

Ask HN: Sign up for my HN November side project beta: Minklinks - iuguy
http://www.minklinks.com/
As an alternative to NaNoWriMo I decided I'd do the HN November Launchpad - see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1773398 for more details.<p>My project is now underway, there's code checked in and some basic functionality, but I need people to sign up for the beta (either next week or the week after) to try the app out.<p>Basically Minklinks is an anti-social bookmark sharing service. It creates a personal bookmarklet where you can send links to your friends with one click. I wanted to write this as my wife and I send lots of links to each other, and I was fed up with signing into e-mail on which ever computer I found the link on. If you like the concept, please sign up for the beta at http://www.minklinks.com/.
======
barrydahlberg
Can you add something that tells me what it does without having to watch
through to the end of the video? Even after watching it I'm wondering how it
knows which friend I want to send to and why it's anti social, does it not say
who it's from?

This might be interesting if you can get the pitch across clearly. Nearly 1/3
of the way through Novemberm good luck!

~~~
iuguy
Thanks for that.

Basically when you want to share a link with someone you have a lot of options
but none that are both easy and ubiquitous. Minklinks changes that by making
it really easy to send links to anyone without using a social network or
opening up your email.

Email is ubiquitous, so your link gets submitted to minklinks and is sent on
to your friend. You can specify friends when you create the bookmarklet (so I
can create a "Send to BarryDahlberg" bookmarklet) or (if I have time) a little
pop-over with a countdown timer will kick in, where if you click inside you'll
get a form to add people to send it to. When I send you a link, you get an
email from Minklinks telling you that iuguy minklinked you, with the link, a
title and an optional message.

I'm hoping to get the initial bookmarklet done this weekend, all the mail side
works, the creating a minklink via a form, user registration etc. Once I have
the basic bookmarklet, I'll open up the beta to people who submitted their
email address, then I'll have open registration.

Thanks ever so much for the feedback on the pitch, this is just what I need!

~~~
barrydahlberg
I think what I missed was a great big screenshot of browser with a "Send To
BarryDahlberg" button in it.

Random feature suggestion, when someone receives a link they should be asked
"How do you want to receive Minklinks in future? Email, Twitter, Farcebook?"
That way the receiver gets the choice and the sender never has to bother
signing up for any of them.

~~~
iuguy
That sounds like a great idea. My goal is to get the basic MVP out of the way
in November but I've got a bit of time between december and january where I'd
like to see how the initial bit goes then start looking at adding features. I
think allowing the receiver to choose how they receive minklinks could be
quite disruptive, especially if there was something like notifo or prowl
support.

~~~
barrydahlberg
Mm it's an interesting idea actually. E.g. I don't mind that other people
message me via Facebook, I just find it annoying that I need to be there to
read it.

------
iuguy
As an alternative to NaNoWriMo I decided I'd do the HN November Launchpad -
see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1773398> for more details.

My project is now underway, there's code checked in and some basic
functionality, but I need people to sign up for the beta (either next week or
the week after) to try the app out.

Basically Minklinks is an anti-social bookmark sharing service. It creates a
personal bookmarklet where you can send links to your friends with one click.
I wanted to write this as my wife and I send lots of links to each other, and
I was fed up with signing into e-mail on which ever computer I found the link
on. If you like the concept, please sign up for the beta at
<http://www.minklinks.com/>.

