4 ms·

Show HN - My side project: Thingist

21 points by blhack 16y ago

blhack 16y ago
Originally this was supposed to be a way for my sisters and I to make and then keep track of christmas lists for each other (there are 6 of us kids, so it's a lot of lists to make). I thought it would be fun to be able to list more than just stuff I wanted for Christmas, and it just kindof grew from there.
- mcantelon 16y ago
  It's a fun idea. One thing that I immediately wanted was, when you click a list, a short form of the list. I found I had to scroll a lot to see the list in its entirety.
  - blhack 16y ago
    Hmm... That's a good point. I think listing all of the information about all of the items when you're viewing one of the lists does take up too much space.
tdoggette 16y ago
What's it for?
- blhack 16y ago
  Eh, it's just kindof fun. I was playing trivia the other night, so I updated it to say "Ryan added 'trivia' to 'things I love'". Or, some jerk stole my friends bike the other day, so I updated it to say "Ryan added 'people that steal aaron's bike' to 'things I hate'" Kindof like status updates, but categorized.
jonpaul 16y ago
You get an upvote for initiative. But, I don't see the use of it in its current state. Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and monetize it by affiliate sales (referrals)? Even better if you incorporate game mechanics. Good luck.
- blhack 16y ago
  >You get an upvote for initiative. Thank you :) >But, I don't see the use of it in its current state. Eh, that's okay. It's not a hammer, it's a television; it's just fun, and it doesn't really have a point. Just kindof a neat way for my friends and I to exchange little thoughts with each other. >Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and monetize it by affiliate sales (referrals)? Not sure if you saw this in other comment or not, but it is a wishlist app, that is what it started out as. Here is my Christmas List: http://www.thingist.com/t/list/1/ http://www.thingist.com/t/list/1/ And it is using affiliate links via http://www.viglink.com/ http://www.viglink.com/
krainboltgreene 16y ago
Love the idea, shouldn't require logging in (Maybe it doesnt? Wasn't clear from the UI), but it could use a designers touch. Very early-twitter.
- blhack 16y ago
  Agree 100% on the "needs a designer's touch". Hmm...not requiring a login. Do you mean how stack overflow does it? I think that would actually be pretty doable. Give somebody a session, let them post things as much as they want, then offer them the option to merge that session with a real username.
  - krainboltgreene 16y ago
    I suggest two things: 1. Remove login crap. No one needs to password protect a twittery-wishlist, however cool. 2. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out random thing, like football figurines]. Once someone hits submit, ask them if they'd like to make an account (possibly with a password). Then just have them use that name. Very similar to Instapaper. I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean.
    - blhack 16y ago
      Without the logins, how do you prevent people from posting things to each other's lists? For instance: I have a list called "Good Bars in Phoenix" (http://thingist.com/t/list/65/ http://thingist.com/t/list/65/), which is a list of bars that I like...without the logins, what is to prevent, say, user "Aaron" from posting to that? One of the use cases is my friend Dave. When he retired from his corporate job, he got a new blackberry. Over the several years that he had had that blackberry (likely that account on exchange, actually) he had been keeping a list of wines that he had tried and liked. When he gave up his old blackberry, he lost his list of wines. How would Dave keep it as "Dave's" list of wines without having logins? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying...sorry. I looked at instapaper to see if I could see an example of what you meant, but it seems to act just about the same. If I click on "Read Later", it prompts me to either login, or create an account. >2. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out random thing, like football figurines]. If you've registered, this is what you would see: http://i.imgur.com/TwPwb.png http://i.imgur.com/TwPwb.png (The title is picked randomly from your group of lists). I think this is actually even simpler and more specific than what you're saying. I really really appreciate the criticism, honestly. I'm not trying to say "durr hurr, my way is best!", I hope what I just said doesn't come across as that. >I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean. If it's not any trouble, that would be hugely appreciated, thank you. :) (Now I just wish I had a lot of users so that I could A/B test the two) Again, thanks. I think one thing I could improve right now (well, as soon as I get home, actually), is including both the registration form and the login form if you click "add" without being logged in...
mmmmax 16y ago
This is similar to one of my side projects called #want: http://www.hashwant.com http://www.hashwant.com

