I have a day job, but try to work on side-projects time to time. I made 5 side projects last year. Forrst is an awesome community, but I get a feeling that most of the members are Designers. Kinda feel left out in there.<p>Also, I am a great fan of "Show HN" posts but a good feedback is always a matter of luck. Only posts reaching frontpage gets the exposure and rest dies out with 2-3 comments.<p>Is there a community/forum for people like me to show my side-projects, get feedback etc.
I'm working on a webapp which turns side-projects into SAAS startups (by providing CMS, auth, billing etc.), and I would love to hear from anyone in this thread.<p>I have a 3 minute questionnaire which I would love to have filled out, or if you'd like to contact me my email is on my profile page.<p>thanks, Harry<p><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEhGWjlqY0k3MDgxSVRjVXNsTkhPUEE6MQ" rel="nofollow">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEhGWjl...</a>
By side projects I assume you mean web apps and programming related things. I've pondered a system to track these, but it would be even more fascinating to extend it beyond code - think: artwork, carpentry, electronics projects, robots, etc. Basically a <i>'Things I've Made'</i> kinda site.<p>Edit: Interestingly, the thing about side projects is that most of their value is derived from what can be learned while building them. Often they simply die upon completion (or when boredom sets in) because there isn't much left to learn from the project. Because of this, I don't know if there's necessarily a personal benefit to archiving your own projects online (other than showing off / clout / credibility for resumes and such), but I can definitely see value in the social building part of it - which is probably the goal anyway.
I made one in a hack day once, never actually told anyone about it. Would love to see an active one: <a href="http://leanly.co/" rel="nofollow">http://leanly.co/</a>
I was working on something like that called Shipyard. I got a bit stuck with it technically and am not sure how to proceed.<p>URL is Shipyard.me - Unfortunately it has mostly become a home to spam at the minute.<p>I was planning on hiring freelancers to help with the development tasks that were beyond my skill set but then my contract ended which put a stop to my budget for my side-projects.<p>It was meant to be a place for side-projects to get their early adopters and for the founders to discuss and share & get feedback. Then on the front end would be a blog that documented the latest sucesses and a discover page with side project logos and a quick description. The monetisation side was going to be a low cost payment to get a project logo on the discover page. Nothing major, just enough to cover costs.<p>I had got 20+ teams/founders with side projects waiting to become members and I'd had a lot of positive feedback.<p>If anyone would want to join me on working on it to get it usable, it would be great to share it.
Two years ago I was looking for something very similar myself and not finding it, decided I'd try to learn a bit of Python and try out Google App Engine simultaneously. This was the result:<p><a href="http://www.ijustshipped.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.ijustshipped.com</a><p>I am overhauling it at the moment because it needs a responsive design, SSL, and non-Google-reliant accounts (based on feedback I got when I initially released it).<p>I'd love to hear if anyone thinks they'd use this..
I just built a new app to satisfy this exact need and launched on monday! <a href="http://www.mycelial.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.mycelial.com</a><p>I would love to get feedback about what you think.<p>This app essentially answers "guynamedloren's" comment above. It's a "things I've made kinda site" that goes beyond just coding projects. It can include any hobby you have, such as electronics, beer-brewing, etc...
I'm always interested in what others are building both professionally and as a side project. I think this is a great idea and would love to be part of it.
<a href="http://www.founder2be.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.founder2be.com</a><p>Share your project(s) as 'idea' with a link to prototype - about 12,000 people interested in early stage start-ups / projects and co-founders use the site. it's a bit like forrst for developers, designers, marketers, sales, etc. good luck!
Communities are really good at providing social rewards for certain behaviors. It would be nice to see a community like this include mechanics to reward those who "complete" their side projects. Shipping side projects is hard. This could provide additional, helpful incentive.
The simplest way to do it is to seek out or create a subreddit. You need to use RES[1] to display images inline, though.<p>[1]: <a href="http://redditenhancementsuite.com/" rel="nofollow">http://redditenhancementsuite.com/</a>
Some HNers tried to do this with the Hacker News Monthly Launchpad Facebook Group:<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/launchinnov/" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/groups/launchinnov/</a><p>YMMV.