an HN feel to it. I'm also in the process of building
on a chat app as a fun project.

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abtinf
Its a fun genre of app to build. What software are you using?

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mtogo
<http://wompt.com/>

