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Show HN: Footnote – a modern take on Goodreads

5 points by nicobelll 4y ago

footnote - A modern take on Goodreads

rwhyan 4y ago
Interesting, but having to sign up to even click on a book made me instantly leave
- utahcon 4y ago
  Same
  - nicobelll 4y ago
    Super helpful feedback, I'll update
    - nicobelll 4y ago
      Okay should be updated now
      - snapplebobapple 4y ago
        This is still broken. looks like footnote.cc brings you to footnote.cc/sign-up with a signup page but your link about goes to footnote.cc/signup which has no signup page blocking viewing.
jjwtieke 4y ago
Check out StoryGraph too. I’m really liking it. https://app.thestorygraph.com/ https://app.thestorygraph.com/
joeframbach 4y ago
Searching/filtering is lost when clicking a result then going "back" to the previous page. Perhaps use a History API to push state?
- nicobelll 4y ago
  YES! Great idea :)
nomadicelf 4y ago
I was a happy Goodreads user and librarian for many years, but quit the service completely last month, when they irrevocably changed their book interface. Old interface was one of the main reasons I liked Goodreads. I wrote them two feedback emails during testing period asking them to leave at least an option to switch back - never even got a reply. Oh well, I guess they don't need me as a user. As for Footnote, when I go to https://footnote.cc https://footnote.cc all I can see is a sign up form and nothing else. I generally hate creating accounts, unless I absolutely have to. And here the first thing you ask me to do - is to sign up ... just to browse through your web site. No, thanks. I guess I'll stick to my .ods spreadsheet for now.
- badtension 4y ago
  It took me a while to understand what all those "growth hacks", shady tactics, dark patterns lead to in the end. In the beginning I was very excited (as an engineer) about A/B testing and how you can nudge people to boost clicks/revenue/whatever, measure everything and experiment. A few years ago it got to me that this was how business sociopaths operate and why most modern things are broken. Chasing some holy grail and gaming the system instead of making useful things that matter to people.
  - nicobelll 4y ago
    Ah sorry about that - I thought I had set it up in a way that you can browse and view books without signing up but apparently most people were asked to sign up right away. Not my intention - I'll have to fix and make another post to get so actual feedback
    - badtension 4y ago
      That is great, my ramblings weren't necessarily directed towards your approach (I don't know your case), it's just something that is often on my mind lately, especially with big corps doing it more and more openly. Sorry if it sounded like that, I hope everything works out for you.
bwb 4y ago
What makes it a "modern take"? curious :) What is diff from Good reads or Story graph?
- nicobelll 4y ago
  Good question - the goal is to make it much more user friendly/less bloated and more social

5 points by nicobelll 4y ago

footnote - A modern take on Goodreads

rwhyan 4y ago

Interesting, but having to sign up to even click on a book made me instantly leave

utahcon 4y ago
Same
- nicobelll 4y ago
  Super helpful feedback, I'll update
  - nicobelll 4y ago
    Okay should be updated now
    - snapplebobapple 4y ago
      This is still broken. looks like footnote.cc brings you to footnote.cc/sign-up with a signup page but your link about goes to footnote.cc/signup which has no signup page blocking viewing.

jjwtieke 4y ago

Check out StoryGraph too. I’m really liking it. https://app.thestorygraph.com/ https://app.thestorygraph.com/

joeframbach 4y ago

Searching/filtering is lost when clicking a result then going "back" to the previous page. Perhaps use a History API to push state?

nicobelll 4y ago
YES! Great idea :)

nomadicelf 4y ago

I was a happy Goodreads user and librarian for many years, but quit the service completely last month, when they irrevocably changed their book interface. Old interface was one of the main reasons I liked Goodreads. I wrote them two feedback emails during testing period asking them to leave at least an option to switch back - never even got a reply. Oh well, I guess they don't need me as a user. As for Footnote, when I go to https://footnote.cc https://footnote.cc all I can see is a sign up form and nothing else. I generally hate creating accounts, unless I absolutely have to. And here the first thing you ask me to do - is to sign up ... just to browse through your web site. No, thanks. I guess I'll stick to my .ods spreadsheet for now.

badtension 4y ago
It took me a while to understand what all those "growth hacks", shady tactics, dark patterns lead to in the end. In the beginning I was very excited (as an engineer) about A/B testing and how you can nudge people to boost clicks/revenue/whatever, measure everything and experiment. A few years ago it got to me that this was how business sociopaths operate and why most modern things are broken. Chasing some holy grail and gaming the system instead of making useful things that matter to people.
- nicobelll 4y ago
  Ah sorry about that - I thought I had set it up in a way that you can browse and view books without signing up but apparently most people were asked to sign up right away. Not my intention - I'll have to fix and make another post to get so actual feedback
  - badtension 4y ago
    That is great, my ramblings weren't necessarily directed towards your approach (I don't know your case), it's just something that is often on my mind lately, especially with big corps doing it more and more openly. Sorry if it sounded like that, I hope everything works out for you.

bwb 4y ago

What makes it a "modern take"? curious :) What is diff from Good reads or Story graph?

nicobelll 4y ago
Good question - the goal is to make it much more user friendly/less bloated and more social