Stackoverflow clone using Rails, Mongomapper and Mongodb

Hah. I'm writing my own Stackoverflow derivative using the same technology stack - Rails, MM, and Mongodb (mostly as an excuse to learn MongoDB!). Sorta wish I'd seen this first now, though it's been a great learning experience. :)<p>(My project is at <a href="http://wowqu.com" rel="nofollow">http://wowqu.com</a> - it's quite a bit more domain-specific, but it's been a lot of fun anyhow. :)

also, shapado is able to import SE sites, check this question out: <a href="http://shapado.com/questions/can-i-import-a-stackexchange-dump-into-s" rel="nofollow">http://shapado.com/questions/can-i-import-a-stackexchange-du...</a>

Hey, looks great! Suggestion: small search box on the main page (like SO). It's my first port of call.

Shapado seems like a nice, thorough Stack Exchange clone. Nice work. Maybe you can give Gitorious.com some MongoDB love now ;)

another good benefit of clones like this, is that it'll get Fog Creek to lower their prices for Stack Exchange.

I immediately noticed the lack of polish. Shapado faces a very long tail of interface improvements before it can begin to approach SO in quality.

It is one thing to clone SO in an effort to give a FOSS choice to the StackExchange format but trying to compete with SO by building a clone is heading in the wrong direction. Challenging SO is not about technology, it is about the number and quality of users. Metcalfe's law wins the day here.

Great effort. SE did a very good thing to find a working model for Q&#38;A sites, and for that they'll do well. shapado is likely to reduce any rent-seeking behaviour by SE, and spur on a bunch more innovation from them. Everybody wins.

I'm sure the first of many clones, copied down to the badge styles. Good work? Since you're charging money for some aspect of it, it seems you should do a better job of making it your own (I do like the watch feature).

Out of curiosity, what other StackOverflow clones are there out there and how does Shapado compare to them? Is this the most mature out of them all or simply notable because it is built using Rails?

Why not differentiate the design a bit? The visual design with the oversized text, excessive 'buttonage', and giant boxes/fonts for views and answers is the worst part about the SE/SO system.

Great stuff!<p>As a bit tounge-in-cheek comment: Will Stackoverflow clones become the new Twitter clients and the new new Hello World, demonstrating the capabilities of technologies?

Nice work. I am curious to know how many human hours went into it.

I'm one of the dev, feel free to ask if you have any questions. The site is running here: <a href="http://shapado.com" rel="nofollow">http://shapado.com</a><p>(we also have a mirror on github <a href="http://github.com/patcito/shapado" rel="nofollow">http://github.com/patcito/shapado</a>)

Very nice, thanks for sharing! I had been hoping someone would open-source a SE clone for Rails. And double-plus-good for having the feature of importing SE sites right off the bat! I actually hate the limited way SE is using tags, and have wanted to try making my own.