Ask HN: Review my prototype (webnodes)

[csytan]

Webnodes is a site which will be centered around hosting online communities which are transparently, and democratically governed.

A key feature is the recognition of good discussion, which is one reason why threads are displayed as trees.

There are lots of little bugs which need work, but what I'd really appreciate is feedback on the usability/readability of the thread layout.

Thanks to reddit/proggit for providing the test data. For those who are interested, the source code is available at http://github.com/csytan/webnodes/tree and will later be made available under a permissive license.

http://www.webnodes.org

[hotshothenry]

you should def fix it so http://webnodes.org doesn't throw a fatal server not found error

[csytan → hotshothenry]

You're right. I'll get right on that. For now, please use http://www.webnodes.org/

[somazx]

nicely done!

[zxcvb]

The 'home' link in the top left corner is hard to read due to the font colour on the background colour. Red on a dark background is bad.

When first landing on your site, I have no idea what I'm looking at. It's just random boxes with unrelated text, I guess once you have a userbase this won't matter as people will know what's what, until then, you'll need to make it more obvious why I'm looking at your page, then you need to give me a reason to stay.

You also need to explain that clicking "next n" shows you children of the current parent comment. It's just not obvious. Don't make me think.

Reading your description, this sounds like something that is just not useful. I just don't see this working in any way that will bring money in, or even attract a community.

Honestly, yet another 'web2.0' pointless app that will die due to lack of funds or users. Sorry to come accross as being harsh, but I'm trying to be honest. You should use your python skills for something that actually provides 'real' value.

Don't be too put off by me though, I'm not exactly what you'd call an 'early adopter'.

[csytan → zxcvb]

>You also need to explain that clicking "next n" shows you children of the current parent comment.

Good point. I'll change it to "Next n replies"

>Honestly, yet another 'web2.0' pointless app that will die due to lack of funds or users. Sorry to come accross as being harsh, but I'm trying to be honest. You should use your python skills for something that actually provides 'real' value. Sorry to come accross as being harsh, but I'm trying to be honest. You should use your python skills for something that actually provides 'real' value.

No worries. I enjoy working on this project, and it's been fun seeing it slowly morph into something I find useful.

[zxcvb → csytan]

As long as you're having fun then that's great, and if it's something you find useful then that's even better. It's refreshing to see someone making something for the love rather making any old crap in an attempt to go 'viral'.

:)