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Ask HN: Help test my app Launchset.com

22 points by dannyr ↗ HN
Hello HN,

I'm relaunching my app Launchset.com. I made some big changes to it from last year. It was inspired by the 'Review my Startup/App' & 'What are you hacking on' threads here.

I'm targeting fellow developers who have side projects.

Thanks.

15 comments

[ 6.8 ms ] story [ 46.9 ms ] thread
bravura
Mind telling us what problem you are trying to solve?

Neither your description nor your homepage (nor anywhere else I can see) describes what your app does. And given the updates, I can't assume it has the same focus as when you previously launched.

dannyr
Yeah. I need to put something on the frontpage to describe it.

Here's how I describe it to friends:

==================================

It's like Twitter but instead of following people, you follow projects.

I'm focusing just on fellow hackers who have side projects. There are a number of apps (most are small) that are developed but would never get coverage from big tech blogs. Launchset is aims to help people discover these projects.

For the developer, it's a way of measuring interest on your app by the number of people following you. You can also keep them engaged by providing progress updates to your followers.

bravura
How does notification occur?

Do I log in to the site to see what is new? Or are notifications pushed to me in some way?

dannyr
If you are a project owner, you'll get notifications if somebody followed your project, posted on your project wall or commented on a post.

I'm still trying to figure out notifications for the projects you follow. Right now, the only way to view them is thru your home page.

My plan is email. I'll probably send daily digests of the projects you follow.

user24
I had the same problem when I signed up; it really needs a tagline and a non-blank homepage.

But when you register and add a project it becomes clearer - it's a facebook/twitter hybrid populated only by developers doing interesting things. As far as I can tell, anyway.

dannyr
user24,

Yeah, you got it right. I know I have to put a description on the front page. I'm primarily targeting the HN crowd so hopefully, they'll pick it up right away.

ntulip
I signed up with an email like username+label@gmail.com. This helps me better organize and it works with GMail. Problem is that even after confirming the email address, when attempting to login it errors out:

Please enter a correct username and password. Note that both fields are case-sensitive.

I've reset the password and still the same error. I wonder how much of it has to do with the email address format and if you are cleaning invalid characters, etc.

dannyr
I just tried this and it worked for me.

Is it ok if I delete your account and send you an invite thru your email?

benjaminlotan
I like the idea. The site seems most beneficial as a way to discover new projects, under the radar etc. When you browse projects you should see the descriptions along with the titles. I think that could be more important than the tags. Also should have a simple way when you enter a project to denote the status. Is it still in the early phase or getting ready to launch. another issue is, would the projects stay there after launch? How long after. It could get cluttered with a bunch of 'established' start-ups as well as half-done neglected projects from years ago. -could be a way other than following to "rate up" a project... like a thumbs up or whatever. so you can have some kind of hotlist.

also i imagine it could be a platform for finding collaborators/co-founders. So one part of posting a project could be to note whether you are looking for other people to help etc.

anyway. keep up the good work, let me know if you want some more feedback anytime :-)

dannyr
benjaminlotan,

Haha! I have thought of basically everything you wrote. I'm glad that you get it.

I will be putting a status for every project to denote its stages (e.g. idea, private beta, public, etc). There will be an area where people can browse the apps that are waiting to be reviewed. Very much like the 'Review my startup' threads here on HN.

One of the motivations for me when I started building the site was to find people to collaborate with. I want to know other developers who are coding in android, python, django & appengine and also the ones who are interested in a particular category (like classifieds, mobile). I also decided to add location so you'll be able to see other developers near you.

I have a larger vision for the site (beyond developers/side projects) but it will all depend on what I learn from releasing it just to developers first.

TheSmoke
I was just about to ask if you've built the app with django. :)
benjaminlotan
really awesome. I;m excited to hear about the project as it moves forward. I've registered already, but if you have an email list you update more frequently, please add me, benjaminlotan@gmail.com good luck!
jeffepp
Cool, this is a pretty neat app! I listed my startup, feel free to follow up and I will let you know how it goes...