21 points by blhack 16y ago

Originally this was supposed to be a way for my sisters and I to make and then keep track of christmas lists for each other (there are 6 of us kids, so it's a lot of lists to make). I thought it would be fun to be able to list more than just stuff I wanted for Christmas, and it just kindof grew from there.

mcantelon 16y ago
It's a fun idea. One thing that I immediately wanted was, when you click a list, a short form of the list. I found I had to scroll a lot to see the list in its entirety.
- blhack 16y ago
  Hmm... That's a good point. I think listing all of the information about all of the items when you're viewing one of the lists does take up too much space.

tdoggette 16y ago

What's it for?

blhack 16y ago
Eh, it's just kindof fun. I was playing trivia the other night, so I updated it to say "Ryan added 'trivia' to 'things I love'". Or, some jerk stole my friends bike the other day, so I updated it to say "Ryan added 'people that steal aaron's bike' to 'things I hate'" Kindof like status updates, but categorized.

jonpaul 16y ago

You get an upvote for initiative. But, I don't see the use of it in its current state. Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and monetize it by affiliate sales (referrals)? Even better if you incorporate game mechanics. Good luck.

blhack 16y ago
>You get an upvote for initiative. Thank you :) >But, I don't see the use of it in its current state. Eh, that's okay. It's not a hammer, it's a television; it's just fun, and it doesn't really have a point. Just kindof a neat way for my friends and I to exchange little thoughts with each other. >Maybe you could turn it into a wishlist app or something and monetize it by affiliate sales (referrals)? Not sure if you saw this in other comment or not, but it is a wishlist app, that is what it started out as. Here is my Christmas List: http://www.thingist.com/t/list/1/ http://www.thingist.com/t/list/1/ And it is using affiliate links via http://www.viglink.com/ http://www.viglink.com/

krainboltgreene 16y ago

Love the idea, shouldn't require logging in (Maybe it doesnt? Wasn't clear from the UI), but it could use a designers touch. Very early-twitter.

blhack 16y ago
Agree 100% on the "needs a designer's touch". Hmm...not requiring a login. Do you mean how stack overflow does it? I think that would actually be pretty doable. Give somebody a session, let them post things as much as they want, then offer them the option to merge that session with a real username.
- krainboltgreene 16y ago
  I suggest two things: 1. Remove login crap. No one needs to password protect a twittery-wishlist, however cool. 2. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out random thing, like football figurines]. Once someone hits submit, ask them if they'd like to make an account (possibly with a password). Then just have them use that name. Very similar to Instapaper. I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean.
  - blhack 16y ago
    Without the logins, how do you prevent people from posting things to each other's lists? For instance: I have a list called "Good Bars in Phoenix" (http://thingist.com/t/list/65/ http://thingist.com/t/list/65/), which is a list of bars that I like...without the logins, what is to prevent, say, user "Aaron" from posting to that? One of the use cases is my friend Dave. When he retired from his corporate job, he got a new blackberry. Over the several years that he had had that blackberry (likely that account on exchange, actually) he had been keeping a list of wines that he had tried and liked. When he gave up his old blackberry, he lost his list of wines. How would Dave keep it as "Dave's" list of wines without having logins? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying...sorry. I looked at instapaper to see if I could see an example of what you meant, but it seems to act just about the same. If I click on "Read Later", it prompts me to either login, or create an account. >2. Instead have a field for name. Make it wordy, like: [name field with grayed out random name, like John] likes/hates [empty field with grayed out random thing, like football figurines]. If you've registered, this is what you would see: http://i.imgur.com/TwPwb.png http://i.imgur.com/TwPwb.png (The title is picked randomly from your group of lists). I think this is actually even simpler and more specific than what you're saying. I really really appreciate the criticism, honestly. I'm not trying to say "durr hurr, my way is best!", I hope what I just said doesn't come across as that. >I could probably work on something real quick to show you what I mean. If it's not any trouble, that would be hugely appreciated, thank you. :) (Now I just wish I had a lot of users so that I could A/B test the two) Again, thanks. I think one thing I could improve right now (well, as soon as I get home, actually), is including both the registration form and the login form if you click "add" without being logged in...

mmmmax 16y ago

This is similar to one of my side projects called #want: http://www.hashwant.com http://www.hashwant.com